There seems to be this consensus that if a new version comes out, and if it doesn't actually loose features, then it must be a secret plot to either steal people information.

What are you talking about buddy ? you think vb staff will earn money from our ads ? I think they require that info to get access to our account ... thats all .. ( thats what i think .. please correct me if i m wrong )

I know what the secret plot is! Obama is working with Google, Jelsoft and other forum companies to take a cut out of all the ad profits to save the stock markets. It makes sense!

Don't forget Jelsoft's secret connections to William Ayers.

If i have access to hundreds of boards adsense statistics ( keywords , high paying adds etc ) , i can build the most succesfull forum out there for advertisement revenue very easily with a little investment. Internet Brands's main revenue is from advertisement. When you put these 2 factors next to each other you can clearly see that the strategy has nothing to do with helping members.

Plus the important factor me and other members are complaining about is , Internet Brands tried to hide this very important truth. Which is a huge privacy concern as everyone trusted Jelsoft ( at least till IB took the control ) . They may not read the Google warning so they would not be aware of such important thing.

They surely can try to make affliate money. There is nothing wrong about it . But they should at least tell the customers the truth of it. Trying to hide is not a trustworth company act.

If it was hidden, you would have never figured it out in such a short period of time, nor would the staff have even responded to questions about it. You see, real deception involves carefully concealing information so that it takes a great deal of investigation and time to uncover. This wasn't hidden, it just wasn't written out in big letters because they don't consider it a big deal. Not broadcasting is not the same as hiding. And I'm of the same opinion that this isn't anywhere near as big a deal as some are making it out to be.

i figured it out because i'm aware of the behind the scene... a newbye would never imagine such structure...

vb will now potentially make more money out of adsense referrals than they will out of selling their software. That's a big deal and they way it was flown under the radar was at the very least disingenuous.

making money from aff or refs is not a problem, i do not care if they profit from the engine... the point is to manipulate the information without the regular users knowing. they say "do not use it if you are not happy"... the point is that the ones using it are not aware of the structure, that's why us, good guys, report this situation so everybody is aware of the hidden structure.

Jelsoft just have to make a change in the announcement and everybody will be happy...

This is doubftul. The largest referral is lower than the average sell price to a new customer. Maybe if someone bought only the leased license and did great advertising the first six months but this would be an exception, not the rule.