Google AdSense for games: an expansion, not a start
Not to minimize the importance of a huge company like Google doing pretty much anything, but it's worth remembering amidst all the hype today that the search giant is getting into in-game ads that really it's just going from test phase to beta launch.
As the invaluable PaidContent notes, Google started running ads next to and in online videogames back in November, working with a single partner Bunchball Games and using technology from AdScape, which it bought last February. Now it's working with "select game developers and publishers" like Konami, Playfish, and Demand Media, as well as a few "beta advertisers" like Sprint and Sony Pictures. In other words, Google has been doing ads in Web videogames, it's now doing more of them, and it'll probably keep expanding to more and more advertisers and partners going forward. What we basically know is that the test with Bunchball apparently worked pretty well.
CNET News has a very thorough rundown, as well as an interview with competing company DoubleFusion's CEO Jonathan Epstein, who unsurprisingly thinks the move confirms the potential of the space and doesn't mean more competition. Given how tiny the market is right now and how big it could get, that's not too unfair an assessment though, I think. After all, Google has yet to make a big impact in radio and TV and print ads, despite its efforts in the area recently.
Still, DoubleFusion and others can probably be glad that Google isn't getting into advertising in non-casual games... yet.
Chris Morris reports on the business and culture of video games and offers analysis of recent events and industry trends.
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It is the knight noah which makes me very happy these days, my brother says knight gold is his favorite games gold he likes, he usually knight online gold to start his game and most of the time he will win the knight online noah back and give me some cheap knight gold to play the game.
Posted by: knight online noah | March 11, 2009 at 07:26 PM
"amidst all the hype today"
I'm never surprised at the lengths you are clearly prepared to go to try and deflate the reports on other sites, Ben - and the snideness behind this post is no different!
Fact is, yes, Google has been doing this for some time - but today it *for the first time* actively invited the games industry to get involved. I'd say that was a fairly big step to those of us who actually are in the games industry and aren't sat on the sidelines criticising other commentators.
Posted by: Paul | October 08, 2008 at 03:35 PM