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

The popularity of gaming is growing, but ad spend is not keeping up according to a new study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and MediaScience. The qualitative study interviewed over 40 brands, agencies, ad tech companies, game developers, and publishers found that less than 5% of ad budgets in the U.S. are spent on gaming activations.

The IAB investigated why this might be the case. The firm concluded that five lingering misconceptions about the gaming industry stifled spending. Many buyers assumed game advertising was much less affordable, scalable or measurable than it can be. Other concerns included brand safety and limited use outside of building brand awareness. The IAB includes strategies and examples to counter these misconceptions.