Spotted: Zynga's Billboard on 101 (Grand Avenue)

This week, I wrote about the resurgence of billboard advertisements on 101 - spotlighting Droid, eBay, Zazzle, Yahoo and Zynga. While driving this morning, I captured this photo of Zynga's billboard on 101 around Grand Ave (exit 425):

With no direct branding other than the red / white dog - I do wonder how many people (even in Silicon Valley realize this is Zynga's logo. And worth noting, there is no direct call to action particularly considering that Zynga's activity is within its games' brands.

iTunes Now Displays Top In App Purchases: Rock Band App Example

Last week, Apple announced In App Purchasing for free applications to Sell content, subscriptions and digital services.

Now, if you browse iTune's Top Grossing applications, you will notice that they also display the most popular In App Purchases. The example below is from Electronic Art's Rock Band, the highest grossing app on iTunes. The game itself is relatively new (notice just ~200 user reviews) and costs $9.99 per download. Just below the purchase button though is a banner to view "Top In App Purchases" - which displays the highest grossing $0.99 Rock Band tracks.

While this is a small example (Rock Band itself is new enough that the purchasing habits / offerings are light), but it is clear that Apple is trying to promote the same behaviors that are becoming so popular - and profitable - on Facebook: in-app / in-game micro transactions.

Apple: Now Use In App Purchase in Free Apps to Sell Content, Subscriptions, Digital Services

Major announcement from Apple today that has made application developers (like the one below) very excited: free applications can now be directly monetized through "In App Purchasing" - which is a key component to what is driving the success in the booming online-gaming space. Now developers have choices beyond the current options: premium applications and/or in-app advertising (standard units, sponsorship, interstitials):

"In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services. You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases."

EA Acquiring Playfish for $250m (Rumor)

As rumors circulate that Electronic Arts is acquiring the hot mobile and online game maker Playfish for $250m (here and here), the Wall Street Journal has a timely and fun headline. The article does not mention Playfish or any other gaming companies / targets, but the timing is certainly funny:

EA’s Schappert Foresees Social Gaming Consolidation ... Schappert deflected a question about whether EA, which has plenty of cash, might be in the market for a social-networking gaming company. While social networks such as Facebook have practically become the new Internet portals, he asked of social gaming, “Is it sustainable or is it a bubble?”

He used mobile gaming as an analogy, where EA bought one of the largest mobile game publishers, Jamdat Mobile Inc., because of its expertise in deploying games on a variety of mobile devices and networks. The acquisition enabled Jamdat to capitalize on EA’s portfolio of games. Since then, mobile gaming has become dominated by established games and established brands, Schappert said. He expects social gaming to follow a similar path and said he’s confident EA has the ability to pursue the market with internal developers while remaining open to an acquisition.