Autoblog hearts AOL Autos
Those of you new to the Autoblog fold might be unaware that this site, along with the entire Weblogs, Inc. network, is owned by AOL and has been since late 2005. Autoblog is very fortunate in that our partner under the corporate umbrella is AOL Autos, which is run by a dedicated team of industry experts and car fanatics, including our counterparts, fellow auto-enthusiasts and editors Chris Ciccone and Khoi Nguyen. We've worked hard towards bringing Autoblog and AOL Autos closer together, and today we're going to go take a new step.
AOL Autos has recently relaunched its new car database for car shoppers. We've been playing with it for a while now and have seen the additional features AOL Autos plans to add in the coming months. We're proud of our colleagues across the aisle and their new site, so much so that we've offered to pledge our support. In future posts, when we mention the make and model of a currently sold vehicle in a post, Autoblog will hyperlink that first mention to the corresponding page in the AOL Autos new car database. We see this as a way to make Autoblog more user-friendly for neophytes and new car shoppers who find their way here from a Google search, while not distracting you, the legions of Autoblog faithful.
Be sure to check out the new car database at autos.aol.com, and feel free to offer suggestions for improvement in the comments. They have a lot more features to add in the near future, but are eager to hear your thoughts on what they've done so far.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viv 1:41PM (6/11/2007)
Kudos to you guys for constantly trying to update and stay ahead.
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Chris 1:45PM (6/11/2007)
We look forward to working closer with you guys ... even if you do smell of 100 octane and burning clutches.
-Chris
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bmoredlj 1:45PM (6/11/2007)
I ♥ Huckabees
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Dave 1:59PM (6/11/2007)
This post seems rather transparent, but thats kinda par for the course for AOL. /sigh. I still love autoblog though, even if AOL is using you guys to vainly grasp for some relevance.
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Naysayer 2:05PM (6/11/2007)
Indeed. As much as I can't stand AOL, I guess there would be no Autoblog without it.
...maybe I should buy you guys from AOL. I've got $12.68 in my pocket. Fair deal?
John Neff 2:06PM (6/11/2007)
I could see your point Dave, if it weren't for the fact that no one has forced this upon Autoblog. We're doing it, basically because we like Chris and Koi so much, not because someone above us gave an order. I met Chris back in early 2006 after we were first bought at the 06 Detroit Show. He's a great guy and AOL Autos has done a lot to help out Autoblog. Plus, we honestly believe all the noobs that arrive at Autoblog from Google will appreciate a link to more info about a car that perhaps they'd like to know more about.
Dave T. 2:11PM (6/11/2007)
There could easily be an Autoblog without AOL. It did just fine before they came along.
That said I don't like in-text links no matter what they do. Why not just list them as related links at the end of the post?
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Doogs 5:35PM (6/11/2007)
Gotta say I agree with Dave. Besides, putting links at the bottom would keep everything uniform and probably more informative for the noobs (For More Information on the Cars Mentioned in This Post...etc).
Whatever you do, please, for the love of God, stay away from those annoying hover boxes that pop up whenever you pass the mouse over a link (such as TTAC has adopted).
John Neff 10:39PM (6/11/2007)
Yeah, a few have suggested we move the link to the bottom of the post to make it more apparent to new car shoppers who land on the site from Google. I think that's a pretty good idea, so we may move to that in the near future, but we'll be starting this way with inline links.