Our local San Francisco CBS affiliate ran a nice segment on FooPets and Kwedit:

The New York Times published a nice article about FooPets and our new promise-payment provider, Kwedit, in today’s business section of the New York Times. Thanks to Randall Stross for the thoughtful writeup, and Danny Shader of Kwedit for the press-worthy launch!

Just one year after launching FooPets.com, we’ve received an early Christmas present: the #1 result for a Google search for “virtual pets” (without the quotes), just ahead of the longstanding champion of that position, Neopets.com. (You may see us still at #2 or #3, depending on which Google datacenter you hit.) Now we just have to hold position–easier said than done. We still have a ways to go with our second target search phrase, “online pets,” where we’re still down at SERP #5, above the fold but not good enough. In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby, if you’re not first you’re last.

Next week, Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog month kicks off and the FooCrew wanted to help spread the word. If you’ve been thinking lately that a new furry friend might be a good thing in your life, October is the month to take action. There are literally millions of dogs at local shelters across the country in need of love, care and commitment from responsible pet owners. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), American Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are all great resources for learning more about shelter pet adoption and tips for being the best pet owner possible.

Both the ASPCA and the HSUS are FooPartners. If you aren’t in a position to adopt a real shelter dog at this time, but would like to support the cause, you can still participate on FooPets.com. We make donating easy. You can adopt a FooPet from our shelter and make a donation to the organization of your choice right from the FooBank. Symbolic and fun! But a great way nonetheless, to help real-life animals who need your support.

There are lots of ways to help shelter pets in need. Contact your local organizations and get involved. Let’s make this October the best Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog month ever!

Happy Friday,

FooCrew Lynne

Here at FooMojo, our FooPets lab is a 24/7 gig. The FooPets development team is always hard at work on new features and games we hope make the site even more fun. This week, we released the FooPets Arcade. The arcade is filled with mini-games such as puzzles, memory testers and other arcade stuff people love to play. You can win FooGems and when you are good enough, battle it out for a place on our leaderboard. Trophies are awarded daily so dust off your display case and start practicing.

FooCrew Lynne

FooPets owners can now pick breeding partners and share the fun of building their own virtual pets family tree

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. – September 8, 2009 –FooMojo, Inc., creator of the world’s most realistic and emotionally engaging virtual pets, today announced FooPets Breeding, a new  feature of the FooPets.com virtual pets social game that lets owners take part in planning and building their own FooPets family trees. Individually or together with a friend, FooPets owners can now breed two FooPets and raise a litter of puppies and kittens until they are old enough to be adopted. During the breeding process, FooPets owners are responsible for proper care of their FooBabies including feeding and watering, providing required healthcare and when ready, arranging for adoptions to good homes.

“Pet breeding in the real-world can be very rewarding but it’s a process that requires hard work, a substantial time-commitment, financial resources and dedication,” said Dr. Ron Hornbaker, veterinarian, founder and CEO, FooMojo. “FooPets Breeding gives virtual pet owners the opportunity to experience the excitement of building and caring for their own pet family tree but also raises awareness that there are serious responsibilities involved.”

FooPets Breeding is an entertaining and fun way to learn the aspects of pet breeding. For owners, creating their own personal FooPets genealogy can be an exciting experience. Every parent and baby FooPet has a unique personality profile that tracks the pet’s character traits determined by their breed. Personality profiles help owners find optimal breeding partners based on desired pet personality and behavior. Over time, FooPets family trees can evolve based on breeding history and bloodlines.

With FooPets Breeding, owners experience a condensed, comprehensive, simulation of the real-world breeding process. Once owners purchase a litter license and select a breeding partner, they can pair FooPets for conception, followed by a gestation period and then delivery. At delivery in approximately four weeks time, between four and seven adorable baby FooPets will arrive. After a two week weaning period when parent FooPets watch after the litter, baby FooPets then will require two weeks of careful attention from their owners before they are ready to be adopted. At this point, baby FooPets are old enough for adoption to good homes. By giving or selling baby FooPets to family and friends, owners can join their family trees and share in the fun of crafting personal FooPets genealogy to include specific desired traits and characteristics.

FooPets Breeding

Availability:

FooPets Breeding is now available in the FooPets social gaming application. Because FooPets Breeding involves bringing new, live virtual creatures into the world, serious responsibility is required. For detailed information regarding rules and guidelines, please visit http://www.foopets.com/breeding.

Many different breeds of FooPets puppies and kittens are now available for adoption on different locations across the Internet. For Facebook and MySpace users, FooPets can be adopted free-of-charge through the FooPets application. FooPets also can be adopted free-of-charge on the newly launched FooPets.com Web site.

About FooMojo, Inc.

FooMojo is the creator of FooPets, the world’s most realistic and emotionally engaging virtual pets. The 3D puppy and kitten FooPets are “real” in nearly every sense, growing, playing, learning tricks, developing personalities, and requiring regular feeding and care. As part of an entertaining social gaming application, users of all ages can adopt a FooPet on Facebook, MySpace, and the FooPets.com Web site, with more locations coming soon.

Aimed at enriching the lives of real people and animals with engaging, social game play, FooMojo was founded in 2007 by Dr. Ron Hornbaker, a veterinarian who believes the special bond between people and their pets could be recreated online. FooMojo’s creative and development efforts are led by a talented group of web developers, along with artists and animators from the feature film and gaming industries. Most importantly, FooMojo is committed to supporting real pets in need, and through its non-profit FooPets Foundation, works with leading animal-related charities such as the ASPCA and The HSUS.

Located in Redwood City, Calif., FooMojo is backed by notable investors including Softbank Capital, Softbank Corp. Japan, Mike Maples, Jr., Ron Conway and Baseline Ventures. For more information visit http://www.foomojo.com.

One of the comments we hear most from FooPets owners is how much they love to share their pets. Everyone in the FooPets community at one time or another, has had fun feeding a friend’s pet to help out, snapping and posting a cute photo of a puppy/kitten doing something adorable or even gifting some extra FooGems to a new member who really needed them. Sharing is what makes FooPets.com such a fun place to hang out.

The FooCrew is hard at work coming up with new stuff to make sharing more fun and we’re excited to introduce FooPets Greetings, personalized e-cards that feature the pet of your choice. Whether you already own a FooPet or not, FooPets Greetings are free, easy to create and can be received by anyone with a valid email address. Just visit: http://www.foopets.com/greetings and start sending your FooPets e-cards today.

Have fun,

FooCrew Lynne

Here’s my FooPet in widget-form, a simple copy-and-paste of one line of code available here:

If you’re logged-in to FooPets, the widget will recognize you and record any activities you do with the pet. Sweet, huh?