IGA to place ads directly into casual games

Casual gamers are likely to begin seeing in-game ads very soon. That is because IGA Worldwide, an in-game advertising firm, has partnered with Merscom, a publishers of several popular casual games such as Jewel Craft.

by Kristina Knight

“This agreement expands our casual game network to further enable our advertisers to reach this growing, engaged and influential audience of female gamers,” said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide.

The partnership will provide contextually and geographically targeted ads to casual games in the U.S. and Europe; the ads will be specific to each region for games available in retail and online portals.

Casual games are those that appeal to a wide audience and ease of use. According to IGA Worldwide, casual games are simple enough to be picked up in only a few minutes but challenging enough to keep gamers occupied for hours at a time. Most are targeted to women over the age of 30.

"Very little has been done within the casual gaming space,” said Lloyd S.Melnick, Chief Customer Officer at Merscom. “We are excited to partner with IGA. . .to open up casual games to advertisers throughout the world for one of the first times.”

Forecasters expect the casual gaming advertising market to reach $2 billion by 2008.