And 'In-Software Advertising the new frontier for business-to-Business Advertising?

In response to the growing demand for highly relevant advertising opportunities, software companies can look to the gaming industry multi-million dollar revenues generated by the in-game advertising.

Despite the current economic uncertainties, the in-game advertising industry is expected to reach 800 million U.S. dollars by 2012, according to a recent article by Forbes.com. As the young male 18-34 demographic continues to shift his free time, from television to games, consumer brands are taking advantage of this captive audience through relevant, well-placed advertising.

From fast food to tourism, clothing, and television itself, in-game advertising enables advertisers to craft creative campaigns in the context of the game. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has opened the Aloft hotel in the popular virtual world, Second Life, in order to create hype and get feedback from potential customers before its launch, while Everquest 2 players can order delivery from Pizza Hut.

While consumer brands have acquired a wide range of options to place their product in video games and virtual worlds, large-scale business-to-business with the public in the same way in captivity are still in early stages. Products and services aimed at business people are not necessarily well placed in game environments.

So is advertising software-the new frontier for business products and services? Microsoft has recently dabbled in the area of ​​software advertising concept with its basic office suite, Microsoft Works, offering a Sponsored Edition as a pilot in select markets, but has not announced any plans on a large scale to offer a significant -network software advertising.

In-advertising software in business applications could be the answer for B2B in-game advertising. With the advent of the social web, people expect more value to reduce costs - or no cost - and are more open to trading off the integration of advertising for a free or low cost. Contrary to the malicious adware of the less reputable internet operations, business-oriented software companies have the possibility of integrating the advertising obtrusive within a relevant context, just like in-game advertising, which has gained the acceptance of mass.

With this opportunity to increase brand awareness, to appeal, and the purchase consideration, companies are looking to advertise their product to a public company can expect to see more software companies exploring the possibility of in-advertising software in the coming years ....