In game advertising is still a relatively new medium, but until now, both providers and purchasers of the medium had no concrete measurement tools to gauge effectiveness. There have been a number of one-off studies done, with positive results, but nothing done on a (pardon the pun) Massive scale. Partnering with leading internet metrics and market research firm comScore, Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., will not be able to measure the firect impact that in-game advertising has on consumer online behavior. Call this a win for advertisers everywhere.

It’s no secret that there’s a very viable market in the gaming market, and Massive is one of the big three providers of IGA. They insert (in most cases) non-intrusive ads on billboards in urban landscapes for example, or slide up ads just above the scoreboard display in Madden – something very similar to what a user would see in this environment, or television broadcast. However, while the ads have shown to be popular and consumer motivators, due to the lack of solid data, and their relative newness, advertisers have still been weary to pull the trigger on launching campaigns.

“We know from 85-plus independently verified post-campaign studies that in-game advertising increases brand engagement,” said JJ Richards, general manager of Massive. “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.”

The Massive/comScore partnership will now connect the dots between ads that users view vs. the actions they take after seeing said ad. Essentially, the two companies have managed a route that will give an overall picture of action and response from a viewer, without violating end user privacy policies.

The method works as such: Microsoft has a set of gamertags for users on their Xbox Live service. These tags provide game identifications and Microsoft knows the exact campaigns that are running within these games. Likewise, under the same umbrella, Microsoft also has Windows Live login data for Hotmail users. Combine these two together, and Microsoft now has a (more or less) complete picture about any given gamers’ preferences, and which ads they’ve seen and haven’t seen. By utilizing their Anonymous ID technology, Microsoft can then strip away any personal information and assign each user with a unique number.

But that’s only one half of the story. On the other side of the fence, comScore has around two million volunteers that offer up their web habits. If and when these users log into Hotmail or Xbox Live, the path between adding up the dots between what ads these users have seen, and what they do on the web within a specified time period is relatively short. To add an additional level of data security, the anonymous data communications between Microsoft and comScore are in an encrypted environment.

comScore’s preliminary research data using this method indicates that those who were exposed to in-game ads vs. those that had not are 280 percent more likely to visit a TV channel’s web site. The study also showed a 125 percent increase in search queries for a movie rental brand and a 57 percent increase in visits to its website.

The announcement coincides with the second annual Microsoft Advertising Gaming Upfront event in New York City — the only event of its kind that showcases new video game titles from leading game publishers available for brands to connect and engage audiences on the Massive in-game advertising network.

comScore and Massive have submitted this new methodology to the Advertising Research Foundation for validation.