»
PC in-game advertising will increase from $80 million in 2005 to more than $400 million in 2009, according to interactive entertainment market research firm Parks Associates (via Tekrati and MarketingVox). In April, Massive predicted that in-game advertising of any sort (not restricted to PC games) would near $2 billion by 2010.
Although videogames have become a mainstream entertainment pursuit in homes, in 2005 U.S. internet gamer households received about $0.10 worth of advertisement-supported gaming content per month, compared with $50 worth of TV content, Parks says.
Most in-game ads are aimed at so-called core gamers, males 18-34, but “games are now an important form of family entertainment. Advertisers will soon realize they can reach the whole family using this medium. More and more adults play video games with their children and teens are even playing games with their parents. In addition, the 35-54 female gamers, who spend tens of hours playing casual games every month, are undermonetized,” says Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Parks director of broadband and gaming.
According to Parks research, demographic groups vary widely in their perception of in-game advertising: Males 18-34 are more open to seeing advertising than other age groups, with 29 percent saying they would not mind seeing ads in games as long as it helps enhance game play, compared with only 19 percent among female gamers 35-54.
However, the percentage of gamers willing to put up with ads in games if there is a chance to win prizes is similar among these two groups (38 percent among 18-34 male; 35 percent among 35-54 female).
Men and women also differ about the least intrusive approach to in-game advertising. Almost half of men 18-34 (49 percent) prefer product placement over pre-game ads (22 percent) and in-game bulletin boards (18 percent). Women 35-54 prefer pre-game ads (42 percent) by a slim margin over product placement (36 percent) and between-level ad placement (13 percent).
Gamers also expect a discount on game prices in exchange for seeing ads; the expected discount ranged from 31 percent for gamers 13-17 to 58 percent for women 55 and older.
Clear Channel Radio will keep pres and CEO John Hogan on for at least five more years, and has promoted four members of its senior management team.
On the ops side, Mark Kopelman and George Toulas have been promoted to…
Sports Illustrated has created an online auction, powered by eBay, to sell some of its inventory across print, digital and events media in order to give the sales force more time to sell more effectively.
Parent company Time Inc. hopes…
Today, FreeRange launched its Mobile Publishing Platform, which boasts clients like PaidContent, Fierce Markets and The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
The platform serves mobile coverage and branded content across BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm devices, writes MarketingVOX.
Content is…
ABC may have a tough time keeping its No. 1 slot in the upcoming fall season. Fox, which has handily beat the competition in recent years in the later part of the season thanks in large part to hits like…
Advertisers will spend $505 million on online video advertising in 2008, according to a downward-revised projection by eMarketer, which said the significant drop was “due to changes in methodology, based on historical data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), eMarketer’s benchmark…
Young Hispanics want social media that’s delivered in a bilingual environment, says Boston-based social media company Communispace.
The company reached that conclusion via a study of 1,000 consumers that looked at how Hispanic consumers participate in web-based forums. The study…
