August 18th, 2008
Google has been quietly testing its “AdSense for Games” product for months. This according to sources is an in-game advertising technology that allows it to insert video ads into games.
Sources close to the matter said that the company has developed a new in-game advertising technology. In demos of the technology, a game character can introduce a video ad, saying something like, “And now, a word from our sponsor,” before showing a short video at the end of a sequence in a game. Since testing has been going on for some time, Google could launch the technology fairly quickly, if it so chooses.
The whole story on VentureBeat…
December 6th, 2007
The market for [tag]in-game advertising[/tag] is promising. So promising that some experts expect billions of dollars in revenue in the years to come. Others, like EA chief John Riccitiello, believe it will likely take much longer than many in the industry anticipate.
The predicting forces in the [tag]gamevertsing [/tag]market are divided between bulls and bears, to use stock market jargon.
A few days ago John Riccitiello’s bearish vision on the development of the gamevertising market was published in an article in CNN Money. A few days later MediaPost came with the bullish attitude of three other leading in-game advertising executives. Is it all just a question of strategy?
One thing is clear: when opinions differ so greatly, something is moving under the surface. Given the magnitude and the strenght of the [tag]gaming market[/tag] nowadays, this IS already big business. And it is merely a question of when, not if, the big money will be rolling in. Add to that the major move [tag]Google [/tag]is going to make in the next few weeks and you have all the ingredients for a good game! Wonder who will be holding the cards in the end.
November 20th, 2007
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.
November 10th, 2007
[tag]Google [/tag]makes another move: it’s [tag]gamevertising [/tag]initiative will see the daylight before the end of the month. Earlier this year Google bought Adscape, an [tag]in-game advertising[/tag] company, for $23 million.
Google will first launch a beta test with Redwood City, California-based casual gaming startup Bunchball Games by embedding “video-type” pre-roll and mid-roll gamevertising ads in some of the games Bunchball offers. Rumors go around that by next week this first in-game advertising project will be announced by both Bunchball and Google. For now, it’s just ‘no comment’ on both sides.
In december the next step will take place. By that time Google will unfold its game-focused advertising strategy. An ad-supported version of the PC game [tag]Psychonauts[/tag] will hit the internet as a downloadable game. Free, I suppose, because the [tag]in-game ads[/tag] will provide the money to the editors.
According to some well known gamers, Psychonauts is not a casual game but an award-winning, story-heavy, cult hit. This “gamer’s game” from veteran adventure game designer Tim Schaefer and co-written by Erik “Old Man Murray” Wolpaw is now “out of print;” and can only be downloaded via Valve’s Steam network it can be accessed via such download sites as GameTap and Valve’s Steam network.
Is that the real innovation? It looks more like a try-out. It’ll probably take a while to get Google’s [tag]game-related advertising[/tag] plans out of the beta-stage. Anyway, this new move comes at a time when an increasing interest in [tag]gaming [/tag]and in-game advertising unfolds rapidly over the internet. To be continued.
