Metaverse in digital marketing: what brands actually run in 2026, the Roblox formats, and the rules that follow you in
Where the audience really is, the ad formats a brand can buy, how to choose between ads and a branded world, the disclosure and children's privacy rules, and how to measure it.
Published by AI Knows Us · Updated 21 October 2026
The metaverse in digital marketing, in 2026, mostly means one thing: brands reaching young people inside game platforms, with Roblox the largest place to buy it. Virtual reality headsets are still a small channel. Meta's own results for the quarter to 30 June 2026 show its Reality Labs segment earned 431 million dollars in revenue, against 59,363 million dollars of advertising revenue across Facebook, Instagram and its other apps. Roblox, by contrast, reported 132 million daily active users for the quarter ending March 2026 and now sells video, homepage and sponsored formats to brands. So treat the metaverse as a media channel with a young audience, a few specific ad formats and a strict set of rules, and plan it like any other channel.
What the word means now
The term went mainstream on 28 October 2021, when Facebook renamed its company Meta and said its focus would be "to bring the metaverse to life". Meta described it as "a hybrid of today's online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions". Meta's Reality Labs segment, which holds its virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and content, reported an operating loss of 4,619 million dollars in that same June 2026 quarter, up from 4,530 million dollars a year earlier.
For a marketer, the practical definition is narrower than the hype: shared 3D spaces where people spend time as avatars, play, and buy virtual items. Today that means game platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, plus VR apps on headsets. The rest of this page uses Roblox for the detail, because it publishes its ad formats, its buying routes and its audience figures.
Where the audience actually is
| Place | What a brand can do there | The figure published by the owner |
|---|---|---|
| Roblox | Buy ads, sponsor a game, build a branded experience, sell virtual items | 132 million daily active users, quarter ending March 2026 (Roblox, 18 June 2026) |
| Meta VR and AR | Apps and experiences on Quest headsets and glasses | Reality Labs revenue of 431 million dollars in the June 2026 quarter (Meta, 29 July 2026) |
| Fortnite and other game worlds | Branded islands built by creators | Check the platform's own creator rules before you brief anyone |
The audience is young. When Roblox opened rewarded video to brands in April 2025, it said that over 61 percent of its daily active users, more than 50 million people, were over 13 and eligible to view ads. That single sentence shapes the whole plan: a large part of the audience is children, and much of the advertising rulebook exists to protect them.
The formats a brand can buy on Roblox
Sponsored experiences, through Ads Manager
Roblox's self-serve Ads Manager promotes a Roblox experience with thumbnails on the Home page and in search results, up to 10 thumbnails per campaign in a 16:9 ratio. Campaign goals are Plays, Engagement and a limited Earnings option, and you can aim at all players, new players, recent players or lapsed players. You need to be 13 or older with a verified email, and paying by card is for users 18 and over. You must buy at least one ad credit, and a first-time card user is charged 5 dollars when the campaign is submitted, applied to the first bill. It suits a brand that already has a space on Roblox.
Rewarded video
People choose to watch a full-screen video of up to 30 seconds inside an experience and get an in-game reward for it. Roblox announced it in April 2025 with Google, so brands and agencies can buy it programmatically through Google's advertising products or directly. By January 2026, Roblox said rewarded video ran in over 400 experiences for over 1,000 brands.
Homepage Feature and billboards
In January 2026 Roblox announced a Homepage Feature, a premium unit on the Roblox homepage bought on a CPM basis, then in closed beta. A click opens the brand's video as an immersive 3D space. Billboards, which Roblox used to call video and image ads, appear inside experiences. Roblox also named the buying partners it was adding: Amazon DSP and Liftoff on the buying side, and Index Exchange, Magnite and PubMatic on the selling side, alongside Google.
Buying ads or building a world: how to choose
- Buy ads first if you want reach in a young audience this quarter and have a video or a product moment ready. Rewarded video and billboards fit a normal media plan.
- Build a world if your brand has something to do, not just something to show: a sport, a vehicle, a fashion line, a character. Plan the launch, the updates and the promotion together, because a world nobody visits is a cost with no audience.
- Sell virtual items if your product has a look people want to wear as an avatar. Fashion and sports brands are the natural fit.
- Skip it if your buyer is a business decision maker or anyone the platforms do not reach. Spend that budget where your buyers already are.
If you hire help, use the same tests as for any specialist. Our guide to game marketing agencies and the four jobs a game launch needs covers how to judge firms that work inside these platforms.
The rules that follow you in
Advertising law does not stop at the edge of a virtual world. Three sets of rules matter most in the United States.
- Disclosure of paid endorsements. The FTC's Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255, say an endorser "could be or appear to be an individual, group, or institution". An avatar, a virtual influencer or a creator who promotes your item is covered. In any interactive medium the disclosure "should be unavoidable", and when an endorsement targets a specific audience, the test is what ordinary members of that group would understand.
- Children's data. COPPA, 16 CFR Part 312, defines a child as "an individual under the age of 13". An operator must get verifiable parental consent before it collects, uses or discloses a child's personal information. Keep tracking pixels and data capture away from any experience children use, and let the platform's own tools handle targeting.
- The platform's own standards. Roblox says all ads must follow its Advertising Standards, which are there to protect younger users. Read the current version before you brief a creator or an agency, because Roblox changed its age and account rules several times in 2026, including age checks for chat and separate accounts for younger players.
Paid creators inside these worlds are influencers in every legal sense. The same contract terms apply as on any other platform, which our page on UGC agencies and the three businesses behind the term sets out for paid creator content.
How to measure it
Measure metaverse work on three levels, starting with what the platform reports.
- Platform numbers. Ads Manager reports against the goal you chose: plays, engagement or earnings. Rewarded video reports completions and viewability. Roblox says its rewarded video campaigns reached completion rates of over 90 percent.
- Brand effect. In June 2026 Roblox announced measurement with Ipsos and with EDO, so brands can measure branded virtual events and standard ad campaigns against the engagement benchmarks EDO uses for TV. Ask for these studies before you commit a large budget.
- What happens outside the platform. Watch your branded search in Google Search Console and your direct traffic in the weeks around a launch. If a world or a campaign worked, more people look for you by name.
Set the measure before the campaign starts.
Questions about marketing in the metaverse
Is the metaverse still worth it for marketing in 2026?
It is worth it where your audience is young and spends time on game platforms. Roblox reported 132 million daily active users for the quarter ending March 2026, and it sells formats a media buyer already understands. For an older or business audience, other channels reach your buyers more directly.
What is the cheapest way to start?
Run a small Ads Manager campaign for an experience you already have, or buy rewarded video through a programmatic partner. Roblox asks for a minimum of one ad credit, and a first card payment starts with a 5 dollar charge applied to your first bill.
Do I need a VR headset strategy?
Only if your product suits VR and your buyers own headsets. Meta's Reality Labs revenue was 431 million dollars in the June 2026 quarter, which is small next to its 59,363 million dollars of app advertising revenue. Most brands start on game platforms that run on phones and computers.
Can I advertise to children in a virtual world?
Follow COPPA and the platform's rules first. COPPA covers children under 13 and requires verifiable parental consent before their personal information is collected. Roblox applies its own Advertising Standards for younger users, so check the current version and use the platform's tools rather than your own tracking.
The questions young buyers ask outside the game
The people who meet a brand on Roblox are the same people who type "which sneakers are worth it" or "best headphones for gaming" into ChatGPT or Gemini. A branded world builds familiarity, and the answer an assistant gives later decides whether that familiarity turns into a name on a shortlist. Checking whether assistants name a business when buyers ask is a new kind of work, separate from game marketing, and it is what AI Knows Us does. A brand spending on a virtual world can see what the assistants say about it before deciding where the next budget goes.