8-31-09 Buzz Out loud

One of the main issues discussed in the 8-31-09 Buzz Out Loud was the ongoing controversy over personalized in game advertising which is offered by Massive, Inc. This technology continuously collects anonymous information about users, sends it back to the database for analysis, and then sends the user advertisements to be shown in the game. This concept called is sometimes called “Advergaming”, where companies develop games centered on their products or promotional characters.  This issue of personalized in game advertising definitely is a privacy and consumer rights issue, and children are particular targets. According to an article written by Stephen Dahl, Lynne Eagle, and Carlos Baez of Middlesex University, 45% of videogame players are under 18 years of age. Children under 18 are more vulnerable to this in game advertising because of their lack of cognitive skills. The article reports that on average children play a game 100 or more times which means they will be open to prolonged brand exposure. Many parents do not supervise their children while playing videogames so they will not be aware of this advertising. It is also mentioned that consumers’ process persuasive advertising differently from when they don’t realize it is occurring. You should not have to see ads in games that you pay for. It is also not right that users’ information is being collected without them knowing it, even if it is being done anonymously. It’s an invasion of privacy, and if it is going to be used then consumers should be notified of it before they buy a game.

 

Citation

Dahl, Stephan, Eagle, Lynne C. and Baez, Carlos,Analysing Advergames: Active Diversions or Actually Deception(2006). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=907841