'Shiftdrink'/corporate posters--policy?

[dbird]

I have seen several posts by 'shiftdrink'. I followed the link, and basically they are reposting the entries from their own site on chowhound. I find it off-putting. I look to chowhound for a forum of exchange among people who are serious (and sometimes giddy) about food, not for a digest of materials and opinions printed elsewhere (Eater and other resources provide that). But maybe that is not what chowhound intends for itself. Does this new chowhound welcome participation of those speaking on behalf of other organizations? I know that selling and marketing have been frowned upon, but is promotion ok? Or is it ok if your product is another web site that sells advertising to--say-- restaurants and retailers, but not if you represent a restaurant or retailer directly? I would be interested in hearing about the policy and approach.

[The Chowhound Team]

As long as posters are not violating copyrights by reprinting material from blogs/sites, we permit such reproduction as long as the post is adding chow information of value to chowhounds.

However, Chowhound does not allow promotion of anything, including other websites. If we feel the intent is to promote another site or another site's advertisers, we will remove posts.

If you feel you see posts that cross this line, it's helpful to use the "report this post" feature.

[Covert Ops]

I was wondering this myself, as I posted on the beer board asking if anyone knew where I could find Simpatico, and a poster named Simpatico Beer gave me details about the new US release and a link to the beer's official Web site. This was deleted, and I was very disappointed as it was very helpful knowledge to myself and fellow hounds. So representative of corporate brands are allowed to answer general questions regarding the brand's availability, etc., if they DON'T link to the brand's official Web site? (Yet, individual posters are allowed to link to brand sites. . .)

Not criticizing, just a bit confused.

[The Chowhound Team]

The line between fact and hype is a delicate one. Corporate posters are permitted, but only if they stay well on the factual side of the line.