(Reuters) – Google Inc on Wednesday launched technology to insert advertisements into online video games and boost revenue from the booming gaming sector.
The software, called AdSense for Games, is in beta testing and allows video, image or text advertisements to placed at the start, end or change of level in an online game.
The advertisers are charged on a cost-per-impression or cost-per-click basis with revenue being split between Google and game developers or publishers, it said in a statement.
Google is adding click-to-buy links to its YouTube video-sharing site. The new feature will let customers purchase songs and video games they like while watching videos on the site.
Google calls it instant gratification. Click-to-buy links, the company said, are non-obtrusive retail links positioned on the watch page beneath the video with other community features. That means users can buy products the same way they share, comment on, and respond to videos.
Google’s first step is to embed iTunes and Amazon links in videos from companies like EMI Music, and provide Amazon product links to the newly released video game Spore on videos from Electronic Arts.
Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download contain TryMedia Adware (According to McAfee SiteAdvisor). Yahoo! Games also includes Yahoo! Video Games, which provides news, previews and reviews of currently available or upcoming First Party games–and Yahoo! Games on Demand–which provides free demos and full-size downloads of full PC games for a charge.
