Advertising in Gaming is one of the growing trends in marketing. One of the challenges is that games, like movies can take 12 to 18 months to produce and can be difficult for brands to think that far ahead.

Visa is moving the bar by integrating their new fraud monitoring service into the latest CSI game.
In addition to in game billboard advertising, Visa alerts users to suspicious activity on a victum’s account, leading the ‘CSI’ detectives to investigate.

“It’s not just an ad in a game,” said Jon Raj, Visa’s vice president of advertising and emerging media. “It allows the consumer to understand our product.”

As television advertising continues to decline in it’s effectiveness, gaming is one way to engage consumers and educate them while they play!

The market for in-game ads is expected to grow to $560 million in 2009 from about $60 million to $70 million today, according to the Yankee Group.

via NY Post