AD Boards - what's legit and what is not?

At what point does an ad board on a person's land cross the line from an advert into an AR-able 'ad farming board?

Is there such a line?

I keep hearing that is no longer ok to have ad-bots, ad-farms, etc... but I assume an advertising board is fine?

What about an affiliate vendor board or other vendor board?
- placed right at the border of a parcel?
- placed in a shop?
- glowing and lit up?

Does any of that matter?


Is there a policy somewhere on any of this I can read so I don't AR someone doing something legit?

Those are good questions for LL. Perhaps live chat or a support ticket might help. Here's what the support site has to say on the matter:

From: https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=5089

For the purposes of this document, "Ad Farm" applies specifically to advertising or content that is intended solely to drive an unreasonable price for the land parcel it is on, usually by spoiling the nearby visual environment for others. Advertisements themselves are not the issue; we don't want to stop legitimate advertising or the use of small parcels for promoting events or stores.

So, advertising is okay, but when it crosses the line into harassing behavior or visual spam, and where the intent is purely to compel another resident to pay an unreasonable price to restore their view -- it violates the Harassment policy in our Community Standards. Such cases should be abuse reported as you would any other Terms of Service or Community Standards violation, so that our governance team can take the appropriate action.

It is difficult for us to define exactly how one specific example is abuse when compared to another, but our intention is to be as consistent as we possibly can and to remove offending content as it is reported to us. Also, please keep in mind that this only applies to the Mainland; it does not impact private Estates or islands where the Estate owner is able to manage their land themselves.

It's a judgment call regarding what the "advertiser's" intent is. If it's to legitimately advertise, then that's ok. If it's to extort money from a neighbor, then it's not ok.

Here is the official policy announcement...
https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2008/09/13/more-information-on-ad-farms-and-network-advertisers
There are many details that have been somewhat clarified in Jack Linden's Office Hours.

Oh good. That policy does in fact look like it will be of use to me.

There's some lingering content on my sim in the form of donut holes and ad boards that if removed might let some plots get remade into more usable land.