Revisiting Ads on Second Life

Emily Riley | August 08, 2007, 07:22 PM

Today was coincidentally full of Second Life references. I spoke to their visitor experience expert about some issues that advertisers have in the Second Life world. Advertisers follow the same rules as everyone else, and only pay for the land as well as any development they need (although that money goes to an agency, not Linden Labs.) Not surprisingly, a lot of the hype has died down since many advertiser efforts go virtually unnoticed by the inhabitants. The successes that were mentioned focused on creativity and enhancement of the SL world. Pontiac, for example, allowed SL users to create a road and some roadside attractions which they could then drive to in Pontiac muscle cars. Their campaign was much more popular than other car campaigns which simply invited users to a showroom. Shoe companies that allowed users to make their own designs also did well. This need for involvement and community enhancement mirrors the issues advertisers have when they create social networking profiles or widgets, which are largely ignored unless they serve to enhance the total social networking experience.
I also talked to a reporter covering Coldwell Banker’s new presence on Second Life. Coldwell is showing real world homes, which allows for a 3-D view. The technology sounds great, but I’m concerned that very few Second Life users are not only in the market for a home, but want to search for homes while they are taking time escaping their real world stresses. Second Life is very much owned by the users, and is largely used for creativity and entertainment. I haven’t seen signs that this is going to change any time soon.