Virtual Worlds

The new beta version of Google Earth has some amazing new features. Check out the new features in this article. Better yet, download the free application and experience virtual reality the Google way.

Coke may not have found its winning online formula, but that hasn't stopped it from trying. Efforts have included promotions on YouTube to send video holiday cards, a promotional stint on Second Life and an ongoing virtual world called CC Metro. It also has rolled out three more Facebook applications, including a nightlife-themed app, Burn Alter Ego, to promote its energy drink sold in the U.K.

Research company Interpret has released some pretty impressive numbers regarding casual gaming. Some 145 million people in the U.S. played casual games over the last year. That's 48 percent of the country's population. A very big audience that accounts for the in-game ad influx.

Trying to duplicate the success of blockbuster websites like Club Penguin and Webkinz, children's entertainment companies are greatly accelerating efforts to build virtual worlds for children. Media conglomerates in particular think these sites--part online role-playing game and part social scene--can deliver quick growth and instill brand loyalty in a generation of new customers.

It was a year of ups and downs for virtual worlds, as well as the companies that jumped on the bandwagon of creating virtual advertising and branded worlds. As 2007 began, the virtual world environment Second Life was riding high on a wave of interest from users and advertisers, but as time went on, many marketers and agencies began to question the return on investment of their virtual projects.

Coca-Cola is once again advertising in virtual worlds -- or perhaps interacting is the more accurate term. Coke has just colonized its own island in there.com, a virtual world that monitors itself for copyright infringements, and also tries to keep a lid on any naughty behavior. In other words, it's a brand-safe environment for all. In a real-world / virtual world mashup, Coke allows you to redeem bottle cap reward points to score Coca-Cola gear for your there.com avatar. So yes, even your imaginary stand-in can now provide branding for free.

Sony and Warner Brothers are now streaming movies on the Gaia virtual world site. Gaia presently hosts about two and one-half million players each month, so the potential viewing audience is about as big as Brooklyn. Unlike the local multiplex, chatting with fellow patrons is encouraged here, reinforcing the virtual world's community aspects. But here's the question: will Gaia patrons end up paying for these movies down the road, or will this become another new medium for video advertising?