Game advertising spending in the US will grow from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion in 2012, according to Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home: Game Advertising, a new report from Parks Associates.
Over that time, game advertising will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33%, much higher than that of other major advertising media, including TV, radio, print, and the internet.
“Advertising in electronic games had an average monthly household expenditure of less than 50 cents in 2006, while broadcast TV was at $37, meaning advertisers are not using the gaming medium to its full potential,” said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates. “If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers.”
In-game advertising will experience the highest growth rate among the various categories of game advertising methods forecasted, increasing from $55 million in 2006 to more than $800 million in 2012.
Specifically, dynamic in-game advertising (DIGA) in PC, console, mobile, and casual games will grow from 27% of the in-game advertising market in 2006 to 84% in 2012.
“DIGA offers several unique advantages, such as timeliness, scalability, measurability, and flexibility,” Cai said. “But the industry will also have to address several looming challenges, including lack of economy, lack of industry standards, and media fragmentation.”
Research published in April by eMarketer said that US advertisers will increase spending in video games by 45%, to $502 million (see US Video Game Adspend To Increase).
In March, the a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) said that the in-game advertising market was being hampered by the lack of research proving its efficacy (see New Report Focuses On In-Game Advertising).
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