In-game advertising

Around the year 2000 the idea to advertise in games popped up. [tag]In-game advertising[/tag] or - even sexier - [tag]gamevertising [/tag]was born. It took a few years in the incubator to grow to a mature stage. And here it is now. Even [tag]Google [/tag]recently announced to get started on the [tag]game advertising market[/tag] before the end of the year. Fasten your seat belts as Google will certainly take the lead in this new race.

At the moment gamevertising generates already a turnover of more than $700 million. Expectations are that this will explode to a huge $2000 billion four to five years from now, say 2011 and 2012. This is more than a stellar growth! By that time advertisers will spend more on gamevertising than on television.

What’s the secret behind the success? Well, there are 2 bottom lines in this story. On the one hand there is the growing interest in [tag]online gaming[/tag] and [tag]video games[/tag]. Kids already spend more time playing games than watching television. And this tendency is taking shape among adults up to the age of 35 and beyond. On the other hand there is the phenomenon that can be described as the “[tag]gamevertising focus[/tag]“: players are more focused on [tag]in-game ads[/tag] than could ever be the case in traditional media. This leads to much higher recognition and brand awareness.

Moreover - and unlike with television or magazines - players are not easily annoyed by the game ads, as long as they are well placed in the game. When you go to a supermarket, grab some food, make the cash girl hand you over all the money and kill 3 people on your way out, it doesn’t bother you when you see the supermarket’s name all over the scenes you’re playing in. Nor that you see real brand names on the shelves and that you recognized the designer clothes the last guy you killed was wearing. In an interactive environment the ads and the [tag]product placement[/tag] are experienced as real. And that is what makes gamevertising so powerful.