• WSJ (paid subscription required), Monday, December 5, 2005 11:32 AM

Good news for marketers trying to reach young men: gamers like ads. New research from Nielsen Entertainment on the effectiveness of advertising placed in video games shows that a majority of gamers said relevant advertising actually enhances the realism of games. The news is expected to increase the marketing industry's interest in using video games as an advertising medium, especially since new technological advancements are making game audiences more measurable than ever before. Marketers also like video game advertising because the medium allows them to easily place their products into the action on the screen rather than running a traditional-style TV commercial. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, a game publisher that funded the research, says the company hopes to use data from the study to develop a "rate card" for game advertising--a more systematic approach to charging for various levels of promotions in games, including everything from the billboards that users zip by on virtual ski slopes to branded vehicles they hop into on the lam from the police.

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