Board 8 > I love this Smash Bros. DLC Google ad """leak"""

(+) Yeah! (+)

tl;dr: Banjo Kazooie/Doom Slayer/Ryu Hayabusa/Artorias "leaked" via Google Ad manipulation in certain regions

So this is a fun batshit crazy conspiracy theory, involving Google ads and searching.

When some people in Europe Google search certain character names followed by the words "Smash Bros Ultimate" they get an AD for the Fighter Pass/DLC (not the smash website, the DLC itself). So far we've gotten Joker/Banjo Kazooie/Doom Slayer/Ryu Hayabusa/Artorias to cause this ad to pop up. NO other characters anyone has tried have caused the ad to pop up.



Others have been able to replicate it by signing out, clearing cookies, turning off "Signed-out Search Activity" and making sure Google thought their region were in certain countries.




Nintendo, in order for that ad to pop up specifically for those characters, would've had to make them keywords when searching that on a search engine... what's even more weird? This only works under specific regions and areas which further leads me to believe those keywords probably aren't supposed to tie in their information to the smash ad JUST YET. We have proof their names work and link to the ads via screenshots. While this isn't definitive "Oh yeah they are forsure in" his definitely raises a few questions as to "Why do their results recommend me to check the Smash DLC Fighter Pass page?"

I tried to do it myself but couldn't get it to work on my work computer, and didn't want to disable adblockers at home to try. I think I have to use a VPN also.

People that get it to work are trying as many characters as possible, and nothing else is triggering it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kzE9hlqfH4GPVgTQfnZKWRHVKPycJQrVCz5XmspY4xg/edit

This is what happens when there's such a drought of info lol.

also rayman is in this ice texture lmfao:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgrEILlYzWE" data-time="

i love this community

tl;dr: Banjo Kazooie/Doom Slayer/Ryu Hayabusa/Artorias "leaked" via Google Ad manipulation in certain regions
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The only one of those that interests me is Ryu, but it's an interesting theory, and all of those are plausible additions.
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i would say "no fucking way" to Artorias, because, y'know, Solaire exists AND has an amiibo, but after Joker I say anything is possible
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Doom Slayer would be super dumb.

Also I refuse to beleive there's no Dante, so I'm not buying this.
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Artorias has been my dream fighter since Day 1. I know it won't happen but the fact that it popped up here is hilarious.

And please, Artorias is way better than Solaire. And I still like Solaire.
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After the Grinch leak, I'm approaching any Smash leak involving Banjo with the phrase "I'll believe it when I see it".

(He and Hayabusa would be sweet, though. No Dragon Quest rep would feel weird.)
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Artorias in Smash?

Would his final Smash be him calling in his doggo Sif?
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I would certainly hope so
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Literally no one is impossible.

Bring on Goku.
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Bane_Of_Despair posted...

I would certainly hope so

Yknow now that I think about it, I wonder what songs they'd put in and / or remix if a Dark Souls rep ACTUALLY got in.
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Not buying this leak, but it actually would be a solid outcome for the Fighters Pass. I'm still hoping for more of an even split between first-party and third-party characters, but that's looking unlikely at this point and this is about as good as an exclusively third-party lineup could be.

Also, "all third-parties" at least means there won't be shill picks from Fire Emblem: Three Houses or Pokemon Sword/Shield, so that's a silver lining.

Banjo and Ryu H would definitely be the highlights. I'd buy them both for sure.
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I think Artorias is possible just because Solaire being a Mii outfit would "satisfy" (in Sakurai's eyes) those who want him while giving a cooler playable character in Artorias

DS is pretty popular why the fuck not
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Is there a chance that someone made these ads? Like, they paid Google and set up an ad for the Fighter's Pass and put these guys as search terms? Just to fuck with people?
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ZenOfThunder posted...

Is there a chance that someone made these ads? Like, they paid Google and set up an ad for the Fighter's Pass and put these guys as search terms? Just to fuck with people?

After the grinch, anything is possible.
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The current anti-theory out there is that the dude on the Smash discord that "discovered" this leaked tried these four characters almost immediately (including Artorias) and that it's super suspect that he'd do that one right off the bat unless he knew it would work

But the anti-anti-theory is that apparently someone "unrelated" to the discoverer suggested he try some Dark Souls things and Artorias was not the first one he tried so?????

it still seems super suspect
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TheCodeisBosco posted...

Also, "all third-parties" at least means there won't be shill picks from Fire Emblem: Three Houses or Pokemon Sword/Shield, so that's a silver lining.

Fortunately, we know this is a fake because they aren't shilling the new Fire Emblem and Pokemon game. >_>
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yeah unfortunately I am way more inclined to believe leaks that have shitty, disappointing Nintendo shill reps at this point

Joker was cool but it doesn't automatically mean we're going to get universally left-field character choices going forward

although I do like this "leak" because at least some effort went into it, there's no "my uncle works at nintendo" although there's a hint of "my uncle works at google"
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oh yea I don't believe it but I'm just happy people are thinking of my boy Artorias
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i wanna say i believe this leak like 10-15% on the belief scale, i just want something to speculate on tbqh, at this point any semi-credible leak would get me going.

give me a teet to suckle sakurai
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Maybe the fighter pass will be all third party, but there will be surprise Nintendo characters separate from the pass. Like a Three Houses character that you can get for free if you buy and register the game in the first month or two after release, otherwise it's $6 like Piranha Plant. And same for a Gen VIII Pokemon.
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No Sans No Sale
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I don't think they'd be that generous again tbh but that would be neat
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mnkbear907 posted...

Maybe the fighter pass will be all third party, but there will be surprise Nintendo characters separate from the pass. Like a Three Houses character that you can get for free if you buy and register the game in the first month or two after release, otherwise it's $6 like Piranha Plant. And same for a Gen VIII Pokemon.

this is wishful thinking and I like where your heads at and in a perfect world this would come true

but I think everyone and their mother and their grandmother will be buying Gen VIII on day 1 so giving it for "free" for the first month would be a net loss for nintendo imo

Three Houses maybe not but I really just don't think they'd be as generous as they were with Plant. Plant being free was a side effect of him being planned to be included with the base roster I think, he had a Palutena's Guidance and a Classic Mode path based around other Smash U newcomers, so there's a chance he was supposed to be there when the game shipped
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what even is a doom slayer
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Tom Bombadil posted...

what even is a doom slayer

it's what they call doom guy in Doom 2016
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this "leak" is not real guys.

it is literally just a generic advertisement from typing in smash when that character name doesn't trigger any of googles other targeted advertising algorithms.
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red13n posted...

this "leak" is not real guys.

it is literally just a generic advertisement from typing in smash when that character name doesn't trigger any of googles other targeted advertising algorithms.

but then why wouldn't you get the same result for any characters other than these ones
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The Smash fanbase is completely insane and will believe absolutely anything.

They thought Skull Kid was confirmed because of some chairs and a pillow.

They thought Isaac from Golden Sun was confirmed because he uses earthquake magic and Nintendo delayed a Direct because of a real life Earthquake
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Im guessing this is just someone who works for Nintendo/ marketing who posted his wish list in the ad
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DeepsPraw posted...

They thought Skull Kid was confirmed because of some chairs and a pillow.

It was WAY more than that >=(
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Ermine if Artorias was actually a thing it would mean we'd get some form of Sif!
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This is the most galaxy brain shit I have ever heard
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Bane_Of_Despair posted...

Ermine if Artorias was actually a thing it would mean we'd get some form of Sif!

Id rather just Sif be a character instead!!
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Ermine why you gotta always be so negativeeeeeee
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swirIdude posted...

Literally no one is impossible.

Except Waluigi and Goku.
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MoogleKupo141 posted...

red13n posted...

this "leak" is not real guys.

it is literally just a generic advertisement from typing in smash when that character name doesn't trigger any of googles other targeted advertising algorithms.

but then why wouldn't you get the same result for any characters other than these ones

I literally answered this question in my post.

No Spyro no care.

Yeah Spyro aint happening as much as Id want him
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for fun i setup my location(And IP) to europe and got the settings right to get the ads. Doom Slayer and Ryu no longer trigger the ad. Guess they've been deconfirmed lol.
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for some reason I think Ryu H would be lame for smash
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Leafeon13N posted...

MoogleKupo141 posted...

red13n posted...

this "leak" is not real guys.

it is literally just a generic advertisement from typing in smash when that character name doesn't trigger any of googles other targeted advertising algorithms.

but then why wouldn't you get the same result for any characters other than these ones

I literally answered this question in my post.

If that's what it is, then there just happens to be only four characters that don't trigger another algorithm? That seems like a crazy coincidence

not that I really think this is real, but I think the likely thing is someone doing an elaborate hoax again like Grinch by buying the ads themselves and then pretending to discover them
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Punnyz posted...

for some reason I think Ryu H would be lame for smash

Why?
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Well this is something... lol
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Doom guy would be so stupid. Do we even see him in the reboot?
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why would anybody even consider this to be legitimate it makes no sense
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NFUN posted...

why would anybody even consider this to be legitimate it makes no sense

People torched me for saying the grinch leak was dumb.

People are just way more apt to believe everything they read these days.

And many websites are happy to pick up the hits that these clickbait stories provide so that spreads them even further.

On PapaGenos Discord, they've been trying to debunk it and they just might have. Anything DLC related to any game put with Smash Ultimate brings up the Fighter Pass. So that's why Artorias might have been brought up. With Doom Slayer and Ryu Hayabusa brought up because of the 5chan leak and Banjo-Kazooie because of heavy speculation, I think this is all but confirmed dead.
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Apparently, something happened in the PapaGenos server that proves this might be "super legit" and "unfakable". Here it is I guess, from a Discord user named Duckmeat:

In summary, i have reason to believe that the description part of the ads, or the part in the red box in pic related, has RANDOM elements in it. This causes the ads, when they show up, to effectively have a larger number of possible descriptions than would NOT be possible with a man-made ad, which would be stuck with one. Ill explain how this works below. Note that I will be using the Dutch version of the ads, and roughly translating them to the best of my ability.



For the element in the blue box, 1 of 2 opening statements are selected to start up the ad:
- Ontvang 5 nieuwe vechters, 5 nieuwe levels en meerdere nieuwe muzieknummers. [describes that the fighter pass has 5 new fighters, 5 new stages, and many new songs]
- Joker uit Persona 5 is er! Koop de Fighters Pass om direct als Joker te spelen. [talks about Joker being in, and that you can play him by buying the fighter pass. this will hypothetically be replaced by the other fighter pass characters as they release]
Only 1 of these gets picked to open the ad, and this is independent from things like the title or url. Its purely cosmetic.



For the elements in the green boxes, 3 general statements about the pass are listed in a random order:
Nieuwe vechters dag 1. [new fighters - day 1. i have as much of an idea as you what this means, but all of the ads have it]
"Slechts 24,99. [costs 25 euro total]
Joker komt eraan. [Joker is coming. i dont get this one either, since hes already here]
The order is completely random, and since this is done without replacement, there are 3 times 2 times 1 = 6 possibilities for how this part can be constructed.



If someone faked this, not only would they have had to have:
- deliberately hard-code randomized versions of their fake ads to replicate non-manmade ads
- also pay 12 times as much money as theyd normal have to to keep them all running

I don't know about you guys, but I'm having major Grinch leak flashbacks.
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