In-Game Advertising

In-game advertising offers programmatic and direct buying opportunities for non-intrusive communications from brands through the medium of gaming. It is no overstatement to say that this format represents an undiscovered frontier in the media world, with creativity and immersion at its core.
The essence of in-game advertising is the ability for brands to blend seamlessly into the gameplay experience by inserting messaging, creative or content for gamers to enjoy.

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WHY IN-GAME ADS

Gaming is one of the largest entertainment channels; its reach rivalled only by social media. It has grown exponentially since 2020, especially during the lockdowns. Yet advertising spend across the medium is relatively rare. This is primarily down to a lack of awareness of the opportunities that are available to marketers and it means that in-game advertising represents a massive opportunity for early adopters.

In gaming, advertisers can get extremely close to the end consumer. There aren’t many media that offer such an intimate and personal experience. Gamers are fully immersed; often involved in long gameplay sessions with extremely high attention levels. The more engaged and entertained they are by the content, the more willing they are to spend time, as well as money.

3.24B

gamers exist worldwide

(Statista, 2021)

$14B

global in-game ad revenue by 2028

(Research Dive, 2022)

93%

of global media buyers intent to run in-game ads by 2025

(Admix & Atomik Research, 2021)

In-game advertising offers vast scale and unique data points on potential audiences, making it a highly effective advertising format that gives brands unique opportunities to reach engaged users. There are two key factors to consider when it comes to in-game ads:

01. Cookieless ready

Games for console and desktop are not built in HTML and therefore cookies are not available. This means the format is fully proofed towards the phase-out of third-party cookies.

02. 100% non-intrusive

Many in-game ad formats do not provide a traditional click-out (CTA). This is a necessary requirement as ads seek to be part of the gaming environment without disrupting the user experience.

IAB EMBRACES GAMING

As the gaming ad market continues to grow rapidly and demand for innovative new formats intensifies, IAB has worked with its members and industry partners from the UK, Europe and US to create a unified advertising framework for gaming and esports. IAB's aim is that the Gaming & Esports Advertising Framework will enable further growth of the gaming ad market in a sustainable and efficient way, ensuring that key terms are standardized and that there is shared understanding within the industry.

Gaming and Esports
Advertising Framework

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WHY ACROSSMEDIA241

Acrossmedia241 is the first company in Greece & Cyprus to work directly (based on official agreements) with the most prestigious global in-game ad platforms/inventories. Thus, we have developed solid know-how of the in-game ecosystem, while we can provide our clients with exclusive (non-programmatic) premium formats/placements and branded in-game events.

What's more, leveraging Yahoo DSP (voted as best global DSP), we have set up exclusive programmatic deals with all our in-game ad partners, making it easier than ever to run targeted campaigns, utilizing the maximum available inventory in Greece & Cyprus.

CASE STUDY: COSMOTE WHAT'S UP

Acrossmedia241 was the first agency in Greece to run an integrated in-game ad campaign for Cosmote What's Up, leveraging both direct and programmatic buying through its global partners (Admix, Adverty, Bidstack, Frameplay) and Yahoo DSP, respectively. Thus, we've had the chance to maximize reach, while running a mix of in-game display ads via numerous brand-safe games.