As teenagers continue to spend less time watching television and more time online, MTV Networks has been working on a number of initiatives to keep the eyeballs on its content - and advertising. The latest effort involves creating a three-dimensional online world, a "Virtual Laguna Beach."

Last month, MTV purchased Atom Entertainment, including its Atom Films, Shockwave and AddictingGames properties. That acquisition followed purchases of entertainment brands XFIRE, Y2M, GameTrailers.com, IFILM, and Neopets.

MTV Networks is endeavoring to become a leading force in casual gaming, with 50 million gamers playing more than 400 million games per month. The acquisitions further expand the company's online multimedia offerings, now offered across 24 channels for broadband users.

With Virtual Laguna Beach, MTV hopes to take the hugely popular semi-reality TV show, and translate that success to its online division. In turn, it can tap advertisers across multiple platforms, and MTV is already working directly with Pepsi, Mediavest Worldwide and OMD to build out its services.

Virtual Laguna Beach will be just one piece of MTV's plans to build a social network platform around a variety of its brands. The service, which entered beta testing Wednesday, utilizes technology from There.com, a virtual 3D world like Second Life. Users can interact in the same environment as Laguna Beach characters, and follow similar plot lines like preparing for the Winter formal.

MTV also plans to stream episodes in Virtual Laguna Beach a day before they are shown on TV, a move which it hopes will entice fans of the show to sign up online.

"Our audience wants more interaction with our content and with each other. Virtual Laguna Beach lets our audience become the stars themselves, stepping onto a virtual stage and living the life they see -- or would like to see -- on television," said Van Toffler, MTV Networks president.

But the real goal behind the platform is to develop a way to integrate advertising into the interactive experience itself. With consumers ever-increasing ability to tune out ads both online and off, companies are looking to exploit new mediums to attract customers.

According to MTV, "the platforms offer the ideal environment for marketers to seamlessly weave their messages into the overall experience. Viewers in- world also can choose to interact with sponsors' content and also purchase virtual as well as physical goods."

Other virtual worlds are planned later this year for MTV's music community, as well as its LOGO network for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community.