IGN Entertainment, parent company of IGN.com, Gamespy and Rotten Tomatoes has announced that
they've developed technology to deliver advertisements to games in a move that pits them in a head-to-head tussle with
Massive Incorporated, the current leaders in the nascent
in-game advertising space.
But how will IGN handle the conflict of interest inherent in this arrangement? IGN will earn commissions by placing its ad-serving technology in a game and will then have its editorial department rate that same game. How will the boys in editorial stay impartial when a positive review means more money for IGN? Unless there's a strong Chinese Wall in place, this is a recipe for compromised editorial.
As sister site AdJab put it, "Next thing we know, AMD and Intel will start putting out competing publications all about new computer models."
And you thought grade inflation was rampant before…
