BOT places! List them here!

I think you are mixing them up

I think "everyone will agree" that doing things to move a places ranking higher in the search results, is promoting the place in the search results

Website traffic has nothing to do with search. What are you getting at? I didn't introduce website traffic into this - you did. I introduced promoting websites in search engines.

Umm in a way if you were not trying to deceive customers you'd have them wearing solid color skins and where they could be seen.

If you are feeling the need to hide them, then you are being a bit more deceptive than you try to let on.

Or do you have a sign stating you are using bots in order to boost avatar traffic amounts to push your place to the top of the list?

Are you informing visitors to your store that you are using bots?

How silly it must have been to question you in this regard then, since everyone agrees with you on this point except lil ole me.

They are not hidden. I wrote why they are a long way from where poeple go. If you don't accept that, there's nothing I can do about it. If I placed them in or around the store, they would cause lag for people. Look at it another way. If my intention is to hide them, why am I here talking about them?

There's no reason to do that, but yes, I do tell customers about them if the the converstion goes that way. In fact, I did exactly that during this part of the thread. Do you think that customers are bothered either way?

Website traffic has nothing to do with search. What are you getting at? I didn't introduce website traffic into this - you did. I introduced promoting websites in search engines.

I was in the search engine optimisation business for years, and nobody connected with that thinks of it being unfair, and yet it's function is to get websites and pages higher in the search ranking that they were, which naturally pushes the competitors down. All the web subscribes to it - search engines, every website, including every household company name, etc., and nobody thinks of it as being unfair, just because some do it and some don't. It's simply promoting the website (business). It's the normal way of doing business on the web, and it's a normal way of doing business in SL. The reason that it is objected to is because some SL people want SL to be different from the normal world. "ideal" is a word that's been used in this thread.

Website traffic is based on search results like parcel traffic. A sign of popularity.

Website traffic can be gamed with bots too, and is sometimes done with blogs and others (usually in order to get money from advertisers using the pay per view system)

I think one could argue by your rules that as long as the site owner makes money it's fine.

Here.

They are not hidden. I wrote why they are a long way from where poeple go. If you don't accept that, there's nothing I can do about it. If I placed them in or around the store, they would cause lag for people.

Wow! Some stretching going on there

For most websites, nobody outside the site is bothered about its traffic. And yes, there are robots on the web, posting here and there, all the time.

yes? Where did I mention website traffic, apart from asking you what you're trying to get at? You introduced it.

I was in the search engine optimisation business for years, and nobody connected with that thinks of it being unfair, and yet it's function is to get websites and pages higher in the search ranking that they were, which naturally pushes the competitors down.

Thanks for the education, Phil.

So then....to play Devil's Advocate on that ethical debate.....I have a cute guy that sleeps at my bus stop in the evenings....and my alt avs go to the store to hang out while sending back IM's.....and some of my friends use the phone booth to score with the ladies........now, that I know this is creating traffic.....just like a bot......and not real customers......isn't that the same thing? as using a bot? (not that my traffic count makes a dent).....but watch out, now

Yes it is, if it's done with the intention of raising your traffic figures. People use avatars as manequins and such. They also raise the traffic numbers without the intention of doing so - so they say, anyway. But tell that to the competitor whose ranking are jumped over because of them The anti-bot people here don;t seem to mind increasing the traffic figures for things manequins, which aren't there for traffic pruposes. But what about the competitor. She has a look at why the other shop's traffic is up, and realises that the manquins are the cause. So she gets some manequins operating, but her intention is the traffic number. What do that anti-people think then?

There is no way that traffic was not going to be manipulated.

Yes it is, if it's done with the intention of raising your traffic figures. People use avatars as manequins and such. They also raise the traffic numbers without the intention of doing so - so they say, anyway. But tell that to the competitor whose ranking are jumped over because of them The anti-bot people here don;t seem to mind increasing the traffic figures for things manequins, which aren't there for traffic pruposes. But what about the competitor. She has a look at why the other shop's traffic is up, and realises that the manquins are the cause. So she gets some manequins operating, but her intention is the traffic number. What do that anti-people think then?

There is no way that traffic was not going to be manipulated.

IMHO, that is just as deceptive as it relates to traffic numbers since one could easily acquire a non-avatar mannequin to perform the same function that the avatar mannequin is performing.

It's the same thing.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Hmm, I thought you said traffic bots did not cause lag?

You even went as far as to provide an illustration of this very important fact to all upon request, did you not?

Is the below my post or yours?

Does it not mention websites and their function in regard to get their pages higher in search ranking?

Is that not due to website traffic?



So again I ask. Were is the correlation?

And if there isn't one, why mention it?

Please try to keep up with the conversation.

That's right. If you want to check, you'll find that I said that traffic bots don't cause lag *if they are used properly*. They can cause lag if they are used in a not good way.

And their *proper* usage is to stuff dozens of them into a box and hide them high up in the sky?

That's like saying that my house that resides beside the erupting volcano is safe so long as the lava doesn't flow down this side of the mountain.

Whatever

You give up too easy.

I'm going to go fight with my bf. His arguments come equipped with the visual huff n puff special effects.

So why not put that one prim sign up so everyone that does come there can know there are bots in a skybox (simply to prevent lag affecting them)?