Adweek has just released their Digital Hot List - a yearly list of top digital destinations for advertisers - and right up there with the big boys like Google, Facebook, and...Stardoll, is Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Measuring statistics such as year over year growth, pages viewed per users, and time spent on pages, along with factors like ad innovation and cultural influence, Adweek has ranked Xbox Live as number 7 on its list, falling neatly between YouTube and The Huffington Post.

Swelling from 6 million users to 12 million since the beginning of this year, it has landed sponsors including McDonald's and Doritos, the latter encouraging users to create a game around the brand. Nintendo Wii has grabbed headlines, but in marketers' battle for the living room, Xbox Live is the real game-changer selling downloads of premium programming while delivering a expanding roster of original, ad-supported content.

Well played, Xbox Live! Keep working on those advertising opportunities. Don't rest until your entire service is skinned to look like a McGriddles ad. I kid, that's a ridiculous idea.

Digital Hot List: Dynamite Destinations & Devices of '08 [Adweek]

A landmark study conducted by Nielsen BASES and Nielsen Games on behalf of in-game advertising giant IGA Worldwide has found that not only is in-game advertising super-effective, most people don't seem to mind it. The study, titled Consumers' Experience with In-Game Content & Brand Impact of In-Game Advertising Study, found that 82% of consumers exposed to in-game ads felt that the games were just as enjoyable with ads as they were without.

"The growth of in-game advertising, both current and projected, makes it an attractive medium for brands looking to reach hard-to-reach consumers", said Elizabeth Harz, EA's Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales. "This study solidifies what many in the industry have known for a long time: in-game ads are effective and well-received by the gaming community".

Hooray! We're only alienating 18% of the gaming public! Hit the jump for the rest of the numbers, most of which seem to be aimed more at attracting advertisers rather than assuaging consumer concerns.

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Gamers have a "consistently positive" opinion of in-game advertising? That's what ad agency Massive, which is owned by Microsoft, found in a survey whose results it announced this morning.

Media research firm Interpret looked into four of Massive's advertisers: an unnamed fast-food restaurant, candy company and entertainment studio, plus Adidas footwear and apparel, and found the ads are having an effect, showing significant percentage increases in brand recognition when compared to those who didn't see the in-game ads.

With the Adidas promotion, for example, gamers who saw the ads in 2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K7 said things like "Adidas is the only brand for me" and "Adidas is an inspirational brand" 70 percent more often than those not exposed to the ads.

And Massive's study seems to show gamers don't mind being influenced: 70 percent of gamers said the ads enhanced realism, fit the games they appeared in (universally sports games, except for the ads in Rainbow Six: Vegas) and that the ads "looked cool."

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Ok, so a billboard in a driving game may make sense — but what about games where it doesn't make sense? As Ian Bogost points out, "Would an orc order pizza? Does a dystopian planet from the future need a pacer drink?":

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All those billboards in City of Heroes are about to get much more familiar looking. NCsoft and Double Fusion have teamed up to start placing real world ads on their in-game billboards, the companies announced today. The good news is that the in-game advertising will be entirely opt-in, meaning that if gamers don't like it or want it they can just turn it off and it won't effect them one bit.

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In a somewhat off-putting press release in-game advertising company Massive and Electronic Arts bragged today about their ability to shove more advertisements down gamers' throats with the extension and expansion of the collaboration of the two companies.

The deal will extend the contract between the two for two years, but more importantly expand the number of games that Electronic Arts will allow Massive to place ads in.

With the latest agreement, EA will further expand the opportunities available to advertisers by extending the participation of current titles in the Massive network as well as incorporating additional, highly anticipated games over the course of the deal. The wide range of EA content that will be available in the Massive network includes the next two iterations of popular EA SPORTS(TM) franchises including Madden NFL* football, NBA LIVE basketball, NASCAR* (R) racing and NHL(R) hockey.

While the press release spends lots of time explaining how wonderful this is for advertisers and how profitable it will be for Electronic Arts, it fails to mention the impact it has on gamers. I don't mind some in-game advertising, but reading a release like this makes me feel like these games are little more than glorified vehicles for advertising... and we're still paying top dollar to get them. How crazy is that?

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Topps, the purveyors of candy treats have just launched a little racing web based game to help promote the upcoming Speed Racer Movie, Speed Racer Candy Tracks The game is exactly what you'd expect from the title, a racing game with a Topps candy tie in. The tie in coming from a massive onslaught of in game advertising for all of their products from Bazooka gum to Ring Pops. The tracks may be pink and candy coated but this Flash game already seems ten times more interesting than the bore fest that is Speed Racer the Video Game. I'm sorry, but having to tack on "the Video Game" at the end automatically puts it on my "don't buy list".

Topps' Speed Racer Candy Tracks Game [Topps]

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is an excitable guy. Just look at him! Ball. Of. Energy. He got so excited at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference that he said StarCraft II "can actually be the model for in-game advertising and sponsorship and tournament play and ladder play for the future." And Bobby Kotick loves using the world "and." And while he might've been spouting off things he apparently learned from the Activision-Blizzard merger, the CEO is wrong apparently! According to StarCraft's community manager:

We have no plans to have in-game advertising in StarCraft II. We believe Bobby was actually referring to Battle.net, which has always included ads.

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According to the latest report by analyst group eMarketer, the in-game ad industry will grow to $US 650 million by 2012, more than doubling 2007's $US 295 million. eMarketer attributes the growth to the overall growth of the video game industry, with game launches overshadowing other big media events. Most recently, Halo 3 generated more in first day sales than the opening weekend of Spiderman 3 (the biggest opening weekend in history) and the first-day sales of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (the final installment in the series).

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For those who didn't get their fill of advergaming with Yaris, Xbox Live Arcade will bring the much nacho cheesier Doritos Dash Of Destruction to the service next summer. The game concept, created by Mike Borland for the Doritos-sponsored Unlock Xbox competition, walked away with the most votes and will become a full-fledged XBLA release.

Development will be handled by NinjaBee, who probably never imagined they'd have the good fortune to work on a corn chip branded racer when developing Cloning Clyde, Outpost Kaloki X and Band of Bugs. A cooler ranch press release is after the jump.

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