Summer Windlow

I may be wrong…but……… My theory on what has been going on in SL for quite some time is this. A while ago I read something on the Internet from a major Real World Company who had set up a store in SL during the time when massive media attention was giving SL huge boost and the membership was booming. The article said that they had come into SL with "great enthusiasm" along with other huge RL brand names. After setting up a store there was an initial flurry of interest, but soon after their Stores had remained empty and there didn’t seem to be an effective way to drive traffic to these locations. So this and mutterings about the seedier sex side of SL were enough to make these RL companies run for the hills in their over priced training shoes! Now it doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure out that this was a big blow to the labs. Having established Real World brands in Second Live, would not only bring them massive income, but it would give them the kudos and acceptability factor they crave. So (IMO) they set about on a mission to ‘fix’ things so they could attract these people back. First……..Clean up Dodge by Segregating Sex, introducing a rating system and an age verification system to prove to these big guys that they can control this issue. Second………Create a Search system that can allow the labs more control over manipulation so that they can Drive Traffic to their Key Account customers, ensuring busy little shops for the important shiny people. Third………Create a presence on Face book so that when you have attracted back all the big RL Designer brands, then they can use face book to attract attention from the highest demographic of people who would be attracted to SL if they know their favourite brands were here. Fourth………….Create a new marketplace which closer resembles RW online shopping and can give the labs a further opportunity to manipulate search and drive traffic to key accounts, and potentially a future source of high income. Fifth……..Come up with other methods of advertising in SL to get us all used to the fact that the big boys are coming and get everyone acclimatised to commercialism on a bigger scale. (this is one of the ads i read. This one touches on the 'empty shop' aspect. I will add the others if and when I find them.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8367957.stm