Haymarket agrees sale of PistonHeads to CarGurus
Discussion
Funk said:
It can't be any worse than Haymarket, crack on and get it done please.
It could.In fact, apart from some flakeyness around the forum platform, things from a forum point of view haven't changed all that much since Haymarket took over.
But we could have pay for subscriptions, constant pop-up adverts, and a moderation team or platform that prevent you posting links to anyone other than paid advertisers.
Personally I think such behaviour would be foolish as most people will go elsewhere. I wonder if CarGuru's have little interest in the forum side of the site, if they would be willing to maybe sell it off (or let it go) to a members consortium or similar.
There are quite a few very long time members on here (much longer than me). So there would be a vested interest in keeping to forum alive, even if completely independent from the rest of the current content.
Of course, I suspect CarGuru's deserve a little time first, to see what direction they are going to take things.
smithyithy said:
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
Partly agree. The front page feels very social media/buzzfeed.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
Reddit has well orchestrate and managed subforums across a massive range of topics, including some very risqué stuff.It is social media but with a heavy element of threaded debate/forums. e.g. the F1 subforum has threads very similar to PH debate.
It is an oddity as the range of stuff (risqué/rude/XXX) through to openly posting hooky stream links for races flies in the face of the comments on here that a US corporate would moderate more heavily.
The PH classifieds are absolutely terrible to use, no matter what OS or browser you use. Even the AT site is significantly better and that's saying something.
So if Haymarket have spent naff all on the classifieds and less than that on the forums, then surely anything has to be better than the current mess?
So if Haymarket have spent naff all on the classifieds and less than that on the forums, then surely anything has to be better than the current mess?
eybic said:
I really think a lot of the old skool users think there's much more value in the forum than there actually is. The forums make no money other than ads served and will cost to have moderation done etc. I'd be very surprised if in 12 months, the forums still exist
I think in some ways you are correct. But missing the target.The forums bring a heck of a lot of traffic to the site domain. This is good for many reasons. Pistonheads as a domain will be scoring very high in hits per hour/day.
There is also the fact that many forum users will also use the classifieds as their first point of call.
And last but not least. None of the rest of the PH site would exist if it wasn't for the forums initially.
Vaud said:
Newc said:
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.
So how do Reddit survive? There is no way the forums in their current form will survive a detailed review by US lawyers.
Listed firms are much more attractive targets in the US system for predatory lawyers filing lawsuits on behalf of the professionally offended.
If the forum disappears, I will miss it. Wonder if there a business opportunity out there for us users to gravitate towards? Appreciate current model does not facilitate revenue earnings and therefore wonder if any new platform would have to move towards a subscription type service or be flooded with adverts. Hmmmm.....
it, try and salvage what we have and try to get permission for the archivesNewc said:
Conde Nast / Advance is a private company.
Listed firms are much more attractive targets in the US system for predatory lawyers filing lawsuits on behalf of the professionally offended.
Partly agree. Big companies with (and I caveat: B2C high value brands) attract lawsuits, listed or unlisted, as the brand can be easily damaged in a world of social media. B2B services. much less so.Listed firms are much more attractive targets in the US system for predatory lawyers filing lawsuits on behalf of the professionally offended.
300bhp/ton said:
There are quite a few very long time members on here (much longer than me). So there would be a vested interest in keeping to forum alive, even if completely independent from the rest of the current content.
Duration of membership will not influence the future direction. We are all equal regardless of time. giger said:
A tech overhaul would be very welcome, but I guess part of the current appeal is the dated forum layout (!). My biggest concern would be that if CarGurus are looking at floating on the Nasdaq, share value and keeping shareholders happy will be at the top of the priority list - can controversial forums co-exist with a Nasdaq listed share? I guess the classifieds will also go up...
controversial ?? No name and shame (each give other members useful advise).geeks said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
No it didn't! SO has been around for donkeys years! Forums are in the decline though which is a shame but markets/media move on, my 15 year old nephew thinks on me as a dinosaur (at 34) just because I use Facebook and have no Insta account!
giger said:
...if CarGurus are looking at floating on the Nasdaq, share value and keeping shareholders happy will be at the top of the priority list - can controversial forums co-exist with a Nasdaq listed share? I guess the classifieds will also go up...
They are already listed since Oct 2017.Fittster said:
geeks said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
No it didn't! SO has been around for donkeys years! Forums are in the decline though which is a shame but markets/media move on, my 15 year old nephew thinks on me as a dinosaur (at 34) just because I use Facebook and have no Insta account!
Forums aren't dead. Reddit has a social media (actually AI driven) front page and many subforum
With >1.55B visits in the last 6 months. Top 25 site globally.
We could argue the nuances of if it is a forum or not, but it has lots of forums within it, with threaded discussion, moderation and active communities.
With >1.55B visits in the last 6 months. Top 25 site globally.
We could argue the nuances of if it is a forum or not, but it has lots of forums within it, with threaded discussion, moderation and active communities.
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