Intel will also be engaged in advertising in computer games

    According to the most conservative estimates, the market for advertising in computer games will grow to $ 400 million by 2009 (source: Parks Associates ). Yankee Group estimates are also optimistic: $ 700 million in 2010. Companies that work in this field are predicting an even brighter future for themselves.

    In April 2005, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Massive Inc., which founded the world's first computer gaming ad network. Massive Inc. Ad Networkprovides for the placement of billboards, banners and logos in dozens of computer games. Patented technologies allow you to load new ads into the game via the Internet, track in real time the number of impressions and provide the advertiser with complete statistics. Game publishers are only happy with the new source of income, because now the costs of creating a new game are approaching $ 10-20 million, and in some cases even $ 30 million. They need to be paid back somehow.

    Now it became known about another high-profile deal. Massive Inc. competitor, IGA Worldwide, received fundingin the amount of $ 5 million from the Intel Capital venture capital fund. Taking into account other investors (Easton Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures and DN Capital), the total amount of funds raised in the first round amounted to $ 17 million.

    Intel Capital is a venture division of Intel Corporation . Over the fifteen years of its existence, it has funded more than a thousand companies around the world totaling more than $ 4 billion. All these investments are necessarily correlated with the main strategy of Intel. So, ad support in computer games fits into the digital home strategy that Intel is promoting.

    IGA Worldwide said it uses the money to improve partnerships with game publishers, as well as to open regional branches, "to serve a growing base of customers from North America, Europe and Asia."

    The interest of Microsoft and Intel in advertising in computer games only confirms that this is an extremely promising area. In general, the situation on the advertising market in games is somewhat reminiscent of the situation with advertising on the Internet ten years ago. At that time, small specialized companies, such as DoubleClick, were engaged in this, but soon they were followed by large corporations, whose turnover now exceeds billions of dollars.

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