The "Broken" and "Not-Broken" Telehub Ad Spaces

Someone contacted me in private messages and asked me to retract my "lie" about the telehubs.

I stand by what I wrote. It is not a lie.

The telehubs WERE broken, yes. I'm well aware of it! I've campaign on it for months! I've IM'd the Lindens mercilessly! I even asked Robin in a group meeting to get on it -- she promised to, and did.

Finally, some at least were fixed. Specifically Waterhead was fixed. I know, because finally, I was able to put my ad in. It stayed there. I noticed other people put theirs in.

It worked for some weeks. Every once in awhile, I would stop by and check it, sometimes updating the card. It worked fine.

It still works fine.

The difference is, my ad was simply removed. Taken. Gone. It's not that the telehub doesn't work. It *does* work. It works for everybody else.

It's not that there is a limit to the cards -- there are even more cards in there now than when I had my card in there.

Nor is the issue that you only get 30 days or something, then they remove you to make room for someone else -- they don't. The same people who were in there when I was in there are still there.

Now, is this deliberate? Who the hell knows. I've stopped believing anything but the worst anymore. I will "bug report" it as if it were a bug, but I suspect it is not.

If there is a time limit on these ads, then the Linden have never stated this anywhere.

It's also the case that some telehubs still don't work. They really should look at this. Everyone should bug report this when they see it.

Yeah, they don't work.

Some are just broken. I put my ad in all of them that worked, and 2 days later some of them were gone.

No, no, Kim - it's a vast Left-Linden conspiracy!

(Wow, one week and already I'm becoming bitter and cynical about some users... oh, wait, I was already bitter and cynical, wasn't I? Never mind, then...)

LOL! Welcome to SL Matthew!

And yes, the hubs are still broken. They are quarky. Sometimes they work for a long time and then suddenly they stop. But it is different for different people. I know too that I've sat and clicked all the way through the ads and gone full circle 3 or 4 times without seeing mine (even though it had been there before), and then suddenly it shows up.

I used to be more on top of re-putting my ad in the hubs. But since they got so wacky I stopped.

I also reported it a while back. I hope they find the time to fix them. OH, and I don't believe that it's deleting only yours, Prokofy. It usually deletes everyones. If some ads are staying, perhaps it's only working intermittently. Either way, the ad scripts need attention.

Here's the Hotline post from a while back:
/145/5c/48360/1.html

It has worked, for weeks. I know because my ad has been there -- along with others. Then it was removed, but others are still there.

There is nothing that says it is only 2 weeks.

Hm... I think you might be misinterpreting what you're seeing. If it's reset on a timer, as I *suspect*, then it would probably go like this: First, you, I, and several others place our ads into the kiosk. Next, after the timer interval, the kiosk resets, and we replace our ads. Then you check the kiosk and find everyone's but your own. That would probably explain what you're seeing.

I wish I knew what the normal reset time is -- that would help people to know when to replace their ads. I don't remember seeing that information anywhere.

Being a newbie with no land of my own (sob!) I spend a lot of time near telehubs - and I've noticed that the ads don't seem to be working correctly, myself. For one thing, if I see the ad for "Rua Caves" or Coves or whatever one more time, I'll... well, I'll... hrmm. Probably ignore it again, actually. But that's just me.

Frankly, I don't think it's that big of a deal. The telehub advertisements aren't very effective; my prime interest in telehubs is in moving *away* from them, since I don't have to go to one in order to teleport elsewhere. Consequently, seeing the ads is accidental and unlikely to be effective.

You're probably right, but they're a nice, free alternative to the MetaAdverse billboards.

Oh, they're not worthless, just not very effective. And the billboards - well, how many people in a modern society (say, modern enough for broadband) aren't thoroughly experienced at filtering billboards out of their conscious view?

But you know, I do own a Cubey Terra aircraft - the two-seat hoverplane. Why? Because it was a stop in Discovery Hunt. And several people mentioned the airport as being a really cool build. And, even with the frustrations of vehicles in SL, the aircraft you made just looked cool enough - and were priced low enough - that it just seemed worthwhile.

I've never seen a Cubey Terra ad anywhere in SL - not that I remember seeing, anyway. But I bought one of your products. There's a lesson there for anyone willing to learn it.

Er... yes. The lesson is that I keep forgetting to post ads.

And thanks for buying one of my vehicles, Matthew.

Cubey, there is no timer or reset if it was in there for WEEKS.

Juro, I put it in again and it is still there.

It's not partly broken. Someone is taking them out. OR there is a timer, but they are not informing us the timing of the timer. OR the timer is broken SOMETIMES if there ever was one.

The ads do reach people. They see them, it helps with brand identity.

I don't enjoy seeing Rua Caves all the time but it's definitely on my places to visit now.

Juro,

Let me say it for the fifth time. Yes, I put it in. Yes, I see it. Yes, it has been there for WEEKS. Yes, it works. A customer even came with the notecard from it. Yes, I even refreshed and put new notecards at Waterhead and I believe Brownlee. But no, it stopped appearing and was missing. And yes, I put it in again and it works.

I have experience the same problem as everyone else. Some work, some don't. Some delete the add the next day, some stay for weeks.

Someone earlier said these adds are not effective. Well, I don't think you can say that until they start working right. Most people who even look at those adds are newbies. People that have been around a little stop looking at them.

I think it is time that they are set it up differently. How about a paid advertising? For a small fee like L$250 a week, and you place an ad at one place, and then it can be sent to all the telehubs. Just like the server vendors being used. The technoloy is there to do it and very simple scripting for those who know how.

Like I've already said fifty times in fifty ways, Juro, they stayed up for weeks. AT least 14 days. That's 336 hours. They would still be there...but someone took them out. Or something timed out but they didn't tell us that. Other ads are still in there, the exact same ads that were there back when I first put mine in.

I'm really tried of explaining this over and over again. Just go try it yourself inworld.

No, you don't understand, the Lindens are deliberately spending time and effort persecuting one user in a way that only he can see and comprehend.

It's quite simple, really...



Got news for you - I'm a newbie, and I quit looking at them within the first hour of exploring. By the time the the telehub rezzes far enough for the ad to be clear, I'm already moving away from it and looking for something else. And I haven't noticed that my behavior is all that different from the normal.

The telehub ad system is busted and I contacted Lee Linden about it. Some of the spots do take the ads, others come up with weird errors and others, well, I just end up giving up on them.

I have yet to see all of the telehub ad vendors working correctly. Of course, what would be nice, is if you could put your ad at one telehub and have it show up at all of them, but then would be asking too much of LL and it takes the fun out of exploring.

I've used those telehub ads long before you came around, Prokofy - so I'm quite aware of how they work. IFIRC, they run your ad for two weeks, then it is purged. I would love to see a Linden clarify this for us.

I wonder if those other ads were re-submitted just prior to the issues the TH advertiser started arising? I've tested this on mulitple advertisers and I can submit my ad (I will check to see if it actually holds the materials or not) but it will not display the ad.

Thanks all for these postings.

I believe the problem is that the hub advertisers clear themselves out every two weeks. This wipe date is not based on when the individual advertiser places the ad but from when the last time the station was wiped. So, some people might have them up for two weeks while others only a day.

We will look at improving these stations so that they are more informative. We could set some hover text that displays next wipe date for example.

If you have other suggestions as to how we might improve the stations, please email me. I am [email]ryan@lindenlab.com[/email]

Juro,

I am not certain, but after looking at one of the hubs, it appears some people are dragging things other than notecards and pictures into the station's inventory. This action seems to wedge the station from clearing out and it eventually dies.

It appears the advertiser script needs a more thoughtful overhaul to accommodate these eventualities.