• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 17, 2020

In-game advertising got a lift Monday with the partnership of Anzu.io and MRC-accredited fraud-prevention solution Forensiq.

Anzu makes advertising accessible by integrating immersive ads into the gameplay. Forensiq will detect and score general invalid traffic (GIVT) and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across PCs, consoles, and mobile devices. Its fraud-detection technology runs on machine-learning algorithms to block fraud and keep ad inventory secure.

Itamar Benedy, CEO and Co-Founder of Anzu, acknowledged that the company has been working hard to understand and provide solutions to the pain points of advertisers and publishers through its technology.

The partnership aims to support the rise of in-game advertising. eMarketer forecast that the U.S. market for in-game advertising on all devices exceeded $3 billion in 2019, with mobile comprising the majority. Ad spend in all games grew 16% in 2019, driven by better ad technology, more free-to-play mobile games and an influx of new advertisers attracted by the relatively brand-safe environment. That number is expected to rise in 2020. 

With the rise of in-game advertising, females have begun to outnumber males in mobile and puzzle games, while the opposite is true of mobile action, racing and shooter games.

Gamers ages 21 to 35 account for 39% of the total and those ages 36 to 50 account for 33%. More than a fifth of gamers are age 50 and older, according to eMarketer.

Anzu also introduced its first ad-verification solution for 3D video gaming in July 2019 with its Cheq partnership. That partnership enable the dynamic serving of programmatic ads integrated directly into game play in hopes of providing a viewable, brand-safe and fraud-free environment.

The pilot is launched with Turner, part of AT&T’s Warner Media Group that includes HBO and Warner Bros, among the first group of advertisers serving in-game ads. The partnership introduced product placements for gamers.