New Research Says Mobile Users Prefer In-game Ads More to Web Banners

New research conducted by Dentsu Data Labs and Adverty, one of the premier in-game ad platforms, has shown that the display advertising placed in natural contexts within games is the preferred ad format among mobile users.

The study also places ad-funded gaming as the cornerstone of consumers’ increasingly eager gaming habits. It also reveals that esports environments were up to 5× more preferable for advertising, compared with other gaming types.

Respondents of the study reported that in-game ad format offers a significantly more positive experience than web banners.

“It is clear from this research that ad-funded mobile gaming is only growing as a form of entertainment, and it is up to us to find the ad formats that work best for gamers and brands. We are not surprised by the positive reaction to advertising in natural contexts within games, and we think brands will be extremely interested to note the strong ad recall among gamers in this instance. In-game advertising offers a remarkable opportunity for brands to reach consumers at a highly engaged moment, which is why many are now starting to prioritise games and esports as the media channel for the future,” Niklas Bakos, CEO and Founder of Adverty, said.

“The research demonstrates that in-game ads are able to hold their own against traditional web advertising formats, and it is also interesting to note that they meet with a more favourable response among mobile users. With the development of this form of advertising, we would expect to see further strong evidence of the potential of in-game advertising,” Maria Sedlenieks, Insight Strategist of Dentsu Data Labs, said.