IAB study: Gaming accounts for less than 5% of ad spend

Gaming’s popularity is growing, but ad spending isn’t keeping pace, according to a new study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and MediaScience. The qualitative study that interviewed more than 40 brands, agencies, ad technology companies, game developers and publishers found that less than 5% of the US advertising budget is spent on gaming activations.

The IAB has investigated why this might be the case. The company concluded that five persistent misconceptions about the gaming industry were suppressing spending. Many buyers assumed that game advertising was much less affordable, scalable or measurable than it can be. Other concerns included brand safety and limited use beyond building brand awareness. The IAB contains strategies and examples to counter these misconceptions.

“The success stories we heard from buyers about gaming were striking — all the more so because they don’t align at all with the misconceptions of the industry at large,” said Zoe Soon, vice president of the experience center at IAB. “Advertisers are missing a great opportunity to reach and engage consumers in these dynamic environments.”

In addition to tools to address these misconceptions, the report includes next steps to grow gaming advertising budgets. IAB has an emphasis on demonstrating the unique value of gaming, building interoperability and supporting further research.

“High quality audiences at serious scale, brand safety, easy buying and defensible measurements are finally here. As the misconceptions dissipate, we expect in-game ad spending to start catching up with the odds,” said Jack Koch, senior vice president for research and insights at IAB.

The IAB’s full report on in-game advertising can be found here.