For the past seven years, YachtWorld.com has successfully partnered with IPC Marine Media to help give your boats the broadest possible coverage on the internet. As you may have read this week, IPC have just announced their decision to no longer accept your boat data from YachtWorld.com and display it on any of their websites. This includes the portal site YBW.com.
We are just as surprised as you at this announcement. In the absence of any direct communication from IPC, we have attempted to clarify the position with them and so can now confirm the impact that their decision will have on your business.
For the past year, our “On Target” programme has allowed you to automatically display your boats on the individual magazine websites you choose. From as little as £25 per month, you could display your boats automatically on websites such as www.yachtingmonthly.co.uk, www.pbo.co.uk, www.mbmclub.com, www.mby.com, www.yachting-world.com or www.classicboat.co.uk. On 9th February 2008, the “On Target” programme will cease.
On the same date, the free display of your boats on www.ybw.com will also cease.
In order to display your boats as before, it is also now clear that IPC will require you to pay a fee of up to £240 a month. In addition, the cancellation of our data feed may result in you having to manually re-enter your boats in to their own database. The alternative is that you join Rightboat.com and pay their additional advertising fee as well, which is clearly a less-than-satisfactory situation for most brokers.
For 12 years, YachtWorld.com has continuously led the market at developing better ways to help brokers sell more boats. A great example of this innovative approach can be seen in the form of a new brokerage magazine which will be published for the first time in January 2008. Clare Willison, editor of YachtWorld: The Magazine said “The launch of YachtWorld: The Magazine could not have come at a better time for brokers looking for a low cost/high profile presence in the market. The YachtWorld brand has always protected the needs of the brokerage community, so we look forward to continuing this long tradition at the launch of YachtWorld: The Magazine during the London Boat Show. As a result of the recent news from IPC, we have made additional pages available in the magazine for brokers, and we expect them to fill up fast.”
YachtWorld’s impartial, unbiased and experienced team remains totally at your service, so if you require any further clarification on the situation IPC have put you in, please call one of us today.