New figures from the Yankee Group claim the U.S. video games industry reaches more than 108 million gamers 13 years of age and older, who will have spent $7.4 billion by the end of the year. Advertisers have long wanted to penetrate the gaming market, but haven't yet been able to in any meaningful way. Despite the video games industry's size, advertisers only spent a meager $79 million on placing ads in games last year--a number the market research firm anticipates will grow to $260 million by 2008, according to the Yankee Group report.
