Tag: In-game ads

California, USA – Popular sandbox game Roblox has teamed up with PubMatic to offer immersive programmatic video advertising in its platform. The partnership will allow more brands to seamlessly reach Roblox’s global community of over 71 million daily active users, nearly half of them representing the highly coveted Gen Z demographic, while Roblox will gain scaled access to premium brand advertising demand.

With one of the most robust virtual economies in the world, the expansion of Roblox’s advertising business will enable seamless access to this community and allow brands to activate on the platform without creating custom-built content.

Like all advertising on Roblox, programmatic ads must comply with the platform’s Community Standards and Advertising Standards grounded in principles of making advertising safe, transparent, and respectful of people’s privacy while still creating opportunities for the community to innovate, engage and earn. 

This also means Roblox users will know when they are interacting with ad content, and ads will continue to only be served to people ages 13 and up.

Stephanie Latham, VP of global partnerships at Roblox, said, “We are committed to making it easier for brands to foster connections with our highly engaged community on Roblox. Partnering with PubMatic unlocks the opportunity for more advertisers to seamlessly engage this community through preferred content formats, like video, while providing advertiser controls around brand suitability. The ad experience we offer on the platform is built to be immersive instead of disruptive, and true to the Roblox experience that our community of creators, users, and brands know and love.”

Meanwhile, Kyle Dozeman, chief revenue officer for Americas at PubMatic, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Roblox to deliver a pioneering advertising solution that marries monetization with user experience. Advertising creates significant opportunities for many companies, and it funds and fuels the endless potential of the internet. We look forward to empowering Roblox to maintain full control over its advertising ecosystem while enabling advertisers to reach their target audiences effectively.”

Singapore – Global leader in digital media quality Integral Ad Science (IAS) has announced its first-to-market partnership with in-game advertising platform Gadsme.

With the partnership, IAS will help verify Gadsme’s ad inventory globally. It will also provide marketers with third-party viewability and invalid traffic measurement (IVT) through the IAS Signal platform.

IAS’ solution will be enabling marketers to validate that impressions are fraud-free, verify that their campaigns reach real people, and equip them with important campaign insights. These media quality measurements are reported through the IAS Signal platform, including mobile and web browsing campaigns.

Tom Sharma, chief product officer of IAS, shared his excitement over the partnership that will further develop campaign measurability and performance in gaming environments.

“This partnership creates a new level of transparency for marketers and will ensure confidence that they are engaging real users and driving outcomes,” he added. 

Simon Spaull, chief revenue officer and co-founder at Gadsme, also commented, “This announcement further solidifies Gadsme as a transformative tech leader for the gaming ad industry specifically in 3D environments. Gadsme’s non-intrusive video, display, and audio ad formats enable publishers to monetize their games without interrupting a player’s experience.”

He also added that the solution is advantageous to global brands and helps advertisers reach their target audience in a safe and ideal environment. 

IAS has also previously partnered with in-game advertising platform Anzu to provide media measurement for in-game ads.

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising solution Anzu and Oracle Moat, a measurement and marketing analytics suite that is part of Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience (CX), have announced the launch of its first-to-market viewability measurement for in-game ads. 

This means advertisers working with Anzu have access to third-party viewability verifications and in-view metrics by Oracle Moat when running in-game ads, either direct or programmatically, on mobile and PC.

The in-view ad impressions within in-game take into consideration the percentage of the creative on-screen, the ad size, time in view, and the angle of the ad to ensure a robust and accurate measurement is made. 

Moreover, these metrics are also available globally, no matter where advertisers are running their campaigns from. In addition to in-view metrics, Oracle Moat will also continue to verify impressions delivery and detect invalid traffic (IVT) across Anzu’s in-game banner and video ad formats.

Ben Fenster, chief product officer at Anzu said, “Providing third-party measurement is essential to building effective media strategies, industry confidence, and wider adoption of in-game advertising, helping to establish it as an ad category. We’re excited to be the first to bring Oracle Moat’s viewability measurement for in-game ads to advertisers, and we look forward to helping them establish clear benchmarks when it comes to viewability so they can see how their in-game campaign performance compares to other channels.”

Meanwhile, Mark Kopera, head of product at Oracle Moat added, “As advertisers continue to invest in in-game advertising, it’s crucial that they can measure key viewability metrics, like the percentage of an ad that appeared on-screen, time in-view, and more. By expanding our collaboration with Anzu, we’re able to give advertisers the measurement tools they need to make more informed buying decisions to reach these highly engaged audiences across gaming environments.”

Australia – In-game advertising platform Anzu has partnered with global gametech company Livewire to help APAC advertisers reach Roblox players through blended in-game ad placements.

Roblox is a global metaverse where players gather to create, share, and play together in immersive worlds. Currently, the platform has over 40 million games covering every genre imaginable.

The partnership will allow advertisers to run non-disruptive ads within many of Roblox’s most popular titles, namely All Star Tower Defense, Speed Run 4, Wacky Wizards, and Weight Lifting Simulator. Advertisers working with Anzu also benefit from guaranteed viewable impressions, brand safety, detailed campaign reporting, and brand lift measurement. 

According to Top Down Games, the studio behind Roblox hit ‘All Star Tower Defense’ which is one of Roblox’s most-played titles, Anzu’s solution allows brands to become part of the game, with their ads appearing on in-game objects that naturally feel part of the gameplay. At the same time, they can reach millions of players within an environment where they are fully engaged and feel comfortable.

Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, Livewire’s co-founders, commented that they are thrilled to partner with Anzu and extremely excited to bring the Roblox platform exclusively to marketers and agencies in APAC. 

“Livewire’s vision to be the leading gaming marketing and gametech company takes another leap forward with the immersive virtual world of Roblox. The platform is also fully GDPR and COPPA compliant highlighting their dedication to kidsafe gaming,” said Khabra and Manuel. 

Itamar Benedy, Anzu’s co-founder and CEO, noted that some of the world’s biggest brands are using Roblox’s popularity and global reach to access previously hard-to-reach audiences, who are increasingly spending more time on the platform. 

“Thanks to our exclusive partnership with Livewire, advertisers in APAC can now reach an engaged and diverse audience through our non-disruptive in-game ads that add to the gameplay, making experiences more realistic,” said Benedy.

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising platform Anzu and video gaming giant Ubisoft have extended their partnership following the success of dynamic ads being integrated to Ubisoft’s games, namely racing title Trackmania and sandbox MMO Growtopia.

The in-game advertising integration by Ubisoft started out in 2021, which blended into the gaming environment, appearing on 3D objects like roadside billboards and banners. Since then, Anzu has brought several big-name brands into the titles, including Samsung, Microsoft, American Eagle, and Vodafone.

Said integration premiered as part of the DIGI1 by Gamevention online gaming convention. During a 30-minute live stream, four streamers participated in the first-ever worldwide multiplayer streaming session of the yet-to-be-released, new version of Trackmania, complete with the blended in-game Vodafone banner ads powered by Anzu technology.

Itamar Benedy, CEO at Anzu, said that they are thrilled about extending their partnership, adding that they look forward to bringing their blended in-game ads to more of Ubisoft’s premium titles.

“We’ve been on an incredible journey with Ubisoft. They were one of the first big studios to work with us on our PC offering after identifying an opportunity to offer Trackmania fans a popular title, with in-game ads that not only compliment the gameplay but make it more realistic,” Benedy said.

Anzu has worked with several entities in the past year to extend their in-game advertising offering, including Saber Interactive, Roblox, and Eskimi.

Tel Aviv, Israel – Global in-game advertising platform Anzu and cybersecurity company HUMAN, formerly White Ops, have announced a new partnership, with the objective of safeguarding the in-game advertising space by detecting invalid traffic (IVT), general invalid traffic (GIVT), and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) among Anzu’s programmatic gaming inventory across mobile and PC.

By leveraging HUMAN’s pre-bid and post-bid solutions, MediaGuard, Anzu ensures that campaigns run across its inventory retain low fraud levels, allowing them to continue to harbor a safe space where both advertisers and publishers can feel confident working together to effectively reach gamers around the world.

Part of the inspiration between the partnership can be traced back to the fact that losses due to ad fraud are expected to continue to cost the industry billions of dollars each year, and sophisticated bots pose a significantly increasing threat to the gaming world.

For Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO at Anzu, he states that the company remains committed to making advertising in games better and putting ad quality at the heart of everything they do, adding that they aim at bringing in digital standards in-game and partnering with the industry leaders that advertisers know and trust.

“We continue to partner with the world’s brand safety, transparency, measurement, and data privacy leaders to ensure our clients can measure media value across channels and build their media strategy accordingly. This new partnership with HUMAN will take our commitment to create a brand-safe, fraud-free ecosystem to the next level,” Benedy stated.

Furthermore, said partnership ensures that customers and partners will be protected from emerging forms of in-game SIVT-background ad activity, hidden ads, misrepresentation/spoofing, measurement manipulation and more, while guaranteeing always-on filtering and measurement across the platform.

“Anzu ensures gamers can play without interruption while enabling brands to enter into a trusted marketplace that is native, creative and dynamically updateable. This forward-looking partnership with HUMAN will strengthen our ability to fight sophisticated cybercrime while ensuring a seamless user experience across the advanced in-game advertising platform,” says Tamer Hassan, co-founder and CEO at HUMAN.

HUMAN achieves the scale of ad verification through its continued expansion in cybersecurity, now offering a suite of products to protect the complete digital customer journey: BotGuard for Applications, BotGuard for Growth Marketing and MediaGuard. With new partners and enterprises now able to leverage one of its products, Human Verification Engine™, comes an even deeper understanding of the cybercrime landscape, enabling HUMAN to adapt continuously, staying ahead of adversaries and offering their clients collective protection against threat models they have yet to encounter.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – SHAREit Group, the global internet technology company, mainly dedicated to mobile internet application development and digital services, is set to bolster its business in the Bangladesh market to fulfill the diverse demands of the people in the country.

According to a report by Dhaka Tribune, the number of internet users in Bangladesh has increased by 19%, totaling 7.7 million between 2020 and 2021. In January 2021, there were 47.61 million internet users and the Internet penetration in the country stood at 28.8%.

SHAREit, which owns the flagship product, SHAREit app, aims to double down on the highly engaged digital audience in the country. The company said that while there is a vastly increasing number of internet users in Bangladesh, the development of internet channels and resources is rather slow, and therefore opening up the need for a rapid and reliable internet application.

The SHAREit app offers opportunities for users to access a platform that enables online streaming videos, file transfer facilities, as well as applications aimed at gaming, entertainment, and personalized digital content. 

Starting mainly from offering a file transfer app, SHAREit group has since branched out to offering brand marketing, digital advertising, and entertainment solutions. SHAREit offers a wide inventory for advertisers and has also performance advertising solutions to drive installs for brands and gaming apps. In addition, SHAREit offers in-game advertising and payment solutions. 

“Over the years, our growth as a platform for marketing and entertainment as well as the meteoric rise of total users has been phenomenal. Now that we have many users in Bangladesh, we want to strengthen our business in this country to partner with local and global apps and serve our users in more enhanced ways,” said Karam Malhotra, partner and global vice president of SHAREit. 

The SHAREit group has mapped out plans to cater to the digital entertainment, brand marketing, and advertising solution needs of the country. This is expected to benefit the users in multi-faceted ways as it comes as an alternative channel for brand marketing as well. 

According to SHAREit, its presence is now at 200 countries and is available in 45 languages. Currently, SHAREit Group has its offices in various regions in the world, including Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates, among others. 

Tel Aviv, Israel – Global in-game advertising platform Anzu and independent advertising exchange OpenX, has recently announced a new partnership in which both companies will be able to programmatically serve Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)-recognized in-game video and banner ads at scale across mobile, PC, and console platforms.

For Brian Murphy, SVP of buyer and publisher development at OpenX, their company has always been in search of creating more value for our partners, adding that for marketers, this means integrating with new, cutting-edge ad units that will help them engage their target audiences.

“Gaming is an industry with an audience that is growing at an unprecedented rate and shows no signs of slowing down. Our integration with Anzu enables marketers to programmatically reach this audience through immersive ad placements that respect the gameplay and naturally match the environment,” said Murphy.

Meanwhile, Yaniv Rozencweig, global programmatic director at Anzu, commented, “We’re excited to partner with OpenX to offer gaming’s untapped premium and brand-safe environment to its advertisers, allowing them to reach players across a wide range of SDK supply from various game genres and devices. OpenX is known for being a leader in brand safety and creating a good user experience for the consumer, which perfectly aligns with Anzu’s values.”

Fully GDPR, COPPA, and CCPA compliant, Anzu’s innovative SDK technology integrated into games delivers high-quality direct traffic with complete control over ad placements and first-party data.

On the other hand, OpenX is a recognized global company in programmatic advertising, delivering value across every type of connected screen and format. The company powers effective and impactful audience targeting on the open web by enabling marketers to leverage first and third-party data to reach their target audience across OpenX’s global network of publishers.

Singapore – AdColony, a gaming and esports mobile advertising company, has recently announced the launch of its newest product, ‘Social Ads’, in its bid to take existing campaigns that run on social media, such as image, carousel and video posts, and seamlessly place them within the mobile gaming environment.

Said product aims to target two objectives: offer a greater reach into Asia-Pacific’s wide and diverse mobile audiences, while minimizing brand safety risks of advertising on user-generated content, which is present within the social media ecosystem.

Part of the reason why said product is launched is due to the fact that it aims to cater advertisers that traditionally engage on social media and at a disadvantage when attempting to reach ‘social media dark audiences’ which are referred to as consumers with a presence on one platform but not on another or not on social media altogether, as well as people with ad blockers making up half of all internet users.

Mitchell Vaz, senior director strategy at AdColony, said, “We’re in an age where advertisers cannot categorise who is a social media user and who isn’t anymore, simply because everyone is a social media user of some sort. Gaming too offers this type of mass reach, ranging from hyper-casual gamers to hard-core esports fans.”

Furthermore in comparison to gaming, social media poses a higher threat to brand safety due to the presence of user-generated content. At the same time, much of users’ data is confined to the individual social media platform. Gaming, however, provides a brand-safe platform for advertisers to reach these consumers. Game environments offer advertisers greater insights into players’ behavioural data and prioritises viewability of the ads.

“As gamers ourselves, we fully understand the gaming experience. AdColony’s latest solution seamlessly integrates social media ads into the gameplay, resulting in an enhanced experience for the player. At the same time, we’re also on the side of advertisers. This has led to the creation of this product that amplifies reach and viewability of the ads, offering advertisers a smarter way to scale their brand campaigns while recording high levels of engagement among audiences who are immersed in the game,” Mitchell added.

Following the launch of this product, AdColony is already gearing up to launch a second phase, which brings shopability into these gaming ad units.

Tel Aviv, Israel – Global in-game advertising platform Anzu has announced a new global deal with media company Verizon Media to bring Anzu’s fully-blended in-game advertising to ad platforms hosted by Verizon Media.

Verizon Media has established itself as a forward-thinking media brand that provides its clients with access to next-generation advertising opportunities across established and emerging platforms and channels. Its already strong foothold in the gaming industry will be bolstered by the partnership with Anzu.

Through the deal, Verizon Media advertisers will benefit from Anzu’s exclusive partnership with popular game publishers such Vivid Games, Toplitz Productions, Axis Games, to name a few. Clients will also be able to connect in-game with Xbox gamers as Anzu is the only platform of its kind licensed under the Xbox Tools and Middleware program.

“Our new partnership with Verizon Media is a testament to Anzu’s platform and strengthens our position as a leader in the in-game advertising industry. We are pleased to welcome Verizon Media advertisers to our platform and provide them with exclusive opportunities to deliver their campaigns to a growing and receptive gaming audience,” said Yaniv Rozenweig, director of business operations at Anzu.

Meanwhile, Kristiana Carlet, VP for international sales at Verizon Media, commented that they have been always on the lookout for new partnerships that help connect their advertisers and media partners to premium, engaged audiences through creative campaigns and innovative context and formats.

“We see an increasing demand for in-game advertising opportunities from clients across our global markets. This partnership with Anzu continues to build out our strong gaming credentials, supplying our ecosystem with even more premium advertising opportunities,” Carlet said.

Just recently, It was announced that 90% of Verizon Media’s division had been acquired by investment management firm Apollo Global Management for roughly US$5b, and will be known as ‘Yahoo!’ following the closure of the deal. Meanwhile, Anzu has also been ramping up its operations, recently announcing its new partner in China, Chen Zeng, as well as forging partnerships with companies such as Eskimi and AdColony similarly to bring in-game advertising to a greater reach.