Microsoft’s in-game ad business, Massive, has engaged comScore to gain insight into the worth of clients’ in-game advertising spend.

JJ Richards, Massive general manager, said the question is whether gamers take action after encountering ads during play.

We know from 80-plus independently verified post-campaign studies that in-game advertising increases brand engagement. But, what we didnt know was the correlation between in-game ads and consumer action.

Microsoft will combine its anonymous ID data, common across Xbox LIVE and Microsoft’s web properties, with user data from comScore’s panel of two million to determine whether panelists who saw in-game ads subsequently visited brand websites, searched brand-related terms, or engaged in any other online behaviours valuable to advertisers.

comScore has conducted some preliminary research using this new methodology on some recent in-game Massive campaigns. The results were heartening for the company, consumers exposed to in-game ads for:

• TV shows were 280% more likely to visit a TV channels website
• 57% more likely to visit a movie rental brands website

• 17% more likely to visit entertainment sites after seeing ads for a particular movie, and

• Consumers exposed to related ads were 125% more likely to search for a movie rental brand