As title really

Since Internet Brands took over Scoobynet, have things been better or worse ? or the same

The reason I ask, is that there seems to be no interaction or input from Internet Brands apart from a Marketing Survey con they did trying to fool us it was to make the site better for us, and they soon disappeared with no answers

Just before the sale of Scoobynet lots of changes were made, and lots of things promised (and some started to happen) like the competitions, different membership options

I have been a fully paid up member here for 5 years on the run, and this year I havent renewed and to be frank I won't be

Lets not try to get an infractofest going (now Webmaster is ex-webby) lord knows who or how the infractions will be dealt with (if indeed they will) and lets keep the discussions reasponable without being abusive etc

 

Forgot to say, that there seems to be a distinct lack of interest from IB, things on the site aren't working and don't appear to get fixed either

Current things are

No Search facility
Go to last post doesn't work
Time is incorrect again

These are problems that have been reported but I dont believe there has been any response to them

 

Much of the changes were only intended to make SN a more attractive proposition for prospective buyers. but you know that. Competitions, draws, blogs all leading to subscriptions.....

 

What happened to webmaster? I must have missed that.

 

It has undoubtedly gone down hill.

Can anyone suggest where to move on though? I like SIDC but it's not as busy and it's split into regions but doesn't have one for Yorkshire (at least last time I looked).

 

I spend less and less time on here, most interesting people are BANNED or using aliases

The search function is useless and some of the ads are taking the p1ss.

However, I find that I'm more focussed on my work!


Nik

 

Definitely worse.

Search not working is just appalling bearing in mind the money that was fleeced out of everyone on the basis that they woul dhave search facility for 10 years. Its not even 10 months is it?

 

Should be an interesting poll, IB need to start making an input.

 

Was the only reason I paid any money.

If the search function isn't fixed soon, I'll be asking for that money back.

If enough people did that, I'd hope something would happen.

 

I need a "dont know" option, or else for somebody to spell out exactly what they've done since acquiring the site?

 

I used to read alot over the years before actually buying a Subaru and posting but from a outsiders point of view before i posted its gone down hill and the infraction system is toss pure and simple! It's like walking on egg shells round here. Check my Infractions out and where i got them! I think someone was on a power trip! I can't be bothered to argue to get them taking away as the attitude of Weddy was pure **** and would only give you more for "wasting" his time! Feels like ive wasted £18 but only money in there pocket but never mind eh?

I will have to think long and hard about paying up again and if there is no change to S/N then i dout i will!

Lose the infraction system and get someone to run S/N like an adult thats not 1 sided with his friends then i am sure things would look up and would be a nice place again!

Thats my 2p's worth!

 

Id give the above post a +ive, but I dont have the power...

 

I wonder if we get a refund while the Search option ain't working as thats part of the package? and it's been hell trying to find some threads to help me out!

 

The site was killed for me during the pre-sale clean-up.

 

Simon de Banke has gone Bob!

 

So I see. Whose hand is on the tiller now, then?

 

some guy called brad I guess

He has been making a list and checking it twice.....

 

"Is Scoobynet better since Internet Brands took over?". I dont blame IB, although they need to pull their fingers out now.

SN is certainly a better place since SdB left though

 

In short, SNet is now **** poor. It's slow as hell, things break and don't get fixed for ages. The search is pants (when it works) and dupilcates results over and over again.

It's about time the monkeys at IB started giving a toss and sorting all this rubbish out.

 

Infractions were here before IB took over, so nothing's changed in that respect. Bring back all the people who have been banned, they made this place more fun....

 

Took the words out of my mouth

It really is poor now compared to what it used to be like

 

Yeah, and I want my £5 or however much that blue banner cost. Search is not working and the last post thing is VERY annoying.

 

free infraction with every point of view...why was Daz diffracted?

 

ex-webby
26 November 2007, 19:27
Dear ScoobyNetters,

After 8 years at the helm of ScoobyNet, it is with a mixture of sentimental sadness and optimistic excitement that I can announce ScoobyNet has been acquired by Internet Brands, Inc., which operates leading automotive web sites such as CarsDirect.com, GreenHybrid.com, NewCarTestDrive and Wikicars.com.

ScoobyNet is getting bigger and better all the time, and my personal business commitments have increased significantly in the last 12 months, so I decided to open discussions with a selection of the many interested parties.

As many of the old timers here will know, I originally took on ScoobyNet as a labour of love, and as such, had a very clear view of the type of company I was willing to hand the keys over to. I wanted to be confident that the community would be in good hands going forward, and after hundreds of conversations with many, many different potential buyers, it was very clear to me that Internet Brands are the perfect fit, and I'm delighted to be working with them.

The plan is to maintain ScoobyNet as a stand-alone site, while leveraging Internet Brands’ technology and content resources where they can enhance the site. There are no changes planned for ScoobyNet at this point – other than moving to bigger, faster servers – and I will continue to play an active role in the community and in the growth of the site, certainly for the near future.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me. There is an FAQ about the acquisition below, and we’ll be discussing the topic in the forums. Also, beyond any questions you might have, I'd enjoy hearing any ideas you might have for the future.

Finally, I just want to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly, and warmly thank our fantastic moderators, and all of you for your support of me and ScoobyNet over the years. I've always tried to put the community first and do exactly what I think you all want. While you can't please everyone all the time, on the whole I really hope I achieved that.

Thanks for a fantastic chapter of my life.

Simon


FAQ’s

Q: Why did Internet Brands buy ScoobyNet?
Internet Brands’ mission is to empower consumers to make better decisions about buying and maintaining their most important purchases, such as cars and homes. ScoobyNet’s users offer outstanding advice and support for Subaru owners and drivers, newbies and veterans alike, which should be a very good fit with the rest of the Internet Brands Automotive sites.

Q: Will ScoobyNet become part of another Internet Brand site?
A: Internet Brands plans to keep ScoobyNet a separate, thriving site and to continue expanding its content, community and traffic.

Q: Is Simon going to continue at ScoobyNet?
A: Yes. Simon will continue his current level of involvement on the site and in the community, certainly for the near future.

Q: What changes can we expect to see on ScoobyNet?
A: It's hard to predict far into the future, but for the time being, ScoobyNet will remain essentially unchanged. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The main near-term addition you’ll probably notice is that Internet Brands will figure out with Simon the most logical places to put links to relevant content on other IB Automotive sites. Beyond that, Internet Brands plans to brainstorm with the admins and moderators of ScoobyNet about improvements that would make the site more useful.

Q: How will the acquisition help ScoobyNet?
A: The main benefit will be having more infrastructure and technology resources behind the site. Better servers and hardware will mean better performance for the site and admin tools. And more technology resources will mean faster bug-fixes, quicker turnaround on site changes and more frequent updates in site software, like vBulletin or photo-posting applications.

=========

Well that's alright then

 

For this I would guess

IMHO of course

 

You are probably right Phil, but who issued the infraction...its a bit thin skinned\weak if IB have infracted a paying member for having an opinion.

 

It's got worse in my opinion.

The main thing for me is the fact that things like the "Go to last post" button don't work.

The problem was highlighted by a thread in the appropriate section (Bugs/feature rrequests) on 17th September. The first response from IB wasn't until the 17th October!!! It took that long to even get IB to acknowledge the problem.

Here we are on 10th November, still with no fix and very little info on whether it is being worked on. We were told on the 30th October that an upgrade was due shortly and that should fix the problem. No indication of when that might be though.

 

Yep - this is what I thought at the time and I remember getting blasted by Simon for making such a suggestion. Time has certainly shown who was right.

 

Not just since IB took over but things that have gone:

Blogs - Not updated.
Competitions - Don't happen anymore.
Club events calendar - Never implemented.
Front page (car-of-the day/week) - Never updated.

It seems from the outside that IB have bigger things/sites to worry about and Scoobynet really isn't high on their priority list and as long as the main site is running they don't seem overly bothered. Just a view from a money paying user of the site (Full member) and previous SN+ member and ESC supporter, of course I have no idea exactly how much time they spend running the site.