Online Gaming In America Climbs 27 Percent In 2008
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"It appears that online, ad-supported gaming is one of the activities that has benefited during this economic downturn," said Edward Hunter, comScore director of gaming solutions. "Not only have consumers turned to outlets such as gaming to take their minds off the economy, but as they curtail their discretionary gaming-related purchases they are turning to free alternatives."
Although advertising has seen some tough times, the online gaming category has fared well with ads. From November 2007 to November 2008, the total number of display ad views in the online gaming category grew 29 percent to 8.6 billion, comScore said. This, of course, was attributable to the surge in visitors to the category (up 30 percent). "The growth in display ads in the online gaming category not only underscores the assertion that gamers are increasingly accepting of ad-supported games, but also that the advertising community is recognizing the value of this highly engaged audience," added Hunter. "It is also likely that the advertising agency community will begin to demand more evaluations of campaign effectiveness in this space as spend and impressions continue to rise." |
