Report: Google readying in-game ad initiative

Over at Venture Beat this morning, Dean Takahashi has a piece about what appears to be a fairly well developed in-game advertising program that has been under stealth development at Google.

"Sources close to the matter said the company has developed an in-game advertising technology that allows it to insert video ads into games," Takahashi wrote. "In demos of the technology, a game character can introduce a video ad, saying something like, 'And now, a word from our sponsor,' before showing a short video at the end of a sequence in a game."

He also wrote that Google is pretty far along in the development of this initiative and could launch it soon, if it wanted to.

Of course, when and if Google does launch the program, it will hardly stand alone in the in-game ad market. Rather, that market already has one 800-pound gorilla, Massive, which is owned by Microsoft. In addition, IGA Worldwide, Double Fusion, and others, like Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell's NeoEdge, are working on inserting advertisements into just about every kind of game.

On the other hand, none of those outfits, even Massive, have Google's ability to dramatically alter the playing field when it comes to new venues for ads.

Some, including Takahashi, question why Google hasn't gotten into the game earlier, particularly because "the seeds of AdSense for Games were planted in early 2007."

Either way, the field seems to have room for Google and the other players. One reason--which I have lamented before and will continue to each time this topic comes up--is that studies have shown that video game players actually like in-game ads because it makes their experience more realistic. As in, because there are ads everywhere we go in real life, finding them in games means our playing experiences have more veritas.

To which I sigh.

Google and the established in-game ad providers, however, see green at the end of that reality check. The Yankee Group has predicted that the in-game ad market could be worth nearly $1 billion by 2011. And while that is the kind of money that Google finds under the cushions of its couches, it's still nothing to sneeze at.

[QMT]

So... I'm expected to pay sixty bucks for a game, another twenty for "downloadable content" that's already on the disc anyway, and now I get to slog through a random Nike or McDonalds ad?

Or is this exclusively a stake-through-the-heart for PC games?

[umbrae]

Wonder how this will work with networks blacklists that block ads...

There is no way anyone should pay full-price for a game with advertising.

[Renegade Knight]

Looks like it's time for AdBlock for Game Consoles. Why would I want adds sucking up my bandwidth? Especially in an era when ISP's are trying to cap bandwidth usage?

I'm just not seeing a benefit for gamers in this. Cheaper games are not likely. Free games less likely. The odds of 'well placed ads' that fit the games drop massivly when real money starts getting involved.

[df561]

um Google is a two trick pony....Google Search and Adsense on web pages. nothing else is going to work.

[t8]

This would be useful for free 3D games played through a browser. It would spur development of such if there was a way to get paid to create this type of content.

[sonymaster101]

this is kinda similar to what sony is doing with home. in reality, having ads in certain types of games make them more realistic, like racing games, sports games, and stuff like that.