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Cadillac Invades Xbox Live As First-Ever Advertiser

General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac brand has become the first advertiser to establish a presence on Xbox Live, the broadband network from Microsoft that lets video gamers play each other online. The automaker is expected to announce this week that it will incorporate some of its cars in the Xbox 360 game, Project Gotham Racing 3. It appears that the deal is going to be the first of many, which means that Xbox Live is losing its status as one of the few online locations not to be used as an advertising outlet. Kevin Browne, Microsoft's general manager for Xbox new media and franchise development, said that the company expected to announce between 10 and 20 such deals over the next year. "It's another model to distribute advertising," said Michael Goodman, a senior analyst at the Yankee Group. He said that the market for advertising in video games was $56 million in 2005, a number he expected to triple this year.

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