Who Owns KBoards?

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The always-helpful David Gaughran provided the following information about the new owner of KBoards, a Canadian company called VerticalScope, Inc.:

PG might be interested to know that the majority owner of Vertical Scope is Canadian media giant Torstar – yes, the same company that owned Harlequin, with all its infamous contract shenanigans, until its recent sale to HC.

 

3 thoughts on “Who Owns KBoards?”

  1. In more down to earth verbiage, VS is a Vampire Corporation. What follows is all IMO, allegedly, supposedly, and all those other words you stick in front of sentences. Please insert one of the above in every sentence below where appropriate.

    They’re place in the hierarchy of companies is one of destruction, rather than creation. They add nothing of value to the world in any way. They make nothing. They take what exists and destroy it.

    I’ve heard one person (who would know) describe the company as “that scene is American Psycho where the guy is going to kill co-workers because his card isn’t the nicest. Yeah, that’s them. All of them.”

    What they do is find thriving forums that are busy, not heavily monetized, and in which a large and active online community is comfortable and stable. Then they buy that forum, making a lot of promises about community. They immediately blow up that community because a zombie board is easier to maintain than a busy one. Why?

    The moment the contract is in place, they harvest the user data, package, and sell. They put in the ads using the original SEO as the selling point. By the time the users know they’ve been blown up, VS has made a profit.

    They allow the old Google-Fu to keep ad money flowing in until it’s useless, even though the board itself is dead. If the Google-Fu is very nice (and they all are), then they get the most continuing money from the “Guests.” They get there from google, don’t find the answer and are more likely to click an ad.

    Also, they may think they can’t get newer material unless they sign up…more data to harvest.

    So, that’s how they work.

    • I don’t think this change in the ToS is getting enough attention:

      “KBOARDS.COM reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time, and you agree that each visit you make to KBOARDS.COM shall be subject to the current terms and conditions as published on our website at http://www.KBOARDS.COM (the ‘Web Site’)”

      The very fact that this is how they want to run the board — it’s on posters to check the ToS on every login before they post to stay informed about the copyright status of their content, and the privacy aspect off their posting identity — is beyond ridiculous. Plus, do you really want to have any kind of business and reputational relationship with a *content company* that has this level of attention to adhering to the law with an unenforcible provision?

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