When Gaming Meets Advertising

Ad Age has an interesting piece on Nolan Bushnell and his views on how gaming and advertising can work together. Bushnell founded Atari and now thinks there’s an opportunity for advertisers to work with casual-game makers.

“We know no one is TiVoing through our ads, and we know they’re not taking bathroom breaks because there’s not enough time,” Mr. Bushnell said. “When you’re looking down the barrel of six ads on TV, there’s a lot of stuff you can do in that amount of time.”

Mr. Bushnell serves as the chairman of the board for NeoEdge, which created the NeoArm ad-enabling technology and the NeoAds advertising network. The company just signed a deal with Yahoo Games to support its casual-game offerings to sell and integrate pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads into Yahoo’s casual-games catalog beginning this summer.

By the end of the year, NeoEdge, which is working in tandem with in-game advertising firm Double Fusion, will have more than 400 free downloadable ad-supported games from over 30 publishers on the Yahoo Games site. There are currently more than 18 million casual gamers on Yahoo, which has been the No. 1 destination for casual games for 50 straight weeks.

NeoEdge allows any game to become ad-enabled without touching the core source code, which opens up any gaming experience to advertisers interested in Yahoo’s “mass-casual gaming demographic,” which Kyle Laughlin, head of Yahoo Games, said is 60% female with an age range of 25 to 54. These consumers spend about 160 minutes a month playing casual games. In addition, these casual gamers are accountable for 86% of all household purchases.

Atari Creator Says Games Fertile Ground for Marketers - Advertising Age - Madison+Vine: News