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Google Looking to Join In-Game Ad Arena

Posted by Zonk on from the soon-to-be-seen-outside-the-thunderbrew-distillery dept.

njkid1 writes "As part of a plan to expand its advertising efforts to all forms of media, it would appear that Google is actively seeking to get involved in the in-game ad business. A Wall Street Journal report states that the company is in talks to acquire Adscape Media. From the article: 'If Google does purchase Adscape, it would give the web company an opportunity to leverage a whole other medium, one that Google has apparently been interested in for some time now ... Interestingly, Google had apparently considered an acquisition of in-game ad firm Massive Inc. last year before Microsoft came along and bought Massive for around $200 million. The Journal report suggests that an acquisition of Adscape would only fuel the long-standing competition between Microsoft and Google, as Google could potentially form an alliance with Microsoft's video game rival Sony.'"

4 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. No problem here by ThinkWeak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As long as it results in my games costing $20.00 less or so, I'm all for it. Put up a Subway poster on the wall in my next Gears of War game. Have flashing billboards with the new Tag bodyspray. Whatever you want. Just pass the savings along to the consumer. That's all I ask.

    1. Re:No problem here by d3ac0n · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You'll never get it. This is the "Big Lie (tm)" that all the in-game ad pushers have been selling. The ads do not, and will not EVER make your games cheaper. SOE has been pushing in-game ads for over a year now on many of it's games. Guess what? The Subscription prices have NOT COME DOWN! The in-game ads are NOT to make the game cheaper for gamers. They are there to provide on-going profit margins for game manufacturers. The profits aren't coming back to the consumers, they are going into the game company coffers!

      Now, once those extra profits are there, we may see an improvement in development as they re-invest in staff, but there isn't any way to predict when or where that will happen. More likely what we will see is a drop in ad-inappropriate games.

      Let's face it. Ads are only tolerated by the gaming community in games where they "fit" (Coke and Pepsi machines in CS, Billboards in racing games, Etc.) Where the heck would ad billboards "fit" into say, Eve-Online or WOW? They won't. And over time, as those particular titles age and become less popular, you will see a reluctance on the part of game companies to take a risk on an ad-inappropriate game, as they won't have that reliable income stream potential.

      Say hello to ads, say goodbye to creative gaming.

      --
      Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
  2. Most likely... by lanceleader · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gamers will not care if there are in games ads as long as they are not forced to watch the ads.

  3. Re:It's Official by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just because the are going to offer a service end users don't want doesn't make them evil. The publishers/studios that are going to use the service are evil.

    Ofcourse this doesn't change the fact that I don't like in-game advertising and that I won't buy a game that has it. Not even if google provides the ads.