Does this mean virtual worlds
are the next trend in big media acquisitions? Could be. Call it social networking 2.0: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Time Warner, News Corp., Viacom -- all demonstrated an interest in it. If one goes,
others would follow.
As online advertising booms, virtual worlds have started to generate real business. Second Life, for example, has not only become a place where consumers dump
money into their avatars, it's also become a desirable destination for national companies to splash their brands. And usage is growing: Screen Digest, a media consultancy firm, predicts that 80% of
active Internet users will become involved in a virtual world by 2012.
But Second Life isn't anywhere close to the top, according to Hitwise. The most desirable takeover targets have far more traffic and they cater to kids. Webkinz, a site where kids take care of virtual pets, saw its traffic rise 1,462% in the last year, says Hitwise, while Club Penguin saw its share jump sevenfold over the same period.