Adverts in games (was RE: [MUD-Dev] Habbo Hotel...)

[Brian Hook]

At 03:21 PM 3/15/01 -0800, Mike Sellers wrote:

> Online advertising has been in the process of tanking big time for
> over a year.  If people can't get companies to pay more than a
> pittance for focused banner ads, why would they pay significant
> amounts at all for less-focused ads that get orders of magnitude
> less traffic?

I don't think comparing focused banner ads with billboards in-game is
really the right way to do it.  Last I heard EQ has like 80K users
playing every night (well, more than that, since that's a peak
simultaneous number).  No, not huge compared to Survivor ratings, but
definitely a very, very focused group of players.  Same thing with
Counter Strike (maybe even moreso).  And that's a very specific
demographic that's being hit, every night.

If you can non-intrusively place advertising in an environment where
it makes sense (Nike ads may not make sense in Norrath, but they
wouldn't entirely be out of place in The Sims On-line).

> from players, they just weaken their own product (think about it:
> how many billboard companies do you know offhand?).

How many people today know the Pan-Am logo even though they were born
after Pan-Am folded?  Thank you, Bladerunner.  If they could
retroactively resell that one imprint that is targeted at a very
specific techno-nerdy demographic...

> Advertising in games may happen one day, but not for a long time I
> think.

As a pure form of revenue, sure, it may not be happening any time
soon.  But as a form of ancillary revenue, I think it could make a
company a good chunk of money.  If it's thrown up during a patch or
download process, or possibly put in the town square in an appropriate
setting, then I don't see players bitching (at least, any more than
they normally do).

Brian Hook

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev