Advertising in Online Games and EC Audiovisual Media Regulation

Abstract

Advertising in Online Games (AOG) has received much attention in recent reports on the future of advertising. Consulting firms, market research institutes, leading e-marketing magazines, influential bloggers, and mass media assess and comment on the potential of these new models of advertising. The present article looks at AOG from the viewpoint of European audiovisual media law and policy. It suggests a typology of both online games and AOG. Based on that typology, the author introduces AOG as an object of regulation; evaluates motives, technical justifications and objectives in favor of regulating AOG; and analyzes critically the new EC Audiovisual Media Services Directive as a prospective regulatory tool to accomplish these objectives.

Keywords: Advertising, online games, digital culture, online worlds, new technologies, audiovisual media regulation, AVMS Directive