I don't like sharing things like this, but I'm going to give you the gist of it since so many of you are demanding answers and my lack of response is making me, and by extension Carbon and the mods look like bad guys.
We're a social media outlet. Any other social media outlet you have to pay to advertise. As long as you're contributing here you're allowed to post.
I very nicely and politely asked that if he was going to use us as a social media outlet that he include us on his sponsor's page. He said he would have to discuss it with his team, but that should not present an issue.
Sometime later he came back to me saying he would not be reciprocating links, a rule that existed since the times of Chuck, that his other sponsors had concerns.He also told me that he generated more traffic for HT, than we generated for him. As I have access to the traffic numbers I know that's not true. I asked to see a screenshot of his analytics which he has installed (I read his code) to prove the point he was making. He did not elaborate on what the issue with the other sponsors was. He also complained that a member was harassing him and he threatened to leave. He never once reported it (until I requested it) or contacted me over it although we had already been in direct contact. We took action on the offending report.
I then, with mod consent, took down his thread till his issues with his sponsors were resolved. His tone changed dramatically. He reiterated that HT does nothing for his promotion (Google ForestoFarm in an anonymous browser and see what comes up. After a few sites unrelated to his project and his youtube videos it's us). He also reiterated that he was doing more for us than we were going for him. I have asked for proof of that which I have yet to receive.
Now a bit of a primer on how internet advertising works. He has Google Adsense (I read the code) on his site which is the program necessary to run Google ads, so as he may not be doing it yet, running ads is clearly his intention. Also, I have watched 90% of his videos (I'm a fan) and they are chocked full of product endorsements which is the most recent tactic for online advertising to hit the market. To add to that he has, in the past, used referral links to promote products here on site. Basically what this is is a code tacked onto the end of a URL that when someone clicks it it tracks where they are coming from if they bought anything, and if they did the person posting the link gets a cut of the sale. I removed the referral code.
He does not make money off of Youtube, I forget the exact number, but I believe you have to have 10,000 users to generate revenue.
Although this all seems innocent enough, and I do support his mission to educate and inform people on homesteading, I can't in good conscience, allow HT to be exploited in a number of means.
Once his issues with his sponsors are worked out, and we are added as per the rule that has existed since well before I and many of you have been here, his thread will be returned. In the meantime, I encourage you to watch his videos. They are well done, they are informative, and as I've said I am a fan. He crossed the line is all. It's not a line that cannot be uncrossed, and I have not done anything that cannot be undone.
I hope you understand the reasoning and action taken. I will not get into specifics because as always I believe those are private, but I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have,