Haymarket agrees sale of PistonHeads to CarGurus
Discussion
They have a You Tube channel too!
Take a look! Some great reviews.....
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC90ZigN9H_k5hEbZ3...
Take a look! Some great reviews.....
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC90ZigN9H_k5hEbZ3...
Max_Torque said:
funkyrobot said:
CarGurus is an online automotive marketplace with technology at its core, using proprietary algorithms to rank classifieds so that car buyers can quickly and easily find great deals from top rated dealers
Bulls
t. You just rank everything by price ascending by default.
This ^^^Bulls
t. You just rank everything by price ascending by default.Everyone i've every met who isn't a "car geek" buys a car with the following process:
1) My friend (insert name here) has a (insert model here). i really like it!
2) What colour should be buy?
3) How much money have we got to spend
4) What's the closest one to us that fits 1->3
That's it really, "Propriety algorithms" is just total bolleux!
10 adverts per page. The top and bottom are both 'premium' or 'suggested' adverts, which are usually about £30k when you've set your max price to £15k.
No grid view, no option for more results per page, and the fact that they allow dealers to use ~10 of their ~20 photo slots as pics of their stock, their showroom, or their finance offers..
AT is such a s
t 'user experience' (a term which makes me cringe in itself).. I hate using it but it's just too popular to ignore when searching for your average car..warcalf said:
Personally think Pistonheads could be so much more appealing if it was branched out as more of a social media platform (kind of like Drivetribe) as well as the classifieds and forums etc.
What PH has over DT for example, is the forums, but DT is far better for consuming content...
To a degree I think this is true, but forums in general, IMO, feel rather archaic nowadays. I'm not saying we need to go the way of Facebook and Twitter with hashtags and emojis, but this forum doesn't even have a basic private messaging system outside of direct emails.. I've set up basic car owners forums years ago that had that feature as a default..What PH has over DT for example, is the forums, but DT is far better for consuming content...
When you use Reddit, as a comparison, and see how quick and easy you can zip through content that is filtered exactly as you want, engage in quick conversations with people in threads, and easily message other users.. It's just so much more fluid..
I suppose this is veering into a different discussion. For the time being I hope the forum can continue uninterrupted. If the rest of the site gets improved as part of this deal then that's good too.
Edited by smithyithy on Tuesday 4th December 13:07
Vaud said:
On the other hand, Reddit.com has fairly free speech and is actively moderated - owned by Advance Publications (who own Condé Nast)
Typically doom and gloom negativity from PH members... DOOMED we are all DOOMED its the END!
I only speak from my own experience of a once busy UK based VW forum that is now heavily moderated by a US company. I really hope car gurus are different as this is the only forum I regularly use now.Typically doom and gloom negativity from PH members... DOOMED we are all DOOMED its the END!
Joey Deacon said:
Can you imagine threads like this being allowed to exist? https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=91...
I'd never even seen that so cheers 
I have worked at, and run, several US listed businesses.
There is no way the forums in their current form will survive a detailed review by US lawyers.
Splitting off the classifieds and selling the forums to mumsnet would have been a better move.
I would expect the usual outcome of the new buyers realising in six months that the cost to fix is more than it's worth, and the forums being offered for sale again at a knockdown rate.
There is no way the forums in their current form will survive a detailed review by US lawyers.
Splitting off the classifieds and selling the forums to mumsnet would have been a better move.
I would expect the usual outcome of the new buyers realising in six months that the cost to fix is more than it's worth, and the forums being offered for sale again at a knockdown rate.
If the management of CarGurus have read "how much do you earn" etc Shirley they must realise that these forums have one of the wealthiest demographics outside the Bilderberg group! There has got to be money made in here somewhere.
Although there is a core of regular posters, there will be many times more lurkers (such as myself) that will drive the traffic volumes. Without the forums the classified sections just becomes like any other classified site - the forums are really the unique aspect of PH. That being said one can never underestimate the failure of managements teams to cock-up acquisitions.
So, if the forums do go does that mean we go to Drive Tribe?
Although there is a core of regular posters, there will be many times more lurkers (such as myself) that will drive the traffic volumes. Without the forums the classified sections just becomes like any other classified site - the forums are really the unique aspect of PH. That being said one can never underestimate the failure of managements teams to cock-up acquisitions.
So, if the forums do go does that mean we go to Drive Tribe?
Joey Deacon said:
Forums will definitely go, no professional company is going to want posts mentioning "Powerfully built directors" , "dominating the stairs", "Throw a can of Red Bull at him", "hammer frozen sausages into his front lawn" "Custard" or the million and one other PH in jokes.
Yes, look at the other big commercial failures which allow that kind of stuff; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...FamousPheasant said:
So, if the forums do go does that mean we go to Drive Tribe?
How long do you think Drive Tribe is going to exist considering they lost £12.5 million in two years?https://www.motoringbox.com/cars/entertainment/dri...
Vaud said:
So how do Reddit survive?
I think partially by being a top ~25 most trafficked website globally, but also because it is first and foremost a social media platform, so although there is censorship and content moderation, it's typically self-governing by its user base, and works like an open platform..PH, at least in the eyes of CG or any other prospective buyer I'd imagine, is a classifieds / news site, with a forum attached.. They could view the forum as a fly in the ointment of their business model and split it off, if they deem it more a liability than a benefit
Krikkit said:
Eyersey1234 said:
I hope the forums don't disappear.
When buying a site like PH they will be highly aware of the forums and the associated community - that's what makes PH over other aspects.If they wanted a classifieds only they would've bought AT or Carandclassic.
The forums on here are insignificant to the other bits, thats why no work is every done on them.
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