Honestly- I suspect because they aren't trying hard. Hint- Google isn't very good at it- searching for the "powered by" and 5.0.6 version number in Bing instead returned valid results of forums with the 5.0.6 version branding not on the vbulletin.net domain. I have never ever said VB5 has lots of legitimate fans. I have said vBCloud isn't aimed at power users and the users who vBCloud is aimed at like it for the very reasons many here do not- they don't want to be bothered with upgrades and don't care about the lack of template editing and the like.
The exact phrase I used in Bing was- Code: Powered by vBulletin "Version 5.0.6" And no, it's not a lot of forums- but it dispels the myth people couldn't even find a single one. It took 30 seconds of searching to find it. I can say for a fact just by ones I've seen tickets for/worked on there are far more than Bing returns.
Doing that got me about 4 results: http://www.bing.com/search?q="Power...+by+vbulletin+version+5.0.6"&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk= Out of these, we have two from the Morally Bankrupt troll/test site, an Oregon gun forum with no content or pages and a really dead looking paranormal site without a single post. Are these generally what you consider the 'non power users' vB 5 is meant for? http://www.fromsoletosoul.com/ http://www.westcoastfirearms.net/ They even use vB Cloud too, just look at 'IB Admin' on the member lists... It gets even worse in Google, three of the few vB 5 'results' aren't running it, they're sites offering nulled versions of the software. And oh look, I guess even the 'pirates' and 'hackers' don't like it, since I've come across no sites illegally using it. Probably thought it was worse than the free scripts they could find elsewhere...
Of course they use VB Cloud, 5.0.6 is only used on Cloud Sites- there can't be nulled sites running 5.0.6, it was never released for downloads. That was how I proved there were vb cloud sites using their own domain.
That is so fitting. It gets to the core issue, the paradigm at IB, which I think is actually causing the downfall of vBulletin. The great pretender. Priceless! I wonder if IB have it in them to change at all. Hmm... Scott
We're not going to release sales numbers and no one here seems capable of figuring it out- they couldn't even find a single site without my help.
I have to agree with BamaStangGuy. And there are a number of people here who can figure out what vB5 sites are out there. Maybe you should reduce your "seems no one here", which is condescending bullpoo to something like "at least one person needed my help" or even better, leave out such unnecessary supplementary comments. Sure is fun when someone gets all picky about your semantics too, isn't it? Scott
What do you mean "We're" not going to release sales figures. You talk as though you have access to them as a part-time contact support staff, your not even classed as a proper IB employee on their books same way Mark.B isn't. Please... get over yourself in trying to be so self-important. You talk as though your Managing Director of Internet Brands.
Please tell me you're joking. Of course we can figure out sales figures for vB 5. Just look at the vB 5 forum list, Digitalpoint did a pretty good job at listing most of them, and I only stopped myself because I thought about 20 sites was a reasonable sample to see how well most forums using the script were doing. Truth is, the answer is obviously that vB 5 isn't selling any sort of numbers worth a damn, otherwise lots more people would be using it and the third party mod/styling communities wouldn't be dead.
Until I showed you guys Bing you thought the only cloud sites were the 3 or 4 staff forums and morallybankrupt. This history is there-re-read it.
I think many of us here know how to find unique searches in Google. What I think is funny is that Google, the LARGEST SEARCH ENGINE, hasn't indexed a single vBCloud site..lol That should really tell you something. Enjoy your yahoo/bing results.. it's a shame those guys are missing out of %65-70 of the traffic they should be getting.. Oh I have an idea for vBulletin.. vBMarketing, now you guys can make a few more bucks off misinformed admins..lol
Lessons for wayward experienced admins on how to use search engines will be held at VB HQ under the watchful eye of the Dark Lord himself. Attendance is compulsory if you have had less that twenty years experience as an admin running your own website. Those who have joined the death eaters and registered with XF will have to undergo extensive rehabilitation until they see the error of their ways. Special emphasis will be given on searching out favourable reports on VB/IB and demerit points will be awarded for finding bad reviews.