• GigaOm , Thursday, May 24, 2007 12:17 PM

Business Week reported a few days ago that big companies like News Corp. and Sony Corp. are taking a close look at virtual worlds -- primarily those catering to young kids and tweens, like Club Penguin and Webkinz.com. In the adult world, Second Life has been getting all the attention for its innovative, thriving virtual economy -- and its showcasing the experimental advertising efforts of global brands. For many companies, from ad agencies to news outlets to the NBA, there's a certain cachet about having a presence in Second Life. But, GigaOm asks, what's the ROI on these marketing expenses?

For one thing, author Wagner James Au says the Second Life users he spoke with were unimpressed -- that is, the existence of brands in Second Life hasn't made the user experience any better or more entertaining. In fact, he says the spread of weekly users to corporate locations in Second Life is anywhere from 6,454 to 0, according to the game's demographics tracker Tateru Nino. Pontiac, by the way, owns the top spot; users can create their own cars at its virtual autobody shop. Second most popular is a site for Showtime's "The L Word" (4,687 users per week). The likes of Sears, Sun Microsystems, Dell, Coca-Cola, Reebok and Calvin Klein, meanwhile, attract fewer than 500 weekly visitors.

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