• October 3, 2005

A joint study by Nielsen Interactive Services and Israeli-based in-game advertising firm Double Fusion found that an in-game ad campaign inserted into the downloadable game "London Taxi" increased awareness of some featured products by as much as 60 percent. The study tested 900 European players of "London Taxi," a game where the player drives a taxi through London, picking up fares and making money. Double Fusion inserted ads throughout the virtual London cityscape on billboards, on the side of trucks, and in interactive elements within the game. For example, a new Procter & Gamble product, Flash Car Wash, featured prominently in the game play; after driving around, the player's cab gets dirty, but the driver is able to clean the vehicle by driving through the 3D Flash Car Wash bottles. --Shankar Gupta