Google’s extends AdSense into video games

Posted by Sam Diaz @ 11:55 am Google has injected some legitimacy into the Web-based video game market, announcing a beta launch of AdSense for games. In-game advertising isn’t new. Many of the more popular games for the big console players have had ads embedded in them for a while. And the feedback has generally been positive because players think they make the games more realistic. Still, when a player is “driving” the course in Need for Speed and sees an ad for Burger King, no one expects the player to interrupt the game action to visit the nearest BK. But when that player does get hungry a few hours into a game, the player might suddenly find himself craving a Whopper. The thing about Google’s AdSense program is that the measurement comes in click-throughs. And it’s unclear how effective that model can be for Web-based... [read full story]