Nielsen to Audit Videogame Ads; Expands Liquor Tracking

Nielsen Digital Entertainment will begin measuring ad reach in video games early next year.

The sister company to ACNielsen (scanner data) and Nielsen Media Research (TV ratings) will measure the effectiveness of ads embedded in video games. That will help marketers compare the value of video game ads to more traditional media—if the measurement system is adopted by enough video game producers and advertisers.

Marketers spent a reported $10 million on ads in video games this year.

Nielsen collaborates on the launch with fledgling ad network Massive Videogame Advertising Network, New York, which places ads in a wide range of video games. Plans call for a beta test to begin in early 2005, with first reports slated for second-quarter 2005.

Nielsen will first audit games in Massive’s network. Nielsen will measure ads’ reach and frequency, as well as time of day and length of time that gamers watched the ad. Marketers can get daily, weekly or monthly reports.

The real goal is to measure ad reach among 18- to 34-year-old men, who spend as much time gaming as watching TV. There are about 20 million such avid gamers in the U.S.

“We are seeing video games occupy a larger share of leisure time activities. As such, video games are fast developing into a real and powerful tool to authentically reach this highly sought after demographic,” said Nielsen Interactive Entertainment General Manager Michael Dowling in a statement.

Separately, sister company ACNielsen will add on-premise audits of alcoholic beverages to its off-premise measurement of promotional activities and sales. The on-premise audits will track promotional activities for alcohol brands in 2,600 bars, restaurants, hotels and recreational venues in 26 major U.S. markets.

Audits from ACNielsen’s Market Decisions division track brand price and presence in the well and on the back bar, feature mentions on menus and tabletop promotions. Data from the representative sample of venues are projected across all establishments in each market.

“An enormous amount of energy and dollars are spent to create customer awareness. Our reports collect consumer-observable presence [and] differentiate between types of on-premise venues, all of which factor differently into a manufacturer’s marketing plan,” said VP John Evans in a statement.

The service complements separate ACNielsen tracking programs in supermarkets and drug stores, C-stores and liquor stores.