In the latest move by the Nickelodeon/MTV Networks to capture the interest of kids online, the network has recently purchased the virtual pet site Neopets from parent company Viacom.

According to Nickelodeon Networks COO Jeffrey Dunn, he predicts that Neopets will be an online kiddy Jugernaut that will capture more than half of the kid's online ad market, which will result in a double in ad revenues to Nick.com this year.

The completely free Neopets website is for the most part an online Virtual Pet Site. However, the Neopets website is also a multi entertainment site featuring over 160 games, trading, auctions, greetings, messaging, and oddly shaped vegetables. Since Neopets inception, the site has built a fan base community of over 70 million virtual pet owners worldwide.

The Neopets website's popularity is growing at such an alarming rate amongst American youngsters that recently McDonald's jumped on the band wagon, and struck a deal with Nickelodeon to feature some of the characters for promotional purposes. Since July 8 and running until August 4, twelve of the most popular Neopets creatures will appear nationwide as featured toys in children's beloved McDonald's Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals. This will mark the second annual Neopets promotion with McDonald's.