Report: PlayStation 3 To Run Open In-Game Ad Platform

Sony will reportedly offer an open advertising platform for PlayStation 3, which means different in-game advertising companies will all be able to serve ads to PS3 games. According to Advertising Age, IGA Worldwide, Double Fusion and AdScape will be angling for the deals with the same major game publishers, creating an environment of competition similar to that on the web. Although Sony has its own in-game ad sales group, its open platform strategy marks a contrast with Xbox 360, who requires all of its ad deals to be brokered through Massive, which Microsoft acquired in 2006. eMarketer's James Belcher told Ad Age, "Making things open only makes things better for marketers or people who want to place ads because they aren't the mercy of a given network. Everyone's playing around with the best model -- how to charge, what gamers will and will not put up with."