Advergaming
To avoid negative associations with shooting and killing, as appears in many video games, canny advertisers like Burger King and Pepsi are now creating their own games built around their own product, or characters based on their products. This new sector, called "advergaming", is a mix of advertising and interactive entertainment and is available free online. The games may be placed on the company's website or on a special gaming site owned or sponsored by the company.
Avatars
These are virtual representations of players that appear online. For instance, in a video game for Gap, the player's avatar can select some Gap clothing and even try it on in the Gap virtual changing room.
Shills
These exist in social networks and chat rooms. Peer recommendation among ad...#8209;weary web users has led to the creation of legions of artificial people or "shills", powered by things called "chat engines". These shills befriend real people in online forums and disussion boards in order to plug products or services to them - a sort of online version of the gorgeous men and women who are paid to chat you up in bars, then order a specific brand of vodka.
