As it nears its one-year anniversary, Wordle is getting a gift from parent company New York Times—advertisers, including sponsored words in custom games. The popular online word game will begin including ads on Tuesday. The first advertiser for the game is Rimowa, the high-end luggage brand, which is debuting a new brand campaign today.
“We are going to pilot two ad formats,” said Emelie De Vitis, chief marketing officer of Rimowa, noting that they include a traditional display ad format and a more interactive feature.
The New York Times bought Wordle—a daily brain teaser created by Josh Wardle that gives players six chances to guess a five-letter word—at the beginning of the year. Rumors that The New York Times would monetize Wordle, which when purchased reportedly had 1 million daily players, by adding ads have been circulating for several weeks. After the purchase, reports criticized the platform for being riddled with ad trackers.