Tag: Internet Advertising

This Australian Age article claiming that advertising in virtual worlds is taking off might be a little more believable if it weren’t centered mostly on Project Entropia, the Enron of MMORPGs.

When last we saw Project Entropia, it was claiming that a user paid $100,000 for a piece of in-game property, only it turned out the user was also a spokesman for the company. If you believe that was a legitimate sale, I’ve got a bridge in Azeroth you can have real cheap.

According to Australia Age,

The latest release of the game, created by MindArk PE AB of Sweden, features advertising billboards. Through a PowerPoint-like system, players created animated ads and buy time on the billboards.

So far, the ads have been promoting player-organized in-game events like fashion shows and hunting competitions, as well as businesses like stores and hunting grounds, said Marco Behrmann, MindArk’s [sic] directory of player relations.

Sometimes I think Project Entropia is a culture jamming project designed to see just how many gullible reporters and news organizations it can suck into reprinting its transparent self-promotion.

There’s also a passing mention of Second Life in the Age article, but no indication that advertising itself is especially lucrative in-game (though, obviously, some players in SL are making significant amounts of real-world money hawking their virtual wares).

Source:

Advertising takes off in virtual worlds. Australia Age, April 5, 2006.