At GM Authority, we aim to bring you the best General Motors enthusiast community on the daily. In doing so, we are wondering whether you would pay $3 per month for a version of GM Authority that is ad-free and works faster.
Please sound off in the poll below, as this will help us plan for the future.
PS: for those might become concerned about this question: fear not — there will always be a free, ad-supported version of GM Authority for you to read and enjoy.
Questions? Comments? Sound off in the poll below or contact me directly.
Comments
I can’t think of any website that charges. That’s a big no for me.
Automotive News, Wall Street Journal, New York Times to name a few.
In addition, most other forums out there offer a “premium” paid membership that offers an ad-free experience.
And as I wrote in the post above, there will always be a free, ad-supported version of GM Authority. The poll is to get feedback on a potential, paid and ad-free version.
I’m curious to see the poll results lol. But as they say, if you have to ask you already know the answer.
And correct me if I’m wrong. But not much of what you guys do is original content. It’s resharing spy photos and reviews that someone else acquired or created/wrote, and rephrasing GM press releases.
First and foremost, I think it’s important to share our objective and vision for GM Authority, and that is to provide GM enthusiasts, owners, and those interested in GM products a single, one-stop-shop for the latest news, interact with fellow owners, and provide relevant product information.
A lot of what GM Authority does is report on the latest GM News, regardless of source. And unlike other “forums”, we are an original publication — meaning we don’t copy/paste others’ work, but write our own stories, no matter the source (which sometimes is ourselves). We also report on the competition, when relevant.
That said, GM Authority is oftentimes the first to report on most GM-related news. We also do significantly more than simply rehash content created by others… as we provide context to the news. And whatever news we report, it is all in one, single place. I think that this creates convenience and community here at GMA that one can not find elsewhere.
You can find examples of all-original GM Authority content at this link:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/category/gma-special/exclusive/
In addition, all of our RPO-related articles are original and first-to-market (found at the following link):
http://gmauthority.com/blog/category/article-type/gma-special/rpo-central/
All that’s not to mention the sales reporting that we do on a per-OEM, brand, and model basis. This is fairly unique, as not only do we provide the raw numbers, but we also provide context to said numbers. Here’s an example of that:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/08/gmc-yukon-sales-numbers-figures-results-july-2017/
So, I hope that you can see that GMA is so much more than what you described.
That said, I appreciate your comment and feedback — as it enables us to strive harder and do better.
I would have zero problems paying for the site, one thing I would like changed for the paid site is this idea that you can’t say anything you want to another member.
If it’s a pay site then it should be for adults and not be rated PG-13.
Getting banned show be a thing of the past!
Nope…
Why would I pay a site that is “clearly” part of a $multi-billion corporation that it is self-reporting on? (I put “clearly” in quotes because it’s not actually clear to me if you are owned by GM, but it certainly looks like that. If not GM, then you are probably owned by a large media corporation.) Why should I pay people who are already ridiculously richer than me and are trying to sell me their product. Why should I pay to get advertised-at?
If you were to prove absolutely that you were 100% independent, a small group of friends making a go of a truly independent analysis site, then I would pay $3 a month. But then you would report on other brands and other mobility types, and then you would be AB/R&T/C&D.
Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and you can read all about the company behind GMAuthority…spoiler alert: it isn’t owned by GM or a large media corporation and the company does report on other auto brands.
Old Trombone — GM Authority is owned and operated by Motrolix, LLC — a firm that myself and a couple of my friends started to create such websites as GM Authority, and the content you see here.
Both GM Authority and Motrolix are completely independent of any automaker funds, input, or other influence. So yes, we are totally and completely independent. We are also not a large company by any stretch, and are not “ridiculously rich” either.
So ultimately, we are a small group of friends who are making a go of a truly independent website. You can find out more about the company and about the people behind it, including myself, on this page:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/about/
We also take pride in not accepting what is often called “sponsored posts or articles”, which are written by a company and made to look like content written by a website/magazine/journalists/publication, in exchange for payment.
Hope that provides some background information about us. Thank you for your patronage and for taking the time to write your commet 🙂
Nope
I wont pay for the site but I do appreciate the work you guys do collecting this information. What I will do for you Alex is permanently disable my add blocker on gm authority.
Thanks robbb. Appreciate your comment, readership and removal of ad blocker.
I mean I’m 13 and just want to get the latest info on gm without having to go on MotorTrend, Autoblog, etc, etc. So I don’t know if i would be willing to pay. But I do love the page and appreciate the work that goes into it.
ITS A NO FROM ME. I HAD to install an ad blocker for this website. Every time I clicked an article, an ad would pop up for transmissions. I don’t need nor want one. Then, I would be redirected to an amazon gift card scam. This website is full of gimmicks to attempt to generate ad revenue, and to be quite honest is plan deceitful. How much money does it require to just summarize what others have reported on already? Most of your spy shots come from other websites. To be quite honest, the writers are biased, and are quite condescending to those who have differentiating views.
Zach,
First and foremost, thanks for the comment.
The two redirect ads and pop-ups ads you mentioned (I know the ones you’re referring to, specifically) were not intentional on our part. They were the result of a rogue advertiser with one of our partners and we worked hard to find and stop the ad in question. This happens from time to time, and again — it is in no way intentional and goes against our internal user experience standards.
Again, we would never intentionally run any ads that cause pop-ups, redirects, or other ads of the sort. As such, you can feel free to uninstall your ad blocker.
Outside of that, it costs a good amount of money, time and effort to run a publication to the professional level and standards of GM Authority. To give you an idea, there are costs associated with our journalists, hosting, bandwith, website maintenance and development, and more. And that’s not saying anything about the normal, day-to-day needs of those who work on GM Authority (and other Motrolix properties) on a full-time basis.
As I have mentioned in prior comments, there is so much more to GM Authority than simply “summarize(ing) what others have reported on already”. In addition, there is inherent value in having this news and a community all in once place.
Regarding the spy shots: these are extremely expensive to purchase rights to, and hence one of the things we are looking to do is to grow revenue to purchase these and make them available to our readers.
As for our writers being “biased” and “quite condescending”, I believe you to have misunderstood or misinterpreted either an article or a conversation. We hold the entire outfit to a very high journalistic standard.
Thanks again for the comment.
NO NO NO NO Why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free
Because the cow might not continue being around if you continue milking it for all it’s worth 😉
GM Authority is particularly helpful as a GM owner. It helps me to keep focused on GM new products as a possible new car purchase customer.
Your web information is important but I’ll not pay for it – as it is good advertising to keep GM customers to remain GM customer for future purchases.
No!
Personally I wouldn’t pay, but I would turn off my adblocker for you guys if you sort out your Ads on your website. Make them unobtrusive and not in your face. NO POPUPS! Another suggestion is to make your website more secure by using HTTPS. Hope this helps.
There is no good reason to encrypt the traffic on this site.
Brandon,
Thanks for the comment.
As I stated in an earlier comment here, the few redirect ads and pop-ups ads we had here on GMA were not intentional on our part. They were the result of a rogue advertiser with one of our partners and we worked hard to find and stop the ads in question. This happens from time to time, but it is never intentional and is against our internal user experience standards.
Furthermore, GM Authority does not collect any sensitive information (unlike your bank, insurance carrier, etc.). We do not handle any transactions. As such, as JWL stated, there is no benefit to encrypting traffic in any way.
Again, thanks for the comment and the feedback.
Alex
I am a NO . Although I do appreciate the work that you guys do in sharing information I think having to pay for news that I can find elsewhere just wouldn’t work for me .
There are many times that I check out this site just to read the comments from other people on subjects I have no clue about .
The only time I do reply is if ” I ” think I have something to share on a subject that may help in the dialogue .
I like this forum and have learned alot from many of the writers and the subs . But if I wanted just the corporate spin I would just go to MediaOnline which is news from all of GM .
This is easy, I vote NO !
For what? this cars sales are up/this cars sales are down? I don’t come here as an investor to check GM’s performance. That would be a waist of time. ???
NO!
Thank you for your comment.
To be transparent, sales coverage represents less than 2 percent of the content on GM Authority on a monthly basis. Have you seen all the other non-sales-related coverage?
Cheers 🙂
I disagree with your numbers though it’s moot as I’m sure the ones who come to this site are not looking for sales numbers.
Poll: Would You Pay $3 Per Month For GM Authority?
Answer: NO!
Well, that point of view that I just do not understand — so if you would humor me, I would really appreciate it.
First, I should probably explain the reason we write about sales numbers on a per-model basis in the first place. We do so because there is value in highlighting a model’s sales performance on a granular level, so as to understand what is taking place in the industry and how GM is doing within that industry. This is a luxury that is afforded to us by being a site focused on a single automaker. What’s more, our sales reports have recently begun to feature sales-level comparisons from models across the industry — which further showcases the health of GM’s models in the marketplace. Here’s just one example:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/08/gmc-yukon-sales-numbers-figures-results-july-2017/
Now, to the part I don’t entirely understand: if you are not looking for sales numbers coverage, you are in no way required to read the article in question. Just like with a newspaper, magazine, or any other kind of publication (web or otherwise) — if you are not interested in a particular article, you just skip right over it, right? Or is our sales numbers coverage insulting? Does it breed some other form of ill/negative sentiment?
If you could help me understand, I’d appreciate it 🙂
PS: just looked up some stats… sales coverage represents 2-5 percent of our monthly content output, but accounts for roughly 10-15 percent of overall traffic for a month.
Tragically, as you’ll find almost everywhere else on the internet, any site or service touted as a ‘premium ad-free experience’ will become indistinguishable from those using ad-blocking plugins. If nobody is going to see a difference between an ad-blocked plugin and a paid UX, or if there are no unique features behind a paywall or subscription service, the interest isn’t there.
25 years of consumer-level internet has conditioned people to expect free or relatively inexpensive features. Weaning them off of that and into a subscription system means something exceptional must be offered. News, especially industry-specific news, is more of a commodity than a luxury, and if a user can’t get it in one place, they’ll find it elsewhere without any strings attached.
Of course there is native content, but it either gets ignored by the target audience, or they immediately identify it as a paid piece and reject the site and the product. I’ve never seen a successful native content piece.
And for friggs sake, if you ever have to resort to a subscription service, don’t ever post a listicle.
Honestly reading GMAuthority, FordAuthority and FCAAuthority has replaced my magazine subscriptions. I stopped C&D a few years back and AutoWeek a few years before that. Dad with two teenage kids so my time is limited. So if I could get all 3 for $3 a month I would do that.
So put me down as Yes but other.
Would I pay a dollar maybe. 3 no. I like this site a lot. I very much like being “in the know” when it comes to GM products.
This is a great site for GM fans. You guys do a great job reporting, the articles are unbiased and the conversations are very lively.
Here’s why I wouldn’t pay a dime though: whether you intended this or not, your site promotes GM brands. GM should sponsor this site because they get the benefit of honest feedback they can’t solicit elsewhere.
Wow a whole $3. I wouldn’t miss it. Its a bag of f***ing chips! Id pay it to help support a good site.
Thank you Kevin! We appreciate that and your readership, and I am humbled by being called a good site!
– Alex
Here is the deal.
Offer a quality product and one for hat delivers info no one else has and you may be able charge for it and get willing subscribers.
But even the Magazines struggle to sell online subscriptions as much of what they offer is available 20 other places for free.
The level of reporting and coverage here is no where to the level of even three buck.
I do not mean that as a slight but just an honest acessment. The truth is few sites are worth payment and that is why most survive on advertising if they can.
Even places like Autoblog are not worth 1 buck.
Now get Lutz on here daily teaching how things work and I might pay for that.
Subscribing web sites is difficult even if you pedal porn with so many people posting free photos of themselves. The same applies to cars too.
Best thing to do is punch up the reporting and draw more viewers that will draw more advertising. Or a buyer with deeper pockets.
Not starting a debate just an observation.
Even retail web sites do not charge but they do sell space to vendors and magazines have also done the same. We sites that are well done attract advertising or investors.
Scott — honestly, I feel obliged to tell you that we have at this for seven years now and are well in tune with what it takes to create and operate a premium-level, well-run website for a specific audience group.
In doing so, we have mastered — among other things — the content and the monetization, while building various exclusive technologies that improve the UX, back-end and server-side items, reporting systems, and much more… and we have done so with a lean and nimble team. In fact, many in the industry are astonished by how much we have accomplished in such a short period of time with such a small team. Furthermore, we have received many investment offers, but do not feel that this would be the best path for us or our readers.
So when you say along the lines of “build a good site and they will come” — we are doing and have done exactly that. The fact remains that no one covers GM as throughly, as quickly, or as generally “well” as GM Authority does. Now, within that there is news that we simply must cover (which is covered by some other publications), and then there is content that we make, whether it’s renderings, opinion pieces, future model information, rollover year information, sales analyses, etc. So yes, we are delivering information that “no one else has”, as you put it, or exclusive — as it is known. There is a lot that goes into this that most readers don’t even think about, unless they have been on this side of the fence before…. and that’s fine — we created GM Authority so that readers such as yourself don’t have to think about it.
Ultimately, this is not amateur hour for us. This is a business that we have successfully built and are growing day by day, with very lofty goals and aspirations. In making this poll, I was not looking for general help, advice or tips about “punching up reporting” or how to “draw more viewers” or finding a “buyer with deeper pockets” or generally how to run GM Authority or any of the other Motrolix properties. What we are looking for is feedback about a specific topic, which we now have. Thanks for the generalized would-be advice.
Alex I appreciate the hard work it takes here as even the most baisic sites can me a full time job.
But based on the content here it is nothing that can’t be found else where for free.
Much of the content here is a
From other web sites that you kindly link for us.
The truth is you will be lucky to see 25% would pay and that is of the loyal base. From there most non loyal reader will have little Interest.
This is not so much a reflection of your work but the reality of more places offer much the same info at no cost some even more. It is difficult to get someone to pay for a product when others often where the info comes from offers it for free.
Yes one would need to visit more than one ste but most here do already..
In fact many of the places you link are on my favorites and I already visit many of them now thanks to your lead.
Alex please do not take this personal as I know you all work hard but you just don’t ave a product that is worth paying for.
Now if you could get more exclusive stories and info then you may be on to something but you and I know companies do not hand this out and if you break embargos you lose what you do get.
I get much of this info in e mails from Motor Trend, Autoweek that I do not even recall signing up for.
Even some popular forums that are one make dedicated to that one brand or model have not done well either.
I wit you luck if you go forward but if you choose to go with charging it will be with out me.
Before you try to respond to this remember you asked we responded with our opinion. If you do not want opinions don’t ask questions and provide comments.
Scott – it would appear that you’re jumping to conclusions in many areas of your comment, so allow me to elucidate you.
When you say that “Even some popular forums that are one make dedicated to that one brand or model have not done well either”… you seem to be inferring that GM Authority “has not done well”. But let me assure you that this definitely not the case. I don’t know about any of the other sites you might be referring to, but it would appear that those are “amateur hour” destinations. As for us, we wouldn’t have been around for seven years and going if that were the case.
As far as news being found here that you can find elsewhere – that is true to an extent: you can find SOME of the items elsewhere that we write about here on GM Authority. However, there is a reason why we have a significant and growing amount of visitors – both new and returning — day in and day out. I challenge you to find a publication, whether in print or online, that provides the same kind of in-depth GM coverage that you see here at GM Authority. I’ll save you the trouble and your time and tell you right now that you simply won’t find this. That is called convenience… a prized possession in today’s fast-paced society.
That said, there is a significant amount of content here on GM Authority that, contrary to your statement, can not be found elsewhere — whether on the internet or in print or otherwise. And if you can actually find it, then you’ll be digging around for hours (again, the aforementioned convenience factor). There’s also our awesome community, which doesn’t exist outside of GM Authority. All of these are valuable.
As for this:
“Alex please do not take this personal as I know you all work hard but you just don’t ave a product that is worth paying for.”
Scott – that is your opinion, you’ve made it clear three times in this thread, and I thank you for sharing it. But the fact that it’s your opinion doesn’t mean that it is the opinion of everyone. Again, our goal isn’t to make GM Authority a paid publication for everyone, but only for some. So if you don’t want to pay for it, that’s fine. But once again, that does not apply to the subset that does want to pay for a better experience (more on that below).
And finally, regarding this bit:
“Before you try to respond to this remember you asked we responded with our opinion. If you do not want opinions don’t ask questions and provide comments.”
I’m not exactly “trying to respond” — I am responding 🙂 Now, I didn’t ask for opinions or suggestions. I asked for votes on one very simple and very specific topic — which you appear to have taken as a sign that GM Authority is “not doing well” (as referenced above, and which is not the case). With this topic, we are exploring an aspect of one business case — not because we are not doing “well”, but because we want to serve all our readers in the best way possible — and our readers are not all the same: some want GM Authority to be free (which it will), while others will appreciate an ad-free experience, on top of some other perks.
In conclusion: I appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback and thoughts, but your overly simplistic suggestions (in your original comment, which made it sound like we are total buffoons with no clue about what we are doing) coupled with an equally unduly-condescending “I know it all” tone does not strike me as at all helpful — especially given that you’re discussing this with those who have a significant amount of experience in this business and who live it day in and day out. Don’t take that like we know it all or that we are too high and mighty to take suggestions… rather, these are my thoughts that should provide some background for you.
Again, thank you for the conversation — I do appreciate it, despite my written tone not always coming across as such.
I been coming to this site since I think around 2010-2011. Don’t say a whole lot but do scroll daily to see my favorite auto news. And I do think GMAuthority does a really good job, better than most I should say. I do think this site is a lot better than GMinsidenews and I wouldn’t mind paying 3 bucks for a good news site. Just leave the politics and the silly articles of some junked up ebay find alone and I think it would be fine. I know most of us like it free and I understand but I can’t complain for $3. I support GMA, hope for the best
Thank you Travis for your comment as well as your feedback and your patronage. We appreciate having you as a reader and enjoy creating GM Authority 🙂
The team will go back to the table and collectively discuss the political and “silly” articles, as you put it.
Thanks again! Alex
Can you tell me why sites like this have strict rules about what you are allowed to comment on?
Why can’t people talk to each other like normal people do? People are not polite when discussing topics in person. So why do people have to act different on a community site.
Please create a pay site that is uncensored for us people who want to be adults.
You could offer two different options a free version like now that is censored and a pay site that is uncersored, open to any and all comments about GM cars and trucks!
Please let me know what you think of this.
I’m not about to say you guys don’t deserve a paycheck, you certainly do, but to get that $3 a month out of people–which is a lot of money over the course of a year, IMO–you’re going to have to offer more. Maybe a lot more. Classified ad listings… something.
I would start with a “Donate” button and see where that takes you .But be transparent about it and show the community where even that money is going, and how it’s going to improve the place.
If I am paying for a site then I don’t want to be treated like a child! I don’t want a person on the site saying I can’t use those types of words, can’t use a certain type of comments.
I want it to be a free flowing site that is open to all comments both good and bad. Treat us like adults and if people don’t like that then they don’t have to pay for the site!
Treat me like a adult and I will pay like a adult!
3 bucks
5 bucks
10 bucks
A month is worth being able to speak freely!
First off, I want to say I love GM Authority and read it everyday. I even applied for an internship to be part of the staff…
I’m all for content creators getting paid as long as the ads aren’t in the way. I personally browse the web with an ad blocker because ads just ruin a website for me and almost make it unusable at times. Small sites like this need ad revenue to keep the servers going. Big sites like Amazon and eBay don’t! That’s what upsets me.
I think Motrolix as a whole has a lot of potential.
I will say that GM Authority seems the back bone of Motrolix IMO. It appears to me the FCA Authority and Ford Authority don’t look to be as popular as the GM website at least as far as commenting is concerned. I’m not sure about actual consumption as I don’t have those numbers. Maybe some restructuring is in order?!? I’m not sure I am not a business man. Or perhaps cover another brand that would tend to have more traffic?
I do tend to agree with some of the other’s some of the content is for lack of a better term “recycled” content and I’m not trying to be mean here but there is only so much you can write about. Especially when it comes to GM. Surely there is another way to make the website profitable as this is a business after all.
I am torn for charging for it. I guess it depends on what type “premium”
features we will get for our money. Obviously no ads being one of them.
I’m writing this while working so sorry if I’m all over the place. If I think of anything else I’ll be sure to comment.