Ford-Trucks.com has been acquired by Internet Brands, Inc.
 

I'm pleased to announce that Ford-Trucks.com has been acquired by Internet Brands, Inc., which operates leading automotive web sites such as CarsDirect.com, GreenHybrid.com, NewCarTestDrive and Wikicars.com.

The plan is to maintain Ford-Trucks.com 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 Ford-Trucks.com 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.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to post them. There is also an FAQ about the acquisition below. Also, beyond any questions you might have, I'd enjoy hearing any ideas you might have for how to better serve the Ford-Trucks.com community going forward.

Thank you.

Ken Payne


FAQ’s

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

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

Q: Are Ken, Jay, Tim, Admins, Supermods and Moderators going to continue at Ford-Trucks.com?
A: Yes. They will continue their current level of involvement on the site and in the community.

Q: What changes can we expect to see on Ford-Trucks.com?
A: It's hard to predict far into the future, but for the time being, Ford-Trucks.com 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 [Site owner(s) and/or community managers] 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 Ford-Trucks.com about improvements that would make the site more useful.
Q: How will the acquisition help Ford-Trucks.com?
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.

Q: Will my Ford-Trucks.com log-in or password change?
A: No you will still access Ford-Trucks.com as you always have.

congrats to you guys! shows how great the site really is

Wow. I'm shocked. Congrats to ya Ken.

No small deal to be sure.

http://www.internetbrands.com/ib/

We should have known something was up when Ken changed his username to FTE Ken.

Congratulations Ken, I know it must have been a hard decision to sell.

Well, I reckon some folks would be disappointed if I didn't share my thoughts on this announcement. So, not one to disappoint......:-D

First and foremost, congratulations to the Payne family. I (we) cannot imagine the emotional / financial roller coaster ride the past 10 years have been. Great to see the payoff. I am always thrilled to see some one with guts...win. So kudos again. :-X22

Spin, being what it is, makes it hard for me to imagine that there won't be significant changes...over time. IBI would not make a purchase like this without serious thought / planning as to how they are going to integrate advertising of their many holdings into this site. The money ain't in the $20.00 / year some pay for the supporter banner. At some point in time we will see many opportunities for car loans, home loans, vacation planning, time shares, etc. Gotta work that way. This was not a recreational acquisition.

Being a former moderator, I would find it very entertaining to know what the discussions where / are like in the mod forum. The site has evolved from family, to community, to an enterprise, to a full blown business, and now....to corporate America. Supporting family, community, and even a "family" member's business ...as a volunteer... is one thing. However, I wonder how many will give of their time to help a full fledged corporation grow and prosper.

Site changes? Again, gotta happen. The membership machine has got to continue to grow and ownership has got to continue to feed it. I see more advertising. Especially targeting a younger market. Thanks to Jeff's (Beachbumcook) poll of last year, we were surprised to see how many young adults where purchasing $ 40K - $60K diesel trucks. It will be incumbent upon management to make Site / forum changes that will likely attract a younger audience.

Now that the vehicle (pun intended) is in place why would they stop with Ford Enthusiasts? I envision future links to sister sites for Chevy / Dodge / 4x4 enthusiasts etc...I would selfishly embrace a quality Chevy site that didn't treat 4x4 Suburbans as red headed step children...:-missingt

Forum / posting content. WOW. Now that there is a BIG DOG involved, I see the site as being less tolerant of discussions / comments that could create legal issues. I also would guess that negative reviews of vendors products will be watched very, very closely...

Much of FTE's competition are clients of VBulletin (also owned by IBI) I wonder how IBI is spinning this acquisition to those customers?

I hope that, thru this exciting time, Ken has taken a moment to reflect upon the people...past and present...that have traveled with him on this journey. Members, moderators, Administrators etc. Even the banned ones. As they teach important lessons...both good and bad. An awful lot of free giving people made this site what it is today. Kudos to all of them for being part of something successful like FTE.

Anyway, these are just some of my rambling thoughts...hopefully none gets edited / deleted....:)

I hope I didn't disappoint.

Again, congratulations Ken....

....Let the spin begin. :D

Great post KW :-X22
I gotta agree with a lot of what you said here, Hopefully this will take away a lot of the stress that Ken has been under over the years and let him get back to really enjoying life with all the bennies that this deal will offer him and his family.

I have to ask Ken.....

Was this the ultimate goal of Yours and Peggy's from the start ?

or was it just happenstance from the success FTE has acheived since the enrollment of site sponsors ?


You know I know some of the behind the scenes things that were always on your mind.

Both Michele & I am happy for you and your family that a higher level of personal success has been acheived from all your hard work and sacrifice over the years.

I am honoured to have played a part in this.

I only have two things to say.

1) If I have to tell a secret to someone, it will definetly be Ken!!!!

2) I think we all deserve a free lunch from this deal. If not for us busting our buns in the club forum, where would you be, eh Ken.:-X14

Oh and by the way CONGRATS.


p.s. Pizza will do.

Frank you didn't get your check in the mail?

Pizza ? naw Ken likes Chinese...

wheres my check?????????????? congrats Ken!!!!! it looks like things can only get better, but I dunno how much, this site is already great!!!!!!

One quart of PFR please:-X07

i can sat for a fact ken likes hooters and the outback when in new jersey.. but the face! right ken?

congrats ken! sounds like a great move for fte's future.