Discord service will see adverts this week, with the platform introducing a 'Sponsored Quest' option

The Discord service, which has positioned itself as an ad-free platform, has announced that it is introducing a feature that can be interpreted as a departure from its own principles.

Here's What We Know

This week, Discord will introduce a "Sponsored Quests" option.

This activity is arranged in the following way: video game developers (so far we are talking only about them) as an advertising integration introduce a quest and for fulfilment of its conditions Discord user will receive some kind of bonus. An important condition is a broadcast from Discord, which must be watched by at least one person.

Discord management emphasises that this will not be targeted advertising, as it is not only fully aligned with the platform, but also not based on the user's communication history and correspondence, as Discord does not scan correspondence as a matter of principle and does not consider it right to interfere in the personal lives of its users.

The head of Discord Jason Citron commented on the situation as follows:

'We [at Discord] believe that people's data belongs to people, people should feel safe when communicating with each other and should know that their data will not be used against them in an inappropriate way.

We take privacy very seriously. We don't scan people's messages. We don't read them. However, Discord does not use end-to-end encryption. So if you break community rules, we can investigate.

Users will be able to switch off adverts in settings.

Media reports that Discord will hire some special employees to sell advertising services and create interesting sponsored quests.

This decision will allow Discord to get additional sources of revenue without adding aggressive advertising to its service.

Source: PYMNTS