Feedback on Ad Farm post

Yeah, you don't want everyone to have them if only licensed advertisers are allowed to use them. Like you said, when you get your license, they get put in your library.

Personally, as an advertiser I would welcome this option because it would add more legitmacy to my advertising if it's on something that people see everywhere, and know is Linden approved. Gives it a more professional look as well.

Not in my damn sim you don't.

I like the creativity, but I have to ask again: WHY? Who wants a bunch of stupid ads near their property, and who thinks this type of advertising is even remotely effective?

Advertising on a pretty billboard is lipstick on a pig. I'd just as soon have the spinning porno cubes that we've been fighting to get rid of.

I agree. I also prefer to see this kind of ad wiped out of SL, but as long as LL is thinking about allowing a limited number of billboards or whatever, we should try to find a less distracting solution.

I spent 1 year buying up ad farms in my region, costly. I also placed large scenery boards. None work.

I understand LL position in all of this. To offer a free market to all users, you walk a fine line.

The only solution I see in working is this: LL to start creating a new grid. A grid for the people and by the people. This Grid needs a government and sectors. Town Halls for community voting. Region Ordinances. Sale Taxes on objects sold. Property Taxes (commercial/residental) No flying or teleporting. (come on rl here) I walk in Sl (lol i never passed a fellow walker).

Private Islands are still private.

My RL town i cannot place a commercial store in front of my house. I cannot put my house in the middle of town square. I have taxes which pays for my roads, and i cannot fly. IN SL i can fly and i can build my house in the sky. Teleporting kills RL feeling of the community.

So letting my thoughts fly here. Each new region comes with a center square. (commercial). Introduce bought "first land" 512. DPW roads and sidewalks (LL owned/region governed) (region voting for changed road textures).

just my thoughts

Well, my proposals back in http://forums.secondlife.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2143354 (post 507) suggest limitations on their use that would make this unnecessary. If the billboards are available through the build menu like Linden Trees... BUT the land must be set to a special "advertising" status before accessing them, and this is only available to those with a license AND only if the location, size, and number of advertising plots meet certain restrictions, then it makes matters simple.

(well, I see that "Automatically parse links in text" doesn't work.. )

You already have worse there now! Not in your sim? Fine, but you don't control all of SL and legitimate business owners are entitled to advertise their shops, and this should be one way. Roadside only, unobtrusive, tasteful. If you don't like that then don't buy near roadside.

I've already stated that they do work, it's been proven for me with just a small number. I don't oppose licensing and regulation, in fact I welcome it. I'll be happy with whatever they let me use, and I guarantee you, that if I end up with one next to you, and you ask me to move, I will gladly comply.

Like it or not LL hasn't banned advertising, sensible advertising isn't a problem a porno cube is or whatever other crap they are spinning above your land is.

I would much rather have some nice aesthetically pleasing bill boards than the crap we have now. LL have decided they want to sort out the mainland, lets not chuck that back in their face.



Ground based and sensibly sized Linden approved bill boards along road sides would be good.



I would also like to mention I have just purchased some roadside plots over the last couple of weeks and notice the traffic is higher than on other bits of land I own.

Assuming this is normal and roads do get a higher traffic, won't they be the best places to advertise in anyway?

Avion you have advertising already on your land! I'm a tad confused why if you think it's so ineffective that you yourself put up posters and billboards?

This is my main concern not advertising, a small plot stuck in the middle of anyones land is a nuisance, obviously the larger plot owner would wish to purchase these plots, they are of no inherent value to anyone but the larger land owner.
Yet currently owners are allowed to bump the price to 45x market value not because the land has that value, but because the threat of even a small block is enough to force a sale in many cases.

Jack Linden said at his office hour today that this sort of behaviour will no longer be accepted.

Jack I did ask at the time but it seemed to get lost in amongst other communication.

When can we begin to AR extortion plots?

What guidelines can I go by to identify an extortion plot?
Price and size? Price alone? Terraforming and price?

They might be if it was possible to actually use them. I am at the end of the road in Dongyeongju, and have had constant problems with the road in the next sim. The ticket from a month ago is "in progress".

Even if the roadside ads are changed to standard sizes etc, it doesn't do much for non-Linden builds which completely cover the road with mega prims making it further useless.

Please fix (even unpaved) roads before putting ads there.

You know, that is a very good question. We REALLY need another blog post from Jack with clarification. I would say yes, the roadside ads on small parcels would fall under this policy. (But since I am not Puppet Linden, it's just my opinion).

I mentioned this morning that I received a notice. The only things I have on my land that could be considered advertisements are the free anti-adfarm avatars (3 cubes spinning), the Ad Zoo box, and the Arbor Project billboard - all which were free to copy. Nothing 'networked'. Also, I failed to mention that I don't have any 16 sq.m. lots - they are larger roadside lots, where I have these items. The smallest one is a 96 sq.m. lot that is combined with scattered parcels to form a larger, detached 544 sq.m. parcel.

I have gone through and removed these things except in one spot where there are active adtowers, and of course in my store freebie section for anyone who would like to have them.

If the Arbor billboard is considered a networked advertisement, I think there are a whole lot of folks who would like to know that.

I was hoping that more people today would post saying they also received notices. I am sure the Lindens aren't singling out one little doggie with a crusade! Come on, folks, fess up - did you get a takedown notice?

He said he was going to put out another blog post soon Puppet.

Your observation is unfortunately not interpretable unless the plots you are comparing are essentially identical in every respect other than the adjacency to road.

Neither does traffic represent effective attention. Personally, I fly along roads to avoid crashing into banlines, passing before ads can even rez. If I do stop and see ads, my impression is adverse and that negativity is transferred to the advertised product. The only place I will look at adverts with even equanimity is in a collective shopping area, market or mall.

Puppet is not a very patient doggie. There are so many unanswered questions, I am sure it is taking Jack forever to get to them all!

But I've learned lots about the Sioux language and people's perceptions of communism and liberty in this thread!

/me licks the pie so no one else wants to eat it.

Not just "seeing" them, as a talented builder could copy them. Have only billboards allowed that are created by XXXXX Linden.

Have you ever thought that the reason you received the notice is that some ad-farmer that doesn't like you sent an AR on your items claiming they were advertising and that you should receive a notice like THEY just received?

Initially this may help identify legit ad networks, but after a few have lost their licenses, it will be manual clean-up anyway. Not that it's a bad idea, but it's not critical, because LL has to solve the later problem eventually. (Come to think of it, though, if losing a license == losing one's SL account, I guess that clean-up could be pretty quick.)Yeah, this is the part that I can't see past to an easy conclusion. Adcutting has been going on long enough that there are random microparcels scattered all over the grid: not ads, not for sale, just 4x4m black holes full of washed-ashore prims, terraformed to some now mutually incompatible height. The owners are long gone, or at least have long ago lost interest, but who knows when or if LL will notice that there's no tier and no paying membership--or worse, the owners are still paying without noticing. That could go on for decades.

Admittedly it's far from the most pressing problem of the Mainland, but it's a legacy of adcutting without obvious quick solutions.

Oh, and patience, Puppet. Jack said at his office hour today that he hoped to get the next blog post out by Friday, but I didn't take that to be a firm date, at all--but he did say the details would be out long before 1 October. (He also expressed appreciation for input from this thread. I had to leave early, though, so maybe he later recanted. )

Some adfarmer out there might not like me?!? I suppose that's within the realm of possibility! How very sad for them. Technically, putting signs up against adfarms can be considered a form of advertising, and as long as they have to take their stuff down, I am very happy to take my stuff down. Fair treatment. Besides, without their ads, there's no purpose for my anti-ad materials.



Well, if he made it through this thread, I applaud his perserverance! I hope that he can post by Friday - I don't know how much more this thread can take before it implodes!

IMO, this is not advertising:



This is blight.

My best comparison maybe some of the more aggressive ad forms out in the ol' web. X10 pop ups anyone? Pop up ads that do not cancel? Ya, them. I would also compare them to junk faxes or spam e-mail. To me, none of these are what I want in a better world.

(The above picture taken in Crumbi, on th' Hererocera Atoll continent)

At what point the cap comes into play can be determined by Linden, but I'd recommend anything less than 128 sqm. If you don't want the cap, you combine lower sized plots to 128 sqm or greater, and you're free to sell at market prices. The point here is to put the land extortionists out of business while retaining the ability of residents to sub-divide parcels and use small plots for truly legitimate purposes. The only exception would be to parcels that Linden has specifically zoned and allowed for advertising, or other specialty parcels that would be excluded from the cap (e.g. Bay City).

This is not about political ideology and you can be sure that Linden is not doing this for either ideological or for altruistic purposes. It's about money and the unchecked actions of ad cutters and extortionists has left Linden with vast tracts of land that's abandoned or otherwise not generating revenue. They've had to curtail the production of more mainland regions and the premium membership base continues to decline. They must do this to save the mainland regions and regulation / zoning is a far cry from Communism.

He probably hasn't made it through the thread... he is probably half way back - trying to read and shaking his head slowly.

From Mr. Termagant and Mr. Marx proliferous writing I suspect that they must be unemployed.

Thats right Puppet..when you buy ad-blocks and put "eyesore" billboards on them advertising your opinion... you are an ad-farmer.. no 'perhaps' about it. You're helping land cutters by buying small plots and you're advertising on them after. Just that you are foolish enough to think there is some moral righteousnous in what you are doing. You weren't helping SL become a better place...you ARE part of the problem.
I have no doubt you will remove your ads now... not thru realizing you are an ad-farmer... nor any moral act of 'good'... but purely cause you will get banned otherwise... and sooner or later I bet you will put your land up for sale at a profit. Cause if you donate it - they will.
You are the very person you protest against - as are some others here (Erie & Aztek take note).
Better get busy, you got a lot of signs to take down and i'm betting if SL borks it won't be taken as an excuse

Or perhaps playing the 'game' well enough to be making a living off it?

Few more weeks and they will be..