Market research and consulting firm Parks Associates has released new research, as presented at the Game Advertising Summit that took place on June 9 in San Francisco, that seems to echo the findings we've read from other research firms—namely that the in-game advertising sector is still a fledgling market and has serious potential for growth.

Parks Associates' report Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home surveyed more than 2,000 Internet gamers who have Internet access and play games at least one hour per month on a console, portable console or PC and found that in 2005, "U.S. Internet gamer households received about $0.10 worth of advertisement-supported gaming content on a monthly basis, compared to $50 worth of TV content."

The firm notes, "Video games have become as much a part of the entertainment culture in the U.S. as movies and television, but publishers haven't capitalized on advertising opportunities to the extent of other mediums."

This is expected to change, however, over the course of the next few years, as Parks Associates predicts that PC in-game advertising will increase from $80 million in 2005 to more than $400 million in 2009.

"In-game advertising, currently in its infancy, is poised to grow," commented Michael Cai, director of broadband and gaming. "Games are now an important form of family entertainment. Advertisers will soon realize they can reach the whole family using this medium. More and more adults play video games with their children and teens are even playing games with their parents. In addition, the 35-54 female gamers, who spend tens of hours playing casual games every month, are undermonetized."

The firm's research also included some interesting findings on how different demographics perceive in-game advertising. Males 18 - 34 are apparently the most open to seeing advertising than other age groups; 29 percent said they would not mind seeing ads in games if it enhances gameplay, while only 19 percent among female gamers 35-54 felt this way. If prizes are at stake, however, the different demographics seem equally open to ads—38 percent among 18-34 males and 35 percent among 35-54 females.

Interestingly, Parks points out, "Men and women also differ about what is the least intrusive approach to in-game advertising. Almost half of men 18-34 (49 percent) prefer product placement over pre-game ads (22 percent) and in-game bulletin boards (18 percent). Women 35-54 prefer pre-game ads (42 percent) by a slim margin over product placement (36 percent) and between-level ad placement (13 percent)."

The common thread among the groups, however, is that gamers in general seem to feel that in-game ads should lead to cheaper prices on games, or some sort of discount. The expected discount ranged from 31 percent for gamers ages 13-17 to 58 percent for women 55 and older.