Search terms are a great way to keep up with popular trends, whether through Blogpulse, Google Trends, or Yahoo! Buzz.   I was also a fan of the (now defunct?) Daypop Top 40.

A recent trends press release from Hitwise, the online competitive analysis firm, focused specifically on shopping search terms by brand, category, and product name.  They introduced me to Webkinz, a toy which cracked the Top 10 shopping search terms last month, joining stalwarts like Barbie, iPod, and Lego.

Webkinz is a two-part toy: a collectible stuffed animal, and an online avatar of that toy that resides at Webkinz.com.  Once a child registers their animal ("adopts it"), he or she can play with their pet in a virtual world: the Webkinz World Website.  As in Second Life, part of the fun is design your pet’s room and
purchasing additional items using KinzCash, the Webkinz version of Linden Dollars.   
And like other MMORGs, virtual pets can make friends with other Webkinz on the site.

You receive $2,000 in KinzCash when you purchase an animal, and can win more virtual currency by
playing games and answering trivia questions.  Questions are designed to be educational and age-appropriate, roughly aimed at children 5-12.

It’s an amazing powerful idea- a mashup of Beanie Babies, MySpace, and Neopets. 

Even more fascinating, Webkinz was developed by a traditional toy company, Ganz,  a Toronto-based manufacturer of toys and gifts.  Will it beat out TMX Elmo as the must-have toy for Christmas 2006?

Misha Cornes