Brands will find more opportunities to target customers via games as social gaming moves beyond its place of origin - Facebook - and onto the mobile web as well. Both of these trends have been developing for some time, however they received a huge push in recent days from two separate developments.

Project Z

One, Zynga just announced it will launch an independent platform called Project Z. It will still maintain close ties with Facebook, it says, but it is equally clear that it wants to establish its own identity. Besides Project Z, Zynga is also making several of its new games available on Google+.

Apple's Influence

Another push will come from iPhone 4S, whose graphics and computing capabilities - not to mention record pre-sales - are designed for a mobile gaming push. Indeed, Apple products have forging a new path in gaming, in general. A majority of tablet owners- 6 in 10 or 59% -  say they use a video game console/handheld video game less often less often as a result of owning a tablet, according to GfK MRI.

Besides Project Z, Zynga is also mobile-optimizing several of its new games to be part of Facebook’s mobile site. "ZyngaPoker Mobile Web," "Words With Friends HTML5" and "Farmville Express" were built with HTML5 tools such as WebSockets and CSS3.

"The mobile play is very important for Zynga," Jeff Bander, SVP of client services at EyeTrackShop, told the E-Commerce Times. "That is the direction of m-commerce in general and gaming as well. Companies that are smart will optimize their apps so they are compatible with any mobile device."