Poll: Which is better: Top Picks or Sponsored Links?

It's been awhile since SL ditched the Top Picks for Sponsored Links.
Do you like them better? Or do you wish miss Top Picks?

I personally miss Top Picks, since it was often a way to find new and interesting things. On the other hand, I rarely buy clothes or items in world, so shop adverts don't interest me.

If they can pay for a sponsored link they don't need my consumer support

I've never looked at sponsored links.

I rarely looked at Top Picks. Neither really worked. One is boring old advertising, the other was stale, rarely updated and invoked cries of FIC type favoritism. But at least it was based on something other than amount of money paid. I'd like to see something more elaborate, for example a list compiled from places that appear most in people's own Picks.

The question becomes - better for whom? Us or Linden Labs?

"Sponsored Links" being better for them, naturally.


Meh. This would probably end up like "Popular Places," where dwell (read: number of people) sway the charts.

After all, do we really need another listing for the best clubs in Second L... wait, don't answer that.

Kris,
Sorry you see it this way. I was looking at it as a way for new residents to find my shop. I sell all my products at cheap prices, not looking to make it rich (I have a real job that feeds my family after all).

Sponsored links, in general, SUCK.

I absolutely HATE when you google or yahoo and get a list of advertisements.

Amazon's "people who liked this also liked that" is cool.

Buster

Too bad there's no easy way to duplicate that in Second Life:
"People who liked this place also like...."

I'm going to slam this like the Undertaker's signature chokeholds:

TOP PICKS
-led me to a lot of favorites early in my Second Life
-wasn't rotated and changed up enough
-good for historical value, wish the lists were archived somewhere
-would have been cooler with more community input and "fresh content"

SPONSORED LINKS
-discovered a few nice things, not many I didn't know about already though
-these... although they're supposed to change biweekly, aren't that dynamic because of a # of the same advertisers week after week
-good for self-promo but I'd like to hear more feedback on whether anyone's noticed much additional exposure
-a bunch of them seem... missing right now? There are supposed to be 20 but I see lots of gaps (!?!)

So, I'd actually like a mix of both... hodgepodge my way out of this baby. Whether someone is promoting their place or another person is doing it for them, eh, if it's cool it's gravy and I like gravy with my mashed potatoes.

I would occassionally glance at the Top Picks.. and discovered some interesting spots that way. Sponsored on the other hand.. ehh.. well.. basically I have heard of 99% of them already.. and then I started to see the same ones over and over and simply quit looking.

Personally, I say Sponsored is ok.. since it brings more $$ to LL which means we get more goodies. If people wanna pay for their place to be listed, more power to 'em.

But, I would like to see something more along the lines of a People's Choice list also. Remember those lil green VOTE boxes? Let's hook those babies up and let them compile a list.

Yes

agreed

I find the sponsored links boring in comparison to the Top Picks. Not that the items themselves are boring-I'm talking concept here. Top Picks, at their best, was a source of new and unique things to do. Sponsored Links are... billboards. The items advertised may be quality stuff, but they're still adds.
Another thought, some of the Top Pick choices where for whimsical or educational purposes as oppossed to selling things (not that there's anything wrong with selling things). It's unlikely that someone who's created content for the former reasons would shell out real world dough for a Sponsored Links plug.

Not a bad idea, Torely!

I agree with Torely... have both. I used to visit the top picks and I'm sure others did too.

Both utterly useless.

I looked at Top Picks all the time, but Sponsored Links pretty much never. Anyone with some dollars can get a sponsored link even if their location is utter shite, so why bother even looking?

Occasionaly I would look at Top Picks. I rarely care to look at Sponsored Links, probably once in awhile I'll accidently click it.

Issue with Top Picks is that people were whining about favoritism and that the lists weren't updated regularly enough.

I personaly enjoyed it, but thought it should be renamed to Linden Picks, since Top Picks implies that they are the "top all through second life", which may be true in some cases, but still.