I had to post about this one - Eric Peterson noticed a company called Electric Sheep that's offering Second Life Measurement Tools :

"…Finally, and those of us thinking about how "Web 2.0" is going to be measured knew this was bound to happen, measurement tools are coming to Second Life. While I'm not a Second-Lifer (I barely get everything done in my first life) I am dying to see what kinds of metrics Electric Sheep are able to come up with. Can you imagine the KPIs? "Percent Avatars propositioning sex" and "Percent Avatars pretending to be adults who were probably eleven-year-olds" and the such. Seriously though, if you have access to these reports, I would LOVE to see them."

At least someone is doing it - it seems like it's time to metrics measurement in Second Life that's not coming directly out of Linden Labs - something you can run yourself against the activities of your own Avatar(s) and properties.

"…On the reporting software, he added: “You’ll have the ability to measure the kind of metrics that you would expect to be important – how many people came to your presence in your Second Life, how much time did they spend there and what did they do?”

“As we build more entertainment properties in virtual communities, people will be looking to build a share of audience time."

Other companies are also getting into the act of Second Life Metrics:

"…..Speaking at a Second Life workshop in London last month, Rivers Run Red CEO Justin Bovington said the UK agency would also be launching reporting tools for its clients.

“We’re working on measurability systems so you can see who is coming in and who is doing what, and actually reporting stuff. That’s so we can get better at what we are doing and make the services more relevant to people.”

He also warned that this year would see firms starting to focus more heavily on the value of Second Life projects (rather than going for press coverage)."

Just what I was predicting a couple of days ago.