Gamers Engaging With In-Game Ads
A new study on in-game advertising from Double Fusion and Interpret has found that 75% of gamers engage with at least one ad per minute across most, but not all, game types, whilst 81% of gamers engage at least every other minute.
Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion, said: “Double Fusion’s ad effectiveness research validates what many have assumed but never proven – that gamers not only notice ads in games but are impacted by them positively, increasing their intent to buy.
“While we’ve demonstrated many times the specific impact of individual ad campaigns, this is the first study which looks at the medium across a wide range of titles and ad formats. By understanding what drives advertising efficacy and engagement, and how to optimise it, we provide meaningful ammunition for advertising executives to justify their investment in the video games medium.”
The research also found that less-cluttered ads are three times as effective at garnering gamer notice than ads that are either cluttered or within cluttered environments.
While both contribute positively to ad engagement, placement of the ad in the primary camera plane (eye-level) is more important than large size ads.
Not all ads are created equal – dynamic billboards, around-game interstitials, sponsorships, and interactive product placements all offer different levels of user engagement and pervasiveness in the game.
Michael Dowling, CEO, Interpret, said: “The program we conducted for Double Fusion measures actual viewing and gives precise information on how to plan for ad units, how to design ads, and what to expect in terms of gamer engagement.
“This research is leading to an industry-standard ad rating, which will allow buyers to guarantee deliveries and in turn ease hesitation advertisers have with all new media. As a result, this should help catapult in-game advertising into a more prioritised and accountable ad medium for marketers.”
The study was conducted in a two-step approach: in-depth discussion groups with mainstream and hard core gamers in three markets worldwide (Los Angeles, New York and London) to gauge gamer reactions to various ad types across multiple genres; advanced eye tracking, in partnership with Eye Tracking, to evaluate how factors such as ad location, dimension, design and gaming context impact viewing attention.
Thirty-six unique ads, representing various ad types (Signage, Sponsorship, Around-game Interstitials, Interactive Elements) were tested across multiple games, representing First Person Shooter, Sports, Racing and Action genres.
Research respondents were randomly assigned to one of six different game play groups and asked to play a particular game, during which they were eye tracked.
A recent report from JupiterResearch forecast that the US game console market will generate cumulative revenues of $66 billion through 2012 (see US Game Console Market To Grow).
Earlier this month, Yankee Group released a forecast predicting that worldwide in-game advertising expenditures (fixed product placement/static ads and dynamic ads) will grow to $971.3 million by 2011 (see In-Game Ad Market Growing At Exponential Rate).