Justin Townsend and Christian Vry realized that young people increasingly preferred video games and the Internet to television, and that there was therefore untapped potential for advertising and as an entertainment medium to young people, so in 2004, they left McCann Worldgroup, a top advertising firm, to form IGA Worldwide Inc. In less than three years, their startup company has become one of the top providers of ad placement in video games. By 2003, the potential for in-game advertising was visible in the demographic trends. Townsend and Vry realized the difficulty of creating the technology for producing in-game ads, and the fact that game publishers rarely switch once they settle on a provider, yet they also recognized that acting early would provide big advantages and enable IGA Worldwide to crack open the new ad market. Their instincts were accurate. New York-based IGA now competes with only two other significant players to place ads in video games, Microsoft Corp.-owned Massive Inc. and rival startup Double Fusion Inc. of San Francisco. The vast potential is illustrated by the fact that $77.7 million was spent on in-game ads in 2006 but that total is expected to climb to nearly $1 billion by 2011. IGA and its rivals all supply networks that enable advertisers to put both static ads onto billboards or backgrounds in game scenescapes, and within online games, they also offer dynamic ads that can be tailored to fit the time of day or the players geographical location. To acquire a technology platform to deliver ads, Townsend and Vry merged IGA with inGamePartners LLC in early 2005. Townsends and Vrys European background made it easier for IGA to expand overseas. IGA is now focused on building its revenue. Townsend and Vry are in a strong position if they do consider selling IGA.