I can speak for a few would-be advertisers when I say there has been a huge reluctance to advertise on RDC due to the "classic" chat room and its crowd. Since the chat rooms are some of the most viewed pages on RDC, it makes sense to have rotating banner ads on these pages. A smart advertiser wants to spend marketing dollars on a target audience that will spend money... and while many of the BS slingers on the classic board do spend money, they do not represent the majority of customers... that's where 2.0 comes in. Up to this point, the type of person posting on 2.0 is exactly what an off-road related company wants... interest in off-road cars and trucks, a willingness to help answer questions (perfect for secondary advertising via word of mouth), respect for those around them. The majority of the people on the classic board had no respect for the sport or people of off-road.
I think 2.0 is quicker and easier to use than classic - I can view posts that interest me quickly, skipping the stuff I can do without, 2.0 tells you if there are new posts in a thread, how man, it tells me exactly who is posting, when they posted, and I can even send private messages without clogging up e-mail. Gone is the wasted time spent sifting through the "classic" board in hopes something of value was posted. There have also been a few instances where 2.0 has again raised the question, where do you draw the line between running a 100% unmoderated message board? The thread regarding fabricators started out with a slam against ATS - I doubt Scott will ever advertise here after that. Every fabricator out there has his or her friends and foes - if RDC is trying to become a money making site, they MUST make it more advertiser friendly. Until people start paying membership fees to use this site, I think its fair for Klaus and John to do whatever they see fit - they own it lock-stock and barrel.
If the trash talkers need a place to spout off, why don't they just create a FREE forum over at Yahoo! ? There are plenty of places to run free message boards that will tolerate the "classic" attitude. It's my belief that Klaus and John have done not what they wanted to do - they did what was necessary.