Have anyone experience with them?

I personally have nothing against goto.com and I have no experience with them. I never even knew they did web hosting up until this point ... but ...

(comment_unsupported_by_Vince)I don't think those companies that do absolutely everything are that great. Take nbci.com for example. NBC is a television network, has a search engine, and now does web hosting. I mean really. It'd be kinda like Microsoft starting to sell radios. Which would they support better? Windows or their new line of radios? Anyway, like I said, I have nothing against goto.com. My personal opinion would be to just go with a company that focuses on a single thing and has been doing it for a while.(/comment_unsupported_by_Vince)

BTW: If you are wondering why I didn't use the greater than and less than signs around my HTML marks, that's because that tag has not been released yet. It is slated to be released in HTML8. :)

And since this is a web hosting forum, I assumed that you meant goto's web hosting. Although when I took a closer look at everything they offered (auctions, etc), I noticed they also seem to "refer" people to other companies. So what exactly are you looking for at goto.com? :)

heheheh..

What I meant was that I want to get listed on goto.com I'm a web hosting company myself..

Sorry didnt' make it clear. :)

Hehe. All of that ranting and raving for nothing. ;)

But seriously, I saw some good competition there. If I were you, I'd look into some other places, unless you are positive you'll be able to get a good listing there, beat the competition that is listed there, and not pay too much. You might also want to consult some of the companies that are listed there and ask them if they get any customers from goto.com. You never know, some companies may actually tell you! :)

Speaking of which, goto.com search for "web hosts", the per click is over $2.00 ??? I click that and their account is $2.00 less? That's insane

web hosting i think is about $4-5

I tried them one time, but I see many problems with their system.

First, to really get noticed, you have to bid on higher slots of the rankings. The problem with this is that the web hosting topic gets so many hits that if you are on the first page you blow your budget in days.

I first tried listing myself at around 18-20 (don't remember the cost per click) but I ended up spending $200 in less than one day! Ok, so I'm a baby host with a small budget, that was too rich for my blood. So, I moved down to around 35, but that didn't help much. After a week, I had spent $500 there without significant business being generated. I haven't touched them since.

If you can afford it, it isn't bad. But, I personally don't think it is worth the money. I tried it back in my young and stupid years - don't plan on that again. But then again, what do I know... ;)

Hope this helps!

Is it common practice for search engines to charge for listings? Is it still possible to get a decent rating without paying? Are payment policies usually spelled out on each site?

I guess I was under the mistaken impression that getting listed on search engines was free but they charged for banners. I guess I am just a little ignorant.

angela, some search engines like goto.com let you bid for higher ranking. Although many don't.

Originally posted by MarkW78
I first tried listing myself at around 18-20 (don't remember the cost per click) but I ended up spending $200 in less than one day! Ok, so I'm a baby host with a small budget, that was too rich for my blood. So, I moved down to around 35, but that didn't help much. After a week, I had spent $500 there without significant business being generated. I haven't touched them since.

Well no matter your size or budget, if it doesn't provide sales, it isn't worth it. I just can't imagine a company paying $4.00/click. It just seems like you'd never be able to recoup that. I would think you could get a better advertisng deal for your $4.00 than that. I don't know, maybe that is just me... hmm.

I can imagine paying that much for a click all to vividly... although I cant imagine ever doing it again ;)

-Brendan
brendan@hostrocket.com

Just an interesting observation...I quickly browsed through the categories listed on the frontpage of Goto.com, and it seems the web hosting category contains the highest CPC listings. Signs of a healthy business amidst a lot of fallen ones I guess.

If you are signed up with webhosting magazine http://www.whmag.com/main.asp have have a big article about how to get listed in search engines in a good position

Originally posted by Chicken:
Well no matter your size or budget, if it doesn't provide sales, it isn't worth it. I just can't imagine a company paying $4.00/click. It just seems like you'd never be able to recoup that. I would think you could get a better advertisng deal for your $4.00 than that. I don't know, maybe that is just me... hmm.

I checked to see what I had paid when I was on Goto. When I was in the top 20, I was paying $0.87 per click. When I was down lower (20-40), I was paying $0.30 per click. The web hosting category gets so many hits, that even if you put in a little, it costs a fortune. I see that they have lowered the prices again, but a while back when I checked to see what the going rate was, Verio and the other big boys had jacked the price up to $7 per click - unbelievable!!! Not sure how the prices got back down, but they are back to a fairly tolerable (but still not affordable) $2.04.

I thought I would give it a try, but I was not impressed. Like I said earlier, I wouldn't do it again!

Originally posted by MarkW78
I see that they have lowered the prices again, but a while back when I checked to see what the going rate was, Verio and the other big boys had jacked the price up to $7 per click - unbelievable!!!

I saw that $7/click price, and actually was expecting to find it when I just checked a day ago. I was just amazed when I saw that. That's quite a bit of money just for a *click*. When I got my dedicated server, I kinda felt the same feeling. As I clicked I was thinking, well.. here goes two grand... *click* heh.

I have sent several clients to them, and also used them myself. the roi was terrible and i feel the only winner in a goto bidding war is goto--i recommend saving your bucks.
however if you must be part of their mania i would bottom feed.