walled gardens

Noun

walled garden (plural walled gardens)

1. A garden enclosed by walls for purposes of shelter or decoration.
   • The walled garden full of shadows blazed with colour as if the flowers were giving up the light absorbed during the day.1912, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in A Smile of Fortune
2. Any closed platform. A closed platform is any computing system where the manufacturer retains monopolistic control over installation, distribution, and use of software and services.
   • A ‘walled garden’, in this case, refers to a closed platform, where the provider maintains restrictive control over what is hosted on the platform, and in many cases how that content is accessed, paid for, and even supported by different services and technologies. In many cases, walled gardens also...Alexander Bergendahl, Will Freeman (23 June 2026 (last accessed)), “Opening Up: The Future of Game Platforms”, in Look Locker Blog
3. (figuratively) A closed platform for content or services controlled by a single carrier or service provider, typically requiring subscription to access.
   • A long time ago, back before Al Gore invented the Internet, there were three big kids on the online block, each of which ran its own proprietary online service. America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe each had a "walled garden" of sorts for their customers.2000 September 4, “AOL's 'Walled Garden'”, in Wall Street Journal
4. (Internet) A set of web pages or other resources that are richly interlinked and share a common focus, but have little or no linkage to or from the larger network.
   • Link love is reciprocal; if you provide it liberally, it comes back to you. If you don't, you'll turn into your own walled garden.2007, Michael A. Banks, Blogging Heroes, →ISBN, page 52