[stressdoc]

Anyone have some good ideas about how to make the sponsor forums work better? They constantly have to bump threads to compete to stay on top. Surely there is a better system.

[scollins]

Just an idea:
Why not have a dedicated sub-forum for each sponsor, and that is where all their ads go? So instead of having the current sub-forums of "Wheels and Tires", "Suspension and Brakes" for example, you have "JLeviSW", "SPP", "HP Autowerks", etc.

Or you can also take a hybrid approach. Leave the current sub-forums, but enforce a 72 hour bump rule, and also have the "Industry" sub-forums for each sponsor. You have to keep an eye for "shill bumping" too (having your buddy ask a bogus question, etc.)

Personally, I'd love a way to find out what all the products available from one vendor are, and the current system makes it tough.

Here is an example from a firearms website, the most active and popular one on the internet. They've got the usual "Equipment Exchange" as well as the "Industry" page.

"Industry Forum:" http://www.ar15.com/forums/board.html?b=2

"Equipment Exchange:" http://www.ar15.com/forums/board.html?b=7

Their selling rules: http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=301

Now you may be asking why look at a firearms enthusiasts page for idea, consider the site statistics:
E90 Post: Threads: 152,703, Posts: 3,499,928, Members: 45,815
AR15.com: 177,644 registered members, 132,882 are active accounts. 1,760,149 topics created and 22,237,817 replies.

Very busy place.....

[exidisjon]

Maybe the bumping is what makes the competition going and part of marketing...

Making all seperate sections will be ok too but too much sections maybe.

[darkphantom]

I like the first idea, and that is probably would I would do if I'm in charge of that section. Create sub-groups for each vendor in which ONLY that specific vendor can post new threads.

[SoCalS2k]

So if I want to get a set of wheels I have to go into each sponsors separate forum to look for deals.. not that good. I like it the way it is, except that they should be stopped from bumping.

[scollins]

Originally Posted by SoCalS2k

So if I want to get a set of wheels I have to go into each sponsors separate forum to look for deals.. not that good. I like it the way it is, except that they should be stopped from bumping.

Do you really find any "deals" though? I don't. For the most part, the competitive force is not selection or pricing, but availability and service.

That's why I think the second approach could be tried. You still have the usual sub-forums by types, but also have vendor sub-forums where they can post all their ads. They can post their ads, sticky them and lock them so that dicussions don't get generated there, but rather get generated in the regular sub-forum. But they can also leave them unlocked to answer questions. The vendors would be the moderators of their own sub-forum.

If I were a vendor on this site, I'd prefer to have all my ads located in one place for easier management, but still have the regular sub-forums for mass marketing appeal. This, combined with a 72 hour bump rule (or when the ad hits page 3) that is enforced, I think will be beneficial for all parties involved. Things like "PM Sent" should not be allowed.

I think these rules should also apply to the non-commercial for sale forums. Seeing multiple bumps per day is just ridiculous. Also, the "Free bump for a great guy" kind of stuff has to stop.

I know the moderator core here is pretty light in terms of manpower, so moving to a more aggressive enforcement policy in the for sale forums will probably need additional volunteers.

[roadkillrob]

It is super annoying and hard to find anything and certain vendors post about 20 things a day and others get lost on page 2 or 3 after a day or 2

[stressdoc]

Thanks guys, keep helping with ideas on this!

One thought is to add a few more forums, e.g., one for OEM parts. That and anti-bump rules should help.

[VMRWheels]

As a vendor who have sponsored 3-4 forums consistently over the last 5 years, I believe anti bump rules isn't going to directly address the problem because there are many ways around it. Without naming names or specific methods, people can conceal all sorts of posts which serves as a bumping thread or ask their friends to make BS postings in the sale threads or have "sponsorship contracts" that require x amount of posts in support of the vendor.

I think the most effective method which is already implemented is that for the different sponsor levels, you are allowed different # of open sale threads. For us, we have three open sale threads, but because we more or less sponsor the forum to provide support, it doesn't affect us. But if you have someone who has 100 different light bulbs, an unlimited account will spawn 100 different posts.

Either way its a sensitive issue, on one hand you want to bring in as much revenue as possible, on the other, to control the quality of content being submitted to the site.