• by Shankar Gupta , January 16, 2007

In-game advertising network IGA Worldwide has upgraded its ad-serving platform to support ads in flash-based games and also offer new tracking and targeting controls.

With the revamp, IGA will be able to branch out from PC-based games and serve ads into other platforms, said Ed Bartlett, IGA's vice president of publisher relations. "One thing we've done here is really set up the system now to work on multiple platforms," he said. "We're also looking to the future, to mobile, and to consoles."

All future titles that include IGA ads will use the new platform, Bartlett said. Some of the upcoming games that will launch with the revamped ad-serving technology include Test Drive: Unlimited from Atari and Colin McRae Rally from Codemasters.

The new targeting controls include geo-targeting down to the city level, while the tracking controls allow for tracking of static in-game ads--such as product placement hard-coded into the games. "Even with dynamic ads, there'll always be an element of static placements," Bartlett said. "We want to measure those placements, even though they may not be dynamically changeable."

The company will also upgrade the ad software in previously released titles to ensure that the ads served into those games are up-to-date.