Social Games as an Advertising Frontier

Good article in Mashable/Business: Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier  I do like the idea, but also think it is much harder to implement successfully than a notice-click advertising interaction.   A number of good examples and benefits are outlined ...

" ... Ad spending on social gaming increased 60% since 2009, according to eMarketer. No doubt advertisers have noticed that 56 million Americans are playing social games and that the branded virtual goods market is booming. But more than just social gaming’s growing popularity has gotten attention from advertisers. Social games also represent an environment that is largely conducive to advertising.

“Media buyers and advertisers are recognizing that this is what they want,” explained Robert Tomkinson, Playfish’s senior director of global marketing. “What they want is massive reach, they want targeting, they want performance. And you can have all of these by forming branding opportunities in the right way.” ... "