Frequently Asked Questions

RuidosoWeb, Corp. has recently purchased Ruidoso.net. The following FAQ is designed to answer your questions about this purchase.

Why was the site sold?
After founding and maintaining the site for more than a decade its owner, Dave Shultz, wanted to put the site in the hands of people who would continue to operate, improve and grow the site for the good of the community.

Doesn't the site belong to the Chamber of Commerce?
No. Ruidoso.net has always been privately owned and operated.

What does this mean to those of us who depend on the site for advertising?
Our goal is to have the Village of Ruidoso and the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce continue to provide support to the site through the Lodger's Tax so that we can continue to offer free listings to chamber members. Future plans call for expanding marketing opportunities on the site as well as allowing for paid advertising through enhanced listings, links and advertising. Plans also call for reinvesting a portion of the advertising revenue to enhance the site through design improvements as well as strategies to drive additional visitors to the site.

Why didn't Shultz sell the site to the Village or Chamber?
Shultz had a personal deadline of selling the site by the end of 2004. There was never a formal proposal by either the Chamber or Village to purchase the site.

Some people have stated it would be easy for the community to create a new “official website?” While it is relatively easy to create a simple website, the challenge is driving potential customers to the site by enhancing placement in the search engines people use to navigate the web. One criteria search engines use to decide who appears first is the number of hits a site is receiving. Ruidoso.net already receives over over six million hits per month so that is one reason it appears first on many searches. Further, we estimate thousands of people have the site bookmarked on their Internet browsers. These are valuable repeat Ruidoso area visitors. They know it is all on Ruidoso.net. Over the past decade, Shultz has also linked Ruidoso.net to thousands of other web sites (a key in getting higher placement during searches on popular web search engines such as Google). Today, the current site contains thousands of pages. Why go through the huge time and expense of trying to duplicate something that is already a huge success and driving business to the community – especially when it is owned by community minded individuals who want to continue to build on the site's success.

What happens if the Village or Chamber declines to continue to support the site?
Everyone agrees Ruidoso.net has been a positive force for growth in the community. RuidosoWeb, Corp. is willing to invest its own money in continuing to enhance the site and is proposing initially the same level of financial support from the community the site has received in the past. Over time, that level of community support would decrease and the Chamber of Commerce could be eligible to receive rebates from some of the advertising revenue the site generates. It is truly a win-win proposal.

Ruidoso.net will be a successful privately owned venture.

Is it common for government to support a private business venture?
Yes, such partnerships are good business and are common. An example is the Ruidoso Visitor's Guide, which receives Lodger's Tax funding from both the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce and Lincoln County Lodger's Tax.

Is there a deadline for an agreement between the Village, Chamber and RuidosoWeb, Corp.?
We are in contact with the Village of Ruidoso and the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce and are optimistic that we will reach some determination on our proposals to these organizations by the end of February 2005.

When would individual businesses and sponsors be expected to pay for services on the site?
If the Village of Ruidoso and the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce accept our proposals, a membership with the Chamber will include one free listing per business.

Rates will not be established until we have concluded our agreement discussions with the Chamber and Village in February 2005. Until then the site will continue to operate as it has in the past.