Not to be a jerk, but can somebody please tell me WHY there are adds for Chevy on an ALL FORD SITE??? I have also seen adds for other automotive companies that aren't Ford....What is up with that?

Not only is it on the side, it's on the top as well

 

This has been asked and explained many times. Last time was about 3 days ago. The adds are google adds driven by the subject material of the site/posts. We have no control over who advertises, just the subject matter. We can block types of adds only. As a result, we enjoy taking GM and Chrysler dollars to support our site.

 

I did not see anything in regards to my question on the first page of this forum and it dates back to Dec 16, 2009



Well maybe you guys should block what ever "subject/type" that chevy falls under....


You sound like a US senator/congressmen





O well, thanks for the response Bluejay

 

If we blocked it as subject matter, it would block the Ford ads as well. Anyone that is swayed by a Chevy ad or a Dodge ad, we proably don't want around anyway! LOL

 

I suggest a downloading a browser with an ad blocker such as Firefox with Ad Block Plus. Works great for many of us.

 

If you don't want to see the ads, you have 3 choices.

1. Pay the site's bills.
2. Use an adblocker.
3. Don't use the FREE forum.

I REALLY don't see why so many people get so upset about seeing competitor's ads on the site. That's just juvenile in my opinion.

 

Thanks for you input and your suggestions....I don't mind paying a yearly fee, where do I send the paypal to? BTW, it's not "juvenile", just a die hard Ford fan here..sorry that your not


Thanks for the info Stealth


Bluejay, I guess it's like sports teams...I'm a die hard Gator fan(and Ford), do you think it it would be right to have FSU, Miami, or any other college advertising on their forums??? I think not, same applies here.


Like I said, I was just trying to find out WHY they were on here. I belong to 3 other Ford sites and you don't see ANY on there

 

To be honest... it doesn't cost much to host this forum at all. IB pockets the money from the ads and runs. It's unfair for them to do it. Sadly there's no laws that prevent anyone from doing this.

If I knew back a couple years ago having TLDs like f150online.com for example was profitable, especially by using ads and forums, I would've still been the owner. It just makes me sick to know that from me visiting this site, it is making another person richer.

I do agree that it either should be subscription based, or else have the ads to just pay for the site and not to make money off of it.

Furthermore, I foresee IB being sued one of these days for some serious copyright infringements and other issues which means that this site might no longer exist.

I've been poking the idea to ask IB some questions (not about this site... but their company in general) and see what their response is back. For some reason, I just think it is a bunch of freewheeling illegal Mexicans that own IB, especially with it being housed in El Segundo, CA. Granted they are on the stockmarket (INET), anyone with money these days can have their so-called business on the ticker tapes.

 

I assume from this, you think all business should be non-profit organizations? That is one of the weirdest posts you have ever made. They make a profit from advertising they sell. Why is a company not allowed to make a profit for it's owners? If you are a publicly traded company, you better dang sure make a profit or your investors will bail on you in a hurry and you will be out of business. You think every company providing a service on the internet is doing it for fun?.

 

I don't see any reason to get upset about the ads...the site is free. If the mods were to charge even $10, the number of users would drastically decrease - simply because people don't like paying for discussion forums. Just do like people have said and get firefox and run ad blocker. The ads never even show up before they're blocked.

 

The carsdirect ad is the only exception to what I said above...for some reason it gets through on here. But all the other banner ads are blocked. See the comparison on your browser vs. mine.

 

Well, it's a touchy subject. The Internet has changed laws, how people go about their lives, and how we conduct business.

In the Internet world, non-commerce sites such as this one, should not generate revenue. Hence it should be not-for-profit. Which then turns into the money making bit -- which is generated by the ads. Technically ads are considered in technological terms, "malware" and "unethical invasion of privacy". If you ever notice when you go to a section on the forum, you'll notice that Google uses "Adwords" to track where you go. In reality that is invasion of privacy. But somehow money gets in the way of everything.

On top of all this, copyright laws are being infringed by this site. Since IB takes all ownership of the content on this site, there are some members that post copyrighted content, whether it be pictures, text or other content which can then be used against them in the court of law. But that's another sketchy/gray area.

I see your point about making money from the advertising bit -- even though it is in the gray are of being illegal like any other site that uses ads. But the point I'm trying to make is the fact that even though they are selling advertising, they are also invading privacy and copyright laws at the same time.

Along with all of this... being the content written by many, it should be noted that the content belongs to NO sole source. Being that IB should not own the content on this site or use it for profit. There is a lot of very intelligent people on this forum that should have IB reimburse them for their knowledge that made IB some money. How is it fair for me to get all techy and help someone save $1,000 and IB just made $5+ off my content I posted? Which would've never been there if it wasn't for me to post the content, and for the people that was in need of the content. Let alone that it is my content I wrote.

Reminds me of writing a book, and giving it out to a publisher and saying, "Here ya go publisher.. it's a great book I wrote... I don't want any money from the sales." and it turns out to be a hot seller. Yep, the publisher is rolling in dough, and where does it leave me? No place.

Same act of what's going on here. Even though there might be a TOS... anyone with some rational techy lawyer-lingo can write one up for a few bucks. A TOS in my opinion just keeps people away from saying something.

 

The bottom line is IB (the forum owner) has chosen to use Google Ads and cannot (or will not) control the content - and this is beyond the control of the admin and mods.

As a matter of fact, IB owns a LOT of automotive forums, and the last I counted, they have more GM forums than Ford forums.

You are sadly incorrect, sir. I just understand and accept the realities of what is necessary to provide us a FREE place on the Internet to discuss our interests.

I am the admin of a computer forum. The forum is privately owned, not owned by a large company such as IB. Ours has ads that are just as obnoxious as here, in fact, it kills you with popups too. However, we offer a monthly membership, I think it's in the $15 range, that offers you access to a lot more content and gives you the forum with no ads. You don't even see a sidebar and the top and bottom banners are just not there. I've suggested that to the powers that be here and they are not interested.

 

You guys have that out of your system now?

Gator - try turning off the bold; it's less annoying.

Bluejay is correct.

Manual - We'll start sending the bandwidth charge to you via Paypal invoice. Oh yeah, we'll also include the tech team's salaries, office space, and other overhead expenses as line items.

glc is also exactly correct. While we've never considered charging a fee for additional site services/site access, it is a valid idea. Maybe they could take the additional windfall and give those of us that spend a lot of time dealing with goofy garbage like this thread (for the 10th time in a month) a pay raise... urr, better yet, pay at all.

Carry on. Feel free to use the words Chevrolet more frequently... it'll drive the ads more frequently so that Mr. Silverado can pay the electric bills for the servers and air conditioned rooms...

*yawns*

-RP-

 

Well RP, I'm sorry that you feel that this thread is goofy garbage and my bold is annoying you.....10th time this month?? Seems like other people have the same concern. Btw, I did not see any threads about that in this forum dating back to at least Dec 16th , you must have deleted them....So why don't you delete this thread so your not bothered by it anymore....I'll make sure not to post up anymore in the "questions about the site forum" with a question about the site unless I send it to you for approval first since you have deemed my question "garbarge"