A patent filed by Google details plans to compile psychological profiles of console and PC gamers by monitoring their time online without their knowledge, as reported by the Guardian, via Spong . The data would then be sold to in-game ad companies. According to the patent, "User dialogue (eg from role playing games, simulation games, etc) may be used to characterise the user (eg literate, profane, blunt or polite, quiet etc). Also, user play may be used to characterise the user (eg cautious, risk-taker, aggressive, non-confrontational, stealthy, honest, cooperative, uncooperative, etc)." It's not a definite deal by any means though, as a Google spokesman told the Guardian that "Google registers different patents irrespective of whether we actually intend to use them."

In-game advertising’s definitely going to be a big money maker, especially in online games like Sony's Home. I still don’t like the thought of being psychologically profiled by my online game use, though. It just seems rather invasive, especially if it was undertaken without me knowing it. While a bit of product placement isn’t a bad thing, ads that are individually targeted would be likely to be more obtrusive than simple product placement. Additionally, in a lot of games, product placement just wouldn’t make sense. I still can't work out how you'd get brands smoothly into a game like God of War. Any suggestions?

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