Why is Relay for Life Advertising on Adfarms?

I'm guessing the "violation" refers to an informal policy from back before point-to-point TPs, requiring that at least one side of a parcel offer access.

We still have people in the forums who have had Lindens tell them to remove their walls based on this "policy" after being AR'd by the Ad Farmer. There seems to be confusion within LL regarding this "policy". My guess is some of the Ad Farmers take advantage of this and AR them hoping by chance they'll get a Linden who will support them.

My guess is some of the Ad Farmers take advantage of this and AR them hoping by chance they'll get a Linden who will support them.

So it's "fascist" to speak openly and effect change as a group within a like-minded social venue? I thought that was called "community"? Something that advertisers use to promote their products, by understanding what the community wants/needs.

[sarcasm]
Hmm...guess I was mistaken. I guess the way to advertise is to anger/annoy most of those viewing your advertising media. THAT should get you all the sales to make a HUGE profit without any hassles. Never, EVER treat your target viewers with respect, or align your advertising along with the communal majority's ideals.
[/sarcasm]

For "experts" in advertising, some people are really bad at their "jobs".

~Jessy

yawn to you lot moaning. talk about a drama queen lol

if LL wanted to get rid of them they would have done it years ago no?

I'm going to set the whole matter of whose ad network this is, aside.

I really don't know Ancient that well, but even presuming the worst, a 'trial by public opinion' is even more awful. Due process, folks.

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On a separate note, we are looking at a very tricky question.

Gambling was unlawful for some, sexual ageplay was unlawful for some, unregulated banking was unlawful for some... all were banned. But as horrific as ads on towers can be... they are lawful.

What this comes down to is what the community considers to be 'broadly offending' in some way.

I don't see ad towers as very defendable - I personally think they are over the line, and devastating. But there is a kernel of a rights issue in all this.

Justice 'now' so often becomes irony later.




We need some sort of standard laid down, before the mainstreaming and Disneyfication of the grid declares ad towers, then goreans, then bdsm, then the gay become 'broadly offending.'

"But Desmond, come on, these are ad towers... you can't seriously compare that to the downfall of freedom can you?"

Well, consider if towers are struck down as broadly offending.

Then think of Google's and Yahoo's behaviour in China. Think you are going to wander around Chinese-accessible cyberspace in bdsm gear, or openly gay? We've already seen the impact of Germany's laws on a foreign-owned Company. Mainstreaming and "cleansing" may happen faster than you think.


So I say sure, declare giant ugly ads as broadly offending.

But let's verify, somehow, that:

1) there really is a mandate, and

2) that we know where the brakes are when Fundamentalist USA or Mainland China weighs in.


Yes, we need some kind of 'rights' statement, I think. There's a lot of interesting things that could be done in the name of "The Community."

Desmond, I just flat out cannot agree with you. You're pulling up the usual 'scare tactics' ...

At the end of the day, I think we are just waiting for the Company to come out and say: hey guys, no more ad farms. Like all the rest of the estates do, really.

the best way to get rid of ad farms is to ...

(drum roll please)

Stop buying ad farm land.

And of course we know the real stickler there is defining ad farm. I don't think most people want to see all ads banned from SL, so coming up with what is and what is not allowed is going to be difficult.

True, but it would never happen.

Actually, judging by a couple of conversations I've overheard with Lindens on this topic, I kinda have the impression that they would be reluctant to ban ad farms until they see a viable alternative inworld advertising network ... if one exists, they don't know about it.

Others can probably be more informative about this.
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Actually, judging by a couple of conversations I've overheard with Lindens on this topic, I kinda have the impression that they would be reluctant to ban ad farms until they see a viable alternative inworld advertising network ... if one exists, they don't know about it.

Others can probably be more informative about this.
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How do you distinguish between actual billboards and the extortion stuff? It would be really hard to write a policy like that.

Desmond, I just flat out cannot agree with you. You're pulling up the usual 'scare tactics' that business people ALWAYS fall back on in SL when confronted wiht ANY form of regulation.....the old 'regulate me and they will regulate you for being gay/gorean/etc.' Not going to happen anytime soon....and if it does, it will be for other reasons than someone decided advertising is wrong.

We NEED to remove odious and libertarian elements such as Mr (and I use that strictly as a gender descriptor, not an honorific, his rude postings preclude honorifics) Ancient Shriner from society in SL...since their very self-centered libertarian-anarchocapitalist views prevent them from acting as PART of the society, balancing their economic wants against the rights of others. Its all about them and the buck, as is clear from Mr. Shriner's posts ranting at others here.

Or more susinctly, when persons like Mr. Shriner consider the inpact of their business on the rest of SL, then I will worry about the ramificaitons of trying to get LL to ban their businesses. A Rights issue you call it? Well, Rights work BOTH ways, Des.....not just Business has a right to make money and f**k eveyone else (the advertiser mantra). And at this time, businesses are NOT taking into account the rights of the rest of the users NOT TO BE BOTHERED by advertising.

Since you introduced ideological considerations, it's necessary to point out that introduction is gratuitous and off-point. Libertarian political philosophies are not antisocial; on the contrary, they emphasize voluntary social relationships and taking individual responsibility for one's actions in relation to others; in general they are opposed to social relationships imposed by force or government fiat. What ad-farmers like this are doing is not libertarian; it is sociopathic. They are not philosophers; they are small-scale predators on the society around them. I infer that you are a collectivist - whether populist or Marxist is not clear, and does not matter. Please deal here with the subject of this thread, which is ad-farms, and if you must get on a soapbox to rail against "Business" as a subsitute for facing your own inner demons, please do so on another thread.

Well thats the thing.

Ad farms aren't advertising, not really. They are extortion. They are an attempt by the farm owner to get money out of the sim neighbors.

But their origins were not that. It was roadside and flyby advertising from the days before Point-to-point teleporting.

How do you distinguish between actual billboards and the extortion stuff? It would be really hard to write a policy like that.

Yep, guidelines and policies can't be written for this because you're asking to legislate good taste, and the Lindens have no interest in being the police of content.

Yep, guidelines and policies can't be written for this because you're asking to legislate good taste, and the Lindens have no interest in being the police of content. The only solution is to hit the economic foundation of this problem, and I suggest using a scaling limit to the maximum sale price based on land parcel size. Forget about the content on other people's parcels... but when they go to sell, the should not be able to extort the huge sums of money they do now.

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-894

Never mind the fact that they have no taste.

Have you SEEN Phil L's avatar?

What you would be policing is extortive land sales practices, and I could do it. I'm not kidding. It would take me a while and I'd really have to focus on it, but I guarantee I could write a policy that would cripple adfarming while allowing legitimate advertising to remain. I know I cut up and goof around in these forums all the time, but in RL I'm not always like that. I could also write a fair, well-reasoned and thorough policy for gambling, banking, ageplay and any number of issues that LL has addressed with poorly worded, ambiguous blog posts that are impossible to enforce because they have no meaning.

I wouldn't do it for free, though. Writing policy is difficult, mentally tiring work. It's not as much fun as a lot of other stuff I do when I'm working, so I charge for it. The other problem is that LL would have to enforce it for it to be meaningful.