After three months of rumors, Google has finally confirmed that it has bought in-game advertising company Adscape for an undisclosed amount. The company has been valued at about $23 million.

A post on Google's website said that in-game advertising is an area where Google believes it can add "a lot of value to users, advertisers and publishers" (via Direct Magazine and MediaBuyerPlanner). The Adscape acquisition is Google's first foray into placing ads within video or console games.

Research from The Yankee Group and Parks Associates in January suggested that by 2010 the in-game ad market would account for $589 million in spending.

Benchmark capitalist Michael Eisenberg said in January that Google was planning a project or "world game" that would use real-world data gathered from Google's existing properties to craft the alternate online platform. According to Eisenberg, Google plans to use Adscape to monetize the virtual world.

Last year, Microsoft purchased in-game ad company Massive Inc.