Double standards exist all around us in both personal and business situations. The car business sure has it’s share of them. The industry has a long way to go in getting in sync in many areas but this post will concentrate on:

Automotive Blogging

There are some great blogs that have a decent amount of readership. DealerRefresh, AutomotiveDigitalMarketing, DealerDex, Why Buy Used Cars, Tactical Technique and the DrivingSales Community Blog are some great examples. (if yours is not listed here contact me.  Jeff I rolled you, return the favor?)

Many including myself have expressed opinions and views in their blogs that that others disagree with or may of not been completely flattering to a vendor or individual.  That is the spirit of blogging and increases traffic and viability for all parties.

Many blogs do not publish trackbacks and moderate content even if it shares opinions and interactions with vendors that are not completely flattering from one vendor to another.  Those interactions need to be shared with the online automotive community and it gives both sides the ability to tell their story and not restricted to Kumbaya style other vendor mentions.  If content is going to be restricted in this format then people will stop contributing.

Trackbacks are ways to drive traffic in both directions.

Not publishing them is bad form even if they disagree with the opinion expressed in the original post, however the “old school” mentality exist that if it is not 100% flattering then it is negative.  This is because the old guard does not understand the new rules of the game and they will be summarily crushed if they do not learn the ways of the web.

Perceived negatives are just that perceived.

Many times when something that exposes a flaw in a how support people, marketing paradigms or platforms are discussed, no matter the source, it gives those those companies and individuals feedback to make changes or address concerns.  Censoring content based on opinions and experiences is bad form, just because it is not flattering, and benefits no one.

Just as this post will be construed as an attack on a certain community blog it is not.  It is pointing out some of the flaws and double standards that exist.  If a vendor were to publish something flattering about another vendor it would be allowed to stay.  If it points out a problem it is either edited or deleted, while vendors are allowed to talk about what they do and leverage the power of their marketing budget and name while opposing views are stymied or proof of flaws is deemed negative.  (I have examples but will not share them unless asked)

If your spirit is to share best practices with dealers and exposing problems or false marketing paradigms with a vendor contributes to best practices formation.  However in my opinion the spirit is to protect those with the largest marketing budgets regardless of the truth.   You can’t out market pitfalls, you need to adjust and make changes in thought, products and processes.

To have a positive impact on the web community it has to be give and take as it stands they just take and do not wish to reciprocate by giving back to the web that helps drive traffic.  It is the world wide web not everything needs to point to me web when running a blog that is supposed to have interaction.

What Can Be Done?

If you do not wish to be subject to censorship you can go places that do not have any or you can publish on your own.  Every vendor in the space should have their own space and be willing to contribute in others if the effort can product rewards and still fall into terms of service at a shared platform.  This does not even start to address blogging for car dealers.

Please give your thoughts and opinions?

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