Playing out against a backdrop of a declining userbase, Zynga has moved to add big brands to the Draw Something set up, expanding beyond banner ads to actually employ advertising in play.

Players will now find brand names popping up in amongst standard word suggestions, with advertisers able to book slots to charge users with drawing – and guessing – their products.

Brand battles

Early reports suggests one of the first businesses to take up Zynga on its offer is the NHL in the US, though the likelihood of more household names coming on board in the coming weeks and months appears high.

Indeed, Zynga tested the game's new ad bent using brand terms such as Nike, KFC and Doritos in game, with CEO of developer OMGPOP Dan Porter claiming people "loved to draw the Colonel and bags of Doritos."

The news comes as numbers from AppData suggest Draw Something lost around a third of its daily active users (DAUs) during April, little over a month after Zynga paid out $180 million for the studio behind it, OMGPOP.

[source: AdAge]