Gorehamj is with ( Best Ride . com website ) which is a partner with CarTalk. He was added to make comments here to enhance the readers experience. I also feel he should send people to Best Ride and not his personal site.
I will probably hear about this but frankly I have not been impressed with his contributions.
He hasnāt. IMHO this was not a good decision. If this forum becomes a means for businesses to fish for business under the premise of enhancing our experience, the character of the forum will change not for the better.
Sorry, webgeeks, but if what Volvo has written is correct, I think itās a serious āslippery slopeā.
The link was to bestride.com. If they are a partner with car talk, how is this a problem? I found the suggestions in the article reasonable and no more ne tried to sell me anything. Of course, I read with blinders on. I am oblivious to ads on sites I read. I am not offended by the oil change checks mentioned.
Clearly we disagree on this issue.
I for one would be interested in hearing the opinions of other regulars here.
Guys? Are you willing?
Thanks for asking @Joe Mario. It is allowed, but it is not my for-profit business. BestRide.com is a partner to CarTalk as you can see from the front page of the CarTalk site. CarTalk also works in partnership with CarComplaints.com.
I donāt like even a hint of a link to commercial activity that looks like a readers post. It is a slippery slop that leads to becoming like Tahoo.
We all post links to expanded discussions about the subject in each thread. I donāt see a difference, except that @gorehamj posted a link to Bestride, a Car Talk partner. It is kind of like suggesting someone use the Mechanics Files.
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Hi everyone. @gorehamj is a contributor and blogger on cartalk.com. As has been pointed out, bestride.com is a partner for Car Talk. He contributes to discussion and adds relevant content links when it may assist the OPs. He isnāt a plant or a shill, and I think that the regulars do add links, too. And hey, if youāre not impressed with what he has to say, share why ā fundamentally, the posts are opinions and no different from anyone elseās here. I read all the time that even among regulars some arenāt impressed by the othersā contributions. It happens. Discussion goes on! Thanks for your feedback.
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I agree with oldtimer_11. That circle seems misplaced.
I used carcomplaints.com as one of my tools, when shopping for my momās latest used car, a few months back
Mainly, I used it to look for pattern failures
itās one of the few websites which I feel is rational, and itās well-organized. Itās easy to find what I need, without sifting through a bunch of garbage
I actually like Johnās posts. I feel thereās a lot of good stuff. Weāre all gearheads, and some of his posts may not be helpful to all of us, but thereās bound to be somebody reading who finds them useful
CarTalk does have to pay itās bills and it seems to have chosen one of the big-money conglomerates to help it do so. See below for who owns bestride.
In my opinion, the value of this site diminishes if contributors who are paid to post are intermixed among the rest who contribute without profits as part of their motive.
Founded in 2012, Bestride.com is a division of the Herald-Journalās parent company, New York-based GateHouse Media LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Media Investment Group Inc.
I donāt have any complaints myself. I find the poster in question offers up some good ideas from time to time. And the poster seems polite and respectful and transparent about associated business relationships with other web sites. This is America after all, so it isnāt unusual for there to be some conflicts of interest on internet forums. My solution is to just not click on links where there may be conflicts of interest or that Iām just not interested in looking at. Same as the mostly un-intrusive advertisements displayed here; if Iām interested in the product Iāll look , if not Iāll ignore. As long as they donāt hinder the use of the site, no problem.
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There is still something that haunts me about contributors who are paid to provide content to this site.
@gorehamj:
I agree with the others who say you appear to know your stuff. Thatās awesome.
But when I look at bestrideās business and its owners, itās clear your paycheck is derived from those paying or advertising in the businesses owned by your corporate owners.
Discussions on this site often have to be critical of individual businesses, (e.g. car manufacturers, dealers, parts stores, etc) in order to provide honest replies to someone coming to this site for help.
My sincere question to you is this:
In your posts, can you be critical of those funding your paycheck, if thatās what is needed to provide an accurate honest reply to a poster seeking help?
Thank you.