Anzu

In-game advertising is uncharted territory even for brands like Sony Electronics that consumers associate with gaming.

In-game ad platform Gadsme released a new SDK for non-Unity game engines. It’s the latest example of in-game ad platforms expanding SDK support in a quest for more premium inventory.

In-game ad platform Frameplay joins with competitors to chase scale; top-level domains become a top-level concern; and could Google be forced to open its data warehouse?

In today’s newsletter: Bidstack’s executive leadership buys the company back from investors; S4 Capital could be vulnerable to a hostile takeover; and Meta experiences yet another overspending glitch.

Given the deprecation of third-party cookies and the reemergence of contextual targeting, 2024 could be a big year for in-game ads – so long as game publishers position themselves as a source of premium inventory.

The company’s immediate plans for reinvesting its new capital include hiring more executive leadership to spearhead sales and partnerships, growing its engineering team and expanding its presence in the US and Japan.

Proving value for gamers is only one half of the equation. Advertisers won’t spend on in-game advertising unless they can measure their return on investment using the same programmatic tools they use for other media channels.

In 2022, top players in digital advertising finally started taking gaming seriously, and the groundwork was laid for programmatic in-game advertising to grow thanks to a long overdue update to the IAB’s and MRC’s in-game ad standards. The scene is also set for in-game advertising to expand into console gaming, and we might even see the debut of the first sell-side platform dedicated to gaming.

PepsiCo’s video game marketing philosophy revolves around gaining a gamer’s trust through three main methods: being authentic, adding value and creating a consistent presence in the gaming community. These priorities have helped PepsiCo integrate its family of brands into highly sought-after video game fandoms, such as Call of Duty and NBA 2K, PepsiCo’s head of esports and gaming Paul Mascali told AdExchanger.

Independent record label EMPIRE is well aware of the crossover appeal between video games and certain subgenres of music, including rap. So the label recently partnered with in-game ad platform Anzu to promote Babyface Ray’s new album, “FACE,” among young male rap fans in targeted geographic locations.