Linden Lab Chairman Pauses Marketing Second Life After Community Complaints Over A/B Ad Tests With AI/Stock Images -- Here's His Full Statement.

Originally published on Patreon here.

Days after I wrote about the controversial Second Life ads A/B testing various messaging using mock-up Gen AI and stock imagery -- a program Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager told me was paused last week -- some SLers reported still seeing these dummy ads on Facebook.

So today, I asked Oberwager about this.

He insisted to me that the test campaign had indeed been paused, and that if any dummy ads were still visible to people, they were just an artifact of Facebook clearing out the original inventory of the test.

Oberwager then sent along this statement, which I'll quote in full:

Due to the feedback from our community, we have dramatically cut our spend while we try to regroup.

I listened to the creator community and was specifically asked to do more marketing. The only way I know how to do that is online. The days of creating ads and posting them are over.

Advertising has increased in cost over 3x since we last did it. The way you do it now is test hundreds of potential campaigns and figure out the top ten.

The intent was to test a large number of potential campaigns, video, static… and then put real money behind the winners.

It was never our intent to run AI campaigns for long. Unfortunately, we are where we are and we will figure something out.

I was hoping to triple the size of Second Life and 3x what creators made. We will get there!

As of now, I have paused marketing until I gather more information. It will take some time to create videos and ads.

I would love the help of the community, although since we stopped testing, no one really knows what will work.

I welcome feedback and listen intently. We are trying to do the best by our creator community. Clearly we made some very valuable members of that community upset. Some of our favorite artists. I’m deeply sorry for that.

But our heart was in the right place. I promise.

So there you have it.

Personally I think an approach that starts with test messaging, versus messaging built on genres of content that we already know is working and popular, is doing it exactly backwards. ("Why test whether people are interested in boating in Second Life," as I put it to Brad last week, "when we already know there are hit online boating games like World of Warships?"*) But that's a conversation for another post.

And once again, if you've made or seen an SL video you think makes a better ad for Second Life, post in Comments, or send it along to Brad! 

*I should have mentioned Sea of Thieves, which is even bigger, reporting 40 million players in 2024! Imagine an SL ad promoting pirate roleplay in a far larger world with much more UGC, targeting Sea of Thieves fans. Don't you think 1% of them (i.e. 400,000) might at least give Second Life a try?

Comments

[Sheree Honeyflower]

Dummy ads... Testing to test the boundaries?

How disappointed would new members be to see how much their avatar does not look like the advertised product.

[Sabina Valeska]

Thank you for the interview, Wagner James Au. I really appreciate that.

They should have explained this on their official platforms. Most of SL creators can't accept the excuse of A/B testing marketing strategy because weren't they aware that the idea of using AI alone from the start would hurt the hearts of creators, even before the ad was executed? As machinima creators, we feel like we're unseen and not being considered. However, now I think, oh well, at least I can still make videos for my own enjoyment. Linden Lab needs to realize that without creators, they wouldn't be where they are today. So, I hope they can appreciate us more.

[grace]

This is just false advertising isn't it?
Like if I have a business selling phones and I just put the image of a phone I don't actually sell (or an image of a phone generated by AI) on an advertisement.

And that's just the image of the avatar.

Now on the hair colour sliders in the middle - can you actually do that in new avatar creation in SL? Isn't it the case you have to buy hair from content creators post avatar creation, and the hair might come with a colour HUD? Or am I out of date? (I haven't created a new avatar for more than 10 years).

[This is dumb]

He seems so whingy and put-upon in that message.

"I was just doing what the people asked!"

Like dude.. did you not think that hiring an outside wish.com PR firm that does shit like generate an image of Hindu gods because you used the word "avatar" is really going to fly? Or even worse, was he generating them himself? Is he that bad at knowing his own platform?

Literally you have a massive community whose main use of the platform is to post glamour shots of thier SL characters online that you could just /ask/ permission to use. They'd probably let you use it in a heartbeat. Thow them some lindens as thanks. Then you could say LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DO -- this is user generated.

But no, we get MORE AI SLOP.

[Joy Handric]

Why not get to the real issue SL is losing players? It has archaic programming, it charges for uploading money, downloading money, purchases on marketplace, premium and worse, premium plus, and creators are getting nickel and dimed for small things. There are other much higher quality games creators can swap to, for less money overall. Without creators, SL will remain stagnant. Charging more for an outdated platform (granted we FINALLY have PBR) only drives players away in search of something not so taxing on their pocketbooks.

If you want to attract players, make the game actually attractive. Clean up glowing prims from mainland, get rid of the blinding bling, and update the darn land on mainland. The 2003 land is outdated, don’t you think? Not everyone is going to pay $12/month just to pay to upload Ls. If you want advertising like the aforementioned, then make SL as such. Make it attractive for new players. Increasing pricing without increasing quality is a losing proposition in ANY business.

[Adeon]

Rubicon = crossed

[Full Time SL Creator]

Insulting to all the people that built your game.

[Full Time SL Creator]

"As of now, I have paused marketing until I gather more information. It will take some time to create videos and ads.

I would love the help of the community, although since we stopped testing, no one really knows what will work."

_________
I mean you could literally ask permission (do you actually need permission?) to a handful of creators / bloggers and get 10-15 images to do mini ad campaigns that you are willing to do with junk AI.

How can that testing even be accurate if you aren't using actual in game content?

Those AI mock ups should of been in house to decide what kind of images should be looked for from bloggers or creators and those ACTUAL CONTENT IMAGES would be used for the first small phase of public testing.

If you have millions to spend how can you not find some bloggers/creators that want to get mass posted for free... Do you even understand the population. EVERYONE THIRSTY FOR IT