Young Mr. Jason has sold GreenHybrid to a large internet company that also operates Carsdirect.com and other large automotive sites. http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/greenhy...s-inc.5629.html
The sale of that forum to an internet company like that should make things interesting. The run-by-an-owner aspect was an appeal that will no longer be present, changing it to a forum like those with paid hosts instead. They definitely have a different feel and ultimately end up attracting a different audience. Do some internet hybrid searches on "not the same" and "SULEV". You'll find that you-know-who had some pretty intense fights with me on those topics. He wasn't happy that I was continuously pointing out the differences of the various hybrid designs. And he really got upset when I kept mentioning how his MPG database had just lumped together both types of Civic-Hybrid, providing a very misleading impression of actual efficiency. His efforts to create a forum where all hybrids were treated as equals was undeniably evident. And perhaps we know why now. Whatever the case, it is time to move on. HSD is gaining acceptance at a fantastic rate, dwarfing all the other competing designs. I still feel that pointing out why it is superior is a good thing. It will help stimulate a market that will gain from genuine improvements, not those that appear to be the same. And if that means a forum where certain hybrid models get far more attention than others, so be it. We'll end up better off later on because of that. True competition has proven beneficial in the past. I'm quite curious how that forum will change under this new ownership.
For once, John, I'm in complete agreement with you. His direct hands on management, like PriusChat, PriusOnline, and your site are what attract me. The "Anything goes" orgy-like chaos of the Edmunds forums and other sites, even Yahoo turn me off, the lack of control make weeding through the chaff just too much. But ultimately I agree that Jason's goal was to turn something that is an undeniable interest to him into $$$...seems he's succeeded.
how much does a google view really pay? Does GH or PC get 5 cents every time i open a thread? If I click an advertisement do they get $.50? How much would you think GH.com would sell for? $15k?
I wasn't going to specifically name Edmunds, but since you did... that's a prime example. The job of the hosts there is to keep discussions civil and prevent topics from ever being drawn to a conclusion. In fact, they'll allow conflict to continue for the sake of attracting participation to keep the thread lively. That's sad. The better hybrid forums (like PriusChat!) have a purpose of helping out owners and disspelling misconceptions. The discussions on Edmunds actually allow new misconceptions to be created and the old ones to continue to be fed. That's just plain nasty. And an absolutely awful policy on Edmunds, which is very counter-productive when in comes to hybrids, is the policy of no self-promotion whatsoever. That means any reference to my website is against their usage policy. The anti-hybrid people exploit, knowing I can't take advantage of all those resources at my disposal. I sure hope external references like that aren't prohibited on the new GH. You wouldn't think so, since their mission is still to promote hybrids... but then again, what kind of hybrid?
