Haymarket agrees sale of PistonHeads to CarGurus

Haymarket agrees sale of PistonHeads to CarGurus

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PH Team

Original Poster:

192 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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No doubt many of you will have seen today's news that Haymarket Media Group has agreed a proposal to sell PistonHeads to used car marketplace experts CarGurus.

You probably have a million questions, from wondering exactly who CarGurus are to what the news means for this site - and as well as trying to answer some of that below, the team at CarGurus want this story and the comments that flow on from it to be an opportunity to take your thoughts and guidance as they invest in PH for the future.

But let's start with who CarGurus are: the formal history is all available here [https://www.cargurus.co.uk/Cars/aboutCargurus.html], but - in brief - they've existed for 12 years, having been set up by one of the co-founders of TripAdvisor.

Today, they're the biggest automotive shopping platform in the US and the fastest growing site of their kind in the UK and Canada, as well as operating in Germany, Spain and Italy. They had an IPO on the Nasdaq about a year ago too - so it's fair to say they are doing well.

Just like PH, they put their growth down to doing things a bit differently. Their guiding principle is delivering trust and transparency to whatever they do, and they try to achieve that by using their skills as a tech company to put their audience first.

In the used car marketplace, that translates to empowering anyone considering buying a car with hitherto unseen levels of information so that they can secure themselves the best deal possible. Crucially for the PH community, they are also firm believers in the power of crowd-sourcing information, be it buying advice or dealer reviews.

CarGurus intends that PistonHeads will remain a standalone brand. They understand that PH's success is down to the combination of this fantastic community, the people browsing the classifieds and the distinctive editorial tone.

So the goal is to improve all of these things using their tech know-how. It's too early to give specifics, but your thoughts will be central to how that tech is deployed. If you have any ideas that you think can help guide and build on the brilliant site we have today, now is your chance to be heard.

Obviously it's a busy time, but we'll read every post and reply where we can. We'll also host an AQA session in the not too distant future with members of both the PH team and CarGurus so you can hear directly from us.

That's it for now - but rest assured that the future promises a great deal.

essayer

9,008 posts

193 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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[Like] please

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Its got to be better than being run by a company that demonstrably doesn't give a f&*k about privacy, security, usability or the general wellbeing of their content creators.

I for one welcome our CarGuru overlords.

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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randlemarcus said:
Its got to be better than being run by a company that demonstrably doesn't give a f&*k about privacy, security, usability or the general wellbeing of their content creators.

I for one welcome our CarGuru overlords.
This really - Haymarket are a firm based on giving no tosses about the online presence of their acquisitions. This can only be a good thing.

snake_oil

2,039 posts

74 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Matt Bird said:
Hi all,

Just to say I didn’t write the forum post or editorial - that’s being addressed now.


Matt
laugh

Great start!

Turbobanana

6,159 posts

200 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Will they re-introduce proof-reading?

snake_oil

2,039 posts

74 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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randlemarcus said:
Its got to be better than being run by a company that demonstrably doesn't give a f&*k about privacy, security, usability or the general wellbeing of their content creators.

I for one welcome our CarGuru overlords.
Indeed. However may I be the first to say - I've never heard of carguru. But how bad can they be, given the current situation, right?

SLog3

717 posts

198 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Matt Bird said:
Hi all,

Just to say I didn’t write the forum post or editorial - that’s being addressed now.


Matt
"Its got to be better than being run by a company that demonstrably doesn't give a f&*k about privacy, security, usability or the general wellbeing of their content creators.

I for one welcome our CarGuru overlords."

Someone hack your account, and it's not true? smile

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Bye bye forums wavey

Shambler

1,184 posts

143 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Articles spell and fact checked. Also a look at some of the contributors who time after time write hard to follow articles sprayed with Roget’s fairy dust, and the resultant product is unreadable.

IforB

9,840 posts

228 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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If they pay even the slightest attention to it, they will do more than Haymarket did.

Can I put a request in for some moderators who actually do something to help rid the site of the vile behaviour that seems to have become the norm?

Dr Interceptor

7,743 posts

195 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Whenever a car site that I've been on has been taken over, it tends to mark the beginning of the end.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Interesting.

I wish them luck. I just hope they stop and remember what PH is all about though. First and fore most, it is a user community, i.e. the active forums. The rest of PH has been a result of this. If they provide reasons for people to remain and new people to join, then I see no problems.

If they alienate the user community, I'm not sure the rest of PH content will be worth anything, as members will go elsewhere.


And yes, I think there are some rather loose ends that need tidying up around the forum/site, as mentioned by some members above.

satans worm

2,356 posts

216 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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I live in the US and use CarGurus , it’s basically like auto trader
Not sure about the spill on the stuff about doing things differently and empowerment, they are a web site that shows people’s car adverts.

I guess the question is are they planning on growing ph by introducing it to the American public , See that as a good or bad thing as you will

Edited by satans worm on Tuesday 4th December 11:11

Tankrizzo

7,246 posts

192 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
quotequote all
Dr Interceptor said:
Whenever a car site that I've been on has been taken over, it tends to mark the beginning of the end.
Usually I would agree but PH is a crap site apart from the community. Articles are mostly rehashed press releases, the classifieds are ste and it's built on dinosaur technology, and the forums are antiquated, cluttered and aimless, so this can only be a good thing. I can't really see how it could be made worse.

Todd Bonzalez

2,552 posts

161 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Good

mooseracer

1,843 posts

169 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Some articles that aren't simply 3 day old Autocar ones would be nice.

SHutchinson

2,040 posts

183 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Presumably they just wanted the classifieds but had to buy the forum.

Meh, what's the worst that can happen. Even if they fudge it the resulting chaos could bring about improvements.

DaveTheRave87

2,079 posts

88 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Righto, good luck carguru!

RossP

2,523 posts

282 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Dr Interceptor said:
Whenever a car site that I've been on has been taken over, it tends to mark the beginning of the end.
You mean like when Haymarket bought PH off Ted?
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