Bidstack Group PLC (LON:BIDS) has said its in-game advertising technology is seeing “high levels of inbound demand” from ad agencies as the coronavirus pandemic leads to record numbers of video gamers.
The AIM-listed said that it had also received “some exciting and unexpected commercial opportunities” as a result of the surge, highlighting that spending on video games in the US had soared 60% year-on-year in the week of 16 March.
READ: Bidstack inks in-game advertising deal with Codemasters
Bidstack added that it is also working with a number of resellers in territories where it has no official presence to run programmatic and insertion order campaigns.
Video games have experienced a jump in demand as the pandemic has forced the cancellation of most live sporting events, leaving advertisers with large gaps in their schedules.
While the company said its business had suffered “some disruption” due to the cancellation of a number of trade shows and face-to-face meetings, its systems and procedures, as well as its technology-based platform, meant the business “is largely able to proceed as normal”.
"Disruption to the advertising industry, particularly in the out of home and live sports segments, is leading media buyers to seek digital alternatives for their brands.
It's no longer "business as usual" in these significant areas. Agencies need to innovate to assist their brand clients to reach targeted audiences. Bidstack's technology enables them to do that”, said chief executive James Draper.
"Our team is working closely with agency groups to help them test, report and activate larger campaigns across our growing portfolio of titles through this period”, he added.
News of increased demand drove Bidstack's shares up 22.8% to 5.5p in lunchtime trading on Monday.
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