Google buys in-game ad firm

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 19th February 2007
Comments (10) Stumble
Shoot to kill...and wash it down with a refreshing Pepsi!

Shoot to kill...and wash it down with a refreshing Pepsi!

Load up and move out...but don't forget your Pepsi (TM), and grab some Pizza Hut (TM) pizza on the way out the door. Product placement and in-game advertising have been some pretty hotly discussed topics as of late, and this newest bit of news will only increase the buzz. It appears that Google has bought Adscape Media, an in-game advert firm.

The company was purportedly sold for a none-too-small $23 million. Though that may be a drop in the bucket for Google's billions in yearly revenue, it is still no miniscule chunk of change. Google is not a company to do things only half way, and it is known for being very wise with its spending. Therefore, a move like this really shows how much of a real target we gamers are becoming.

It will be interesting to see what is the first thing to come out of this acquisition, and whether or not Google will choose to be careful about which adverts it allows. Gamers are worried that in-game advertising could break up a richly detailed environment by placing ads that don't fit the theme of a game. Until Google makes a statement about how it will proceed, that worry may not be just rampant paranoia - AdSense has been known to post some pretty inappropriate things before.

Details of the deal surfaced late last week as rumour, and so far Google seems intent on keeping it filed in that category. The company has declined to comment on what it calls "market rumours and speculation," which is usually a fancy way of saying "yes, but we're not going to tell you that you're right."

We'll be keeping an eye on this one, particularly on how the company intends to proceed. Until then, have you got a thought on the acquisition? Tell us about it in our forums.
Quote DougEdey 19th February 2007, 15:38
Google is an advertising company first. Everything else is secondary.

I hope they do get this right.
Quote DriftCarl 19th February 2007, 16:59
I can see it now. a childrens game where they have to build blocks ontop of eachother. One character ingame says "this block is too heavy, I cant get it up" then suddenly google decides that this is a good opportunity to place a viagra related advertisement on the side of the building blocks. quality
Quote HandMadeAndroid 19th February 2007, 19:01
Oooooh an 'uber' fast advertising bill board machine, whatever next, perhaps some kind of 'uber' display in the living room that pumps in advertising 24/7 ?
Quote randosome 19th February 2007, 19:26
as long as games get a nice discount with ad's built in, I'm all for in game advertising

But i don't think (like with BF2142) you should pay full price and have ads in your face too - or CS1.6 where their just going to add in game ad's even though no-one receives any benefit whatsoever (considering they don't update 1.6)

Although, its pretty easy to block stuff like that, most of the "keep you safe while you bittorrent" programs can easily block those ad IP's, or you can do it at the firewall level if you prefer
Quote specofdust 19th February 2007, 19:34
Indeed. An entire niche of programs is going to grow around blocking IGA's. Personally I see no problem with people pirating ad filled games, but for those who actually buy their games I think the idea that they should block ads is completely reasonable.
Quote DeX 19th February 2007, 19:46
It's interesting to compare in-game ads to product placement in movies. Often in a movie, the director has a lot of control over what products are on view and how they are used in the scene. This is because the director has a lot of artistic resposibility over the film. Too much advertising would ruin the feel of the film. Even so, producers make a hell of a lot from product placement probably because the advertising medium is so effective and widespread.

I don't think gamers will be as responsive to in-game ads and so I imagine ads will have to be a lot more prominent in order to be effective. Will game producers prevent adverts that affect the artistic quality of their games? Somehow I doubt it. It seems there are very few game producers that are really passionate about the games they create any more. I'm certain that we'll see the most adverts in sequels rather than original titles.
Quote specofdust 19th February 2007, 20:08
No doubt. I was just playing through a splinter cell game. Not only are the phones all clearly lablled as Sony Ericsons but..get this, while you're in the middle of rescueing a CIA deskworker from the clutches of evil terrorists who've been torturing and murdering her colleagues, what does she comment on? Why she says "nice PDA" when you hand it to her. Because that's really the first thing that comes to your mind when you're faced with an armed and possibly non-friendly ninja while being held captive by men who're going to kill you.

Adverts are already making games less good. It's only going to get worse.
Quote BurningFeetMan 19th February 2007, 21:27
As much as I love all of googles services that I use daily, such as Gmail, Googlemaps, google desktop, hell just plain old google search, my game time is my game time.

I will not support any game that contains commercials of any kind, unless that game is given to the consumer, me and you, for free.
Quote Yemerich 20th February 2007, 03:23
someday they will stamp ads in our underwear...

I mean... Isn't enough the bombardment of ads you see in every corner? The ones that block our vision in the streets and roads? At least the mayor here in Sao Paulo have prohibited 90% of the outdoor ads.. It's a start...
Quote JazX101 20th February 2007, 14:26
As long as the advertising doesnt detract from the game its self, or is so invasive as to make the game unplesent to play I dont see what the problem would be. I'm sure that add-free versions will be available at a little extra cost, and that the underground community will post patches and hacks to remove them in short time.
Besides, advertising IRL is only a moderate pain in the arse, and without advert breaks, when would people use the toilet and refil their drinks.
Only downside is that advertising IRL can actually be dangerous in some circumstances. How many people have been distracted from driving by the latest WonderBra poster of some scantily clad model?? Yeah it looks good, but when you end up in the back of the car in front you wont be finding it so good. Worst that happens in the game world is you wait to re-spawn.
Jaz_knos
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