Quote :

"Google looking to buy in-game ad firm? The Wall Street Journal reports that the search giant is to expand its business into video games. By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK Posted Jan 22, 2007 9:12 am PT Google could be in negotiations to buy San Francisco-based Adscape Media Inc, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal Online. The report lists sources as saying that the deal could be concluded as early as next week. The deal, if successfully completed, could mean that Google would offer its hundreds of thousands of current advertisers the opportunity to also place ads within games. In-game ads have been attracting more and more interest recently. Ad firm IGA Worldwide announced an agreement with Valve to provide "dynamic advertising" in first-person shooter Counter-Strike in December, and Microsoft acquired in-game ad company Massive Inc for almost $200 million in May. Adscape was founded in 2002 by former Nortel engineer Dan Willis, and joined in 2006 by two former Sega executives, Bernie Stolar and Chris Gilbert. Stolar had previously been the president and COO of Sega America, and Gilbert was executive vice president of Sega's sales, marketing, and operations division. The company bills itself as 'Real Advertising in the Virtual World,' and uses a technology it calls RVG--Real World/Virtual World Gateway--which allows for two-way text, audio, and video communication to unlock rewards, download music, or enter sweepstakes. However, the report quotes Adscape chairman Stolar as commenting that he had "spoken to every major player" about the possibility of a company acquisition, but that no such deal was yet on the cards. "

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164490.html?tag=latestnews;title;2

1/22/2007 12:54:31 PM

Skynet's goal isn't to destroy humanity and kill Sara Connor.... it's to automate in game tells spamming ads for WoW gold and powerleveling.

1/22/2007 12:58:03 PM

what next - cookies and temp files on our consoles?

shitty.

oh and what about screening voice chats to bombard you with ads that apply to your wants and needs?

[Edited on January 22, 2007 at 1:02 PM. Reason : drt]

1/22/2007 1:00:22 PM

Ugh, this is going to be miserable

And then to counter it, they'll put up a purchase on xbox live marketplace that for only 500 points you can make your game commercial free

1/22/2007 1:26:03 PM

my interpretation of this was something less intrusive. you're playin a first person shooter and you walk through an office building, and on a counter, there's a Time magazine. or you're playin a racin game and you see a billboard for folger's coffee. somethin like that. if they are seriously talkin about pop-up ads and commercials, then this is retarded. if its more like my interpretation, i dont really mind, so long as it doesnt get silly.

ah i didnt read the whole thing; i missed the part about the unlocks and rewards. yea that could be pretty lame.

[Edited on January 22, 2007 at 1:29 PM. Reason : .]

1/22/2007 1:28:37 PM

I think people are more nervous about the "Battlefield 2142" approach towards advertising where you would have dynamic posters, billboards, and songs integrated into the game. So when you're walking down the road of a city, you may see the advertisements on a wall poster, hear jingles incorporated into the in-game radio, and ads popping up during load times.

1/22/2007 1:32:41 PM

I wonder if they'll put ads in games like Sneak King?

lol

1/22/2007 5:07:21 PM

i think would work best for games commonly used online so that you could update the ads whenever someone connected

1/22/2007 5:11:29 PM

Yeah, I've been saying for a long time that somebody should make a modern-day MMORPG and subsidize it by using extensive in-game product placement. That would make for a more realistic game world, and it would make subscriptions cheaper. As far as invasive ads that aren't a part of the game world, that sucks.

1/22/2007 5:56:02 PM

In Xenosaga if you opted for them you'd get ingame e-mails about other games that development company made.

1/22/2007 9:37:06 PM

I'm gonna try and buy a billboard in a game and put the seizure robots on it.

1/22/2007 10:06:51 PM