Google Spree Continues With In-Game Advertising Buy
March 19th, 2007 by pamela
Not a company for letting the company cheque book take a rest, Google has bought in-game advertising company Adscape Media, as well as online data specialists Trendalyzer in an estimated £11.8m spending spree.
Details aren’t too clear at the moment, but it is being speculated that Google will use the purchases to allow advertisers to buy online ads through Google’s system as well as ads appearing in videogames.
While in game advertising is still in its early days, a move from Google in this area could spell the start of a lucrative trade. Last year Microsoft bought Massive Inc, a rival to Adscape Media, in a $200m deal and bring some serious competition to this advertising area.
While Adscape Media’s product can insert static or dynamic ads inside games, as well as offering demographic and geographic targeting, the company is yet to secure a deal with a games publisher. In contrast, Massive Inc have deals in place with three major games publishers - UbiSoft Entertainment, THQ and Take-Two Interactive Software.
According to a report at E-consultancy, Google may be heading in the same direction as their rival, as an Adscape patent filed in 2002 describes “ a complex gaming system that sounds similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service”.
Google’s purchase of Trendalyzer, will give the company access to software that makes easy-to-understand animated presentations out of complex data, suggesting that this may be used to enhance Google Analytics reports.
