In-game ad company Anzu patents new tracking technology | Pocket Gamer.biz

In-game advertising company Anzu has reportedly patented a system in order to determine the visibility, attention metrics and other data of intrinsic advertising. Intrinsic advertising is a system wherein adverts are placed within the game world. A classic example being arcade game Crazy Taxi and its usage of real-world brands such as KFC and the now-defunct Tower Records as in-game locations.

The technology has been developed in partnership with both Integral Ad Science and Oracle Advertising. Co-founder and CPO of Anzu, Ben Fenster, stated how this technology will help Anzu grow “We understand that for Anzu to succeed and for gaming to become a recognized advertising category, advertisers need an efficient and transparent way of measuring intrinsic ads, as well as a means of comparing them with common ad formats.”

Attention please

One of the key issues with intrinsic ads, as stated by Fenster, is how disruptive it is. Unlike more traditional methods of advertising such as interstitial (those that come between gameplay) or banner advertising amongst others, it’s hard to measure how long a player spends looking at an intrinsic ad. What Anzu is doing is seeking to preempt issues advertisers might have with feeling that they’re not getting their money’s worth.

This is important not only for pushing the technology forward but also a lucrative business opportunity for Anzu if this tech proves to be as useful as they say. By getting in at the ground floor, they could stand to make a healthy profit offering this tech to companies who want to track in-game advertising and ensure that it remains visible and effective to players.

Although other systems commonly in use could attempt to integrate similar measuring systems as intrinsic ads become more popular, Anzu describes theirs as a comprehensive technology.

“In addition to measuring viewable impressions and other standard MRC metrics, the 3D ad tracking engine collects unique data points about intrinsic in-game ad placements and their lifecycle, including average screen coverage, occlusions, virtual world position, and orientation in relation to user view. This data is combined with conversion and session data to create robust data models, used to help optimise the delivery of campaigns and provide media value to advertisers.”