Los Angeles - "American Idol" licensor FremantleMedia Enterprises said on Thursday that it has signed a deal to create an Idol-branded virtual world within Habbo.com, an online virtual world for teens that claims 3 million U.S. members. The agreement covers in-game merchandising and sponsorship for the American Idol brand, and will see Haboo introduce new virtual items and activities regularly as the TV season progresses.

Los Angeles - Habbo, a virtual community for teens that recently surpassed 100 million avatars created by its users, has announced a partnership with the non-profit Matthew Shepard Foundation, which was founded by the mother of 21-year-old murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in 1998. The foundation will host an ongoing series of conversations within the virtual world, on topics including "how to deal with bullying, discrimination and hate experienced on and offline and how to encourage respect among peers."

I'm on my soapbox again about the changing landscape for entertainment marketing and sales. I want to do a quick follow-up to my last article about the challenges that face Habbo Hotel, the popular virtual world for teens, when trying to cut a deal with the record labels to feature and sell their music. Today, the popular German teen rock sensation, Tokio Hotel, did an appearance in Habbo's Canadian Hotel and they are not alone. So far over 300 celebrity guests have visited Habbo to chat with fans and promote their projects. Clearly the artists as well as the record labels see the promotional value of following the fans to their online hang-outs. Habbo was subsequently the first virtual world to sign a deal with William Morris Agency. So why not set up a system to easily monetize music in this new media channel?

Los Angeles - Habbo, an online virtual community for teens, announced on Monday that in-game ad network Double Fusion is now the exclusive advertising sales agency for Habbo.com. Habbo, which claims 9.5 million unique monthly users, said Double Fusion will manage media sales and coordinate in-game, integrated marketing campaigns for advertisers.

Los Angeles - Habbo, a virtual world for teens that counts 8 million monthly users, announced on Wednesday that it has signed with the William Morris Agency, to facilitate potential cross-marketing and promotional partnerships in the film, sports, television and music industries. "As the Habbo community continues to increase, their audience will demand a mainstream in-game entertainment presence," said WMA chairman and CEO Jim A. Wiatt. "William Morris' Digital Group will be a key partner helping Habbo develop ideal business and marketing opportunities with the leaders of the entertainment industry."

Los Angeles - Habbo, an online virtual world for teens, said on Tuesday that Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment has authorized the creation and distribution of virtual goods on Habbo based on its "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "Beowulf" and "Mean Girls" properties. Habbo's 1.8 million North American users will be able to buy themed apparel to accessorize their avatars, in addition to virtual furniture, accessories and other goods based on the movies.

Los Angeles - MTV Networks' AddictingGames online game channel has partnered with Finland-based teen online virtual community Habbo, and will be the exclusive North American online game distributor for the site. Under the deal, Haboo's 7.5 million unique visitors per month will have access to free viral games and entertainment from AddictingGames, which attracts over 23 million unique visitors per month.

*The original version of this story incorrectly referred to Habbo, whose headquarters are in Finland, as a Sweden-based company.

Los Angeles - Finland's Sulake Corporation, parent company of the Habbo online virtual world for teens, on Monday announced the launch of a snowball fight multiplayer game across its 29 Habbo communities around the world. To promote "SnowStorm," Habbo is also offering a range of snow-themed stickers, gadgets and furniture for Habbo users' personal pages. Habbo currently counts a total of over 7.5 million unique monthly users, including 2 million at its North American sites.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Canadian film studio Lionsgate announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Habbo, to allow members of the online teen community to provide feedback on a potential filmmaking endeavor. Habbos will be able to view ten different animated shorts based on the Habbo World -- featuring styles ranging from CGI to Flash to 2D animation -- and vote on whether Lionsgate should produce and distribute a longer feature film based on one of the styles for release on DVD and the Internet.