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Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

blog.betable.com

11–20 of 43 posts

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#11
Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc.

however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#12
Josh from Tap.Me here. We are taking a game design approach to solve this problem in a no-popup or banner ad way. More Google AdSense. Here is why we are doing it right: http://tap.me/wp/2011/05/game-flow-and-in-game-advertising/

We think the players should have the fun they are there to have and will appreciate it when brands add value to that experience vs. get in their way.

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#13
post #11

Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc. however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.

I don't mind the subversive TV advertisements - the can of coke in the bedroom, or the kid playing Xbox while their parents try to talk to them. What's really irritating is when the show comes to a complete halt for what amounts to a product demo (my wife watches Bones and the WP7 bits really bugged me).

Ubisoft has tried in-game advertisements with several of their Tom Clancy games, and its just about as bad. Yes, I'm going through a casino, turn a corner and there's 5 posters on the wall for Prince of Persia. Riiiiiight.

On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns. The same goes for car brands and Gran Turismo/Forza.

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#14
post #13
post #11

Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc. however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.

I don't mind the subversive TV advertisements - the can of coke in the bedroom, or the kid playing Xbox while their parents try to talk to them. What's really irritating is when the show comes to a complete halt for what amounts to a product demo (my wife watches Bones and the WP7 bits really bugged me). Ubisoft has tried in-game advertisements with several of their Tom Clancy games, and its just about as bad. Yes, I…

"On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns." haha oh wow, that's an eye-opening comment. Could be on to something

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#15
post #13
post #11

Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc. however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.

I don't mind the subversive TV advertisements - the can of coke in the bedroom, or the kid playing Xbox while their parents try to talk to them. What's really irritating is when the show comes to a complete halt for what amounts to a product demo (my wife watches Bones and the WP7 bits really bugged me). Ubisoft has tried in-game advertisements with several of their Tom Clancy games, and its just about as bad. Yes, I…

I remember at some point, Counter-Strike changed the name of most of the weapons, making them more generic/fictional. Apparently they were worried about trademark issues?

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#19
post #18

My wife stopped letting our son play Angry Birds on her phone because of the scantily clad ladies advertising "meet sexy singles in your area". When will Adblock Plus port to Android?

Sorry, but AdBlock on a game like Angry Birds IS stealing.

Rovio certainly has a lot of money, but other developers aren't so lucky -- and many are barely scraping by.

Try investing nearly $5000 and seven months of your life in developing a game that's being ad supported, where your income relies on ads, and then watch people joke about blocking them. It sucks, trust me.

Re: Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

#20

So their only solution is to move the intrusive ads to being part of achievements, and thus cheapening them in the eyes of the players? Sorry, but in my eyes, that's actually worse.

Well, that's Kiip's solution, but I think it's an elegant one. Beats pop-over ads anyway. Honestly, I think the game industry should be looking for other ways to monetize their content.

I think it's a cute idea, but honestly I don't see how it's going to fool anyone into thinking they've "won" anything.

An ad with a discount is called a coupon, and you can get piles of them from the paper on Sunday. Or from your junk mail. Or online. I don't think people will consider them to be valuable unless they're categorically better than what you find in the paper.

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