Massive, a subsidiary of Microsoft, and comScore have announced a breakthrough in-game advertising research methodology, with the help of which advertisers will be able to see the direct impact of their in-game ads on consumer online behaviour. Developed by the two companies, the methodology gives advertisers an inside look at how much the in-game ads compel gamers visit web sites, conduct brand-related search queries, and engage in other online actions.
“We know from 85-plus independently verified post-campaign studies that in-game advertising increases brand engagement,” JJ Richards, general manager of Massive, the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising, stated. “But what we didn’t know was the correlation between in-game ads and consumer action. Through this collaboration with comScore, we will also now be able to measure those consumer actions that result from in-game ads. We think this has the potential to literally ‘change the game’ for both advertisers and publishers who want to improve the effectiveness of their in-game ad efforts.”
AdEffx Action Lift for Gaming, as it is known, matches the in-game console ad serving data from Massive, with the comScore third-party, post-campaign panel data. This is aimed at tracking and measuring in-game advertising effectiveness. comScore combines Microsoft’s propriety, non-personally identifying Anonymous ID data, with user data from its panel of 2 million Internet users worldwide, and can hence determine whether panelists who were exposed to in-game advertising, then visited a brand’s web site, searched brand-related terms, or engaged in any other online behaviour which may be considered important to advertisers.
A statement from the companies says that this methodology is similar to the ad tracking and measurement standards which are currently accepted when it comes to other forms of digital advertising, and it also strictly retains the consumer’s anonymity in the process.
“We believe AdEffx Action Lift for Gaming puts in-game advertising campaign measurement on a level playing field with comparable digital media,” Mike Hurt, senior vice president, comScore, affirmed. “With this kind of methodology, we are addressing the need for better standards of ad effectiveness measurement across all forms of digital media. Advertisers can now track post-campaign online activity, including direct Web site visits, search queries and other consumer behaviors among people who have been exposed to in-game ads.”
Preliminary research conducted by comScore using this new methodology on a few Massive in-game campaigns. They found a 280 percent increase in visits to a TV channel’s web site, a 125 percent increase in search queries for a movie rental brand, with a 57 percent increase in visits to its web site, and a 17 percent increase in visits to entertainment web sites after viewing ads for a movie. comScore and Massive have submitted this new kind of methodology to the Advertising Research Foundation for validation.