Let’s be honest: the gaming ad industry has been sprinting on vibes and vaporware for far too long.
Every time I asked someone how they’re measuring ROI on that flashy Roblox campaign or that brand-safe moment in Call of Duty, I got some version of the same answer: “We’re seeing great engagement.” Translation? No one had a clue what was actually working. They just hoped the CMO’s teenager saw it and thought it was cool.
But now, in a move that’s either bold reform or an overdue cleanup job (probably both), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has dropped what it's calling the Gaming Measurement Framework—a formal blueprint designed to give gaming the same kind of measurement hygiene marketers have (theoretically) demanded from social, digital, and TV.
So here’s what it is, what it isn’t, and why it’s either going to fix everything or become the next slide no one reads in a media deck.
🧪 Why This Matters: We’re Talking Billions with a “B”
According to Statista and IAB research, global in-game advertising revenue is projected to hit $124.45 billion this year. That’s not an experimental channel—that’s more than the entire global film industry. And more than 80% of U.S. internet users now identify as gamers, whether they’re button-mashing on consoles, farming imaginary crops on mobile, or building pixelated corporate HQs in Minecraft.
Gaming has become mainstream entertainment, outpacing movies and music in both time spent and cultural currency. But for years, marketers have treated it like an edgy side hustle. Why? Because the measurement sucked.
🔍 What the IAB Framework Actually Does
Let’s be clear—this is not just another checklist of marketing acronyms.
The Gaming Measurement Framework sets out to do three critical things:
Define standardized metrics across all gaming ad formats—including display, video, audio, and those often chaotic “custom integrations.”
Establish two tiers of metrics:
Baseline Metrics (must-haves): the minimum viable data needed to judge campaign success—think impressions, exposure time, and audibility.
Additional Metrics (nice-to-haves): the more advanced, sometimes experimental stuff—brand lift, emotional resonance, eye tracking, etc.
Enable true cross-platform comparison: across consoles, mobile games, desktop, genres, publishers, and the increasingly bloated ad tech supply chain.
This is a big deal because until now, it was almost impossible to compare a campaign running in Clash of Clans to one dropped into Fortnite or NBA 2K. The platforms didn’t speak the same language. Some barely spoke at all.
💬 Real Quotes, Real Accountability
Let’s bring in the actual players behind the curtain:
Zoe Soon, VP of the IAB Experience Center, didn’t sugarcoat the need:
“Gaming is where consumers are, and it's where advertisers need to be. But without clear standards for measurement, it’s difficult to prove the value of gaming within a media mix.”
(Source: IAB.org)
Allison McDuffee, Global Head of Brand Insights & Measurement at Roblox, echoed that urgency:
“These shared standards and an established common language will help unlock the full potential of gaming as a marketing channel.”
(Source: Adweek)
Translation: It’s hard to scale a $100 million media buy when the vendor still can’t tell you whether your ad was seen or heard—or if it played next to a guy live-streaming racial slurs.
🛠 How It Changes the Game for Marketers
If you’re a brand, here’s what this really means:
You’ll know what to ask for. No more accepting “engagement” as a metric when that could mean anything from a click to a 0.2-second hover.
You can finally compare campaigns side-by-side. Xbox versus mobile. Programmatic versus direct. One dashboard, one language.
You get leverage. If a vendor doesn’t support baseline metrics? You walk.
You get better creative alignment. When you know what’s being measured, you stop designing for “cool” and start designing for outcomes.
For agencies, the implications are just as big. You can now plan gaming campaigns with the same level of rigor—and defensibility—as CTV or social video. This isn’t a playground anymore. It’s a boardroom channel.
🎯 Why It Had to Happen Now
There’s a reason the IAB couldn’t kick this can down the road any longer: money is moving. Big brands are shifting serious dollars into gaming environments, especially as third-party cookies die and youth audiences evaporate from traditional channels.
At the same time, the gaming ad supply chain has become a maze of walled gardens, immature SDKs, and half-baked attribution tools. Without agreed-upon metrics, fraud flourishes, performance is exaggerated, and credibility takes a hit.
This framework is a preemptive strike against that chaos—a way of saying: before this becomes the next banner ad fiasco, let’s set some ground rules.
😬 What Could Go Wrong?
Plenty. If publishers don’t adopt it, or if vendors only pay lip service, it becomes yet another well-meaning PDF that collects digital dust.
There’s also the usual industry resistance to transparency. Some folks benefit from ambiguity—especially if your ad spend is propping up soft metrics and overpromised outcomes. Measurement, when it’s done right, has a nasty habit of revealing who’s been bluffing.
🧠 The Real Impact: Gaming Graduates from Hobby to Strategy
Here’s the truth: this framework is about legitimization.
Gaming is no longer an “innovative placement” to brag about in case studies. It’s a core part of media strategy—and now it has the receipts to prove it.
You want parity with TV? With retail media? With CTV? Then you need to speak the same language. This framework is the dictionary.
🕵️♀️ Final Whisper
Measurement isn’t sexy. But it’s power. And now that gaming has it, expect the excuses to dry up, the pitch decks to evolve, and the budgets to follow.
Let’s see who actually starts using it… and who keeps muttering “engagement” like it still means something.
Stay Bold. Stay Curious. Know More than You Did Yesterday.