October 31st, 2002

Pet Hates

By Martin Headon
Guardian

When tales of online success are drowned out by the crashing of another dotcom, gaming site Neopets comes as welcome relief. The fact that the site is a British creation that conquered America where countless pop stars failed only adds to the appeal. It is a hit with children and adults - but has attracted criticism from those who claim it is manipulating its younger users.

The premise of the site is simple. To register, one chooses a “neopet” from a variety of options ranging from the cuddly to the downright bizarre. The user then plays games in order to gain “neopoints”, which are used to buy food, toys, weapons and even educational tools for the demanding pet.

An online hybrid of Poke mon and Tamagotchi is perhaps the most succinct description.

The site was created by English students Adam Powell and Donna Williams in 1999. Then, the aim was to “keep university students entertained, and possibly make some cash from banner advertising”, Powell explains. It was only when 500 people a day began signing up to the site that they began to realise the full commercial potential of the venture, and the site was bought by American market researcher Doug Dohring the same year.

While the games themselves are familiar, based on old favourites such as solitaire, Minesweeper and Tetris, the site’s distinction lies in creating a purpose for winning points that rival gaming sites lack. Where MSN’s and Yahoo’s game zones seem to cater for the obsessive and competitive, Neopians (as they call themselves) believe that the ultimate object of their endeavours is the health and wellbeing of their virtual pet.

The site’s most striking feature is the absence of popup or banner adverts. In fact, it is possible to use the site for long periods without apparently being sold a single product. Compared to its banner blanketed rivals, Neopets’ marketing strategy is far more subtle and, say some, insidious.

Dohring calls the technique “immersive advertising” - or, in other words, online product placement. In the Neopets universe, kids can quench their pet’s thirst with Sunny Delight, brush its teeth with Crest toothpaste, or take it to the Cartoon Network Theatre.

The strategy has attracted criticism from Ralph Nader’s consumer group Commercial Alert, which believes that young children may not realise they are being sold a product when they use the site. In defence, Powell points out that children are not compelled to play the sponsored games or use sponsored items, and compares the promotions to kids “watching a 30-minute cartoon and being sold Barbie and Transformers during the adverts”.

While the ethics of immersive advertising are debatable, its success is harder to deny. Dohring’s research claims that awareness and preference for a particular soft drink among Neopets users rose by around 4% after it was introduced to the site. Earlier this year, the 40 millionth virtual pet was registered. Powell hopes that a film or cartoon may soon be produced on top of the range of furry pet accessories currently available.

Neopets claims to have been the most popular site in the United States last year in terms of average time spent per person on the site, and fourth if scored by total page views. This last statistic is misleading. Many of the games and activities feature the constant refreshing of pages, artificially increasing the number of page views. However, even taking into account this creative use of figures, the site stands as a prime example of the appetite for innovation and the power of word of mouth in the competitive teen market.

Comments

  1. Posted by Amanda on July 26th, 2005

    I absolutely love Neopets. It teaches me to treasure virtual and real pets. Neopets Inc. is the best Inc. ever. I mean,who can dislike a site where you can see strange and odd things but a cuddly pets. The site just....makes you want to stay. Forever. 

  2. Posted by HappyPets on November 7th, 2005

    Neopets can teach children the simple things of life; they learn to take care of their pets, handle money, shop, make friends...... in a world where everything is branded, the kids are just going to get smarter and smarter than the advertisers.

  3. Posted by Brad on January 1st, 2006

    Neopets may have the image of happiness and well-being, but the site itself is incredibly dictatorial. You’re not allowed to link from the site to somewhere else, you’re not allowed to swear or say words such as “hot” and “bikini”. The “neopoints” you earn are not allowed to be used to hold your own contests.

    This has recently made a number of Neopians (myself included) to boycott the website completely. Will it make an impression at all on the Neopets staff? Of course not.

    But I’m sticking to my principles. I feel Neopets teaches kids to be a slave to the state.

  4. Posted by Cindy on June 7th, 2006

    I agree with Brad. Neopets was once a fun place to hang out and play with our pets, but since I was a young teen, the site has changed. The “immersive advertising” is over the top; you can’t be on any page without seeing a brand name. The rules have become stricter and stricter, and have also become very prejudice. As well, knowing what is going on behind the Neopets Inc. computers puts me off the site. It is a completely profit enterprize with little to no compassion for the users.
    Oh, and the owner is a Scientologist. ‘nuff said.

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