Thanks in part to the decline of traditional advertising vehicles, in-game advertising is projected to explode to $732 million by 2010, according to Yankee Group.
As marketers look for new ways to reach the core gaming audience (males 18 to 34), in-game advertising is turning into the next hottest investment for brands. Dynamically placed ads (ads that can be changed via an ad-serving network) will largely contribute to the growth, Yankee Group said.
“This is an example of a convergence of needs from the publishers who are looking for new sources of revenue and advertisers and their agencies who are looking to find new ways of reaching their market,” Yankee Group Senior Analyst Michael Goodman said yesterday.
Contributing to the increase is a jump in the number of publishers, including Activision, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, accepting ads in video games. “That’s what’s driving it,” he said.
In 2005, marketers spent $56 million on in-game advertising, Goodman said. About 45 video games that year included in-game advertising via product placement, dynamically placed billboards, video ads and hard-coded ad placement (ads that can’t be changed), he said. This year, in-game advertising is projected to more than triple to $164 million, with about 200 games featuring the tactic, Goodman added.
“You are seeing the slow, but steady decline of traditional advertising vehicles, whether its television or print,” Goodman said. “In certain segments, young adult males are especially being hurt. If you are an advertiser, you need to be where you market is. With this young adult market, that [market] is video games.”
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