Online gaming is advertising goldmine

The market for in-game advertising is expected to rocket in the coming years from a paltry $80m (£40m) this year to £420m by 2011.

According to the ABI Research, the ability to deliver advertising into games that are connected to the internet represents a massive opportunity. It noted that console and game manufacturers are already exploring new ways of pushing ads to their growing community of online gamers.

ABI Research predicted that online downloads of TV and movies via consoles, from the likes of Sony and Microsoft, will grow while the casual and classic game download market for gaming consoles will grow tenfold from £45m in 2007 to £550m by 2011.

”In many ways, console vendors and game publishers view gaming services as an ever-more attractive channel to reach an active demographic,” said research director Michael Wolf.

“In the past, static advertising meant that publishers and their ad partners could not create real-time marketing messages. With the incorporation of ad clients directly into game engines - and through connections to ad servers - advertisers will be able to deliver advertising that reaches audiences in-game and through the walled garden game network.”

The Console and Handheld Online Gaming report looks at the conditions in the online gaming markets for consoles and handhelds, the strategies of the three major platform providers and the overall ecosystem for digital distribution.

Wolf added: “At present, all three game console vendors are investing heavily in online gaming and commerce infrastructure. While these investments are not profitable today, we expect mounting acceptance of the online channel as one of the primary mediums to get new content on the console, causing online gaming to become a significant contributor to revenues for all three vendors within three to four years.”

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