In-Game Advertising Scores Big: Discussing the Trends & Futures with the Exploding Industry’s Leaders
There are few online advertising sectors that are increasingly inhaling more and more ad dollars than the burgeoning in-game ad industry. Games are the new old medium. They’ve been around for more than thirty years already, but they’ve only recently been realized as an ad delivery platform. For the past few years, a handful of in-game advertising companies have been developing their ad delivery technology and their relationships with game publishers.
In April 2006, Microsoft delivered a hearty shock to the industry by purchasing in-game advertising company Massive. The move, in a way, legitimized in-game advertising, opened up a major console market to in-game ads, and set up Massive as a clear frontrunner in the industry. Even though Microsoft is now an in-game ad player, there’s still a lot to figure out about making ads and games play together.
Where’s it all going? What are the trends? What should you be keeping an eye on? Last week I had the opportunity to speak with representatives from three in-game ad players: Epstein, CEO of Double Fusion (DF), Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide (IGA), and Nicholas Longano, President of New Media from Massive (M). I asked each one the same 6 questions about competition, ad formats, metrics, ad placement, and the future of the industry. I’ve juxtaposed their responses so you can see the general direction that each company is headed.
Question Index:
- Has the industry grown large enough that you could consider other in-game advertising companies as serious competition, or is it still a wide open market?
- In what direction is the in-game ad formats heading: display ads like on billboards, or in-game product placement?
- Is there an industry standard for measuring in-game ads?
- How useful do you think in-game metrics are, since games can be played both on and off-line on a whole bunch of different platforms?
- What sort of games are more easily combined with advertising? What do you do for games that aren’t sports or set in a present-day location? What about fantasy, sci fi games, or even puzzle, arcade, and casual titles?
- Do you think it’s possible in the future that some high-profile games could be entirely ad-supported?
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 next page »
Article Sponsor
More Features
Reader Comments.
- Pingback from dailywireless.org » WiFi Ad Nets
- Pingback from dailywireless.org » License Plate Readers
Leave a Comment
Latest News
- New Yahoo CEO Must Be Willing To Do Microsoft Deal November 19th 2008
- Trulia, Placecast Partner on Geo-Targeted Ads November 19th 2008
- Pixsy Adds Five New Publishers to Video Network November 19th 2008
- RTC Unveils Personalized Video Solutions for U.S. Market November 19th 2008
- Apptera Rakes in $10.5M, Appoints Former Yahoo Exec to Board November 19th 2008
- Tech Firms Turn to Social Media To Reach Consumers November 19th 2008
- Boxee Lands $4M for Media Center Product November 18th 2008
- Bango, Adversitement Partnership Combines Web/Mobile Analytics November 18th 2008
Features
- How Google Is Jeopardizing Search Biz November 19th 2008
- Click Fraud To Shape Ad Decisions in 2009 November 18th 2008
- Got Game Ads? Why You Need Them NOW November 17th 2008
- Marketing on the Chopping Block: Tips for Survival November 14th 2008
- Mergers and Hackquisitions November 13th 2008
Spotlight
Turn VP: Ad Network Shakeout “Inevitable”ADOTAS EXCLUSIVE – Turn bills itself as the world’s first Smart Market for online advertising. Turn’s VP of product and [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
Most Commented
- Targeting Is the Ad Network "Killer App" (7)
- Study: Blogs Beat Social Networks on Purchase Influence (5)
- Vengence is Mine Saith Ballmer (4)
- Marketing Secrets of an Online “Lurker” (3)
- Self-Serve Ad Exchange: This Century's Strowger Switch? (3)
- Federal Bailout Proposed for Online Ad Industry (3)
- What Obama's Win Means for Advertisers (3)
- The Coming eRevolution in Online Marketing (2)
