‘Pokemon Go’ Success Attracts Advertisers Despite Future Concerns

“Pokemon Go” has become a blockbuster smash hit, and it doesn’t take a video game analyst to know that the millions of players who have officially downloaded the app, as well as those that have been using any means necessary to try the game are marks of the staying power of Pokemon. As a result, advertisers are starting to see the potential in the craze. Then again, the app industry has seen its fair share of short life cycles, which puts the future of “Pokemon Go” into question.

As The Globe And Mail put it, there are some valuable opportunities for advertisers in “Pokemon Go” if they play their cards right. The popularity of ad blockers has made it clear that users do not like it when ad companies clutter their screens with popups or windows that they don’t want to see, particularly when they are playing a game where they don’t want to be interrupted.

This has led some companies to resort to some truly creative tactics such as sponsoring filters for photo apps or via location-based advertising. Since playing “Pokemon Go” essentially tags the user’s location wherever they go, advertisers can take advantage of that aspect.

Then again, it isn’t as if the future of the app is all that certain. As an essay at Recode explains, there have been some instances wherein the game could get millions of downloads in a matter of weeks or months, but then completely disappear once the trend becomes stale.

In the case of “Pokemon Go,” however, the author of the essay points out that it has a good chance of having a long life cycle for several reasons. One of these is the inherent popularity of Pokemon, where users who grew up watching the anime or playing the games number in the millions. Using the app is also quite easy, which is why it barely has a tutorial section.

Finally, the game encourages social interactions, which has already caused some major changes in how even introverts live their lives. There’s a chance that these changes won’t be permanent, but the revolution has been set in motion.