In-game advertising is proving popular with advertisers, with computer games featuring the technology seeing a 60% increase in awareness of products, according to a joint study by Nielsen Interactive Services and Double Fusion.
The study of downloadable game
London Taxi, found that out of 900 players tested, half of users claimed that in-game advertisements made the game more realistic, while 21% said the opposite. Over 50% of respondents said that the adverts were attention grabbing, with 17% saying they could be easily tuned out.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Guy Bendov, Double Fusion’s executive vice president for business development said: “The 3D interactive objects were found to be twice as effective as billboards.”
Speaking about the in-game advertising market, Bendov pushed the need for further research into the arena, saying: “There’s a lot to learn, and in-game advertising as a market, particularly the dynamic part of it, is on its first year.”
He added: “Different kinds of games, sports, first-person shooters, they do represent different opportunities, and people will have different recall rates to a billboard in a street versus a poster in a bar.”
The gaming market is growing rapidly, with Kagen Research forecasting US game sales to increase to $16 billion by 2007, up from $10 billion in 2004, a rise of 16% (see Advertisers Devise Ways To Cash In On Games Industry).
This strong growth gives advertisers another channel to market their products through, with US analyst eMarkter claiming that there are two primary ways in which advertisers can do this. ‘Advergaming’, games designed around a product and made to promote it, and in-game advertising, in which products are placed in games, in the background, in the hands of game characters, or elsewhere.
Research from the Yankee Group projects that in-game advertising will total $562.5 million by 2009, up from $34 million in ad revenues in 2009, compared to $83.6 million in 2004.
The company reveals that advergames accounted for more ad revenue than in-game ads in 2003 and 2004, and will continue to do so in 2005. However, through the rest of the decade in-game ads are predicted to be the dominant form of game-related advertising.
Related Links
