Google to acquire in game advertising company

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google could announce the acquisition of in game advertising company, Adscape Media, as early as next week.

Adscape Media, based in San Francisco, has created an advertising platform that enables advertisers to place static or dynamic ads in PC, console and cellular platforms.  They also provide "metrics and community building capabilities that enable publishers to monetize their IP in numerous ways".

On May 4th of last year, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Massive Inc. -- a company that does roughly the same as Adscape Media.  Advertising real estate through Massive will eventually be available through Microsoft Adcenter according to their press release -- and I expect Google to do something similar with AdWords.

In the coming months and years, we can expect to see this type of advertising gain traction as the competition between Google and Microsoft heats up.  Who knows, maybe we will even see free "ad sponsored" console games one day.