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NYT on In-Game Advertising

Posted by Zonk on from the splinter-sell dept.

The New York Times has a piece on in-game advertising, likely sparked by the installment of RL billboards in Anarchy Online. They discuss the ways in which ads are placed into games and the possible negative reactions from game players as a result of advertising in entertainment they've already purchased. From the article: "I don't want to pick up a sword and have it read Nike on the side..."

4 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Two Tiers? by MBraynard · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Much like /. turns off adverts for subscribers, perhaps these MMORPGs can have two tiers of subscribers. Those who pay a lower/free fee and see some adverts in-game, and those who pay a premium not to see them.

    As someone who works in a marketing related field, I can say how excited I am at the possibility to narrowcast to individuals. Perhaps these ingame ads can be player-sensitive? For women players, they see soap advertisements while guys see adverts for pickups.

  2. If the shoe fits, wear it... by MMaestro · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If it doesn't fit, don't force it on. As long as the advertisement don't seem out of context, Coke and Pepsi signs in Everquest? Uh uh. In The Matrix Online? I can accept that. Simple as that.

    Obviously there are problems in some cases (what are you going to advertise in a world like World of Warcraft?) but thats a problem for another discussion.

  3. Re:My thoughts by geminidomino · · Score: 4, Interesting

    People in advertising are WELL aware of your concerns (trust me, we're not stupid) and most likely would never do this unless they had a DAMN good reason.

    Yeah, like someone offered them US$0.005 per "impression".

    People in advertising may or may not be stupid, but the advertising industry in general has gone from "informing potential customers" to "scatterbomb every available eyeball whether they want to see it or not"

    So I hope you'll pardon me if I don't show a whole lot of faith in the good graces of ad companies not to destroy my gaming experience to make a few bucks...

  4. Re:Lois Lane and the vanishing logo. by jackbird · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The New Yorker had an article a couple of weeks ago that talked about this phenomenon. Apparently advertisers are being involved now at the level of producing and writing the shows. For example, Ford is apparently deeply involved in American Dreams (a drama set in late 1960s America), and they coordinated an episode where the plot revolved around a Mustang with the launch of their new model year. This goes well beyond simple product placement (but I guess falls short of The Disney Channel, although there you know what you're getting yourself into).