Advertising

First of all - MOTD = Match of The Day, a very popular and long running football show on the BBC. However in Second Life terms, MOTD = Message of the day, I'm explaining this because I will call it message of the day and I don't care about the extra pixels, Match of The Day is always going to be MOTD to me. Moving on to second base.

Can small and medium sized landlords have an apology please? A month's free tier would be nice but I won't push it, a bloody apology is due. A huge apology, in massive letters saying "we're sorry" will suffice. Let's take a trip back to last summer, when there was a huge issue from small and medium sized landlords about large estates receiving an advertising boost.

Let's just remind ourselves of what happened, this sort of thing appeared on our screens:



Do you remember that? Do you remember thinking that those of us who complained were being whiney, that it wasn't much of a boost? That it didn't really matter?
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Paid picks are dead, long live paid picks! There's an interesting forum post over on the PPRS website about Linden Lab telling the owner to basically stop selling a paid picks device or have his account closed, you can read it here.

This is a very concerning move from Linden Lab, not least because they are not remotely clear as to what is and isn't gaming search and it's their own search system that limits marketing opportunities. However in the case of PPRS, Liana Linden was rather to the point, without realising she's missing the point:

"Yesterday, I published further clarifications that reiterate link-farming and machine-based rank inflation programs are violations of our policy. In this previous statement, we made it clear that any attempt to unfairly increase Search ranking, regardless of how it is achieved, is a violation of our Search policies (see also). Our enforcement on this issue will be stepped up over the next month, including changes in the algorithm for Picks ranking and taking action against accounts that engage in search-gaming activities.

What this means for you specifically is that we will no longer allow the PPRS system to be sold on XStreetSL, and we need you to disable the system in order to keep your Second Life account active."
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It started with a post on the blogrums and then another in the real type forum. Medhue Simoni and Ann OToole were both claiming to have seen something that would seem far fetched in an episode of The X-Files or Fringe, they reported seeing a Second Life advert on YouTube! Had they drank too much eggnog? Was the season to be jolly getting to them? Was paranormal activity taking place?

By the powers of Greyskull modern technology I asked Ann OToole for permission to reproduce her picture to share the evidence with the world....well the Second Life world anyway and here it is:



I have to admit this is impressive for two reasons, one it's about bloody time and two, what an awesome caption Ann managed to capture in the background, "No one left to torture" ,come on, that's funny!

Unfortunately I myself have not had the first hand experience of sighting a Second Life advert but I do believe Ann OToole and Medhue Simoni, the truth really is out there, this isn't a conspiracy theory, Linden Lab have finally realised that advertising works! Have you seen a Second Life advert on You Tube or anywhere else yet?
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Opportunity still very much knocks within Second Life and virtual worlds, we're still very much in the embryonic stages. This is exemplified by the sheer chaotic nature of business in a virtual world.

I've spent the last couple of days running around, setting classifieds, setting new rental boxes, checking keywords, checking lag, checking whether renters have left Second Life, why am I doing this? I'm the bloody CEO, I should be having executive lunches with other CEO's and plotting world domination, instead I'm still very much the stock department, marketing department, customer support and general dogsbody.

This is how things develop, from RL to SL, Tesco started out as a market stall. I remember as a lad going with my Father to rent some films for our first ever video player, we went to a guys house, he had a video store in his front room. People seeking out and embracing opportunity, that's how it all starts, then along comes bigger business to either buyout or crush the opposition once the ground has been laid, see how small stores react to Tesco wanting to move on their doorstep these days.

There is this whole concept in Second Life however that means people think they cut corners compared to RL, sure they can cut some corners, shipping and distribution aren't such an issue but why do we cling onto control of our businesses so much? Why won't we let go so we can do something else? I mean the content creator who buys the land, builds the store, makes the items, deals with the customer service issues, the failed deliveries, the questions, mall enquiries, business partnerships, search engine optimisation, writing adverts, checking out the oppsition, spam yadda yadda yadda, why does one person try and cope with all that? Wouldn't a skilled content creator be better actually getting on with creating as much content as possible and delegating those other duties to people who are more skilled in those departments?
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At a recent office hour Jack asked someone if they really believed there was such a thing as a FIC and there was much mirth, is there or isn't there? We don't honestly know. However there has been past history of people being tipped off about policy decisions and now we have the odd sight of the message of the day you see on login advertising land for Azure Islands:



The message reads (in case you can't see it) "Looking for the perfect place to call home? Azure Islands has scenic land for you. CLICK THIS LINK"
 I am not sure why this has happened, how it has happened or what deal Azure Islands have with Linden Lab for them to promote their company on the login screen. How effective is the message of the day? I mean it's a clickable link that doesn't look clickable but I have seen no announcement anywhere saying residents can get their advertising out on the message of the day screen.

A post on the XStreet forum from Ann O'Toole tipped me off about this, so I fired up Second Life and yup, there it was, an advert for Azure Islands. What's going on here? How much does this cost and why haven't people been told about this advertising angle? Personally I doubt I could afford such advertising, although as I've seen no announcement I don't know the costs.

I'd really like to know what is going on here.

I should state from the off that I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with Adobe (although if they want to give me a free copy of Photoshop I'll gladly accept).

Whilst checking search I noticed that Adobe are running a L$575,000 advert to get them a top eight place to promote their e-learning event tomorrow, details of which I'll get to later. This kind of sum is small change for a company like Adobe (but a whopping amount for advertising to me).

If all the top eight adverts were corportate adverts then I think there would be complaints, but I like the way Adobe are engaging with the community, not only are they promoting their brand, they're utilising their product for use with Second Life and that makes sense. Whereas others have in the past taken the "If we build it they will come"approach, Adobe are more proactive, they advertise, they link their brand to Second Life and they throw a party to boot.

Yes not only will there be a Q&A session, free downloads and such like but there will be live music too and it's not the first time Adobe have done this, indeed this is their third event. Alas there will be no strippers as it's a PG sim, but hey you can party on a PG sim.

The Times and Daily Telegraph have both recently ran stories talking of the demise of Second Life, for different reasons, The Telegraph because the thinking is its full of geeks, The Times because the corps bring too much normality. However neither article mentioned Adobe or what they're doing here.

The event itself is to hold a Q&A session for Adobe Director 11.5. The session will be held by Dr Allen Partridge (shame it's not Alan Partridge, you may need to be in the UK to get this) who is known as DoctorPartridge Allen in Second Life. { Read more }