Gamers more engaged with in-game value exchange ads

New research from IHS and WildTangent reveals an acceptance by gamers of value exchange-style advertising, with 86% of gamers saying that they prefer free games with ads over paid games without them.

The research found that after engaging with value exchange ads, a greater number of gamers intended to spend more money, more often and engaged with games for longer, with marketers recording two times more post-ad actions driven by in-game ads than by live TV.

Value exchange advertising allows advertisers to reward gamers for viewing ads with items valuable to gamers, such as in-game items or free game sessions.

Of the 500 ‘freemium’ online gamers surveyed, 79% said that they like receiving free virtual goods from clicking on ads, while 89% could recall value exchange advertisements in-game.

The research also found that there was a 120% increase in the number of times gamers visited the ‘add cash’ area of a developer’s game after seeing a value exchange ad.

“The research shows that gamers embrace value exchange ads, which demonstrates the progress the industry has made with advertising in and around video games,” said Christine Arrington, senior games analyst at IHS Technology.

“As gamers become more accustomed to in-game advertising, it becomes essential for brand marketers to find creative ways to use value exchange advertising while developers must ensure gamers have easy access to these offers.”