Gamefaqs and the Shill of the Year Award

[poe]

Granted, it's only May, but Gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) is a lock for 2006. The McGriddle billboard that was IGN a few years ago was only slightly more subtle than this, but at least IGN took theirs down after a day. Anybody else have thoughts about "Mountain Dew presents Gamefaqs"?

[Poofta!]

sorry man i have no idea what youre talking about, care to elaborate? i found the background to be curiously green, was wondering what that was all about.

[Kitsune Sniper]

sorry man i have no idea what youre talking about, care to elaborate? i found the background to be curiously green, was wondering what that was all about.

I think he meant sellout of the year. I checked out the site in Opera, and there's a Mountain Dew background which isn't visible in my Firefox browser because I blocked the server where the ads are coming from.

Edit:
I take it back, seems they found out a way to EVADE Adblock. Bastards!

[poe]

Over a dozen Mountain Dew logos. On the very front page. Probably the most gaudy, ovewhelming advertising I've seen anywhere, ever.

Prostitutes on the street corner with a gold-toothed pimp in a pink cadillac up the block and a sandwich board advertising "$150 an hour" are more subtle than this.


I think he meant sellout of the year.
You would be right, since shills would at least pretend not to be affiliated with whatever they were selling.

[Haoie]

Big business, what'd you expect? At least no popups yet. I think?

[shoes23]

The ads are on the front page only too so they don't detract too much. My two cents...do whatever you have to do to keep it free to the public. I'd rather look at some Dew ads than a Paypal screen asking me for a membership fee to look at the FAQs.

[Ed Oscuro]

Looks nicer than the regular GameFAQs design.

Edit: Oh wow, I refresh and it's GONE. Anybody else getting that?

[DigitalSpace]

I see ads like that every now and then on GameFAQs, with whatever company paid to cover the front page that time around.

Also, I've noticed popups there sometimes, usually accompanied with the ad on the side of the page (I recall seeing them for Scion and the US Army, for example).

[Mr.FoodMonster]

They've been doing this for a good year or two with different companies. They usually only seem to last about a day or so, and they're gone. I think they did one with McD's awhile back, and it looked godawful.

[Snapple]

GameFAQs users have been complaining about CJayC selling out for a long time.

First, he made a promise that he'd never sell the company to CNET. In fact, he used the words that it would "rip the soul out of GameFAQs." And then he sold the company to CNET less than a year later. That's when the ads started rolling in.

Then, more ads started appearing, like banner ads at the bottom of a message list. Then last month, they changed the design of the site. It looks good on the front page, contributor pages, and the like, but the new layout really sucks balls for the message board. It makes the posts all spread apart. Fortunately, the old layout is still up for the time being as an option, although that may be temporary.

The big fear by my fellow GameFAQers is that CJay might one day start adding premium content that you have to pay for. Then, making more and more parts of the site premium-only.

[GarrettCRW]

Here's a question:

Why hasn't anyone started a competing FAQ site? Sure, the bandwidth would be a massive PITA, but the savings in webspace would help to even things out.

[Snapple]

There are tons of other FAQ-hosting sites, but they aren't on the same level as GameFAQs, nor will they ever be. GameFAQs was lucky enough to be the first to do what they do, and now they have over 40,000 user-submitted FAQs.

In order for a site to host FAQs, they need the permission of the author. They can't just raid GameFAQs and post everything as they please. And getting the permission of every author is not an easy task. That's why all the other sites can only hope to scratch the surface of the total FAQ volume out there.

Plus, GameFAQs has an established reputations. All authors will post their guides there first, whether or not they choose to post them other places, because posting on GameFAQs means your FAQ will reach the greatest number of readers.

When one site has all the information that you need, and all of the consumer loyalty, it's not easy to cut in on their action. It would be like trying to start a site to compete with IMDB, except you only have 1% of the movies that IMDB has.

[Simply Dave]

The ads are on the front page only too so they don't detract too much. My two cents...do whatever you have to do to keep it free to the public. I'd rather look at some Dew ads than a Paypal screen asking me for a membership fee to look at the FAQs.

I agree.

[diskoboy]

Hey Mt. Dew - just because I'm a gamer doesn't mean I like, or will ever buy your products. You are not part of my demographics. Seeing as how I am not a 13 year old, brain-dead, skateboarder who probably thinks Green Day is the best band that ever walked the face of this planet.

Oh - and allow me to point out that trying to hitch a ride on a great white shark without gloves... You'll be lucky if you have any hands left. A sharks skin is like brushing against razor blades. And thats if the SOB doesnt have a feast on your ass, first. I know you're just trying to be funny - but you're not. Give it up.

Mountian Dew is just retarted. So are their ads.

Ok... Sorry for that little rant.

[Griking]

I've loaded the site in both Firefox and Internet explorer and still haven't seen what everyone was talking about.

[ryborg]

I've loaded the site in both Firefox and Internet explorer and still haven't seen what everyone was talking about.

Same here.

What's the big deal, anyway? GOD DAMN THAT SITE ADMIN FOR TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. As long as it doesn't compromise the actual site content (which it's not), who cares?

Last time I checked, GameFAQS had thousands upon thousands of original, helpful documents, all for the price of $0.00. Don't people have anything better to do than complain?

Like it or not, the demographics of GameFAQS readers are probably exactly the market Mountain Dew is trying to attract. Hell, has anyone seen the cesspool known as the forums there in the last 3-4 years?
________
Zx14 vs hayabusa (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_bike_is_quicker_kawasaki_zx_-14_or_suzuki_hayabusa)

[Oktoberfest]

I think it's more CNET than the admin

[poe]

I've loaded the site in both Firefox and Internet explorer and still haven't seen what everyone was talking about.

Looks like they took it down sometime yesterday. Basically a green color scheme on the main page, with Mountain Dew sidebars, banners, logos everywhere, a pop-up (I never saw that), a sweepstakes being sponsored by mountain dew promoted on the page; just well over a dozen instances of what amounted to one advertisement. Mine is not an objection to the advertising in and of itself, but the sheer saturation of it, and also the fact that a single banner ad or box advertisement under the poll box on the page would have made an impression, yet the page itself was essentially rebranded.

I also take issue with the fact that that degree of sponsorship seems to cheapen the efforts of the FAQ authors, who toiled for countless hours out of a desire to have their work featured on a public forum, free for the community to access. When the authors almost universally state their work is not intended for commercial use, then someone whores it out like has been done, without any reimbursement to the people who essentially make the site, it just seems like the worst possible thing a site built by volunteers could do.

[Ed Oscuro]

I jumped right into IRC as soon as I saw the topic that day; nobody saw it...when I refreshed the page it was gone.

[Nature Boy]

I read IGN all the time 6+ years ago. When they started their Insider thing, I just found somewhere else to look. No big deal. I'll do the same if GameFAQs does the same.

[Push Upstairs]

IGN used to be a great site for DVD releases and thier Sci-fi section was cool as well. I also ended up finding better places to get my info.

I really miss that Baron von Henson(?) guy they had to review Van Damme movies.

"Van Pants" LOL

They got that insider thing started and the place went to crap.

as for GameFAQs....i saw the Mt. Dew thing....the little cartoon cityscape thing in the background.

Beats flash animations though (i got a filter for those :D )

[Julio III]

Thats why the best way to use gamefaqs is to dispense with the front page altogether. I simply have it as one of my search engines on the firefox toolbar.