June 7, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY
REVIEW) -- The underlying themes of last week's online hosting
discussion centered on Web hosting providers' concerns, from the
industry's image, to kiddies and criminals and the practices that are
giving Web hosts a bad name. All that led to a discussion of Wal-Mart
stepping into the game.
There seemed to be a unanimous rejection
and repudiation of fly-by-night business practices and bargain prices
from providers that end up punishing their customers not only with lack
of service, but with fraudulent charges to boot.
On WebHosting Talk (webhostingtalk.com) much of the criticism was leveled around the troubling case
of Pagecreators' Bryan Kruchten, alleged to have ripped off would-be
customers by promising bandwidth and delivering bunk charges to their
credit cards.
Like the journalists jilted by New York
Times' fabricator Jason Blair, Web hosts seemed to draw a number of
so-called "kiddie hosts" and otherwise unprofessional or quick
buck-oriented ventures into their sites, complaining that an entire
industry might pay the price for the actions of a few bad apples.
"I don't know about you guys, but I am
sick of all these fraud web hosting companies that rip people of. It is
real [disappointing]!" said a post in the Kruchten discussion.
Other users concurred: "[I] feel your
pain. [Another] fact is that all this scamming affects the rest of us
quality Web hosts, [newcomers] get the impression that we're all bad
and trying to steal [their] money..."
The consensus was that bad business
translates to a bad future -- lack of sleep or a cellmate or two -- and
there was some satisfaction with the idea of punishing a hosting
industry scoundrel, but there was also criticism of some business
practices that while not necessarily illegal or unethical, are not good
for the business.
One discussion
of "lifetime hosting" described the practice as everything from an
invitation to legal trouble and an impossible feat to a solid startup
strategy and highly possible.
However, the consensus was that in the
long term, it was not a sound plan and would end up becoming too
burdensome to deliver. There were also questions about what is promised
and how "lifetime" is defined.
"Companies offering lifetime hosting end
up bankrupt or charging you after 1 year because they realize they
can't continue with the offer," said one post. "If you have the money
to pay $200+ for a lifetime hosting do yourself a favour and go with a
reasonable host."
Still, the lifetime model held promise
for at least one other poster, who again referred to the issue of
ethics and a sustainable business plan.
"To me it is an interesting way to start.
Not anyone could do this though, the person would have to be trusted
greatly because many people that might try this would probably be in it
for a quick buck...."
That discussion concerned Aplus.Net's use
of a subcontractor that, in its effort to improve the company's Google
search position, installed hidden links on customers’ sites. The
tactic, and the Aplus press release on the matter did not prevent the company from encountering criticism.
"Sleezy, sleezy, sleezy, leeching off
customers' hard work and messing with their sites and search
positions," said a post from April. The thread was revived last week
with a condemnation of the spin control and a call for government
oversight.
"Just because they bought a press release
on Yahoo 'explaining' things doesn't make them blameless. I have said
it before and I'll say it again," the poster said. "The hosting
industry needs to be regulated to keep this kind of thing from
happening. The same as all spammers and quick buck artists need to be
stamped out."
The debate on regulation went into the
usual issues of the other problems that are created and challenges
including, especially for an industry such as Web hosting, the barrier
of all of those borders and jurisdictions. Tying the discussion back to
the original subject, one poster pointedly put it:
"No form of regulation would have prevented this from happening."
Along the lines of regulation, Big Brother and big business, Wal-Mart caused a stir on the SitePoint (sitepoint.com) forums with its announcement that it would offer Web sites for $5 a month.
Some viewed the addition of the
superstore hosting approach just as the small town businesses that were
wiped out by Wal-Marts in recent years, arguing the "international
corporate superpower" would be a "great way to totally dissolve the
value and importance of having a REAL website."
However, others were unthreatened by the
low price leader effect, welcoming the giant to the highly competitive
industry hosts know and love.
"I don't really care...my client base
isn't interested in template sites," said one poster. "They're
interested in differentiating themselves from the gaggle of half assed
internet businesses who use template sites and nephew designers...and I
don't have time for cheap *** clients who want $10 Web sites anyway."
