In-game ad pioneer says in-game ads are a mistake
As one of the pioneers of in-game advertising, you would think Alex St. John had better things to say about this method of revenue. But the Wild Tangent founder and CEO says that in-game ads are "not a very effective way because you've got to plumb the game, you've got an unproven method of measuring the value of that ad, that unit is not trackable."
As an alternative, St. John states his company's revelation on effective advertising income. Simply give the players the option to see advertising videos in loading screens, thereby granting them free or discounted prices on their gameplay. It follows the same logic as those free forums that say "Click here to remove ads". It boils down to either you pay to support the game, or you sit through a commercial so a big-name company can pay to support the game. Wild Tangent's ad revenues skyrocketed 400 percent in 2007 when they switched over to this method, and Mr. St. John swears by it.
