Yahoo!/Double Fusion deal

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO - News) today announced that Yahoo! Games will offer ad-supported downloadable games from the top casual games publishers. With more than 400 ad-supported games available to users by the end of the year, Yahoo! Games solidifies its commitment to providing the Internet’s best gaming experience, and is creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach an engaged audience. The announcement brings the industry’s largest collection of ad-supported games to the biggest gaming audience on the web and reinforces Yahoo! Games’ overall strategy to be the most comprehensive distribution point for games online.

In-game advertising allows Yahoo! Games and its publisher partners to better monetize its games offering, provide advertisers access to a coveted demographic of gamers and satisfy user demand for casual ad-supported games. Top technology providers, Double Fusion and NeoEdge, will sell and integrate pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads into the Yahoo! Games catalog. Paid downloads without advertising will also be available to users on Yahoo! Games.

“In game advertising is a win-win for Yahoo! Games, our partners and our users,” said Kyle Laughlin, head of games, Yahoo!. “Yahoo! Games will safely and simply monetize our games experience while providing the best and most popular games free to game enthusiasts.”

Double Fusion will lend its core expertise, fusion.runtimetm technology and its veteran ad sales force to enable ad-supported Yahoo! games. Known for creative integrated marketing campaigns, Double Fusion connects brands with audiences through both systematic and custom-designed programs, through the immersive medium of games. For advertisers, the partnership brings the opportunity to access highly targeted reach to one of the most important consumer demographics – females 35 to 54 – at a time when they are fully engaged. Double Fusion is committed to enhancing player experiences as well as opening up new business models through ad-supported interactive entertainment. By embracing the advertising model and working with Double Fusion, Yahoo! is able to make more games available, for longer or in some cases unlimited free trials.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Yahoo! Games to bring our fusion.runtime technology to their large portfolio of high quality downloadable casual games,” said Jonathan Epstein, President and CEO of Double Fusion. “We believe there is a game out there for everyone and our dynamic ad-serving solution and sales experience provides Yahoo! Games an opportunity to finally integrate ad campaigns on-the-fly to their mass audience of 18-49 year old game-loving consumers.”

Yahoo! will leverage NeoEdge’s industry leading NeoARM™ ad enabling technology along with the NeoAds™ advertising network and NeoEdge ad sales team to deliver a comprehensive suite of advertising supported casual games. The NeoEdge solution brings Yahoo! a powerful and efficient way to insert ads into its extensive game library without requiring the game source code. NeoEdge enables advertisers to reach the key female demographic through one of the stickiest forms of online entertainment. NeoEdge’s singular focus is the casual game space, where a seamless consumer experience is paramount. With NeoEdge, advertisers have a proven medium to utilize highly targeted video advertising and publishers and portals benefit from the ease of implementation.

“NeoEdge is delighted to partner with Yahoo! Games to roll out ad-supported premium casual games to the world’s largest audience,” said Alex Terry, CEO of NeoEdge. “More consumers are going online for their entertainment. NeoEdge is creating new and unique ways for brands to establish engaging one-to-one relationships with those consumers while they play games.”

At launch, ad-supported downloadable games on Yahoo! Games will be available from top publishers including Alawar Entertainment, Anarchy, Big Fish Games, eGames, Floodgate, Freeze Tag, FreshGames, Funkitron, Gogii Games, GameHouse, Gamemill Publishing, HipSoft, I-Play, iWin, Last Day of Work, Legacy Interactive, Ludia, MumboJumbo, pixelStorm, PlayFirst, Playrix Entertainment, PopCap, Reflexive Entertainment, Sandlot Games, Sugar Games, TellTale Games, TikGames, uclick, Worldwide Biggies and Zero G Games.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com.

About Double Fusion

Double Fusion reaches more consumers across the broadest range of demographics than any other game advertising network. Utilizing their award-winning fusion.sdktm and fusion.runtimetm dynamic in-game ad serving technologies originally developed for AAA hard core graphic intense 32 bit video games, the company has successfully expanded the idea that any game type, genre, or platform can harness the power of advertising. Double Fusion currently boasts over 30 top-tier game publishers in a portfolio reaching all gamers, ranging from 12 to 49 year-olds. The game advertising expert’s acclaimed integrated marketing solutions continue to inspire Fortune 500 companies to get in the game with groundbreaking advertising campaigns. Privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, Double Fusion has offices in Chicago, New York, Jerusalem, London and Tokyo. Most information about Double Fusion is available at www.doublefusion.com.

Advertisers interested in opportunities within the Double Fusion Network; and developers and publishers interested in increasing their per-title revenues through integrated and dynamic ad placement opportunities should visit www.AdvertisingInPlay.com.

About NeoEdge Networks, Inc.

NeoEdge Networks, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, California, is the leading provider of advertising solutions for the casual game industry. In close partnership with game publishers, portals and advertisers, NeoEdge is revolutionizing the causal gaming experience by providing safe, simple and profitable ad-supported game play through its patent-pending NeoARM™ technology suite and NeoAds™ advertising network. More than 50 top publishers rely on NeoEdge to deploy over 300 ad-supported casual games throughout the NeoEdge partner network. NeoEdge has created a robust and scalable online medium that allows advertisers to target a valuable untapped demographic with high quality video ads. It enables an additional ad-supported business model for game publishers and web site owners. NeoEdge has ad sales representation in over fifteen sales offices nationwide. To advertise with NeoEdge or learn more about increasing revenue through ad-supported casual games, please visit www.neoedge.com.