Kids’ interest in online fun isn’t surprising. The Internet features thousands of engaging Web environments for children and young people. Some of these online environments are educational or non-commercial but, chances are, if a child is looking for high-end fun and games on the Net, it can be found on a commercial site for kids.

Online marketers typically build entire entertainment environments for children that seamlessly blend content and advertising. In these kid-friendly “cyber-worlds,” advertisers engage children interactively, allowing them to “play” with online commercial content as they build relationships with products.

Advertisers also collect data about specific users – through online registration forms, quizzes and surveys, or “cookies” that track where kids surf, how long they stay and what they download.

Sites like Neopets and bolt.com capitalize on the fact that children comprise an important marketing demographic. According to a YTV study in 2002, "tweens" (kids aged 9–14) have a discretionary income of $1.7 billion—and influence ten times that amount in family purchasing.

The Internet is an ideal way to access this lucrative market. Studies conducted by the Media Awareness Network in 1999 and 2000 support this assessment. The surveys revealed that 80 per cent of young people are alone when they use the Internet, and that most parents don't know what their children do online. Sixty-five per cent of parents think that their children use the Internet primarily for homework. But when kids talk about what they like to do most online, 56 per cent said that email is their favourite activity; 50 per cent surf for fun; 40 per cent use instant messaging; and 39 per cent participate in chat rooms. These are all activities in which personal information can be passed along quite readily—if inadvertently.

As well, 59 per cent of young respondents said they would give out their name and other personal information for the chance to win a prize in a contest; and 52 per cent would give out their email address.

In April 1999, the Canadian Marketing Association amended its Code of Ethics to include provisions regarding marketing to children under the age of thirteen. These voluntary guidelines stress that information gathered from children requires parental consent; that marketers should not accept orders from children without parental consent; and that marketers should use age-appropriate language and imagery in their advertisements.