Question about traffic

Ok, I think I know how traffic works (just about) but over the last few days I noticed mine has gone a bit mental.

A couple of says ago it displayed the traffic for my shop as 457, logged out and logged back in few hours later and this figure dropped to 2. Then earlier today I logged in to see traffic of 509. I just logged in again and it's now saying 109.

erm, I'm confused. What is going on?

Anyone?

I'm equally confused, I've noticed if I join land or change the parcel name my traffic jumps up considerably. I've heard all the formulas for calculating traffic but there seem to be some odd flukes.

traffic is still one of the mysteries of SL

(I put in a ticket to find out how it is generated, still no comments from them LOL)

Hmm, strange, very strange.

*Strokes chin and frowns*

Check out this thread for some insight on how Traffic is calculated:

/327/19/194184/1.html

you can find a lot of threads with info about traffic

ad pretty much everyone has a different formula or opinion

I have yet to see anything official that explains traffic other than the old info which also included dwell

hence why I said it is still a mystery

I agree, I've seen all kinds of calculations on how traffic is done but it doesn't make sense when my traffic skyrockets because I join two parcels together

This is just my personal opinion - but I think that Linden keeps the Traffic calculation formula somewhat shrouded in mystery in the hopes that it will make it more difficult to game.

Of course, as if

Seriously, I'd say that our best chance of getting it clarified is to have a chat with Torley Linden, and see if he'd be willing to make a Tip of the Week on it.

Yeah I've seen lots of threads and theorys on traffic.

I don't really take much interest in it, only my friend told me to check every now and then; it's strange that my traffic numbers seem to shoot up then drop down in a matter of hours.

It made me think; what do people get out of having campers on their land if traffic is so unpredictable?

I never paid much attention to my traffic numbers, maybe I should have a peek LOL

I am gonna start bugging some lindens till I get an answer about traffic

either an explanation, or a sorry we can not tell you that

Does traffic do anything besides give the owner something to brag about?

In ancient history, Landowners would receive a $L and US$ bonus based upon their traffic (dwell) numbers. However, this is just a distant memory now.

Today, its value depends. Traffic can have an impact on shoppers - when I'm doing a search for something - if several results look similar, I'll tend to visit the higher-traffic location first to save time. For this reason, venues with consistently higher traffic often argue that they can charge more for rentals, because conventional wisdom holds that traffic can make a difference in sales.

If folks were universally honorable about letting their traffic numbers really reflect their popularity, it might actually be a useful tool. Unfortunately, much of its usefulness is drowned out by traffic-bots parked to artificially elevate the traffic stats of sims that don't have enough compelling content to warrant high numbers on their own.

So is mine faulty then?
It shouldn't keeping adjusting the numbers should it?

Meh, I think i'll just let it wash over me, it doesn't really bother me that much and I'm getting reasonable sales considering i've only just set up shop.

Traffic is calculated every 24 hours although the exact window for traffic calculations is unknown (it may be different for different locations if it's anywhere near as slow as stipend payouts).

Is your land cut up into different parcels? Each parcel has its own traffic count. I'd recommend standing in exactly the same spot each time you check your traffic numbers. If you're really getting different numbers every few hours, then something is wrong.

Note that when the infrastructure is very overloaded it will often report 0 traffic, but that's just a temporary symptom.

not sure why your traffic is changing... however..
I spoke with a linden concerning traffic and the formula and they pointed me to this info and said the same formula is still in use
I suggested to them to pass on to torley that we would like to see a blog entry about traffic hehe
she said she would pass it along.

here is the formula...
"Every user gets a set number of traffic points to give out during the 24 hours between midnight and midnight.

Any parcel of land that the user spends more than 5 sequential minutes on gets counted as a place that they spent time. [Separate] parcels owned by the resident (or group) are counted as if they were the same parcel.

The user's points are then evenly divided between those parcels. So, if I was online for 1 hour and spent 20 minutes on resident A's parcel and 40 minutes on resident B's parcel, resident A would get 33% of my points and resident B would get 66%. Alternately, if I only spent 5 minutes online and spent all of it on resident A's land, she would receive all of my points. "

Na, it's just one parcel. I always stand in the same place to look at traffic. Maybe it's just another SL glitch, I seem to be a magnet for them!

A good leg pull, but I am sure that is not the formula for traffic.

Let us know how that works out for you.

um check the kb, I got this from a linden, they said it is still the same as the one that was posted in the kb back in 2004

I am not pulling your leg, all you have to do is search and find it

on the wiki too

http://www.secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Traffic

just tell me why the heck you think I would want to lie about something, that could so easily be proven that I am lying.

why would I even want to lie to begin with

I am greatly offended that you think I would post false information

I did, I posted the info they directed me to, now with a link because someone thinks I am pulling legs here...

I also suggested that they get torley to do a blog entry on it

No one's accusing you of lying. It is widely believed that the KB is no longer correct, and most newer Lindens simply aren't aware of that fact. Traffic, like Search, is something LL will likely never fully explain to mitigate gaming. The current consensus among people who've studied it is that traffic is now directly related to actual avatar minutes. Again, this is all based on resident observation and controlled testing; LL has never altered their KB article about traffic, just like they didn't remove references to First Land when that program was shut down.

Even if the information that you got, Rhaorth, is still valid from 2004, it still does not give an actual formula with real numbers. I'd like to see an actual calculation and validation of traffic points dispersement. Until then, it's all just smoke and lights, and I seriously doubt LL will release its traffic algorithm NOW, after years of our asking.

actually where I come from, leg pull = lying usually to trick or fool someone, but still a lie none the less

so thus, with that person saying I was pulling leg and that they are sure it is not the formula for traffic, leads to the same as saying.. I think you are lying


as for the formula that is the best I could find, even with the help of a linden.

Sorry I tried to help, next time I won't bother

(and I did send a request via live help for torley to either come here to clear this up, or make a blog post about traffic... then in world I also sent him a msg, with the same requests)

hopefully he will be able to shed more light on this

yes it is all smoke and mirrors, much like a lot of other stuff in SL

but for what it was worth I took the time to contact a linden, get the info,and posted it here
just to be called a liar, and yes, I feel I was called a liar

I dunno how else to interpret that post

am I pissed? you bet. It takes a lot to really piss me off, but calling me a liar is definitely a step in that direction.

I strive to be truthful, even when it hurts, even when it might cause me to have people turn against me, or produce enemies, or cause people to dislike me, yet I still strive for the truth

to be called a liar is in my book, the lowest of the low, a slap in the face

*I am so mad right now I am mainly typing out the words as they form, if I were speaking I would prolly be sputtering*

Rhaorth, as I read the thread I rather thought that Snowman was suggesting that Torley was pulling your leg, not that you were pulling anyone's leg.

I realize that interpretation might not as much fun for you as blustery indignation of the DON'T CALL ME A LIAR! variety, but there it is.