This IDC study analyzes the advertising market for U.S. online PC games. Brand advertisers have treated online PC games as an experimental medium, but IDC believes advertisers will spend more on this medium over the next few years as the return on investment (ROI) is proven. IDC forecasts that the U.S. online PC games advertising market will grow from $712 million in 2007 to $2.3 billion in 2012, at a CAGR of 26.8%. This document segments online PC game advertising revenue by the following three major ad categories: around-game ads, in-game ads, and advergames. It further compares the year-over-year growth rates for online PC games advertising with those projected for social networking services (SNSs).

"Online PC games offer advertisers an environment that is interactive, immersive, and for the most part brand safe. Our surveys show that online PC games reach a broad online demographic that is typically more active and spends more time online than other Internet users," says Caroline Dangson, IDC's New Media and Entertainment research analyst. "For this reason, we expect U.S. advertisers to spend more on this medium going forward. By 2010, IDC forecasts higher growth rates for U.S. online PC games advertising spend than U.S. social networking services and this trend will continue through 2012."