Over at GigaOM they note that at the first Virtual worlds Conference last March in New York there were only nine worlds featured. At the conference in San Jose thirty worlds will be in attendance. They make a good point that many of the virtual worlds are not well known and will most likely remain in obscurity.

There are some virtual worlds aimed at children that have gained traction including Zwinktopia, Gaia Online, Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin and Whyville. So even while a handful of virtual worlds succeed what will become of those that are left behind?

Wagner James Au writes, "If the last boom’s trajectory of hubris and greed is followed, most of these are destined for obscurity- or acquisition by their wiser superiors. While kid-oriented MMOs have the most active users and thus seem like the safest bet they’re also fragile ecosystems that can fall apart with too much outside interference and commercialism."

So will established virtual worlds and start-ups be able to make money and have wide appeal at the same time? CEO of iEntry and publisher of WebProNews Rich Ord said," It seems that as they try to monetize they also try to become mainstream, which of course is the kiss of death for all things trendy."

The virtual world adds its hat to a ring that includes already-successful SecondLife, and to up-and-coming Gaia, which my 12-year-old stepson obsessed over for exactly five minutes before obsessing over an Xbox game for exactly five more minutes (his presence on Gaia was replaced by 10-year-old cousin).

As I indicated earlier, these worlds skew young, which should be marketing Utopia, given the early-adopting pattern of teens.

"Rather than build the virtual world first, we created Zwinky avatars for users to express themselves creatively and visually wherever they go online," said John Park, Executive Vice President and General Manager. "We then listened to our users to create the Zwinky Virtual World they wanted."

Inside that virtual world, users can choose between 29 separate hangouts and have access to dozens of games and activities. They can shop for the latest virtual fashions, accessories, or furniture for their dorm rooms using Zbucks they’ve earned through participation.

Yes, pretend money for pretend things that may one day be worth real money you can buy real things with. The world has taken a strange, strange turn and I’m already so old it’s pathetic.

"We are one of the fastest growing groups within IAC because of our ability to share highly personalized, relevant content such as Zwinkies, Webfetti, and Smiley Central with a ravenous, passionate audience," said Scott Garell, CEO IAC Consumer Applications and Portals.

And don’t forget how valuable all that information is to marketers, in case you had trouble reading between the lines in that press release quote. The reapers have already begun.

Writing for Giga Om, Wagner James Au calls the sudden advance of online kids’ worlds a "gold rush" and wonders why it’s taken the industry so long to notice.

At present, they’re actually the only reliably expanding niche in online worlds. After all, World of Warcraft remains the uncontested traditional fantasy MMORPG, dominating all its competitors (except in Asia), while Second Life remains unchallenged in the user-created 3D world sub-genre.