LIVAD’s Virtual Product Placements Let Streamers Drop Digital Ads Directly Into Their Livestreams

LIVAD Technologies is betting that the future of sponsored content looks like a 3D toaster floating over a streamer’s kitchen counter. At this week’s IAB Playfronts in New York City, the ad tech company unveiled Virtual Product Placements, a system that lets creators drop digital products into their livestreams across Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, and Kick.

This expansion draws on LIVAD’s existing business. The company already provides custom stream overlays and sidebars for creator x brand partnerships with clients like Adidas, KFC, and L’Oréal, with the next step placing 3D content directly within the stream itself.

How the system works

The LIVAD’s CEO Arda Genç told GamesBeat that the technology analyzes a stream in real time to detect the distance between physical objects in the creator’ captures a streamer’s physical environment, which the system uses to choose where to position a virtual product. After placement, the system tweaks the lighting to ensure the digital object blends into the RGB-lit backdrop common to live broadcasts.

The idea is straightforward: creators do not have to buy every item they promote. They can simply display a virtual copy of it instead.

Beyond gaming

Careful not to limit the platform’s reach to gamers alone, Genç noted that LIVAD isn’t just targeting that audience. Instead, he pointed to TikTok and its fashion and beauty streamers as a prime use case beyond gaming.

“We are trying to position ourselves at the forefront of all live content, because we find it exciting and not just limited to gaming, and we’re betting that live is going to keep growing,” he said.

He pointed out that clips created from the recorded versions of those streams will carry the virtual product with them. This arrangement allows creators to collect a second payment from the same sponsorship when they post short clips across several platforms.

What’s next

There has been no use of Virtual Product Placements in any campaigns to date. At present, LIVAD is engaged in talks with clients regarding their adoption.

The timing fits a broader trend. Platforms like TikTok and Amazon have increasingly leaned into affiliate marketing, luring creators and regular users alike to promote large numbers of products in exchange for a cut of sales. LIVAD’s new placements would appeal to creators who don’t want to order every product they endorse.

TikTok’s own numbers back the demand. The platform recently released stats showing that a whopping 94% of Shop’s pricey luxury resale revenue in the U.S. comes from livestreams.

The tools already exist, and the firms are speaking about them. The real question is whether streamers will put them into practice.

LIVAD is putting itself at the heart of a change in how brands connect with audiences through live content. Whether viewers will notice the difference is still unknown.

Source material: “What if livestreamers could do product placement without real products?,” Tubefilter.

creator economy · LIVAD · sponsorship · Streaming · virtual advertising