I cant place ads in REPTILES mag because I have classifieds on my site

Just got a phone call from Reptiles magazine saying that I cant place my website name (wont place here) in any of my ads because I have classifieds on my website. I asked if I could put www.myname.com/mystore as my address to avert them from the front page he said no because the site hosts an online classified area. I asked what about all of the ads for www.kingnsnake.com/mysite he said yea he asked about that as well but they would have to think about it and get back to me. He asked if maybe I could set up another website just for my reptile store online. Oh brother. Has anyone else heard of something like this?

Thanks '
STUART LICHTY

I guess I don't understand this. Most sites either offer advertising opportunities, list classifieds, or are selling something of one sort or another. If not that, then they have links to other sites that do.

So now does Reptiles Magazine feel they have some sort of monopoly on classified advertisements and can throw their weight around? They're feeling the pinch from online competition so they are trying to strangle off competition by denying their ads? (Now where have I heard this recently?? Man, seems like only yesterday....)

Has anyone else run into this problem?

Maybe all sites (and Reptiles magazine) should just go ahead and ban everyone else. Just turn off the computers and leave them off.

Terrorists MUST have put some sort of brain deadening agent in the water.......

Yes the guy told me that I would be a competitive site and as such they would not be allowed to let me advertise in their magazine. I have yet to get back with the person who told me this. I wanted to change my website address from the main page to just the store part but he said that if my site had classifieds anywhere on it I would not be able to put my web address. But just go look how many people have hosting by kingsnake and therefore they are advertising for them. Heck thats how he got so huge off of free advertising in reptiles mag from others! I still have yet to figure this out maybe we will work something out. But webslave I think you may have to forget about advertising in Reptiles for your site if you were thinking about it at all. I also appreciate this site and your never say die attitude youve had to take. Its all for the good of the reptile industry, haveing the board of inquiry as long as there are no unfounded slanderous remarks I see no problems with it. Thanks and keep cranking out those nice king snakes.

Stuart Lichty

Stuart ,

You should call Sandy Quinn at Reptiles.........She handles our account and i beleive that she is in charge of advertising. I highly doubt that she would reject your business.

If you need her phone # email me and I will get it to you.

As for companies banning other competiors, why is it really that big of a deal? Has anyone ever give thought to the fact the Jeff B just might have a privacy policy and does not want to discuss his business in a public forum.

Again Stuart, if you need the number send me an email!

RL

Hi Russ thanks. I used to talk with Sandy all the time shes very cool she used to call me just to chat. I used to run display ads with her a couple years back. But the ads I was placing now are the back classifieds and therefore I talk with someone in that department. I totally understood them not wanting to put a "competitors" ad up I was cool with that I really have no problems with it. But I wanted to change the address like everyone else has and Im not sure they will do that. I faxed them a new ad with the new address we will see if they will accept that one. I appreciate your help though. Thanks

Stuart Lichty

If they do indeed allow ads placed in the magazine from people whos website address is a subdomain of kingsnake.com while not allowing you to post the direct url to your store then they are setting a double standard.

Just as someone can back into your site by going back to the domain name, anyone can also drop the /whateversite from k.com and back into the site hosting the most used (for now) classifieds on the net.

At any rate, if they think banning ads from the magazine from people who host classifieds on their site will do anything at all to keep people from finding classifieds on the net then they are dreaming. Same goes for anyone else who censors the competition. Type reptile classifieds in Google and see what it returns.
Restricting ads is a futile gesture that can gain them nothing and only serve to lose ad money for the magazine.

I only give reptiles a brief read anymore, and pay almost no attention to the advertisments (which constitutes probably 3/4 of the page space the last few years), but I do remember seeing display ads in the magazine for kingsnake.com. Unless they have also prohibited Jeff form advertising there as of late, they have no grounds at all in denying your ad.

If not for subscribing to the Magazine for half price at shows I would have dropped my subscription several years ago. It's a far cry from being worth $27 a year, and from the steady increase in the percentage of ads over the last few years (showing that they apparently need the revenue more than they need worthwhile content) you'd think they'd be grabbing every advertising dollar they can get.

I gotta agree with Clay here ! I am not sure I understand this whole situation fully though ? How come it's okay for Reptiles magazine to have this double standard ? Do they have an arrangement with Jeff Barringer or KS.com ? Maybe this comes from an upcoming fee that was doubled, maybe that has something to do with why I am a little bugged by KS.com right now, but you really have to wonder is someone is getting "too big for their britches" as my grandma used to say. I don't know if I will renew with KS.com or for that matter Reptiles magazine , but its good for them they keep giving me huge discounts to resubscribe or they (Reptiles magazine ) would have been gone already .... after all what else is out there for us ? I guess the bottom line to all this is that I hate to see people get special treatment just because they are " BIG " and then the rest of us get crapped on ( including me ) . I am due to resubscribe with KS.com on or by 1/17/03 and it may take up till the deadline for me to decide based on stuff just like this.


Gary

And yet another KS.com thread rears it's ugly head .... Maybe there should be the BOI, The section for discussions and then the KS.com section. Sorry needed to vent.


Gary

Russ is right, call Sandy Quinn. She is one of Reptiles Magazine's Advertising Sales Managers and has been a wonderful help to us. I can't imagine that she would deny you advertising space either.

Just wanted to let you know that it appears they will let me run an ad with the subdomain as long as I wasnt advertising for the website apparently. The first ad was more of an ad for the website with the animals at the end, the second ad is just for the reptiles no mention of the website and the subdomain (store) where you can buy them. So I think they are running the second ad.