In-Game Ads Could Reach $2 Bil.

NEW YORK Advertising within video games will approach a $2 billion business by the end of the decade, according to one of the nascent industry’s leading vendors.

During the keynote address at the second annual Advertising in Games conference in New York, Massive Inc. CEO Mitch Davis predicted that in-game ad spending would land somewhere between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion in the U.S. by 2010, accounting for roughly 3 percent of total media spending.

While estimates on in-game advertising spending have varied widely, Davis’ pronouncement was far larger than forecasts issued by both JupiterResearch and The Yankee Group last year.