Yahoo! announced that Yahoo! Games will offer ad-supported downloadable games from the top casual games publishers.

With more than 400 ad-supported games available to users by the end of the year, Yahoo! Games solidifies its commitment to providing the Internet’s best gaming experience, and is creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach an engaged audience. The announcement brings the industry’s largest collection of ad-supported games to the biggest gaming audience on the web.

In-game advertising allows Yahoo! Games and its publisher partners to better monetize its games offering, provide advertisers access to a coveted demographic of gamers and satisfy user demand for casual ad-supported games. Top technology providers, Double Fusion and NeoEdge, will sell and integrate pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads into the Yahoo! Games catalog. Paid downloads without advertising will also be available to users on Yahoo! Games.

“In game advertising is a win-win for Yahoo! Games, our partners and our users,” said Kyle Laughlin, head of games, Yahoo!. “Yahoo! Games will safely and simply monetize our games experience while providing the best and most popular games free to game enthusiasts.”

Double Fusion will lend its core expertise, fusion.runtime technology and its veteran ad sales force to enable ad-supported Yahoo! games. Known for creative integrated marketing campaigns, Double Fusion connects brands with audiences through both systematic and custom-designed programs, through the immersive medium of games. For advertisers, the partnership brings the opportunity to access highly targeted reach to one of the most important consumer demographics — females 35 to 54 — at a time when they are fully engaged. Double Fusion is committed to enhancing player experiences as well as opening up new business models through ad-supported interactive entertainment. By embracing the advertising model and working with Double Fusion, Yahoo! is able to make more games available, for longer or in some cases unlimited free trials.

At launch, ad-supported downloadable games on Yahoo! Games will be available from top publishers including Alawar Entertainment, Anarchy, Big Fish Games, eGames, Floodgate, Freeze Tag, FreshGames, Funkitron, Gogii Games, GameHouse, Gamemill Publishing, HipSoft, I-Play, iWin, Last Day of Work, Legacy Interactive, Ludia, MumboJumbo, pixelStorm, PlayFirst, Playrix Entertainment, PopCap, Reflexive Entertainment, Sandlot Games, Sugar Games, TellTale Games, TikGames, uclick, Worldwide Biggies and Zero G Games.