K1010.com Online Gaming Site Draws People In and Keeps Them There

K1010.com (www.K1010.com) is a Flash-based online gaming site that is seeking to take advantage of the television model to prove that online gaming entertainment is profitable. The site, first launched in Germany, has risen to the ranking of the #1 online interactive gaming site on the German market by offering the feel of a television game show such as Wheel of Fortune or Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and some rather lucrative prizes to boot.

The game Treasure Test, a timed Wheel-of-Fortunesque game, is offering a brand new VW Beetle to the monthly drawing winner and trips to exotic islands for the weekly winner. The catch through, it that you have to get nine out of 10 right to enter the drawing and you can only play once a day. To create a sense of scarcity similar to scheduled television programs, the site also only runs certain games on certain days.

"With the launch of our flagship North American presence, K1010 is injecting previously unseen levels of quality and performance into the interactive entertainment and marketing arenas here," said Thorsten Rauser, founder of K1010. "We constantly push the limits of technology to deliver the most effective marketing platform for clients, and the most immersive experience for users."

According to Boris Kirn, VP of global business, advertisers are responding well to K1010's advertising model, which offers seven-second Flash commercial spots that run between game rounds on a CPM basis. Kirn believes that the full screen presentation allows for the message to appear uncluttered, and many advertisers are able to reuse the flash intros which appear on their sites. Kirn states that the site will eventually move to 21-second commercial breaks, during which three consecutive flash commercials will run.

K1010's user base is currently at 175,000 registered users in Germany and 85,000 registered users in the United States, according to Kirn, and a few large corporate sponsors such as Pringles and Compaq have already signed on. K1010 is currently running a small banner campaign, but according to Kirn the site's popularity is growing mainly through word of mouth.