9 ms·

Advertising in Mobile Games is Broken

44 points by rabble 15y ago

wccrawford 15y ago
So their only solution is to move the intrusive ads to being part of achievements, and thus cheapening them in the eyes of the players? Sorry, but in my eyes, that's actually worse.
- davidtyleryork 15y ago
  Well, that's Kiip's solution, but I think it's an elegant one. Beats pop-over ads anyway. Honestly, I think the game industry should be looking for other ways to monetize their content.
  - melvinng 15y ago
    I'm there are much better solutions out there, the gaming industry has always been quite good at this. Remember how we fixed pirating of games? By making levels non archievable if you are using a pirated version.
    - sukuriant 15y ago
      See, I thought companies reduced (you can't stop) piracy of games by making their content so awesome that people wanted to pay for the game. Examples include Valve and Blizzard's lineaup.
      - anonymoushn 15y ago
        Actually, Blizzard is reducing piracy by requiring you to connect to their servers to play the game and sending an army of lawyers after anyone who attempts to create their own servers. Most of the content in StarCraft II disappears the moment you aren't connected to BNet, and what was left over disappears 30 days later. Diablo 3 will not work at all unless you are connected to BNet, and WoW is an MMORPG. S2 has taken a similar approach: their game does nothing unless you can connect to their servers. I'm not sure what Valve's approach has been. Does it also involves reducing the quality of the games offered by not including LAN play?
  - SomeCallMeTim 15y ago
    I think it's a cute idea, but honestly I don't see how it's going to fool anyone into thinking they've "won" anything. An ad with a discount is called a coupon, and you can get piles of them from the paper on Sunday. Or from your junk mail. Or online. I don't think people will consider them to be valuable unless they're categorically better than what you find in the paper.
- LiveTheDream 15y ago
  It actually seems like a clever and constructive idea. Do you mean the achievements would be cheapened, or the offers?
  - wccrawford 15y ago
    Both, actually. The achievement is now seen as simply a vehicle to ram advertisements down your throat, and the offer is seen as some kind of slimy fake deal. Or maybe you haven't seen all the ads on the net where you've 'won' a discount by punching a monkey, etc?
Splines 15y ago
Probably the only way to really make ad-supported gameplay a reality would be to flip the model up-side down: Design the game around the ad itself. We've seen a few of these (the Burger King Xbox games come to mind). Some of them are actually fun to play. Unfortunately, this sort of work doesn't come cheap.
- MatthewB 15y ago
  I have to disagree with this strategy. At my company we have made a few one-off games for advertisers and it is always the same story. The advertiser loves the games but the users don't. The problem with this strategy is that if you're designing a game for an advertiser, they are the ones you have to make happy because they provide the $$$. Users will always be a second priority.
  - davidtyleryork 15y ago
    For this strategy to work, it has to fit into why the users love the brand. For instance, for Sneak King (the Burger King XBox game), the game fit in with what the brand's audience found cool and funny, and that was key to its success.
MatthewB 15y ago
There's plenty of room for innovation in the mobile game ad space. I actually do like the strategy of making the ads part of an achievement system for the game. This would work especially well for localized ads. For example, if you reach a certain level on a game, get $2 off your sandwich at Subway. This allows for brand exposure and funnels people into the physical stores.
jcfrei 15y ago
Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc. however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.
- Splines 15y ago
  I don't mind the subversive TV advertisements - the can of coke in the bedroom, or the kid playing Xbox while their parents try to talk to them. What's really irritating is when the show comes to a complete halt for what amounts to a product demo (my wife watches Bones and the WP7 bits really bugged me). Ubisoft has tried in-game advertisements with several of their Tom Clancy games, and its just about as bad. Yes, I'm going through a casino, turn a corner and there's 5 posters on the wall for Prince of Persia. Riiiiiight. On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns. The same goes for car brands and Gran Turismo/Forza.
  - davidtyleryork 15y ago
    "On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns." haha oh wow, that's an eye-opening comment. Could be on to something
  - starwed 15y ago
    I remember at some point, Counter-Strike changed the name of most of the weapons, making them more generic/fictional. Apparently they were worried about trademark issues?
TapMeJoshua 15y ago
Josh from Tap.Me here. We are taking a game design approach to solve this problem in a no-popup or banner ad way. More Google AdSense. Here is why we are doing it right: http://tap.me/wp/2011/05/game-flow-and-in-game-advertising/ http://tap.me/wp/2011/05/game-flow-and-in-game-advertising/ We think the players should have the fun they are there to have and will appreciate it when brands add value to that experience vs. get in their way.
- jff 15y ago
  An ad in the comments of an article about how annoying ads in games are. And the article itself turns out to be a sales pitch at the end. Is this... is this double-irony?
  - TapMeJoshua 15y ago
    Just letting readers know about our option in the space. There are few comments about how no one is taken an adSense approach to how in-game ads work and I wanted to let people know that we are. Yes it's ironic ;).
kleiba 15y ago
Is "...is broken" the new "...considered harmful"?
- davidtyleryork 15y ago
  There's a pretty big difference between the two. Broken means it doesn't work the way it's intended to work.
drcube 15y ago
My wife stopped letting our son play Angry Birds on her phone because of the scantily clad ladies advertising "meet sexy singles in your area". When will Adblock Plus port to Android?
- SomeCallMeTim 15y ago
  Sorry, but AdBlock on a game like Angry Birds IS stealing. Rovio certainly has a lot of money, but other developers aren't so lucky -- and many are barely scraping by. Try investing nearly $5000 and seven months of your life in developing a game that's being ad supported, where your income relies on ads, and then watch people joke about blocking them. It sucks, trust me.
  - kevinpet 15y ago
    You can argue that it's morally wrong, but it isn't stealing.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - chgriffin 15y ago
    @somecallmetim i sympathize with your frustration. What do you think the solution is? What other ways do you monetize your games?
  - svmegatron 15y ago
    I don't disagree with you, but drcube's point is a serious and valid one. It also smells like an opportunity for devs and/or ad networks to provide much better targeting. Ad-supported games for kids should be able to get kid-appropriate ads if the developer or the parent so choose. I haven't done enough ad-supported game development to know if that kind of thing is currently possible, but its something I would look into if a 5 year old were using my ipod regularly.
chgriffin 15y ago
Strange to me that people are talking about better ways to serve ads in games and apps instead of alternative revenue streams to ads. Ads suck no matter how you position them in your app.
sscheper 15y ago
I don't get why it's broken? Any numbers/data to share? Why does Angry Birds contain ads if they're broken? Honestly, not trying to be a dick, just trying to understand the problem.
- TapMeJoshua 15y ago
  These guys make plenty of cash with those ads. The bigger problem is that it is one of the only options they have and it comes with the price tag of some users complaining about the experience.

44 points by rabble 15y ago

So their only solution is to move the intrusive ads to being part of achievements, and thus cheapening them in the eyes of the players? Sorry, but in my eyes, that's actually worse.

davidtyleryork 15y ago
Well, that's Kiip's solution, but I think it's an elegant one. Beats pop-over ads anyway. Honestly, I think the game industry should be looking for other ways to monetize their content.
- melvinng 15y ago
  I'm there are much better solutions out there, the gaming industry has always been quite good at this. Remember how we fixed pirating of games? By making levels non archievable if you are using a pirated version.
  - sukuriant 15y ago
    See, I thought companies reduced (you can't stop) piracy of games by making their content so awesome that people wanted to pay for the game. Examples include Valve and Blizzard's lineaup.
    - anonymoushn 15y ago
      Actually, Blizzard is reducing piracy by requiring you to connect to their servers to play the game and sending an army of lawyers after anyone who attempts to create their own servers. Most of the content in StarCraft II disappears the moment you aren't connected to BNet, and what was left over disappears 30 days later. Diablo 3 will not work at all unless you are connected to BNet, and WoW is an MMORPG. S2 has taken a similar approach: their game does nothing unless you can connect to their servers. I'm not sure what Valve's approach has been. Does it also involves reducing the quality of the games offered by not including LAN play?
- SomeCallMeTim 15y ago
  I think it's a cute idea, but honestly I don't see how it's going to fool anyone into thinking they've "won" anything. An ad with a discount is called a coupon, and you can get piles of them from the paper on Sunday. Or from your junk mail. Or online. I don't think people will consider them to be valuable unless they're categorically better than what you find in the paper.
LiveTheDream 15y ago
It actually seems like a clever and constructive idea. Do you mean the achievements would be cheapened, or the offers?
- wccrawford 15y ago
  Both, actually. The achievement is now seen as simply a vehicle to ram advertisements down your throat, and the offer is seen as some kind of slimy fake deal. Or maybe you haven't seen all the ads on the net where you've 'won' a discount by punching a monkey, etc?

Splines 15y ago

Probably the only way to really make ad-supported gameplay a reality would be to flip the model up-side down: Design the game around the ad itself. We've seen a few of these (the Burger King Xbox games come to mind). Some of them are actually fun to play. Unfortunately, this sort of work doesn't come cheap.

MatthewB 15y ago
I have to disagree with this strategy. At my company we have made a few one-off games for advertisers and it is always the same story. The advertiser loves the games but the users don't. The problem with this strategy is that if you're designing a game for an advertiser, they are the ones you have to make happy because they provide the $$$. Users will always be a second priority.
- davidtyleryork 15y ago
  For this strategy to work, it has to fit into why the users love the brand. For instance, for Sneak King (the Burger King XBox game), the game fit in with what the brand's audience found cool and funny, and that was key to its success.

MatthewB 15y ago

There's plenty of room for innovation in the mobile game ad space. I actually do like the strategy of making the ads part of an achievement system for the game. This would work especially well for localized ads. For example, if you reach a certain level on a game, get $2 off your sandwich at Subway. This allows for brand exposure and funnels people into the physical stores.

jcfrei 15y ago

Frankly I don't really see why the article focused on mobile games. The argument against in-game ads being distractions can be applied to advertising in general: billboards on the highway, commercials during tv shows, newspapers filled with page long ads, etc. however kipp does sound like a good idea - but it might require heavy changes from developers to their game mechanics.

Splines 15y ago
I don't mind the subversive TV advertisements - the can of coke in the bedroom, or the kid playing Xbox while their parents try to talk to them. What's really irritating is when the show comes to a complete halt for what amounts to a product demo (my wife watches Bones and the WP7 bits really bugged me). Ubisoft has tried in-game advertisements with several of their Tom Clancy games, and its just about as bad. Yes, I'm going through a casino, turn a corner and there's 5 posters on the wall for Prince of Persia. Riiiiiight. On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns. The same goes for car brands and Gran Turismo/Forza.
- davidtyleryork 15y ago
  "On the flip-side, I wonder if gun makers have any sort of deals with developers - any teenage boy can probably rattle off the names of 10 different machine guns." haha oh wow, that's an eye-opening comment. Could be on to something
- starwed 15y ago
  I remember at some point, Counter-Strike changed the name of most of the weapons, making them more generic/fictional. Apparently they were worried about trademark issues?

TapMeJoshua 15y ago

Josh from Tap.Me here. We are taking a game design approach to solve this problem in a no-popup or banner ad way. More Google AdSense. Here is why we are doing it right: http://tap.me/wp/2011/05/game-flow-and-in-game-advertising/ http://tap.me/wp/2011/05/game-flow-and-in-game-advertising/ We think the players should have the fun they are there to have and will appreciate it when brands add value to that experience vs. get in their way.

jff 15y ago
An ad in the comments of an article about how annoying ads in games are. And the article itself turns out to be a sales pitch at the end. Is this... is this double-irony?
- TapMeJoshua 15y ago
  Just letting readers know about our option in the space. There are few comments about how no one is taken an adSense approach to how in-game ads work and I wanted to let people know that we are. Yes it's ironic ;).

kleiba 15y ago

Is "...is broken" the new "...considered harmful"?

davidtyleryork 15y ago
There's a pretty big difference between the two. Broken means it doesn't work the way it's intended to work.

drcube 15y ago

My wife stopped letting our son play Angry Birds on her phone because of the scantily clad ladies advertising "meet sexy singles in your area". When will Adblock Plus port to Android?

SomeCallMeTim 15y ago
Sorry, but AdBlock on a game like Angry Birds IS stealing. Rovio certainly has a lot of money, but other developers aren't so lucky -- and many are barely scraping by. Try investing nearly $5000 and seven months of your life in developing a game that's being ad supported, where your income relies on ads, and then watch people joke about blocking them. It sucks, trust me.
- kevinpet 15y ago
  You can argue that it's morally wrong, but it isn't stealing.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- chgriffin 15y ago
  @somecallmetim i sympathize with your frustration. What do you think the solution is? What other ways do you monetize your games?
- svmegatron 15y ago
  I don't disagree with you, but drcube's point is a serious and valid one. It also smells like an opportunity for devs and/or ad networks to provide much better targeting. Ad-supported games for kids should be able to get kid-appropriate ads if the developer or the parent so choose. I haven't done enough ad-supported game development to know if that kind of thing is currently possible, but its something I would look into if a 5 year old were using my ipod regularly.

chgriffin 15y ago

Strange to me that people are talking about better ways to serve ads in games and apps instead of alternative revenue streams to ads. Ads suck no matter how you position them in your app.

sscheper 15y ago

I don't get why it's broken? Any numbers/data to share? Why does Angry Birds contain ads if they're broken? Honestly, not trying to be a dick, just trying to understand the problem.

TapMeJoshua 15y ago
These guys make plenty of cash with those ads. The bigger problem is that it is one of the only options they have and it comes with the price tag of some users complaining about the experience.