Magazine wars... I've been concerned for some time that anyone typing in the web address which was well known for Land Rover Owner International magazine (LROI) will be redirected to an 'Adult' site on the web. Given that many young people read and enjoy all of the current Landie comics and also given that many back issues are retained for future reference, it's quite possible, highly likely in fact, that a youngster would read the web address from an old copy and natrually try to visit the site. I think it is highly inappropriate that they should find themselves at what is basically a porn site. Similarly, because of the Meta Tags (hidden information within a web page which search engines use to list and classify a site) used, the redirect page comes up before the authorised LROI site in a GOOGLE listing. The history: When many of the staff at LROI left to establish a new rival publication, Land Rover Enthusiast (LRE) Kevin Girling also took the domain name for LROI - which he had registered and by all accounts, paid for. He apparently offered to sell it back to EMAP, publishers of LROI but for whatever reasons, this did not happen and Mr Girling now believes himself to be in dispute with EMAP. In order to somewhat 'force them to comply' with his terms for resolution of this dispute, Mr Girling has for at least the last Six months redirected all web requests to an 'adult site'. What's this got to do with LRE? Well for a start, Kevin Girling is their North American Correspondent! See: http://www.landroverenthusiast.com/meet_the_team.htm What's quite concerning (probably for all parents) is his listing: "Kevin grew up with Series Land Rovers in Great Britain using old series vehicles to take teenagers on camping trips in the Welsh Mountains. In Canada, Kevin achieved his dream when he took possession of a 96 Land Rover Discovery which he still uses for camping trips with young people in wilderness areas." I'm not sure I'd want someone with such an interest in Adult websites taking my children on camping trips. So what next? I think it's a great shame. LRE is a pretty good magazine and I feel the above (petty) behaviour damages the overall reputation of the publication. I'd like to see Mr Girling remove the redirect immediately and perhaps place a simple explanation as to why visitors are not looking at the LROI website. If you feel the same way, tell them! Email the Publisher: Richard Green Richard.Green@landroverenthusiast.com Email the Editor: James Taylor editorial@landroverenthusiast.com Email Kevin Girling: lroshop@GLOBALSERVE.NET Tell them that you don't think this action is at all appropriate. I spoke with James Taylor and Richard Green today - neither appeared to be too bothered (I may stick MP3s of the conversations here if the situation isn't resolved). Perhaps a few more reminders that us readers (in my case, subscriber) will review their decision to buy their magazine if this continues. If you're an advertiser, tell them you're not happy - they rely upon your money to keep publishing their magazine. 4th April 2002 Martyn Bailey martyn@101fc.net |