Obama starts advertising on computer games

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has placed an ad in Xbox 360 game Burnout Paradise

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has joined a growing number of IT businesses using adverts in games to reach the youth market.

The candidate has been placing in-game adverts in the Xbox 360 title Burnout Paradise featuring a billboard with Obama's image and a message that players should make sure they register to vote.

"I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," said Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts.

"Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams."

Obama may be the first politician to use in-game advertising, but the practice is becoming increasingly common for businesses.

Analyst firm Yankee Group reported recently that the worldwide in-game advertising industry is expected to be worth about $971m (£555m) by 2011.

Google has recently launched its Adsense for games package, while Sony, Yahoo and EA have all said they will be carrying adverts in games as a way of driving extra revenue and making games cheaper or even free.

In-game advertising enjoys very high rates of return, much higher than print or direct mail marketing. Gamers are an increasingly important market segment for both hardware and e-commerce vendors.

As processors become faster than is necessary to meet most companies' needs, the gaming community is still spending huge amounts on the latest processors, something chip manufacturers and systems builders have been addressing for the past two years.

The amount of money they spend has also attracted technology firms, which are increasingly targeting the segment as one that can be reached directly and with little waste.