SL Browser is an inworld ad network created by Felix Wakmann and Diva Canto. So what makes this HUD gadget special enough to demand attention, you ask? Well, it indexes some 1.4 million products and averages 2000 searches per day.
But this isn't about numbers ... I'm excited about several features that surpass the searching capabilities available in the SL client. For one - you can search based on keywords and in your results you get the location and relevant object/keyword image (instead of the picture of a storefront). This helps narrow your search at-a-glance, without wasting time teleporting to a tens of sites to find something close to what you have in mind. It even sports an "impulse buying" option through the "Public" search feature. If you have that box checked, your HUD will react to searches other people make using the browser. If you like what you're hearing, go get your own here.
If you're a business owner and wish to update your object description, simply change the object description and the Browser will automatically update in a week's time. Felix is also working on creating tags for those who wish to have their objects stay un-indexed by his gadget. For the techies reading this, continue on to hear about how the browser works, pitfalls, etc.
Since I am not a tech person, here are a few snippets of from the conversation I had with Felix about SL Browser. Yes, he actually talks in bullet points! [Note: this exchange has been edited to correct spelling errors and re-order some comments to match the intended sequence of responses]
What do you think are the differences between SL Browser and the Electric Sheep implementation of the ad network, besides this being a resident-created product? :)Felix Wakmann: Differences:
1) images
2) searches contents of objects
3) in-world user interface
4) more care with security issues
So are you still currently indexing? And can owners of those objects edit their listing (if not now, at some point)?
Felix Wakmann: We scan the entire grid every week. So, if you want better info, just edit your objects in-world, to add more descriptions.
What are some of the issues you are currently aware of?
Felix Wakmann: The issues:
1) Our robots only list things that they can *see*. we move the robot around, but.. its hard for them to navigate (requires Artificial Intelligence, which they don't have). We are working on an easy way for shop owners to "tag" the spots that the robot should visit and also, to block the robot from visiting ... all very easy to do.
2) We currently don't do very well with "vendors"... with many products in them. We have a solution for that too, but it's not done yet. Most of the big, high-quality stores avoid them, at least.
3) We don't have a great way to order the results based on how good they are, but... we are working on that too
This is all "research and development" in action, but you can't answer some questions until you have the experience from developing the first step.
How would you define "good"?
Felix Wakmann: Google basically defined the approach, saying "good = popular". We are working on defining an analogy for SL, based on traffic and some other ideas.
1. This is a nice kludge, but if LL wanted to it could make this information available as well... likely they may now that someone has come up with it. And they could do it without bots.
Posted at 7:00PM on Aug 15th 2007 by Nobody Fugazi