For the moderator(s) and those who...

[vman71]

...put down the after-market air intakes. It's comical that as I write this, I'm looking at a banner (K&N CAI), obviously a paying sponsor allowed by this site, to advertise a product here that both moderator(s) and many folks around here dislike, think are harmful, think do nothing beneficial, waste of money, etc.

So, my question: Why would you allow, in this case, K&N to advertise here on this site, when clearly you don't think anything of the product they produce and consistently encourage potential buyer to stay away/avoid buying or using the product?

To me, if I didn't believe in something, I wouldn't allow them to advertise on my website.

[Pizza Man]

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Forum Owner.

[MikeT]

Originally Posted by vman71

...put down the after-market air intakes. It's comical that as I write this, I'm looking at a banner (K&N CAI), obviously a paying sponsor allowed by this site, to advertise a product here that both moderator(s) and many folks around here dislike, think are harmful, think do nothing beneficial, waste of money, etc.

So, my question: Why would you allow, in this case, K&N to advertise here on this site, when clearly you don't think anything of the product they produce and consistently encourage potential buyer to stay away/avoid buying or using the product?

To me, if I didn't believe in something, I wouldn't allow them to advertise on my website.

Well, cost of the forum has to be offset somehow. If you have never operated a website (Or websites) that are this successful, the costs are hard to see. For the record, this moderator has nothing against K & N filters. Others do and that is their right. I have used the K & N filters extensively in past with NO ill effects.

[dk miller]

So, my question: Why would you allow, in this case, K&N to advertise here on this site,

Your question merits a response so I'll try to list some reasons that come to mind.

Ads pay the bills but do not imply an endorsement of a product. You don't think that magazine editors and publishers actually endorse all the products that buy ad space do you?

Moderators do not exercise control nor do they benefit from ad content.

Moderators can and should express their opinions with the same latitude as any other posters.

In the case of K & N products, some posters have debated whether the performance claims are exaggerated and whether the filtration characteristics are as good as OEM. This makes for good discussion. I don't think anyone has said K & N products are in the "snake oil" category.

This forum is a great source of information. We can read through the pro & con postings and they will help us make a decision whether to spend our hard earned bucks on a product.

[csimo]

The moderators do not have any control over what general advertising is permitted on ROC. That's for the administrators to decide.

I'm told that some of the ads are specific from a sponsor, and others may be google ads or similar products. For example right now I see an ad for Tire Rack and I don't think they're a direct sponsor of ROC... the ad is probably just a google targeted ad.

So you're likely to see targeted ads for a variety of motor vehicle related subjects. Some good, some not so good, and some just plain bad.

I don't think anyone, including the admins, have control over the content of those ads.

Hope this helps.

[NW Geocacher]

I worked for a media company for many years; all add content on the web met certain quality standards. Having standards is very commendable; however, they do not pay the bills. A couple of years ago, the company loosened the standards to generate revenue (after all, that is why they exist). Today, they have several spots on every page that feature rotating ads placed by third party ad managers. Some of these ads feature questionable products and links to questionalbe site. This may be a nessesary evil to generate revenue.

[wrenrj1]

Originally Posted by vman71

So, my question: Why would you allow, in this case, K&N to advertise here on this site, when clearly you don't think anything of the product they produce and consistently encourage potential buyer to stay away/avoid buying or using the product?

Respectfully, it's helpful to provide specifics regarding your accusations. If you have specific threads where you are referencing these comments, it would be helpful to substantiate your position.

This issue is certainly a ford vs. chevy issue, and up to many of us to decide if a K&N filter will help performance, gas mileage etc. however, your initial thread is vague and without support unless you provide such.

Bill O'Reilly would kick your butt based on the info. provided in your thread.

[ChrisM]

Road&Track and Car and Driver magazine have both totally disproved the merits of using that Tornado air intake thing in articles yet they (the Tornaldo folks) still buy advertising space in both magazines. Some companies just want to advertise. They also know that the world operates on the PT Barnum principle and not everyone reads every review so they have a pretty good chance of still generating some sales.

The only companies that I have ever heard of that demand that their products don't be berated by a magazine that that they buy advertising in are both audio products. Bose and Monster Cable. I have heard of both companies actually suing publications for printing unfavorable opinions of their products. Both companies IMHO are the epitome of snake oil. In short, most of the stuff they sell is overpriced or in Bose's case, just plain old junk. They both spend enormous amounts of money in advertising to portray their products in a favorable light and have an image to maintain. Negative press impinges upon their reputation. I think that their products speak for themselves and they both say "we charge you more for a whole lot less." Monster Cable has now moved into the realm of suing every company that uses the word "Monster" in their name because they believe that they have a corner on the word "monster" and anyone else using this word is a copyright infringment. They win these cases because they have a lot of money and great attorneys.

The ad at the tops of most pages are triggered by word association on the page from Google. If you start a thread and title it "EBay", an EBay add will appear at the top of the page. The advertisers pay for this name association to Google. I'd bet they never know on what website most of their ads actually appear.

[T Mac]

Since I place the ads on the site, I want to chime in on this discussion.

First, the big K&N ad that is up top occasionally is a Google-related ad. The Google program looks at content on the site pages and delivers an ad that readers may find worthwhile and *hopefully* it is relevant.

If K&N wanted to buy ad space here, I'd gladly sell it to them.

As some previous posters have pointed out, this is somewhat like a magazine. If companies want to purchase space, I'll work with them to get an ad there. This site is free to you and I intend to keep it that way. Since ads help keep things moving in the right direction, they'll continue to be seen throughout the site.

And hey, after all...a K&N ad up top is better than a K&Y ad, right?

[Lingered_I]

Originally Posted by T Mac

a K&N ad up top is better than a K&Y ad, right?

Good way of saying that the ads keep the site...er...lubed.