Googles game plan revealed

MCV has gained full access to ‘hidden’ technology patents that Google hopes will help make it a major player in the video games industry.

With a clear bias towards in-game advertising, the search engine company has filed seven patents that relate to interactive entertainment, including a ‘method and system for enhancing video games and video games systems’.

As reported in MCV last week, the patents were ‘uncovered’ by research and consultancy firm Evalueserve, which revealed that 84 per cent of Google’s ‘Web 2.0-related’ patents filed in the US did not have the firm’s name attached to them.

Evalueserve’s vice president of IP research Navtej Saluja said:
"These weren’t exactly stealth tactics from Google, but it seems they wanted to make these patents difficult to find. Google is always trying to expand its revenue model. This fits with that, because it’s supporting newer media. We now have hard evidence that Google has an eye on video games.”

However, a spokesperson for Google commented: "We file patent applications on a variety of ideas. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t.

"Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications.”