Traffic Bots Against the TOS of LL?

I agree here but people forget this place we call SL is just a 3D internet sort of (and we just rent server space on LL servers), reminds me of a 3D representation of Compuserve in the early days our plots of land are just websites in 3D.

Our RL websites have taken a while to get into the search engines and to a PR of only 2 at google, but thats in under 8 months and now we average 1000 unique IPs a day on the front page and we are serving an average of 13500+ pages a day. We don't game the system because i rather enjoy the challenge of coming up with ideas to move us forward as a business

This we have achieved through hard work and good back links and working the search systems with meta tags etc. and we have a lot more competition in RL on the interent who badly game the systems.

Here we started back with our half sim in June and we average now 11000 traffic a day on our site. I see many similar sims to us gaming traffic, well using the tools that LL has put at their disposal to get a higher traffic count, but that doesn't make me feel i have to go and AR them when what they are doing is OK with LL atm, it just makes me look at other ways to get traffic to our site

Well we are not here to make money as we are a RL business and get tax relief on the money we spend here, our aim is to raise awareness of our RL websites that make us money. Heck even our profile site is totally free to use, we again support it via advertising revenues and profits from our web shop.

IMHO a lot of the problems are of LLs making people come here thinking the streets are paved with gold and then do anything to make a living from it, so i think as Phil has said we should be taking a more active interest in SL and complaining to LL if we don't like something, only then will they maybe change it but remember LL is only interested in the Bottom Line, they are a business like anyone else and want to maximize profits however they can.

To me its as easy as if you don't like what LL does with its business, then go elsewhere and play but if you want to change it then talk to the decision makers and see if you can effect change.

But for all its foibles i still love this lag infested monster its the best chat program Ive ever used

Well I'd say the number of accounts is more of an issue, Blizzard have been accused of inflating their figures with the benefit of gold farmers. However you're right in so far as the number of bots does inflate figures.

That would be a great idea Lets see if we as a group can have a rational and interesting debate on the subject as people have to understand that we are all entitled to our individual opinions and there is no need to debase the thread with inane comments from anyone

If we went back to the days we had to pay at least a token payment for an avatar then although that wouldn't solve the number of BOTs in game but it would maybe decrease the rate of growth, but then that wouldn't be in LLs plan as any company needs growth.

I think its as Pie said, its all about attracting potential investors to them as a company, so many of us forget its LL we have to thank for this platform/game/whatever you want to call it and LL is a business that needs investors and needs to be profitable, we just have to look at the bigger LL picture

/ignore

So did the Z$ people.

And Ginko.

So yeah... support Linden Lab...Make More Trafficbots!!!!

Yeah

Those corporate types cant tell something is empty ..

When they logon have a look and its like .. empty.

I think LL have probably more than one reason for not doing anything about traffic bots and camping. The probabilites are:-

1. It adds to concurrency, as has been said.

2. Camping allows people to earn some money, and that's a good thing.

3. It wouldn't cause the rankings to be correct, because there are parcels with multi-activities on them; e.g. clubs with virtually unused shops on the same parcel will show the shops according to the club's traffic and not according to its own.

Or more likely

It would take a lot of work and effort to control trafficbots.



They are like roaches, and LL is fresh out of Raid.

There are no 'pros' to discuss.
What's good about gaming traffic? It's subverting the aims of LL in trying to give some real relevancy to search results.
It's only good for those who game. It's not good for the general population.

It's like saying "Let's have a reasoned debate about the pros and cons of being a scam artist __ or a spammer."

More badgers coming, but do you really think this is going to work?

Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers.

QFT

No, because they already know what they want to do, but pushing it at them constantly might get it done more quickly. Boycotting stores does absolutely nothing.

There are actually. You are only talking about your own opinion.

Relevancy doesn't enter into it in the Places tab search.

That's just your opinion - an opinion that isn't shared by everyone.

Many camping positions are filled by bots, and I'm seeing evidence that some bot runners are disguising their bots as campers. I think the number of people earning a few lindens to spend in-world is pretty small.

Who would have the opinion that gaming search is good for the general population?
I'm not even sure that the gamers have that opinion. My understanding is that they do it for their own good.

I know quite a few people who camp. However camping bots, used in the manner you indicate, like traffic bots, add no value to the world overall.

There's a difference between saying gaming is good and accepting it's going to happen. The best we can hope for is for limits on how search can be gamed.

This utopian dream that the best products will be the ones that people flock to isn't going to happen, it doesn't happen RL and it won't happen in SL. Of course if you have a quality product your chances of success are greatly increased, but they are certainly not guaranteed.

It's gone that way, yes. It's a pity because it was good. I've no idea what the ratio of campers to camping bots is though. One thing to remember is that many, maybe even most, camping bots are run by real people rather than camping bot 'organsiations', so for them it's still the same.

Many people. I haven't exaggerated when I've mentioned the loads of compliments I get for my goods. People really do go out of their way to tell me. A few days ago, someone who is in the same business as me, but has chosen a niche area of it, even described my place as her favourite furniture store in all of SL. So I have to believe that my goods are very desireable to a great many people, but if I didn't ensure that I ranked at or near the top of the various searches, many people wouldn't find my goods.

During and since the last last bots thread, I've been discussing my bots with customer strangers, and not one of them has said even one word of disapproval. They are just glad to have found the place.

I would agree that if a place that sells utter crap uses the method to reach the top, then it would waste people's time, and it would be a bad thing for the population. But most places don't sell utter crap and, if bots get people to places they are glad they found, then it helps them.

I've seen spammers trying to claim that what they are doing is not spam.
They claim that what they are doing is giving valuable information to people.

That's utter self-serving bollocks of course, and very few would take it seriously.


But, to take your point at face value....
You argue that *your* traffic gaming is good for the general population because your products are so superior that people would be disadvantaged if they could not find them high up in Search.
This implies that the traffic gaming of others would be bad for the general population if their products were not as good as yours.
The quality of the respective products would be a matter of opinion of course.


Like spam, traffic gaming does not scale.

IBTL

Not in the mood for another pissing match between the same parties.