Google News, Inside.

Microsoft acquired Massive Inc. coming on two years ago. What have they done with it? Not much as far as I can see.

As I’ve become more and more interested with in-game advertising, I’ve been doing more and more research lately. Having found a few different in-game advertising companies, none have actually picked up the phone or contacted me back.

Massive, a two-year-old start-up with 80 employees, is one of several companies pioneering the business of placing ads in videogames. Massive’s clients include Coca-Cola Co., Honda Motor Co. and other advertisers that are gradually increasing their spending on ads in videogames. Microsoft plans to announce next week an agreement to buy the New York company, said people familiar with the situation. People familiar with the matter estimated the deal to be valued at $200 million to $400 million.

So dating back, this company was founded in roughly late 2003. That was four years ago. Have we seen any major publicity or announcements made for Massive Inc? There have been bits and pieces mentioning Massive Inc., but nothing solid about what the company is actually doing to move forward.

With Google hot on the trail, announcing that they will most likely be releasing the in-game advertising service through their AdScape acquisition, Microsoft needs to make a move and fast.

The big question that remains is whether or not Google will dominate the market that Microsoft tried to enter into over a year ago. Microsoft needs to step up the game (no pun intended, well, maybe after I wrote it, it is kind of funny now) or else they’re going to have wasted some $200 million on a company that never took off.