Standards for Measuring In Game Ads

TV advertisements have Nielsen, Magazine advertisements have the Audit Bureau of Circulations, yet at this time there is no structure in place to adequately measure the value of in game ads, which presents a problem for the industry. According to a panel at MI6, it is one of the largest obstacles facing the advertising sector.

Andy Swanson of Ubisfot discussed the importance of consistency in measuring advertisements that can be used to compare different values of different ads. He added, "When a person looks at a billboard in a game, what is the value of that. How long do they need to look at the ad to validate that as a buy?" The Head of Gaming at AT&T Entertainment Services Glenn Broderick wanted an "apples to apples" comparison, which would allow media buyers to compare the value of a video game ad to established media such as TV and print. This notion was further established when Dean Martin, a media buyer, explained that advertisers are afraid of the gamble they take when they buy in game ads, because the risk is lower buying from established forms.

Developing a system for measuring video game ads effectiveness wont be simple. Aside from the fact that there are gamers who will simply ignore the ads, there is also no way of knowing how many individuals play a given game. Friends share game, people buy and sell used games on ebay or through outlets like gamestop. The truth of the matter is however that the systems in place for TV and magazines aren't entirely reliable either. With services like Tivo consumers can skip commercials and those who surf the web have become numb to banner ads. When a system is put into place to measure the effectiveness of video game ads there is no guarantee that it will be as useful as those who want it hope for.