Ads in Games Found Effective

Ads in video games can have a major influence on whether people buy products and recommend them to friends, a new study by Nielsen Entertainment concludes.

Nielsen has been studying advertising in games for more than a year in a joint project with game publisher Activision Inc.

Previous studies have shown that static ads in games, such as a billboard or blimp, or integrated advertising, such as a car a player must drive, can improve awareness of a brand in the same way as a 30-second TV spot. But the new study released Monday shows that when ads are on screen long enough and are highly integrated into the game, they can make players feel more positive about a product.

“There’s a whole new variable here,” Nielsen Senior Vice President Michael Dowling said about the persuasive aspect of in-game advertising.

In “Need for Speed Underground 2,” published by Electronics Arts Inc., players receive on-screen text messages sponsored by Cingular Wireless. The ad appears about 25 times during the course of the game and remains on screen an average of 25 seconds each time.

Game publishers have been trying to find a standard measurement of awareness so they can charge in the same way that TV and other advertising is sold.

Nielsen’s study included 1,350 male gamers ages 13 to 44. The participants were split into four groups that played games with ads and two groups that played the same games without ads. Three other groups watched TV shows, some with traditional ads, some with product placements and some with no advertising.

The study found that when ads were relevant to the game, the ads could remain on screen longer and resulted in a high percentage of brand awareness. Players surveyed after 20 minutes of game playing also said they would be highly likely to recommend an advertised product to a friend.