In-game advertisements drive 98% viewability, according to a two-year study by attention measurement company Lumen Research in partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu.
The high viewability figure compares well to Lumen’s average viewability for other digital ads, which rests at 78%.
The study, which was unveiled this week at Cannes Lions, was carried out to understand the impact attention has on digital advertising and the opportunity that gaming presents as a potentially attention-rich platform.
Other findings include that in-game ads are viewed for 3.1 seconds (Lumen’s digital ad average is 2.9 seconds), and that after seeing an in-game ad, six in 10 players said they were likely to make a purchase.
Gaming requires a great deal of attention on the gameplay itself. However, the study also found that in-game ads drive 49% prompted recall, implying that ads placed in games are not being ignored or forgotten by many.
“As the in-game advertising market grows, advertisers are asking harder questions of this increasingly vital marketing channel,” said CEO of Lumen Research and The Media Leader columnist Mike Follett. “In response, Anzu has collected more attention data than any other in-game advertising platform. This extensive research has revealed the sheer power of the platform in driving visual attention and brand recall.”
According to Lumen’s study, in-game ads drive more attention than Facebook and Instagram’s in-feed ads.
“With the average global ad blocking rate now estimated at 37%, 52% of all consumers not paying attention when ads come on the TV, and 65% of people skipping video ads at the first chance they get, unsurprisingly, advertisers are beginning to question the quality and value of ad delivery and media impressions,” said Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder and CEO Anzu.
“In contrast, gaming is a highly impactful channel, driving huge levels of attention which we previously have not seen within the digital ad space.”
The report comes as Anzu is seeking to improve its ad tracking technology in compliance with new in-game advertising standards outlined by the IAB and MRC last year. In January, the company was granted a patent for its new ad tracking technology, which seeks to measure viewability in 3D environments.
