Nielsen to Track Video Game Usage

Media audience research firm Nielsen said Wednesday that it would begin to provide a service that would give advertisers a better idea of the demographics for various video games. The firm says that the information would help companies to make better decisions regarding in-game advertising.

Called GamePlay Metrics, the offering will be the first from Neilsen's Wireless and Interactive Division. The new arm of the company focuses on measuring the audience of games and wireless, with plans to offer research data to wireless carriers, handset and gaming console manufacturers, as well as application developers.

"A reliable and accurate standard of measurement for video gaming will drive advertising investment in this medium and help convert video game advertising from a discretionary advertising experiment to a must-have option," the division's vice president Jeff Herrmann said.

In-game advertising has become one of the fastest growing new media markets in the industry. Several companies are angling to grab a piece of revenues, the largest of which is Massive, which Microsoft acquired in April of this year.

Nielsen's analysis would go further than just the game itself, to also include data on what television programs gamers watch and so forth. The resulting information would help companies better target their advertising dollars, the company claims.

Information for GamePlay Metrics would be gathered through Nielsen's existing People Meter technology, the company disclosed. A patented technology would harvest the titles of games played from both current and next-generation consoles.

The service is expected to begin in mid-2007, the company says.