Editing Neopets (section)

===Immersive advertising===
{{see also|Interactive advertising}}
Immersive advertising is a trademarked term for the way ''Neopets'' displayed advertisements to generate profit after Doug Dohring bought the site.<ref name="Kushner" /> Unlike [[Pop-up ad|pop-up]] and [[banner ad]]s, immersive ads integrate advertisements into the site's content [[interactive advertising|in interactive forms]], including games and items. Players could earn Neopoints from them by playing [[advergames]] and taking part in online marketing surveys. Prior to the arrival of the NC Mall, it contributed to 60% of the revenue from the site<ref name="Wingfield" /> with paying [[Fortune 1000]] companies including [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]], [[General Mills]], and [[McDonald's]].<ref name="Fonda" />

It was a contentious issue with the site with regard to the [[Marketing ethics#Market audience|ethics of marketing to children]]. It drew criticism from parents, psychologists, and consumer advocates who argued that children may not know that they are being advertised to, as it blurred the line between site content and advertisement. Children under eight had difficulty recognizing ads and half a million of the 25 million users were under the age of eight in 2005.<ref name="Kushner" /><ref name="Fonda" /> Dohring responded to such criticism stating that of the 40 percent of users twelve and younger, very few were seven or eight years old and that preschoolers were not their target audience.<ref name="Fehrenbacher" />

Others criticised the functionality of the site. Susan Linn, another psychologist and author of ''Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood'' considered the purpose of this site was to keep children in front of advertisements.<ref name="Pace" /> [[Kalle Lasn]], editor-in-chief and co-founder of ''[[Adbusters]]'' magazine, said the site encouraged kids to spend hours in front of a screen and recruited them to [[consumerism]].<ref name="Kushner" /> ''Neopets'' executives stated that paid content constituted less than 1% of the site's total content.<ref name="Pace" /> Children were not required to play or use sponsor games and items, and all ads were marked as such.<ref name="Kushner" /><ref name="Fonda" />