Advertising
Google Buys Gamevertising Startup Adscape
Coming soon: in-game AdSense. After Microsoft bought gamevertising company Massive last year, I figured it wouldn’t be long before Google followed suit.
Following a Wall Street Journal report that surfaced late last month, industry sources have confirmed that Google has indeed entered the in-game advertising space. According to business publication Red Herring, Google has reached an agreement to purchase Adscape Media for a cool $23 million.
Adscape, a company that officially launched in February of last year, hasn’t firmly established its position in the in-game advertising market and the company has not gotten the kind of attention that Massive, IGA or Double Fusion have received, but what Adscape does give Google is some interesting technology patents. And with Google’s vast resources, the company could no doubt leverage the in-game ad tech to eventually gain a solid foothold in the space.
William Slawski lists those interesting technology patents here. Adscape’s lack of existing advertiser relationships shouldn’t be a problem, thanks to AdWords’ massive roster of advertisers. Since we’re at the start of an online advertising boom right now, expect to see more free ad-supported games in the years to come.
Despite having the biggest game portal among the Big Three, Yahoo is running late to the gamevertising game. Google’s purchase should be a wake-up call to them.
Ask a Ninja Seals $300K Ad Deal
Ninja marketing continues to pay off. Comedy video podcast Ask a Ninja just signed a $300,000 ad deal with Federated Media.
Kent Nichols, Douglas Sarine, and the Ninja have announced that they’ve signed a major ad deal.
“We have signed with Federated Media to handle all of our advertising,†they note. “We’re really excited to be working with John Battelle and the crew over there. They’ve got a great track record and really seem to be author friendly. Most importantly we will still be able to advertise in a way that doesn’t interfere with our show.â€
While they don’t mention numbers, others are reporting the deal to be worth $300k upfront, plus 60% of revenue.
Wonder how much money the Ninja will make from YouTube’s upcoming ad platform.
(Via Robert Scoble.)
