Gamertell

FROM GADGETELL - The US has been having tough times lately on Wall Street.  Meanwhile, it’s rumored that the “tech giants” may not be following suit (that’s a good thing).  Google, Microsoft, and IBM are expected to report their second quarter (Q2) 2008 earnings later today… MORE »

Google is everywhere, and it is only growing. Its next step is video game consoles/handhelds - but wait! It’s already on its way! The official Playstation.Blog has announced that version 4.00 of the PSP firmware is on the way, and it will include a Google internet search option in the XrossMediaBar (XMB).

So if you want to search for or see a webpage, you won’t have to go to the PSP browser and type in “www.google.com” or whatever the web address is. You can just go to the Google Search icon, type in what you want to find and then search. For people who absolutely hate having to type in web addresses in the PSP’s browser, this new addition will make things marginally easier. It also remembers your last 20 searches, so you can search through those instead of re-entering information.

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On January 30, 2008, Microsoft offered Yahoo Inc. $44.6 billion to merge both internet companies according to a story published in Reuters.

By merging, the businesses will be able to compete with the current popular web company Google Inc. According to Game Daily writer James Brightman, this would be the biggest merger since Time Warner Cable and America Online in 2000.

Apparently, Microsoft offered Yahoo $31 per share in cash and stock, which means that in return, Yahoo would agree to allow Microsoft to dominate the banner ads often used by corporate brand advertisements, which are known to attract up to 500 million visitors to the site. Yahoo and Microsoft are popularly used for their headline and financial news, sports and entertainment; but as far as a search engine, more people use Google.

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Google announced yesterday (July 18, 2007) that it plans to market advertisement space in web based games and later on in PC and console based games. The announcement was part of this week’s Casual Connect game convention in Seattle. Google also put to rest rumors that they would be entering into any other sector of the video game industry. The in-game advertising will be handled by the company recently acquired by Google, Adscape Media.

I won’t beat around the bush here - I think this is a terrible idea. Advertising is what ruined radio and now it looks like…

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Soon after acquiring advertising company Adscape Media, Google filed a patent for in-game advertising. The process specified is, roughly, the same Google uses on its web site. They take players in-game choices and serves in-game ads according to those choices. Pick a yellow Hummer to drive in a race and you can expect to see an ad featuring a sponsor’s yellow truck later in the game.

From Google’s press release:

“As more and more people spend time playing video games, we think we can create opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences while maintaining a high quality, engaging user experience.”

In addition to the basic visual annoyance of ads - and that it often does not help reduce the retail price of a game - are potential privacy issues regarding information gathered about gamers and given to advertisers.

From Tech Guardians article:

“Publishers are becoming more like media companies,” said Justin Townsend, the chief executive of IGA, an in-game advertising company. “More games are being optimized for advertising.” But he said that privacy concerns should be paramount. “Both consumers, publishers and the advertising industry are very aware of privacy issues,” he said. “You cannot afford to be vague in these areas.”

Posted on Adscape media’s home page is this line:

“In-game advertising is an area where we believe Google could add a lot of value to users, advertisers and publishers.”

I’m not certain how it will help users but so far is sure is helping other companies. Google’s deal with Adscape is rumored to have been around $23 million and previously purchased Massive, Inc, another video game ad company, for $200 million.

I also didn’t think getting patent on in-game ads was possible if it’s already become common practice for several companies. I guess it’s simply a matter of who - or which company - files first. What’s next, patents on product placement in video games (and movies and music videos and...)

Read [Tech Guardian] via [Daily Tech] Site [Adscape Media] Also Read [Shack News] Read [Patent]