Money & Advertising has Wrecked a Previously Good Website
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,714
Likes: 56
From: 1 hours drive north of Sydney Australia
2007 W204 220CDI Classic Sedan
Money & Advertising has Wrecked a Previously Good Website
I now look down the list of posts with dismay, mostly advertising silly products to people with too much money & not enough to do.
Whether this advertising has frightened off others but there seems fewer faults posts than in the past . Either the W204 is a very reliable vehicle or genuine posters have become sick of the site .
I hope it is not the latter.
Thanks to the dedicated people who have organised & added to the very informative & useful Wiki section.
Cheers.
Whether this advertising has frightened off others but there seems fewer faults posts than in the past . Either the W204 is a very reliable vehicle or genuine posters have become sick of the site .
I hope it is not the latter.
Thanks to the dedicated people who have organised & added to the very informative & useful Wiki section.
Cheers.
Last edited by Carsy; Nov 19, 2015 at 02:43 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 344
Likes: 2
From: Berkley, MI
'09 C350
You can actually blame our overlords Internet Brands. They acquired another message board I used to frequent and turned it into the same cash cow, full of advertisers and hardly any useful discussion. Thankfully there's still some useful info on here with a bit of searching.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 19
Likes: 2
From: Kansas
2008 C350
I do believe there are seasons when traffic diminishes but you bring up a good point about reliability and the wiki. One other point to consider is there are only so any folks willing to put on their thinking caps, get dirty and work on their own vehicles.
Me, I'll stay as long as the content is relevant and there are helpful folks when I run out of my own ideas, that and I still own a MB. Thanks for those that created what we have at this point.
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 701
Likes: 103
From: Ontario, Canada
2009 C63 AMG, 2010 C250 4Matic Sport
To be fair, we don't pay for access/use of this website so the ads are somewhat necessary. Personally I don't find them to be very invasive and I usually have pretty strong feelings against ads. This site is useful for current discussions in addition to past discussions which contain a lot of info
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 344
Likes: 2
From: Berkley, MI
'09 C350
You're way behind broseidon, Ublock is where it's at now.
I was actually talking about the high amount of threads from vendors on the site in the model specific discussion, that get bumped on an almost hourly basis. That's why I like certain other forums, where vendors have their own section for spamming with their products and the model specific forums are strictly for discussion and the same applies for FS: threads.
I was actually talking about the high amount of threads from vendors on the site in the model specific discussion, that get bumped on an almost hourly basis. That's why I like certain other forums, where vendors have their own section for spamming with their products and the model specific forums are strictly for discussion and the same applies for FS: threads.
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 300
Likes: 13
From: GA, USA
Current: '19 E450 Cabriolet - Past: '19 C300 Coupe, '12 SLK350, '16 E350, '14 C250 (x2), '09 CLK350
To be fair, we don't pay for access/use of this website so the ads are somewhat necessary. Personally I don't find them to be very invasive and I usually have pretty strong feelings against ads. This site is useful for current discussions in addition to past discussions which contain a lot of info
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,714
Likes: 56
From: 1 hours drive north of Sydney Australia
2007 W204 220CDI Classic Sedan
***Fortune Auto*** Quality Coilovers at Affordable Pricing!
Vossen Wheels | VFS Series CV Series & VLE Series |Member Pricing | C-Class W204
OE Tuning - Black Friday / End of Year Holiday SALE
JBSPEED CF Mirror Cover Replacement for W204/W212/W221
///RW Carbon - C Class Carbon Fiber Parts
AZN Optics 5W5 Canbus LEDs
JBSPEED Roof & Trunk Spoilers for W204
Duraflex & Carbon Creations Body Kits - ALL QUOTE REQUESTS WELCOME
Senior Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 314
Likes: 15
2016 GLE450 AMG Coupe
I will lend you my glasses my friend :-
***Fortune Auto*** Quality Coilovers at Affordable Pricing!
Vossen Wheels | VFS Series CV Series & VLE Series |Member Pricing | C-Class W204
OE Tuning - Black Friday / End of Year Holiday SALE
JBSPEED CF Mirror Cover Replacement for W204/W212/W221
///RW Carbon - C Class Carbon Fiber Parts
AZN Optics 5W5 Canbus LEDs
JBSPEED Roof & Trunk Spoilers for W204
Duraflex & Carbon Creations Body Kits - ALL QUOTE REQUESTS WELCOME
***Fortune Auto*** Quality Coilovers at Affordable Pricing!
Vossen Wheels | VFS Series CV Series & VLE Series |Member Pricing | C-Class W204
OE Tuning - Black Friday / End of Year Holiday SALE
JBSPEED CF Mirror Cover Replacement for W204/W212/W221
///RW Carbon - C Class Carbon Fiber Parts
AZN Optics 5W5 Canbus LEDs
JBSPEED Roof & Trunk Spoilers for W204
Duraflex & Carbon Creations Body Kits - ALL QUOTE REQUESTS WELCOME
EDIT: Nvm, just realized you were talking about the forum posts themselves. My eyes just kind of glaze over those ^.^
SPONSOR/MBworld Guru
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,936
Likes: 215
From: California
MB W204/W212, BMW E66, Porsche 958, VW MK6 TDI, Maserati Ghibli SQ4
I've got mixed feelings on this as well. Having started out as a devoted member (AZN_C300) long before becoming a vendor, I do see your point which is why I only bump my threads once a month and if you see it up there more often, it's due to other members posting on there which would be fair game. With the holiday season coming up, it does tend to get worse this time of the year. Now, the vendor/sponsor side of me knows that we spend a LOT to advertise here.... MBWorld is the most expensive site to advertise on for Internet Brands and if we're dumping up to a thousand a month just for the rights to advertise, we have to stay viable which means staying visible. I will say that I've received a fair amount of customers who have told me they wish they would have known about us before they had ordered from Ebay or amazon or whatever which means that even with the coverage, it's not reaching everyone, but out of respect for the forum as a whole, we still restrain from weekly bumps I know some other vendors practice.
For us though, we try to stay engaged with the forum to offer advice and assistance as opposed to just pushing products, chiming in when we can. We were appreciative and humbled by the MBWorld Guru title issued to us for our contribution in growing the site. Main thing is, please don't paint a broad negative stroke across all vendors as not all are equal in offense.
For us though, we try to stay engaged with the forum to offer advice and assistance as opposed to just pushing products, chiming in when we can. We were appreciative and humbled by the MBWorld Guru title issued to us for our contribution in growing the site. Main thing is, please don't paint a broad negative stroke across all vendors as not all are equal in offense.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 344
Likes: 2
From: Berkley, MI
'09 C350
I've got mixed feelings on this as well. Having started out as a devoted member (AZN_C300) long before becoming a vendor, I do see your point which is why I only bump my threads once a month and if you see it up there more often, it's due to other members posting on there which would be fair game. With the holiday season coming up, it does tend to get worse this time of the year. Now, the vendor/sponsor side of me knows that we spend a LOT to advertise here.... MBWorld is the most expensive site to advertise on for Internet Brands and if we're dumping up to a thousand a month just for the rights to advertise, we have to stay viable which means staying visible. I will say that I've received a fair amount of customers who have told me they wish they would have known about us before they had ordered from Ebay or amazon or whatever which means that even with the coverage, it's not reaching everyone, but out of respect for the forum as a whole, we still restrain from weekly bumps I know some other vendors practice.
For us though, we try to stay engaged with the forum to offer advice and assistance as opposed to just pushing products, chiming in when we can. We were appreciative and humbled by the MBWorld Guru title issued to us for our contribution in growing the site. Main thing is, please don't paint a broad negative stroke across all vendors as not all are equal in offense.
For us though, we try to stay engaged with the forum to offer advice and assistance as opposed to just pushing products, chiming in when we can. We were appreciative and humbled by the MBWorld Guru title issued to us for our contribution in growing the site. Main thing is, please don't paint a broad negative stroke across all vendors as not all are equal in offense.
Those customers are not looking for a quality product with good support, but the cheapest route to get something they want. You can't really compete with some of the prices on the junk that eBay's littered with, so I wouldn't consider those people "potential customers". Maybe after the crappy eBay LEDs burn out in a month, they would come here and find you.
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 670
Likes: 7
From: Alberta
2014 E63 AMG S
I used to be a regular. I came here every day and checked the new posts. But I no longer see the posters that I used to, and the quality of content has hit rock bottom. Part of that quality loss is the % increase in vendor posts constantly bumped to the front page. It's a shame.
SPONSOR/MBworld Guru
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,936
Likes: 215
From: California
MB W204/W212, BMW E66, Porsche 958, VW MK6 TDI, Maserati Ghibli SQ4
Content wise, the other thing is w204 is now an older model now so just like the previous w203 subforums went, member topics will continue to taper down while the w205 forums gain the influx. Sure you'll have the sporadic secondary market owners that might join, but with the w204 platform so well explored, most of the answers would be found via search, limiting the need for new topic. Just the way of things.... older model forums become more reference material rather than lively discussions we used to have.
Super Member
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 848
Likes: 87
From: Milwaukee, WI USA
2012 C300 4Matic
I agree with AZN...to a point. I previously owned a Jaguar X-Type and those are readily available and cheap. There are always a lot of new owners that were DIYers asking questions, despite having 99% of the issues being discussed previously. Despite that there continues to be a lot of relevant daily posts and a lot of friendly helpful people willing to help. It is a great community over there with a lot of friendly, helpful and knowledgeable people. Virtually no ad "posts" on there.
Joining here to learn and understand about my car it is quite different. Seems like most time an almost 50/50 split between ads and posts. I understand that this is free and revenue needs to be generated to keep it going, but I do find the high number of ads a distraction, even though it might be a necessity. In the short time I've been here I can appreciate someone like AZN being an active participate in the forum other than just posting a weekly "bump" to their original ads and he should be commended for that.
It is what is is I guess and people can always vote with their feet. Still very helpful, you just have to be willing to dig a little.
Joining here to learn and understand about my car it is quite different. Seems like most time an almost 50/50 split between ads and posts. I understand that this is free and revenue needs to be generated to keep it going, but I do find the high number of ads a distraction, even though it might be a necessity. In the short time I've been here I can appreciate someone like AZN being an active participate in the forum other than just posting a weekly "bump" to their original ads and he should be commended for that.
It is what is is I guess and people can always vote with their feet. Still very helpful, you just have to be willing to dig a little.
