virtual economy

In its latest efforts to conquer social networking space Google has acquired Jambool Inc, a provider of products that enable websites to create and manage virtual economies, including virtual currency and goods.

As is known Jambool's Social Gold platform competes with Facebook Credits, the social-networking site's virtual-currency product.

The development of technologies has brought us to the epoch of the virtual realities and electronic commerce. And while the technologies themselves are void of any human features it is human beings who control and drive them which results in that the virtual world is also full of fraud and dishonesty. While participation in electronic commerce transactions is exciting and very convenient you should always remember about those who make money on unscrupulously exploiting popularity of some phenomena.

Digital currency is an integrated part of our present life as ecommerce is ever growing and the internet users are increasingly getting interested in shopping online and in dealing with virtual economy. Ecurrecy services, or payment systems, are very popular today as they allow people to enter financial relationship online in an easy and convenient way. Ecurrencies enable people to store money in online wallets or accounts in currency units that best fit their interests.

The virtual world got a huge boost in 2009 from social gaming, as hordes of Facebook users became virtual farmers, virtual Mafiosos or virtual restaurant owners while playing online games. Max Levchin, chief executive of San Francisco-based social gaming company Slide, says virtual world participants, not the creators, are the primary economic engine, and that Moody's may one day even rate bonds issued in a virtual world.

Levchin, a PayPal co-founder, talked with Forbes about what a new decade will mean for the virtual worlds his company is working to build.