$220 million will be spent on advertising in social games and apps

This would mean a 60% increase in social games and apps ad spending over the three years.

However, in the US, a $142 million spend is predicted for 2010 – a slight decrease from $144 million in 2009. In 2011, though, $192 million is forecast to be spent on this type of advertising, resulting in a 33% increase over the three years.

For non-US countries, spending on social game and app advertising is predicted to increase from $39 million in 2009, to $101 million in 2011 – a significant 160% increase. In 2010, it is expected to reach $78 million.

Companies such as Zynga and Playdom use their games as advertising destinations for marketers, and 80& of Zynga’s revenue comes from virtual goods, according to Next Up Research.

“Advertising will be an important part of the business model [for companies such as ours],” said Zynga chief executive, Mark Pincus.

He added that future social game advertising types must be “invented”, as opposed to being the same things seen already.