The big day that many suspected would eventually come, finally has come. More than ten years after launching (and continually operating) F150online.com, ownership of the site has officially changed hands. I'm truly excited to announce that F150online.com has been acquired by Internet Brands, Inc., a company that operates many useful and well-known automotive web sites such as CarsDirect.com, GreenHybrid.com, NewCarTestDrive and Wikicars.com. You may or may not have seen the news a few days ago, but they also recently acquired vBulletin.

The plan is to maintain F150online.com as a stand-alone website, but at the same time leverage Internet Brands’ technology and content resources where they can enhance the site, as well as take advantage of Internet Brands’ reach to enhance our advertising base. They have indicated repeatedly that they have no interest in changing the personality, policies, community orientation, overall nature or competitive advantage of the site. Rest assured, there are no intentions of turning the site into a series of giant Flash popup advertisements with a forum behind them. Based on the other acquisitions that IB has made in this space, I can say this with a high level of confidence.

With that said, there are no immediate changes planned for F150online.com at this point – other than moving to bigger, faster servers that will support our growth – and I will continue to play the same role in the community in the immediate future, helping both with the continued growth of the site, as well as with our current advertisers, Ford Motor Company and SEMA.

I believe this is going to be a very exciting opportunity for F150online.com. More resources are going to be available to the site, both technical and marketing, which will help the site grow in functionality, performance and popularity, as well as provide the site the attention it deserves that I have been unable to give during the past few months, as Ownersite has continued to grow and demanded more of my attention. While I am sure that some might bemoan the decision, I think it is a very positive move to keep F150online.com as the great site that it has always been.

I think one of the most important questions is, are Brad, Doug & Brooks (RockPick, Silver_2000 & clonetek) going to continue as moderators? The answer is yes, unless they decide otherwise. They have played a key role in the ongoing success of the F150online.com and Internet Brands recognizes their importance, something that I have spoken to IB about numerous times. It is Internet Brand's intent to keep our moderators in place with the same roles and responsibilities that they had prior to the acquisition.

I sincerely hope that people are excited about this news. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email or PM me. There is an FAQ below that was provided by IB about the acquisition. You are also welcome to post any questions about IB, the acquisition or the transition on the forums. Please keep it positive. In a short while, some folks from IB will pop by and help answer questions, as well, so you will get the chance to meet them. Also, beyond any specific questions you might have, I'd enjoy hearing any ideas you might have for how to better serve the F150online.com community going forward.

Thank you so very much for your help and support throughout the past 10+ years in helping to build the absolute best Ford truck site on the Internet.

Steve "webmaster" Eppinger

 

Q: Why did Internet Brands buy F150online.com?
A: Internet Brands’ mission is to empower consumers to make better decisions about buying and maintaining their most important purchases, such as cars and homes. F150online.com’s users offer outstanding advice and support for F-150 owners and shoppers, newbies and veterans alike, which should be a very good fit with the rest of the Internet Brands Automotive sites.

Q: Will F150online.com become part of another Internet Brand site?
A: Internet Brands plans to keep F150online.com a separate, thriving site and to continue expanding its content, community and traffic.

Q: Is Steve going to continue at F150online.com?
A: Yes. Steve will continue his current level of involvement on the site and in the community in the near term.

Q: What changes can we expect to see on F150online.com?
A: It's hard to predict far into the future, but for the time being, F150online.com will remain essentially unchanged. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The main near-term addition you’ll probably notice is that Internet Brands will figure out with Steve the most logical places to put links to relevant content on other IB Automotive sites. Beyond that, Internet Brands plans to brainstorm with the admins and moderators of F150online.com about improvements that would make the site more useful.

Q: How will the acquisition help F150online.com?
A: The main benefit will be having more infrastructure and technology resources behind the site. Better servers and hardware will mean better performance for the site and admin tools. And more technology resources will mean faster bug-fixes, quicker turnaround on site changes and more frequent updates in site software, like vBulletin or photo-posting applications.

Q: Will my F150online.com log-in or password change?
A: No you will still access F150online.com as you always have.

 

...

 

Great news, Steve.
I'm happy for you.
You definitely deserve it.

 

Thanks, Rod. There is a part of me that is very happy that an old-timer (no offense) was the first to reply. That makes me feel good.

 

This site has become a big part of my daily activities, providing information I could not get elsewhere as well as entertainment. Thanks for your past efforts and I hope this works out well for you as well as the users.

 

Congrats, Steve!

As a moderator, I've enjoyed watching the site grow and have done my little part toward moving the site in the direction that was, hopefully, beneficial for our members, for the site, and for everyone involved. Moving from here, I look forward to working with the new ownership and with you more closely to ensure that the paradigms that have been previously established continue to move in the ways in which IB sees fit.

Thanks for your continued confidence in my abilities as a moderator. It has been nothing short of an honor to have been associated with the site during your ownership and I sincerely look forward to continuing to assist where I can.

Again, congrats Epp! This is truly an exciting time for f150online.com!

-Brad-
aka: Rockpick

 

Congratulations Steve! Here's wishing F150online continued success!!!

 

Congratulations, Steve! I know you have put a ton of hard work and money into this site. I hope this acquisition helps all of us. I will interested to see what improvements are made. I am glad to see that it will pretty much remain the same site that it is today.

 

I am proud to be a part of such a well maintained and informative website. Thank you steve for your dedication to F150online and it's patrons. I look foward to continuing to be part of F150online for many years (and many posts) to come.

 

Steve

You have put years of time and effort into this and have done a great job building a great community. Congratulations on building a professionally run site that has attracted the interest of a company like IB.

I have enjoyed ( for the most part, a couple people got under my skin in the early years ) helping out over the years and hope to at some point meet again to give you the opportunity to buy me another beer. Its hard to believe that I have been moderating since 2001.

Here's to the next 10 years.



Doug

 

Cool

 

To another 10 years:



Ribitt

 

Though my tenure here isn't as long as some of you, I have well enjoyed this site and plan on being part of the next 10 years. Good job, guys.

 

Thanks Steve for having the vision to create the only F150 site that has real community.