Car Buying Questions

Internet Car
Scam Comments

A car buying question from Peter D. from Turtlepoint, PA...
Apparently someone doesn't like my Internet Car Scam page as much as I do!

Here are some very interesting comments made about my site vs. one of a high search engine ranked, similar themed site. These comments apparently originated after visitor Peter read my Internet Car Scam page.

Each one of the comments made by Peter is broken down into sections with my response directly below.

I'm really happy that Peter wrote in with his concerns (although, I question his motives a bit), because it gives me a chance to really explain my site better.

Ultimately, the decision as to the better site will be decided by the end user, which is you the visitor. I hope you enjoy the site.

So Let's Get Started...

Peter: Question About Jack Offsrich's Website...Hello. I know precisely which website you're talking to. I agree that it is huge and messy and built to be very search engine friendly.

I also agree that the site is loaded with affiliate links. But do you really feel that the site is full of bad information?

Me: I do not believe that his entire site is all bad information, but yes, I do believe there is more than enough bad information and "hype" (welcome to the spin zone) there to classify the site as overall bad.

When one is able to weed through the very excessive hype (the kind that sells newspapers) and over abundance of affiliate links, there is some true and good information.

If you are a car buyer with little knowledge of buying a car, then how would you know the difference between hype and truth?

Peter: I mean, everyone with a website is trying to make a buck. Even your site is riddled with Adsense, and you'll probably be loading up your pages with affiliate offers sooner or later.

Me: I'm not sure what other pages you viewed on my site, but there is hardly any page that is riddled with Adsense.

In fact, the Internet Car Scam page you wrote in about has exactly 0, zip, zilch, nada ads on it and the most I could ever see placing on there would be one affiliate ad.

By the way, his 1, and I stress only ONE page, for vehicle history reports has his affiliate AutoCheck linked to 76 times! Talk about riddled.

I don't think I have that many affiliate links on my entire 150 page site, let alone one single page.

My goal with this site is to mimic Googles philosophy and provide valuable content first and sales pitches are an after thought.

It's true I may add some more affiliate links to my pages, but will never do so if it interferes with the message.

I can promise you that my site will never look like his. In fact, visitors can use this page as an example of how Adsense ads are placed on the site...

I try to keep everything out of the way so that the page is easy to read and if an ad is relevant to their interests they can choose to click and if not they can continue to read...example immediately below...

Peter: But the car buying tips guy has clearly spent a ton of time writing material that actually does seem relevant and probably is considered great info for a lot of people. Me: True if those people like hype and spin.

I like your website too, Me: Thank you and I think you've provided a lot of good information, but there were parts of your content that were terribly confusing because of the obvious keyword-stuffing (which is something you angrily accused Jack Offsrich of doing).

Me: I'm not sure of which page(s) you are referring to (I don't see that on the Internet Car Scam page), because I use just enough keywords to let Google and others know what the page is about and that's it.

If you write great content and no one can find it it's worthless.

Some of my pages are currently not up to "speed," because I'm in the process of updating the entire site. If some pages look a little crowded now they'll be changed soon.

Peter: Also, your entire website is page after page of redundant content that could have been covered in about 3 pages.

Me: I'm sorry Peter, but now you are getting just plain silly and your true colors are starting to show through.

As of this writing, I have 150 pages and I have content to add that will bring this site over 250 pages shortly.

I not only cover the Internet Car Scam (keyword), but everything from:

• Car Buying Tips and Buying Guide to
• Used Car Inspections to
• Bad Credit Auto Loans to
• Selling A Car Private Party and

On and on and on...

I hardly see how (currently) 150 pages of such varied content can be lumped together in 3 pages. You're kidding right?

Peter: That guy has been working on his site constantly since 1998 and seems to have made a successful business out of providing people with helpful info, and not only about car dealers.

You have only had this website since January of this year. It seems to me that you're simply trying to run a smear campaign against Jack Offsrich to hurt his business, and only for the sake of possibly helping your business.

Me: Wow Peter your tone has certainly begun to change. Hmmmm, I wonder why!

As for the smear campaign, I hardly think that 1 single page of 150 is a smear campaign. I'm simply pointing out my observations of his site.

Not to mention, the Internet Car Scam (keyword) page in question is buried near the bottom of my car buying tips page.

As for this site being online since January, that's true, but it's only because I've changed the name of the site. I've actually been around since 2007.

Peter: You've tried to create the exact same type of website, and you've even nearly ripped off his website name.

Me: Imagine that Peter...Two Car Buying websites that give tips on buying a car.

As for the website name, let's do some simple math to figure that one out...

1) I work inside the car business (unlike Jack), hence the term Insider.

2) I've been involved with literally thousands upon thousands of car buying transactions (unlike Jack), hence the term Car Buying.

3) I wanted to share what I know with interested car buying consumers and give what guidance I can, hence the term Tips.

So what does 1 + 2 + 3 = ? Insider Car Buying Tips.

Peter: One last point... your website is registered with Tucows. Jack Offsrich's site is publicly registered and I can see all of his company's contact info.

Nobody knows who you are. Right off the bat, I would trust you a thousand times less than the other guy, simply because of your private domain registration.

Me: Have you ever seen the show "Magics Biggest Secrets Revealed?" You know how the guy wears a mask so no one knows his identity? Guess what? I don't want my personal information public!

Would you seriously trust me more if I gave you my mailing address? Honestly, what do you need to trust me for?

I don't sell anything and I don't ever ask for anyone to give me their personal information...I don't even have a mailing list to send emails.

I noticed that Jack clearly states on his website not to contact him unless you've read his entire site to find the information first.

How unhelpful is that? And what a headache reading that entire eyesore. I make it very easy, as you know first hand, to contact me on my Car Buying Questions page and I'm more than happy to help out.

Peter: And seriously... Jack Offsrich? That's pretty childish. Like something a third grader would do.

Me: Yes, I agree it is rather childish and I struggled with using it for a time. Once I had a chance to think about it and saw how he spoke of car dealers and how he even talks to his visitors on his site "You'd be stupid not to...", etc.

I decided that it was exactly the right term to use to disguise his name. What can I say? It's what I think of him.

Peter: Be competitive... Learn how to exploit SEO... Even bad-mouth the guy who's been doing it longer and better than you. But don't bad-mouth your competition for doing something that YOU are obviously doing tenfold.

Me: Thanks for the advice. I certainly will be competitive and I'll use SEO, in fact, let's shove in one more Internet Car Scam (keyword), to get the message out and then if visitors like what they see their response is what will help to get this site to the top.

As for the second sentence, he has certainly been doing it longer than me and there is nothing I can do to change that, but better than me...I'll have to disagree.

From what I've seen, the best thing he offers on his site are the affiliate links that take you off his site!

Ultimately, this will be decided by the visitors to our two sites and I'm confident I'll win, because I'll provide what people want. Car Buying Tips from someone that knows the business, with no hype.

And lastly, tenfold? I don't think so Peter. Again this is something I'll leave to visitors to decide.

Thanks for your comments about the Internet Car Scam, I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to reply. I wish you well...Justin

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