• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 22, 2011

Tap.Me is building a series of tools that will allow advertising and media buyers to buy time in games similar to the way they buy ads in TV and digital. The tools will support the company's game platform and network that allows brands to interact with players through ads and sponsored content.

Tap.me developers designed a software code that game developers use to create sponsored content. Specific goals are set, such as for each hour of game play the player gets a reward redeemable for something free. Companies like Red Bull might sponsor a segment dubbed "endurance," for example.

A media buyer at a large company, such as Procter & Gamble, will give "experimental" budgets to Tap Me, "but how do we get them to integrate video games into their plan?" asks Josh Hernandez, CEO of Tap.Me. "We can't do it without tools," he said.

Performance metrics are available to advertisers, along with data from comScore. The new tools will give buyers insight into forthcoming games, genres, suggested performance-related platforms that would complement specific products and services and specific demographic for the games.

Hernandez said Tap.Me offers 16 games today, with 30 more in the next three months. About 200 developers support games, from casual to adventure. Ad services in the games range from sponsored to engagement to social.

The tools measure engagements, impressions and length of time game players remain with a specific sponsor. Unique engagement rates range from 10% to 15%, meaning the percentage of time a consumer will stop and interact with a brand given the opportunity.

The brand can issue challenges around game play. McDonald's might ask consumers to check in to gain an extra life, or Red Box will ask players to tweet on Twitter about their favorite movie.

Consumers want games available everywhere. About 60% play a video game online on a computer weekly, and Gen Yers are increasingly accessing games via mobile devices -- about 48% weekly, according to Forrester Research Analyst Elizabeth Shaw.

Media buyers don't often address campaigns in games. Remove texting and calling from the most used feature on a smartphone, and video games become one of the biggest activities on mobile. Data from Flurry suggests people spend about half of the 81 minutes daily on apps in games. About 92% of smartphone owners play at least one game per week, according to eMarketer.