PRNewser, usually a reliable source for inside data on the PR biz, reports that Linden Lab has selected Edelman as its new PR agency of record, ending a months-long review process. The move, which the Lab would not verify, sends Lewis PR, who had previously managed the account, out the door. The business is valued at a million USD per year.

I suspect that the account will be assigned to Edelman’s digital division which makes lots of nice noises about that crazy social media stuff and has blogged about trendy topics like augmented reality.

(I’d like to insert a rant here about this sudden distracted attention on augmented reality – there’s something to be said for actually seeing stuff through instead of jumping onto the next hype cycle, but I’ll leave that for a longer post).

Edelmen recently hired Kristin Mitchel, who was one of the chief contacts on the Lab’s business when she was at Lewis. Whether her move to Edelman contributed to the decision, whether she’ll work on the account under the new agency banner, or whether the idea of ‘fresh blood’ really means that remains to be seen.

Direct confirmation of the selection by Linden Lab will likely follow in the coming weeks.

(Oh…and for my own thoughts on what they should be doing, read my previous post on the PR selection process, which was supposed to be all hush-hush, but hey).