LONDON -- Britain's Advertising Standards Authority extended its regulatory
reach to computer games following complaints about product-placement
advertising in children's titles. As of February 1st, computer and
video-game companies will be required to disclose on packaging whether
advertising is included in their products.

The use of advertising in computer games has boomed as the technology has
become more popular and the cost of producing the game has increased.
Though most product placement ads are fairly obvious, some are tougher to
detect. In one popular British computer game, for example, a brand of
children's cookie becomes part of the plot.

Bill Lennon, a spokesman for the advertising regulatory group, says "People
got irritated when they bought a computer game and they found it was a
vehicle for advertising a product," he said.

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