LONDON, UK: Bidstack Group Plc (AIM: BIDS), the native in-game advertising group, announced a new partnership with Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome media specialist.

The partnership enables Xaxis to access Bidstack’s extensive portfolio of seamless in-game ad formats and branded experiences. It also provides Xaxis with access to Bidstack’s global supply of programmatic inventory which features 70+ exclusive titles including Dirt 5, Football Manager 2022, and Top Eleven.

The inventory is available across mobile, PC, cloud gaming and VR formats, with additional supply for console being added in the coming months.

In 2021, Xaxis expanded its portfolio of innovative, omnichannel media solutions to include a full suite of gaming products. The partnership with Bidstack further bolsters Xaxis’s ability to engage the growing, diverse, worldwide gaming audience through immersive, innovative, and effective content.

2021 was a breakout year for in-game advertising with the format becoming an established part of media plans for advertisers across the industry.

The trend towards gaming was accelerated in part by the pandemic, with average playing times increasing by 14% globally and gamers across all age groups displaying a clear preference for playing games over watching TV shows and movies, according to research from Limelight Networks.

2022 is anticipated to be another important year for gaming, with in-game advertising gaining significant traction among advertising industry bodies such as the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and updated measurement standards set to be introduced by the MRC (Media Rating Council), making campaign success easier to measure for advertisers.

Lewis Sherlock, SVP Programmatic at Bidstack said, “We are really proud to be working with one of the most respected names in the industry in Xaxis. The partnership is great news for Bidstack and is the culmination of around two years of groundwork from myself and the team. We are looking forward to scaling brand investment into a number of markets in the next few years and to work alongside Xaxis to deliver immersive branded experiences in-game for their clients.”

Julia Rast, Senior Manager, Global Solutions & Innovation at Xaxis added, “Developing a programmatic in-game product has been an exciting journey. Understanding the uniqueness and novelties of this type of media while answering the needs of our agencies and clients has been both challenging and rewarding. We’re confident that the partnership with Bidstack will allow us to further develop sustainable and impactful solutions that lead to stronger business outcomes for our clients.”

Xaxis transforms digital media into business outcomes. Xaxis maximizes the ROI of our clients’ digital media investments by combining innovative AI technology, advanced cross-channel solutions, and dedicated programmatic expertise to develop and optimize to success metrics that connect directly to their business goals.

Founded in 2011, Xaxis is GroupM’s outcome media specialist, serving more than 3,000 brands in 48 markets around the world.