Google's Next Ad Frontier May Be Inside Videogames - WSJ.com

Google's Next Ad Frontier May Be Inside Videogames - WSJ.com: "Google Inc.'s efforts to broker advertisements beyond the Web could soon expand into ads that appear in videogames.

The Mountain View, Calif., company is in talks to acquire Adscape Media Inc., a closely held San Francisco company whose technology allows for the delivery of advertising over the Internet and placement within videogames, according to people familiar with the matter. They added that a deal could be reached as early as next week.

While the possible terms of a deal aren't known, Microsoft Corp. last year acquired Massive Inc., a company that delivers in-game ads, for close to $200 million.

An acquisition of Adscape, if completed, would allow Google to offer the hundreds of thousands of advertisers who currently buy online ads through its system to also buy ads that appear within videogames. The market for delivering ads into games -- such as a virtual billboard on a racetrack or a poster in a boxing arena -- is still in its infancy, but major games publishers such as Electronic Arts Inc. believe it could be a lucrative business and many are pursuing it aggressively. Sending ads over the Internet is just now becoming more feasible through new game consoles such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which are designed to be connected to the Internet."