It started with the purchase of XStreet SL and Onrez. From that point on, I knew that Linden Lab no longer had an interest in simply watching the grid – they wanted to call the shots, and be the ones who ran the show. It was no longer about the creativity or imagination of the users – it was now about Linden Lab’s pockets, and how deep they can go.
The first annoyance came in the form of the Opening Screen log ins, which started bearing advertisements for Linden Lab’s preferential customers.
If you don’t know what a preferential customer is, it’s someone who owns many sims – we’re looking at at least 40 or so full regions. Forget FIC; these are the guys who get the red carpet treatment from Linden Lab. If something is up with a sim, or they have a problem they want sort, then these guys will take priority.
And when adverts for their land empires started appearing on the login screen, it smacked of something foul-smelling. Fair enough, they’re entitled to some special treatment if they’re paying for so many sims, but the promo thing was a little much for the rest of us who are land barons. It’s one thing to be priced out of classifieds by people who happily spend L$500,000 a week, but the biggest exposure for a business is easily that spot on the Opening Login Screen. Be listed on there for long enough, and anyone who logs in will spot it eventually.
Then my email started getting SL spam from some fashion show thing. I’m not wild on fashion shows as it is, but I have no idea what Modavia Fashion had to do to get in on some of the LL pie, but fair play to them. They’ve just scored the biggest fashion coup for themselves and their clients.
And yet again, Linden Lab have made a heck of a lot of people feel left out with the same sense of favouritism.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for Linden Lab helping alleviate what I call “The Marketing Problem”. Aside of Armidi, not many stores in Second Life manage to get a grid-wide recognition – I’m not talking about the small minority of grid-dwellers who regular the feeds and blogs, or read twitter or plurk. I’m talking about the element who use SL as a more social platform, and happily shop and spend money, but aren’t interested in scouring the net all day to find out what’s hot on the grid.
These are the thousands upon thousands of people who serve as the market of the SL economy, and because they don’t read blogs, feeds or micro-social media, they tend to use in-world search, showcase, classifieds or trust word-of-mouth.
Linden Lab have done (yet again) what I said they did after their awards. Sure, they only meant it as a bit of fun, but in reality it left a lot of people wondering why they didn’t win and created a lot of resentment towards those who did win.
Linden Lab’s power in the grid is ultimate – when they advertise something, people will look and it’ll get coverage. That’s the sort of marketing a lot of SL businesses would dream of.
What they need to do now is make it accessible to all businesses who want to opt in, rather than being select about it. It’s perfectly fine for SL resident run programs to be select, as we all compete with one another. Linden Lab aren’t “one of us” though, and they need to stop acting like they are. They have the potential to boost the SL economy by solving the marketing problem, but they won’t do it by alienating the unchosen resident.
Ana Lutetia on September 26, 2009
Not to mention the so called quality of some of the choosen ones…
Roslin Petion on September 26, 2009
What bothers me most about the Modavia thing is that LL chose an agency which has PAYING clients and as I understand it (correct me if I’m wrong) Modavia made it clear that featured only paying clients. Sure, as a small business owner in sl, I would have benefited greatly from the exposure myself but I honestly would not have been nearly as bothered by things if at LL chose the designers themselves or at least used a more neutral party to select the designers.
Jori Watler on September 26, 2009
I have to agree, totally. It’s unfair – in regards to LL using their power to sway customers towards a certain business, such as the log-in screens for land holding companies, or designers.
Our market, and spending trends are not being looked at – LL is a US based business, so one would like to think they would see it as a “market driven model” and act accordingly.
Showing favoritism is not helping them in the “public eye”
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radar on September 27, 2009
It’s just a bad move that I don’t understand. Very ill-advised. Right now with the issue of content theft on everyone’s mind, this just seems to the small person who doesn’t get LL advertising that they are getting punched in the face and the back of the head one after the other.
Content creators should really really enjoy what they do, because there’s precious little other reason to create content in SL at the moment, IMHO.
Kwame Oh on September 27, 2009
Marketing is a perception game, and again Linden Lab, as with solution providers and transparency get it wrong again?
Let us not fail to forget virtual worlds is!! social media and as such once the Chinese whispers start you are into reacting and damage limitation.
Julius Sowu Virtually-linked London
Net Antwerp on September 27, 2009
Things have actually gotten *worse* for ordinary Customers (“residents” is purely a Linden Marketing stunt) since the marketing-orientated CEO, Mark Kingdon, stepped onboard at the recommendation of Linden Lab’s core investors.
People should vote with their feet, I reckon. Temporarily suspend in-world business activities until Linden actually starts to appreciate ordinary you-and-me residents – including non-Linden Worshipping customers/businesses.
Sascha Frangilli on September 27, 2009
I remember sending an IM to Modavia a little while ago in how to participate in this show.
Lol, never got any response, so I knew my place straightaway. I’m not with the Modavia Agency and only paying a mere US $ 300 a month for my land….
EnCore Mayne on September 28, 2009
it’s called big business. stop thinking you can suck up to anyone in the Lab to get your strokes (ego or otherwise). pay up or shut up. yer nothing! feels great doesn’t it?