iVillage GardenWeb Censorship

I can no longer promote iVillage GardenWeb. Read more to understand why.

Profit before information is the mantra for iVillage GardenWeb when it comes to at least their Pool & Spas forum. While all forums and bulletin boards (BB) have rules that exclude the promoting of competing sites, most of the forums and BB realize that they cannot meet the needs for all users and, therefore, accept the mentioning of other forums or BB as long as they are not named, linked, or express prefernce to another site. Today I replied to a question on iVillage GardenWeb that included the following:

“You may want to hit one of the other pool bulletin boards if you do not get an answer here. I have found some of the other BB’s are more frequented by pool builders.” And closed with a generic link to this blog.

In response I was sent “A Friendly Reminder” warning e-mail from iVillage GardenWeb and my reply was removed from their website. In questioning the specific reasons for their concern I included the following:

If your concern is the link to my blog, which I agree has the term "forum" in the title, (please) look at it, I do not believe I come even close to, or have any intent with, competing against your BB/Forum, and I even promote your BB on my blog.

I received the following reply:

Promoting other boards, regardless of your opinion as to whether the topic is covered on our forums, is against forum policy. Also, linking to you blog, where you have links to other boards can also be construed as directing others away from the site.

Your contributions are valuable and we hope you continue posting -- however, continuing to direct others in this manner will result in the revocation of your membership.

I have not yet determined if I should to continue to visit and/or contribute to iVillage GardenWeb because information should be shared; however, I feel it is necessary for me to continue to provide links for forum and BB websites that are valuable resources for me and others. All I know is that can no longer promote iVillage GardenWeb.

Fantasy Pools Problem

Fantasy Pools in the Sacramento, California, area have been having problems paying their subcontractors, which is creating a real problem for the pool owners. It looks like they were new to the market (GardenWeb from June 2006). Unfortunately they got themselves into trouble in less than six months (GardenWeb from November 2006).

Please see iVillage GardenWeb Censorship

Problems with Saltcells.com

This on-line retailer seems to have taken some peoples money without providing the product. You can find more information at this string on iVillage GardenWeb.

Please see iVillage GardenWeb Censorship

Pool & Spa Forum

Please see iVillage GardenWeb Censorship

iVillage GardenWeb has a Pool & Spa forum which is getting lots of traffic. This forum frequently discusses topics well beyond the standard pool maintenance or service questions that are typical on most of the other forums.

While I have found some interesting stuff here, I have not figured out how to get the topics to be sorted by subject, date, or any other convenient system. If anyone learns the trick, please provide it in the comment section here.

Pool Talk

Pool Talk is the bulletin board for Poolcenter.com, an on-line pool supply store. This bulletin board has only a few categories but seems to be getting daily activity. Also, they have recently added Live Chat including technical help.

You will find, as I have, that many of the same people show up on all of the bulletin boards.

Poolcenter.com has other information geared for the pool owner, so it is not a bad place to check when you are looking for information.

I have never purchased anything from these guys, so I cannot comment on their store, service, etc.

Pool & Spa Forum

Pool & Spa Forum was upgraded in September 2005. It is run by the editor of Poolsearch and Spasearch magazines, which seem to be focused on connecting prospective pool/spa owners with contractors/suppliers.

While there is lots of web (e.g., Google) advertising on this forum, there is some good information here with some current activity. But, stay away from the blogs since there is a lot of porn "trackbacks."

I have not explored the magazine websites much yet, so I cannot say how valuable they are. There is lots of web advertising here too. Some of the financing must be coming from hits and viewing traffic.

Poolsearch

Spasearch

More will follow at a later date.

Swimming Pool Help

Swimming Pool Help was created in January 2005 by the US distributor of a "mineral sanitizer." There is some good information here as this forum gains popularity.

Pool & Spa News Forum

Pool & Spa News is a trade publication intended for the pool professional. The Forum is not heavily used but contains some items and insight for the pool owner.

The Pool Forum

The Pool Forum has been around for some time now but is no longer available to new users. If you have a question, this is one good place to check for the answer.