The video is simply a small form of content that they can run video pre-roll ads on. There's like 3 or 4 total on the site, all many years old at this point. The only reason they exist is to fulfill a specific type of advertising method on the site.
If you turn off your adblocker you'll see what I mean.
That's almost certainly a prepaid impression deal that never got fully delivered. game flopped commercially so the traffic never burned through the contract. cheaper for ars to just keep running it than to renegotiate
The video is simply a small form of content that they can run video pre-roll ads on. There's like 3 or 4 total on the site, all many years old at this point. The only reason they exist is to fulfill a specific type of advertising method on the site.
If you turn off your adblocker you'll see what I mean.
If Ars /is/ saving money by not reselling that space, I assume Ars is having a hard time selling its space.
I don't see how impressions would be hard to burn through
I guess unless it were targeted too narrowly for the site's audience
It would only take a drop in Ars traffic since the sale. Such as if traffic followed quality...