Kevin YACHTBITS.co.uk - out of order - No selling on the forum ....

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Seems that someone is not abiding by the rules ....

It is apreciated that Kevin is answering and offering advise / services - but that is in direct violation of the Forum conditions printed directly below the e-mail notification tick box. There are at least two YACHTBITS responses close to this one ..... thats "Solar Panels" and second "Which Radar"

So what are you doing Karl ? Missed them ????

If he can do it then why shouldn't others ? But then that would chnage the whole point of the forum.
 
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The BB posts are informational and don\'t contain direct sales ad.

Where a web site has helpful information I don't see anything wrong with providing the link to it. He was not advertising on the BB.

Since a majority of the marine information is provided by commercial sites, banning links to information on commercial web sites would eliminate much of the help available.

Over the years, I have made a collection of DIY boat projects. When someone asks a question relating to one of those subjects, I direct them to that article rather than write it out in full every time. Although our site has products for sale, they are not directly part of the projects web page so you don't have to look at them if you don't want to.

Check out our projects with no direct advertising.

http://www.yandina.com/hints.htm
 
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Re: The BB posts are informational and don\'t contain direct sales ad.

The BBC message boards, all of which are very carefully monitored have a total ban on all forms of advertising as one would expect. HOWEVER they do allow, where it is pertinant to the advice requested, for the name of a retailer to be sugested. Web addresses are not allowed directly but they [the Beeb] do allow a pretty heavy hint eg "try 'thingies' with the usual pre and suffix". This seems to work very well and could be copied here without allowing total commercialism.
 
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Re: The BB posts are informational and don\'t contain direct sales ad.

I'm sorry but I agree with the original posting.

There is a line where hinting is acceptable and then actually crossing that line is not.

I am a Marine Surveyor and could easily cross that line in my advise to Yachties .... but I am careful NOT to provoke responses that could accuse me of 'touting'.

If you have a 'private' www site and FAQ / Advise sections that is different, if that site has advertisers banners, no problem. BUT if YOUR site's purpose is to sell online / promote business then that is NOT acceptable.

Sorry but I do not agree. There must be line drawn, otherwise we will lose the value of the forum. How can you tell the difference between genuine private yottie and the business ????? With this allowed it blurs and distorts.
 
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Place a banner ad if you want to promote your services ....

Take a banner ad like others if you want to promote Yachtbits business ..... then no-one will argue and it will still get aired within the forum !
 
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Where to draw the line

A business (or private) web site is composed of multiple pages. If some of those pages are informational, instructive, or FAQ style, with no advertisements then they can be acceptable links from the BB. The visitor is not required to explore other sections of the web site that contain sales information, or may not even be aware that there is more to the site. West Marine has a very extensive and infomative ADVISOR section. To eliminate references to this compendium of knowledge just because it is being provided by a commercial entity is unthinkable. Must we only have responses from amateurs?

So the question is not the way in which the link is presented - either full URL, or hints as to where to go - this is neither productive or shielding us from advertising. The question should be "Is there advertising on the web page to which you are directed?" If the page is of general interest and applicable to all manufacturers of products that may, or may not be discussed, then it is acceptable. If it includes blatant advertising of the specific products of the site provider, then I agree that is not within the guidelines of the BB.
 
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Hey, Dick\'end, did you even look at the posting in question?

The original post asked questions regarding comparison of Radar units.

The Yachtbits response directed him to a location where this information was available.

I followed the link, clicked once to get to an index page from their home page, then once more to get to the radar comparison page. During all this travelling, I did not see a single product advertised, not a single price. So where is all this advertising that is offending you? The original post asked a question, Yachtbits answered it.

Just because information is provided by a commercial establishment, that does not brand it as corrupt. If we rely entirely on amateur responses, many of which are just unfounded opinions that you have to read with circumspection, then we are defeating the basic informational purpose of this BB.
 
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Re: Where to draw the line

The original postee was right I believe - because after reading the postings myself, I took them to be MORE than just help - they actually promoted the guys business.

I agree that many commercial sites carry very good pages that are great value to us all ... but if they part of a commercial site, then let the site have a banner advert, but I am NOT against genuine help from amateur or professional .... I am a Professional myself and I hope that I have helped some.
 
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A few days ago it was perfectly possible to buy a pirated copy of c-map nt on the......

P.B.O. site. The entire 10,000 charts on one Cd-Rom for $100. IS this unfair illegal dangerous annoying or am I a dope for not buying it?
 
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Absolutely correct.

Perfectly put. His postings read embarrasingly like touting to me.
 
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The line stops here

By what stretch of the imagination can one accept as 'genuine' help some thing that goes like:

" The best charger is Whatsit which is made in England and costs a lot...or you can buy Thingummy which is not as good and is made in Taiwan and it does cost a fair bit less....and... Oh!, by the way, I am the agent for both of them..".

I spelt out how I feel some time ago: If someone unashamedly plugs a site, then I'll do my damnedest to avoid buying from it, on principle.
 
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