Parcels Dropped from In-World Search
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search
Once again we have another incident of many Parcels being dropped from In-World Search. This time around it appears to have happened coincident with the rollout of the Magnum RC Server software yesterday (Thursday, January 17th) as every Magnum Region I’ve checked is now gone from Search.
If you are on Magnum then I recommend checking for your Parcel using any of your Keywords. If you are using the Search Bot V2 device then it will have reported to you a message like “(Parcel Not Found in Results)”. The Rank History graph will also show a red line heading toward the bottom and a rank number of zero.
If you have been affected, please file a new BUG Report at the Second Life JIRA website. Create a new Issue and, at the bottom of the form (you’ll have to scroll down to see all the entries) make sure you select “Second Life Website” and “Search” for the two “Where” selections.
Second Life In-World Search Refresh
One of the resources available to Merchants and Sellers within Second Life is the In-World Search facility. While some people may be familiar with how it works and what it does, I’ve found that a lot of people treat it with a good amount of trepidation and fear. It’s really not that difficult to get control of though, as long as you understand what it does, how it works and how you can best utilize it for your business. Today’s post will serve as a refresher on the SL In-World Search facility and give you some basic pointers on how it can be used to help promote your business to prospective customers.
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Walls Within, Walls Without
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search, The Project to Save Second Life
It’s no secret that Linden Lab understands exactly ZIP when it comes to communicating with their customers. I don’t have enough fingers to count the communication faux pas they’ve committed in the last 3 years alone. But even though I’ve said many times that their lack of communication skills would eventually come back to bite them in the butt, we don’t have to wait that long to see more concrete evidence that the habits of keeping mum and not sharing ultimately mission-critical information are doing pretty massive damage to the Lab and to Second Life.
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The Issue with Traffic
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search, The Project to Save Second Life
Before I dive into the meat of today’s topic, I want to spend a bit of time laying the groundwork. I think it will help you better understand what I’m up in arms about this time around and how it will probably affect you in the near future.
The most basic rule of any business is to “make money”. Any business that doesn’t have money flowing in … at least in quantities large enough to match or exceed the money flowing out … that company is dancing a Minute Waltz. Any minute now that business will waltz off into the pages of history. Businesses within Second Life are no different. While there are many Merchants that set up an In-World store or go to the trouble of making a Storefront on the SL Marketplace purely for the fun of making and selling things, there are also a lot of people that take the operation of their business very seriously. Not all of those make a living off their store either. They may just be making money to spend in SL, or they might cash out from time to time but nothing big enough to live on. No matter their “Bottom Line”, they use the time and experience of setting up and running a business in SL as very real and not at all “simply a game”.
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Linden Lab Kills Atlas Land Baron
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search, The Project to Save Second Life
No, that’s not hyperbole or even emo-rage-quit speaking … it’s a fact. To be ultra-precise, it’s about to become a fact. Recently there was a change in the upper-level management of the Search Team at Linden Lab. Ever since that change, specifically this past Sunday, the Sims owned by Jayson Dorn of Island Oasis Properties have been summarily removed from In-World Search.
For several months now I’ve been struggling with In-World Search, trying to get Jayson’s Main Office to place somewhere in the top 20. The best I could ever manage was to get him into the top 200. Yes, that’s right .. 200! Even when I copied verbatim the keywords and descriptions of the Parcels ranked 1-10, the best I could get his office ranked was #179. Yet they were ranked #1 through #10.
So finally, about 2 weeks ago, I hit on a solution … call it a magic formula .. that managed to circumvent whatever “foot on the scale” the Search Engine was putting on Jayson’s properties and I got his main office ranked #4. That lasted just over a week. Then this past Sunday, his Main office and all of his primary Sim locations … VANISHED! Removed from Search. Not found at all.
The kicker to all of this? Every shop owner and businessperson that rents from Jayson and Island Oasis Properties? They’ve been removed from In-World Search too. That’s 100′s of businesses, summarily decimated without any explanation or reason. Just *POOF* … Gone!
So with Second Life bleeding Sims and businesses, and Linden Lab needing more Sim owners not less, why have they killed off one of their bigger Atlas-Level Sim Owners?
Beats shit outta me folks … beats shit outta me.
In-World Search Went Boom!
Overnight, from late night on March 15th through early morning on March 16th, the In-World Search facility of Second Life went a little bit haywire. For some unknown reason sites were indexed and promptly removed from the search indices. As the outage progressed, fewer and fewer Parcels were returned in Search Results. The DGP4SL Search Bot V2 reported the ranking for a Parcel that had been dropped as “nfir” meaning “Not Found In Results”.
Fortunately, before the sun came up out in the west coast of the USA (where Second Life and its owner Linden Lab is located) the error seems to have self-corrected and all Search Results have returned to normal. Now that the anomaly has ended, it also appears that for the most part the ranking of all Parcels has been returned to the same point it was before the outage began.
As usual, those people using the DGP4SL Search Bot V2 were the first to notice the outage as their email reports began showing “nfir” for every search phrase and keyword programmed into the Search Bot V2. They were also the first to notice when In-World Search returned to normal. However, anyone attempting to use In-World Search during the outage got reports that said something to the effect of:
In any event, whatever caused it, the problem has been resolved and In-World Search appears back to normal again. Whew!
Critical News for V1 Search Bot Users
Filed under: DGP4SL Info, New Products, SL In-World Search, Technical Info, Upcoming Events
Last year the In-World Search Dev Team announced a change in the way the Search Engine interface would be replaced by a new engine (based on the SOLR/Lucene engine) and a new API. They were nice enough to provide a bridge interface that allowed older Viewers and programmed devices to use the new Engine through the old interface.
While this was a very nice gesture on their part, it has had some unintended consequences. The method used to access the old interface is much more wasteful of network bandwidth and Search Engine resources. Because of that extra waste involved, it has been in our plans to remove all older Search Bots as soon as possible. Well that time has come.
If you are still using the older Search Bot (recognizable by its logo image as shown below then you must either remove it from use or upgrade to the newer Search Bot V2. The new Search Bot (fully described in a previous post Search Bot V2 Update Released), uses the exact same configuration Notecard now in use by older V1 Search Bots. This means that upgrading is simply a matter of copying out the old Config Notecard, removing the old V1 Search Bot then rezzing out a copy of the new Search Bot V2 and dropping the Config Notecard inside.
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Search Tidbit
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search
Just a quick note about In-World Search in Second Life. I recently set out four new in-world vendors to sell the new Magic Flyer teleporter … but I left 3 of the 4 named the same. On the next search update my rank dropped 5-7 places for my primary words and 20-25 places for my secondary words. OUCH!
Lesson Learned: Do NOT duplicate Object Names for those objects marked to Show In Search. PERIOD!
Search Bot V2 Update Released
Filed under: DGP4SL Info, SL In-World Search, Technical Info
This update to the DGP4SL SEO – Search Bot V2 is a very important release and MUST BE USED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!
Among the many improvements in Search Bot V2 1.0.4, the most important improvement has to do with how Search Bot uses the Second Life In-World Search API. In response to our requests for some simple changes to the API, Linden Lab’s Search Dev Team has made some improvements that significantly optimize our use of the Search Service.
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Kaaaaaaaa-BOOOOM!
Filed under: Linden Lab and Second Life, SL In-World Search
Thursday, July 28th, 2011 – The Day After In-World Search Changed Forever. (again)
Overnight the results presented by In-World Search have changed for everyone. Some will be ecstatic at the results, some will be decimated. Since the changes took effect (and actually since just a few hours before they kicked in) I’ve been answering IM after IM from people frantic to find out what they should do now. To be totally honest, I’m not sure yet. But then again, that’s exactly how Linden Lab wants it.
Continue reading “Kaaaaaaaa-BOOOOM!” »»
DGP4SL Staff
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