Gaming Communities and Kids: Do You Know Your ABCs? Presenters Rebecca Newton Community Director Richard Weil Community Director Community Relations for Kids and Tweens vs. Adults What makes it different? Legal and Regulatory Obligations COPPA Compliance Age Screening and verification procedures Restrictions on B2C communications where minors are involved Demographics Economic, Social and disposable time differences Demographics What kids / tweens are doing online vs. activities of older age groups *Percent of US Population 13 and under Schoolwork 75% 63.8% Play Games 64.7% Radio, Movies 17.9% Chat Rooms 16% Kids like to be active and busy online. * Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005 Demographics What kids / tweens are doing online vs. activities of older age groups *Percent of US Population 16 and older 89% Search Engines 55% News 47% Browse for fun 42% Work Research, Hobbies, Weather, etc. 32% Adults prefer to read and research and browse * Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005 Demographics Top 10 Kids Gaming Sites By Total Traffic SiteOverall Rank CBBC (bbc.co.uk/cbbc 48 Miniclip.com208 Runescape.com267 Disney.com275 Pogo.com280 Gaia Online303 Neopets.com370 Cartoon Network414 Webkinz689 Stardoll709 *Alexa.com, August 2008 Demographics Top 10 Most Popular Kids Gaming Sites Stats by Unique Visitor SiteRank ClubPenguin.com1 CartoonNetwork.com2 Nick.com3 Barbie.com4 Webkinz.com5 Neopets.com6 MyScene.com7 PBSkids.org8 Hotwheels.com9 DisneyLatino.com10 *ComScore Jan-May 2008 (unique visitors) Forging an Effective Online Community Relations (OCR) Effort for Kids and Tweens Necessary Staff Training and Knowledge Ethics Compliance with relevant laws and regulations Day-to-day challenges communicating with kid / tween audiences How and where to draw the lines Vetted staff (CBCs) Necessary Staff Training and Knowledge War Stories from the Field Moderator sharing child porn w. users under 13 Moderators meeting users offline Staff members stealing and selling users virtual goods on eBay Staff members asking minors to buy drug paraphernalia Staff members giving virtual goods and currency to pet users Favoritism Sr. Staff Members leaking company documents to kid users Sr. Exec. (and support staff) leaking game secrets to kid users Communications Working with Parent Information and Child Advocate organizations / websites (NCMEC Cybertip line) Safe Harbor for Kids Sites Communications Viral Marketing to Kids / Tweens: Know your CAN-SPAM rules CAN-SPAM Act Requirements No false or misleading header information No deceptive subject lines Clear Opt-out method Stop sending mail w/in 10 days Illegal to sell or distributeaddress Clearly identified as Commercial Mail Must provide senders valid postal address Marketing and Advertising on Kids Sites CARU regulations and guidelines : Communications Viral Marketing to Kids / Tweens COPPA Regulations Tell-a-Friend schemes: must be scrubbed, noaddresses allowed in the FROM section Limited character space for screen name only No PII Limited liability Know Your Audience School and Extracurricular time demands Little or no direct access to money Parental restrictions / oversight Each of the above effects how your audience interacts with your product. Plan accordingly. Conclusions and Looking Forward jjj Landscape Analysis Online products aimed at Kids / Tweens increasing exponentially New emphasis on complex security measures Variety of revenue models *TIA and NPD Research, July 2008 ** Mediamark Research 2007 American Kids Survey Whats Coming from the FTC and CARU? Age verification via credit cards Parental permission via fax or Landline voice verification National ID card scheme (UK) Why Does All This Matter? Effective (not timid) OCR programs in a Kids / Tween product are competitive differentiators, just as in older-targeted products. Why Does All This Matter? 57 bil. $ industry by 2009 (DFC Intelligence,06/08) Revenue Models MMOG Subscription Tiers Runescape, Club Penguin, WoW leading revenue driver (100s of millions $) in lifetime revenues Advertising Models Cartoon Network, Disney, CBBC *75% 6-8yos access online content *90% 8-16yos access online content **80% 6-11yos play online games *28% 2-14 buy offline products associated with websites *TIA and NPD Research, July 2008 ** Mediamark Research 2007 American Kids Survey Why Does All This Matter? Revenue Models (continued) Virtual Goods (micro payments) Habbo, Second Life, Stardoll, Gaia, Facebook Facebooks /poke most played casual social game on the net Merchandise Webkinz Why Does All This Matter? Revenue Models Problematic ? Virtual Goods (micro payment systems) Habbo * ARPU can look good compared to subscriptions, but the numbers arent comparable. * Paymentguy.com Habbo can never make money with micropayment system. * < 10% support the other 90% Q&A Thanks!