Hey guys/gals,
With the recent post of HostingSeek, i've thought about purchasing that site and running it. I remember back when i was a web host, i would pay top dollar to be on Host Search and Host-Dir. I thought the revenue from ads were really flowing into those companies.

Do we have enough of them? Have they saturated the market? Can we use more? What are your takes on this subject?

I'm not focusing on any directory in particular - don't think I am. I'm just posting a thoughtful question.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm heading to bed now (1:32am EST) but i'll be online to check in the morning.

Thanks,
Darren Herman

There are many, many lists now.

Unless you've got decent skills with getting your site good rankings with the search engines, I wouldn't invest a lot of energy into it.

The top one out there are, from a personal point of view:

1) TopHosts.com
2) Thewhir.com
3) HostSearch.com
4) **************.com

A good list can be found here:
http://srd.yahoo.com/S=2766679:WS0/R=1/K=web+hosting+directories/CS=10410443/*http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Communications_and_Networking/Internet_and_World_Wide_Web/Network_Service_Providers/Hosting/Web_Site_Hosting/Directories/

There are too many all doing the same thing.

That Hostseek site looks pretty nice, but it's fairly new - it's easy to create a basic ad based hosting directory - the challenge is to get traffic to it. There was mention in the post trying to sell HostSeek that they got 2500 unique visitors a day - that is crazy, unless the traffic is just junk hits of course.

Our site has very good rankings in Google & Yahoo for many search phrases and we get no where near 2500 targeted visitors a day. A new site like Hostseek gets approximately 0 hits a day from search engines. So where is the other 2500 coming from?

The problem with many of these ad based directories is that they are selling impressions so they need to have good visitor numbers etc - as a host you want targeted traffic not 2nd hand popup traffic or whatever - which is certainly what a lot of these startups are claiming to be good traffic.

If I was a host & was spending money on ads - I don't think I would stray too far from WebHostDir, HostSearch, HostPulse and maybe even FindSP - (they have some good co-branding going on). Beyond the well known ones I would take care - they are not resources - they are advertising revenue platforms pretending to be a resource. If they were true resources - they would add in advertising later and not try to sell it before even launching

I don't trust any hosting ratings sites or directories. All the ones I have seen, are either owned by, or sponsored by the top listed hosts. The top listed host are usually really crappy ones like see-eye-host and others.
You go right ahead and make or buy one if you want, but I won't be recomending it (or other simular site) to anyone.

Gotcha - just doing my due dilligence :)

I say go for it if you have a new idea - if not - start improving the current ones ....

There are alot of Directories out there with new ones starting up everyday and many just disappear after few weeks..

Yes we need more. One for every host. That way every host can put a stupid "I'm #1 host at Joe-Bobs Hosting Dir.". Or for those who are modest "Top 25 Host at Joe-Bobs".

I think there are ~40000 hosting companies and only ~35-40 directories. The problem for startup hosts - advetrizing budget and most of them cannot afford high price listings, that is why we'd like to onen new dir in next 2 weeks ;)

BTW, why not to ask next new host - "why do you open new hosting site/service"?

If it can be marketed well and not biased, then go for it.

Hopefully, it won't be another vBulletin community. ;)

To Many!

The problem for startup hosts - advetrizing budget and most of them cannot afford high price listings

True, but you get what you pay for. There are some mid-sized directories that get good traffic & have reasonable ad prices, but remember anybody can start up a hosting directory site - creating an ad driven site is very low tech. The key question is where do they get their traffic. If their sole source is ads then the traffic will be not so great + all you are doing is paying a premium for ads you could have just ran yourself and cut out the middle man.

I have been running a directorie for about 3 years now and i added advertising about 1.5 years ago just to help cover hosting charges. thats all i wanted to do. now that i host it my self (and no i have no way in moving my hosting site to the #1 spot, its all dynamic) I realy dont need to have advertisers on there any more but it is nice when someone asks :)

I think the problem with the majority of directory sites is that they are completely overstuffed with blinking, flashing and twirling banners. It reminds me of Las Vegas, without the free booze!

I find most of them terribly hard to use and lacking in decent categorization and search tools. There are a few exceptions, of course.

If you can manage the upkeep, go for it.

Regards,

Pete Stoermer

Beyond the well known ones I would take care - they are not resources - they are advertising revenue platforms pretending to be a resource.
I agree to some extent that many of the directories do this, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that all new directories are simply advertising platforms, and are not resources. Besides, web hosting companies should appreciate the inflation of web hosting directories. It creates a competitive environment for directories, so prices go down, and hosting companies have more means of advertising.

If they were true resources - they would add in advertising later and not try to sell it before even launching [/B]
You are speaking from an end-user's point of view. I agree that plenty of directories are advertising platforms, but why would a web hosting company frown on that? I began selling ads 1 week before launching my directory, and every penny that comes in goes to promote the site and will be doing so until I establish unpaid traffic. I don't work on the Internet as a volunteer, I work to make money. To accomplish that goal for my directory, I have to bring traffic that converts to my site-- to establish unpaid traffic I have to offer resources that users will find helpful.


Beyond the well known ones I would take care - they are not resources - they are advertising revenue platforms pretending to be a resource. If they were true resources - they would add in advertising later and not try to sell it before even launching
I agree, but not from an advertisers standpoint. I would assume you get a large portion of your traffic from Google and other SE's, and I get my quality traffic from PPC search engines. While the ads on my sites are paid for (not Top Hosts) , and I'll accept any web host willing to pay, the traffic I get is also from users that are actively searching for a web hosting company.

Again, and from an advertisers standpoint, I wouldn't see why anyone would chose not to advertise on a new directory that gets it traffic from non-incentivized paid traffic, as opposed to directories that have established good SE rankings that they can pocket the majority of the advertising revenue.

I find your resource to be very helpful, and is probably more so for the end-user than mine, but as far as advertising goes, the quality site should not determine the quality of the traffic.

______________________________________
As for your hostingseek buy, if your goal is to create an effective platform of advertising, don't expect to return a profit until some portion of your traffic is unpaid. The directories earlier referred to that dissapear expect to take in advertising money and not put anything back into it. As with every business, put money back into it, and it will do fine.

Please don't take this as a form of self promotional. I'm simply saying that there are plenty of exceptions to your statement.

Originally posted by NovaW


True, but you get what you pay for. There are some mid-sized directories that get good traffic & have reasonable ad prices, but remember anybody can start up a hosting directory site - creating an ad driven site is very low tech. The key question is where do they get their traffic. If their sole source is ads then the traffic will be not so great + all you are doing is paying a premium for ads you could have just ran yourself and cut out the middle man.

Branding.

In such a competitive market, the odds of getting impulse buys is slim. The key is branding, and the major players in web hosting have proven that.

I do suggest that if you consider advertising on a directory you first check their source of traffic, and decide where to advertise according to their search engine position rankings. If HostIndex and WebHostDir are ranked 4 and 5 for "windows 2000 hosting" on Overture, you could effectively brand your name, and after the user sees your name twice over a span of a few minutes, the odds of him clicking your listing is pretty high.

Zboca -

I agree with many of your statements. All sites have to start somewhere. PPC traffic into a directory is good quality traffic but what would stop the host from just buying the same PPC traffic?

There are no quick routes to generating profits & I fully agree with you that if a directory is willing to re-invest & go the course they can become a valuable site. Re-investment can come in the form of spending on advertising etc but also can be reinvestment into the site itself.

I would contend though that what is good for consumers is ultimately good for hosts & the aim of spending the time to be a great consumer resource beyond all else will naturally grow a resource site just because consumers find it useful & other sites link to it & word of mouth is created. This then attracts quality visitors from all sources which is what hosts need.

If any resource site gets some targeted traffic & the ad price is at the right level then I agree with you that the spend would be a good option for the new host - but the expectation should not be that it will necessarily drive sales in the short term.

Originally posted by NovaW
Zboca -

I agree with many of your statements. All sites have to start somewhere. PPC traffic into a directory is good quality traffic but what would stop the host from just buying the same PPC traffic?
You probably posted this before reading my other statement. The only reason why PPC engines would be effective for hosting companies is for branding, and for newbies into web hosting. The market is too competitive to expect someone to come straight to your site, and purchase that second, unless they are enticed by marketing gimmicks are super low prices. Now, if RackShack is listed in the HostIndex Dedicated Server showcase, and someone comes to the page from Overture they may or may not click the RS listing, but if the creatives are right, the user will notice RackShack. The user doesn't find a web host, or he knows how competitive the market is, he probably knows he can find better prices, so he hits the back button to the search results. (Sorry- this is like a story) Then he clicks on HostSearch Dedicated Server Showcase and he sees RackShack again, so the chances of him clicking on the ad have increases.

Now, I'm not saying you can't get good results by having users come directly to your site, but you have to be ready, and that includes everything from the marketing, prices, copyright, the whole deal.

I would contend though that what is good for consumers is ultimately good for hosts & the aim of spending the time to be a great consumer resource beyond all else will naturally grow a resource site just because consumers find it useful & other sites link to it & word of mouth is created. This then attracts quality visitors from all sources which is what hosts need.
To be honest, this is your line of work, and you've done incredible with your site. I personally don't feel that ads are biased, unless of course the Top Hosts stuff is pulled in, but not your standard 468x60's, etc.. . The market is too competitive that enticing many advanced webmaster by means of small advertising is close to impossible. I'm not saying that they can't get people to click on teir ad, but you can't expect an impulse buy based on the ad.

If any resource site gets some targeted traffic & the ad price is at the right level then I agree with you that the spend would be a good option for the new host - but the expectation should not be that it will necessarily drive sales in the short term. [/B]

Oh certainly. I don't agree in CPC deals, or CPA. I'm 100% branding, and I'm the first to say that $500 worth of advertising on my site isn't going to bring you $1000 worth of sales. That seems to be what many of the web hosting companies are looking for, but I assume its reflected by their budgets.

By the way, you don't receive 2,500 visitors a day from Google? That upsets me. I've been spending the past two months optimizing my site to get above your listings. It seems whenever I find a new search phrase to optimize for you're always right up there!

Zak

Thanks for your kind comments

We don't get 2500 hits a day from google - In fact although we have very good rankings in both Google & Yahoo - we apparently get a fraction of the traffic that many new directories claim to get :rolleyes: We are not selling ads so we don't need to inflate those numbers. All we do is drive sales.

I have absolutely nothing against ads - they have a lot of value. I do think that the sites that have #1 rated host etc etc where the #1 just happens to be the #1 affiliate payout on CJ is totally unethical behavior.

You shouldn't do yourself an injustice & think that your site is not a resource - I looked at it & clearly it is a resource, it is filled with great articles & good advice for people looking for hosting. That creates value & even if the ads are mainly for branding - people will find your site valuable because it contains valuable content, then you may find that the ads can drive sales too.

Originally posted by NovaW
Thanks for your kind comments

We don't get 2500 hits a day from google - In fact although we have very good rankings in both Google & Yahoo - we apparently get a fraction of the traffic that many new directories claim to get :rolleyes: We are not selling ads so we don't need to inflate those numbers. All we do is drive sales.

I have absolutely nothing against ads - they have a lot of value. I do think that the sites that have #1 rated host etc etc where the #1 just happens to be the #1 affiliate payout on CJ is totally unethical behavior.

You shouldn't do yourself an injustice & think that your site is not a resource - I looked at it & clearly it is a resource, it is filled with great articles & good advice for people looking for hosting. That creates value & even if the ads are mainly for branding - people will find your site valuable because it contains valuable content, then you may find that the ads can drive sales too.

Thank you for the kind words as well.

Yes- I certainly agree that these type of directories are very misleading to users, and on a personal note, their inflated traffic numbers make some advertisers lose confidence in all directories, or directories that are not the big 3.

Keep a look for my site in those search terms. I'm working my best to get up there with you. ;)

Take care,

Zak

Originally posted by ZBoca

You probably posted this before reading my other statement. The only reason why PPC engines would be effective for hosting companies is for branding, and for newbies into web hosting. The market is too competitive to expect someone to come straight to your site, and purchase that second, unless they are enticed by marketing gimmicks are super low prices. Zak

I'm not sure I 100% agree with you on this area. I'm not a fan of PPC sites in general, but for the right cost per click rate it is possible to make a return on sales made via this route.

I've seen a well worded PPC ad pull in conversions (at the shared end of the market) of between 1 and 2 sales per 70 clicks. So its all down to economics from there on out. If your paying overture or google ad words rates and promoting a sub $9.95 per month plan its really unlikely your going to make any worthwhile returns. If you spend time and shop around you can find much more competitive pricing and make PPC work.

I agree it isn’t "THE" solution some of the larger search engines purport it to be, but PPC has a place in any hosting marketing campaign.

Directory advertising is too costly and innefective. I don't do any directory advertising, unless it is free.

I would rather spend my money elsewhere and get better results.
Just read through WHT about the horror stories - spending $500 and getting 1 customer for sub $10/mo hosting. It is common.

I also ask myself the basic question: If I was looking for a hosting company, would I use one of these sites?

Originally posted by intraweb

I also ask myself the basic question: If I was looking for a hosting company, would I use one of these sites?

I think its dangerous to generalise in our industry. In hosting there are many companies and individuals that make promises that they cant deliver. The directory market is no different.

There are many ways to choose your first or next host, i think by drawing on as many sources of information as possible the buyer is able to make the least risky purchase decision as possible. The key is to get a balanced view point.

Originally posted by James Cross


I'm not sure I 100% agree with you on this area. I'm not a fan of PPC sites in general, but for the right cost per click rate it is possible to make a return on sales made via this route.

I've seen a well worded PPC ad pull in conversions (at the shared end of the market) of between 1 and 2 sales per 70 clicks. So its all down to economics from there on out. If your paying overture or google ad words rates and promoting a sub $9.95 per month plan its really unlikely your going to make any worthwhile returns. If you spend time and shop around you can find much more competitive pricing and make PPC work.

I agree it isn’t "THE" solution some of the larger search engines purport it to be, but PPC has a place in any hosting marketing campaign.

Sure-- there are certianly exceptions, and it entirely depends on what you call a successful campaign. There are also plenty of exceptions such as your rates, design, promotions, incentives, marketing gimmicks and so on. Another important variable is who you are targeting. If I provide hosting geared towards consumers residing in Australia, I'll probably have a better return because there is less competition, thus its much easier to brand your name as an Aussie host.

I agree PPC traffic can be effective and making a return is possible, but on a much smaller scale than what some of the web hosting companies here would like to be, and what iPowerWeb, C l Host and other giants are. There are also plenty here that have a balance in providing good support, and maintaining a tight client base, so it depends entirely on your objectives. PPC engines are for short term results, and creating and maintaining a brand is for the long run assuming proper measures in marketing, design, incentives, pricing have been properly implemented. A perfect example is C l Host. I'm not going to go into their support, or service they provide, but what do you really think gets them customers? Word of mouth? I'm sure to some extent, because they tend to target newbies so they are less demanding customers. C l Host is a complete example of how effective proper marketing can be. I believe they started as a reseller, so their ad budget now may have been built by impulse buys in a less competitive market.


I agree it isn’t "THE" solution some of the larger search engines purport it to be, but PPC has a place in any hosting marketing campaign.
Sure it does, it expands their reach, but think about if someone searched for a term you’re bidding on—say windows 2000 web hosting. You are number 1 for the bid, and your description entices them to click. You have good incentives set up, pricing, or whatever works for selling your package, but the user is aware of how competitive the market is, and instincts will probably tell him to hit the back button, and look at a few other results before buying. The user goes back, and the #2 listing is HostIndex, which also has a well written description that says exactly what he is looking for--- “Cheap Windows 2000 Web Hosting”. The user clicks, and again notices your listing. Of course there are plenty of other listings on there, but if he was at your page 10 seconds ago, still remembers your name and is considering finding a cheaper host, and now a 3rd part web site tells him that you in fact are a cheap windows 2000 web host, your odds for conversion have just increased. Your cost per customer acquisition may be a bit higher because you had to fork out the money for the directory listing, and the PPC listing, but you now have a customer that thinks your prices are cheap, and provided you give good support, you’re going to have some effective WOM advertising.

Thats why I feel advertising on directories, or other sites in general that use PPC traffic can be more effective than having ads on a site that is ranked high in google. With PPC engines, you can always be spot above or below the directory or site you are advertising on. Hell- you could have your homepage listing 1 spot in front of the directory, and another page made to also promote your site one spot behind a directory.

example:
search term: Cheap Windows Hosting
1. Cheap Windows Hosting with HOST NAME (directs to your site)
2. Web Hosting Directory: Cheap Windows Hosting (your site listed)
3. Host NAME: Cheap Windows Hosting

Of course I wouldn't recommend this on a term like "web hosting", but for some of the niche geared web hosts, this would be ideal. Send 25 bucks to the directory your advertising on and tell them to bid on a specific term.

Originally posted by intraweb
Directory advertising is too costly and innefective. I don't do any directory advertising, unless it is free.

I would rather spend my money elsewhere and get better results.
Just read through WHT about the horror stories - spending $500 and getting 1 customer for sub $10/mo hosting. It is common.

I also ask myself the basic question: If I was looking for a hosting company, would I use one of these sites?

The fact is, well-run directories receive highly targeted traffic. (There are exceptions) If the only step taken in marketing your site is getting a listing on these sites, you really can't expect much. There are many other factors involved in running a successful campaign on a directory, or by any means of advertising.

I run a directory, and I'm the first to say that you are probably wasting your money advertising on my site, or any other directory if you have not taken any other marketing measures, or have a poorly designed site/pricing structure.

Zak

NEWS FLASH KIDDIES:


They are ALL THE SAME SITE just different SKINS. You have all been fooled with your own methods....Baaa haaaa haaaa haaaa

Originally posted by TeleSouthNet
NEWS FLASH KIDDIES:


They are ALL THE SAME SITE just different SKINS. You have all been fooled with your own methods....Baaa haaaa haaaa haaaa

Are you in the right thread?

me as a host .. i need the directory who worry to pring good traffic to his users (hosts).

this good traffic have 2 and only two source:
- Search engines
- related sites advertising (scripts, web design tools, ...)

i say only 2 because the end user if he found a good host in a directory and like this host he will forward his friends direct to the host not to the directory. while if he dislike the host he will try to find another host in another directory ( of in search engine )

so hosts need good traffic .. and in that i like ppcforhosts.com and tophosts.com ONLY

Originally posted by Unixhoster
me as a host .. i need the directory who worry to pring good traffic to his users (hosts).

this good traffic have 2 and only two source:
- Search engines
- related sites advertising (scripts, web design tools, ...)

i say only 2 because the end user if he found a good host in a directory and like this host he will forward his friends direct to the host not to the directory. while if he dislike the host he will try to find another host in another directory ( of in search engine )

so hosts need good traffic .. and in that i like ppcforhosts.com and tophosts.com ONLY

Good mix

just 1 thing to say - it all comes to down CPC at the end of the month when you're reviewing your campaign...

How much did you pay per click and was it targeted enough.

So if a host dir offers a showcases spot for say... $300 and provides 300 clicks it's not bad at all :)

$300 = 300 click ..... yes very good in case you got 300 click from real customers not from another hosts not find anything to do but watch other hosts :)

if i visited findsp or hostsearch or whatever and i found a good offer in banner in fact i'll "CLICK" on the banner to check what this ppl offers .. i'll not bother to type domain name in new browser window :)

same with others .. in checkisp for example .. the highest bids appear in the admin area of hosts! why ? just to collect few 100s of clicks daily ofcourse :)

hostpulse another bad example .. they have findmyhosting.com as pop-under ... so you pay imperssions in the home page of hostpulse and simply visitors will CLICK on findmyhosting .. findmyhosting its direct offers and visitors will not bother searching in hostpulse ....

Start a directory for all the web hosting directories. :D :stickout:

Originally posted by CritticAge
Start a directory for all the web hosting directories. :D :stickout:

Believe it or not they already exist....

hostpulse another bad example .. they have findmyhosting.com as pop-under ... so you pay imperssions in the home page of hostpulse and simply visitors will CLICK on findmyhosting .. findmyhosting its direct offers and visitors will not bother searching in hostpulse ....

FindMyHosting does not pop-under ANY site - so not sure where that came from.

For the small host Branding is a fairly pointless exercise, especially given that the majority of new hosts do not think through what their target market is & default to the wider huge general web hosting market - unless you are spending big $ on branding you will never create a brand. The small host is looking for sales.

Lonny states above a key point - at the end of the day it all comes down to CPC. Targeted web hosting clicks tend to be expensive - PPC being the most expensive. Most established directories get traffic equally as good as PPC traffic & then they target it further & the CPC is much lower than PPC traffic. This makes sense for the small host & large host.

There is always a lot of discussion about which "directory" site creates sales & which one doesn't. No directory site creates sales - all they can do is provide targeted prospects that are ready to buy hosting. It's upto the host to create a sale. There is a huge difference host to host. Some hosts in FindMyHosting can convert more than 1 in every 10 visitors into a sale. Some convert none. This conversion difference host to host is nothing to do with the quality of traffic it has everything to do with how well the host can sell.

If you are a new host you need targeted prospects - Advertising on a web hosting resource site is one of the most cost effective ways available to bring in new targeted prospects and the selection of where to spend your ad $ comes down to being sure that the traffic is targeted and the CPC.

Originally posted by NovaW


FindMyHosting does not pop-under ANY site - so not sure where that came from.

I think they are mistaking your site for a simple list of ppc placements www.findyourhosting.com . (Which is owned by hostindex. ) Your site offers in depth content, they only offer a list of 3 sites...unless you click the more button. Not in you league. :-)

Originally posted by James Cross


I think they are mistaking your site for a simple list of ppc placements www.findyourhosting.com . (Which is owned by hostindex. ) Your site offers in depth content, they only offer a list of 3 sites...unless you click the more button. Not in you league. :-)


I keep confusing them as well :)

HostPulse is a spam site. I registered there with hostpulse@winshack.net and now get spam at that address.


This may or may not be the case. The site could have been crawled for email addresses. This address is also listed on the hostpulse site as the contact email address

$300 for 300 clicks? Has it come down to this on the internet? This is supposed to be some bargain? I'll pass on the offer...

This is why I stopped most online advertising for the hosting business... It is too flooded of a market, and you do not get back what you spend out...

Word of mouth, local advertisement, and referalls... simple, cheap, and much more effective.

I like findmyhosting.com. They found an unbiased way to present a directory. Having hosts advertise on your site for finding webhosting just seems like a conflict of interest to me.

Originally posted by intraweb
$300 for 300 clicks? Has it come down to this on the internet? This is supposed to be some bargain? I'll pass on the offer...

This is why I stopped most online advertising for the hosting business... It is too flooded of a market, and you do not get back what you spend out...

Word of mouth, local advertisement, and referalls... simple, cheap, and much more effective.

It's come to worse. Advertisers threw branding out the window, and now only care about the number of clicks they receive.

IMHO almost all online advertising for the hosting business is a waste of time and money. That goes for directories, PPC, banners, pop under/over/sideways, etc.,

There are still some ways to do effective online advertising, but you have to be creative... 'think outside the box!'

I have one campaign running now, that works well. It delivers targeted (web designers, hosting seekers). I get 1000 QUALITY unique visitors per month. The cost is $100.

That is as steep as I will go - I even get a little greedy with that at times, as it translates into a dmie per click. I would like to see it under a nickel - but these visitors are worth the dime, they are very targeted.

This is not a directory, search engine, PPC, or anything like that. Just a good website I stumbled upon, with good quality traffic. One email later, and I get 1000 quality visitors a month for $100. Be creative... or be prepared to pay the thieves...


:D

There is absolutely no way I will ever trust a host dir. Why? Because when I was looking for a host, one of the dirs recommended me totally hosted. The others usually had ratings based on one or two reviews. This forum and freewebspace.net are the only sources of reliable industry info I will ever use

I'll echo that - these directories were of no use to me.

Since I discovered WHT I've never gone back to them.

[I must admit I did ignore the advice on WHT as well but I did find it useful in a way]

These hosts just give high ratings to their sponsors - I can't remember the names but they gave high ratings to really ridiculous outfits. It was obvious their rating mechansims were being spammed as well - just so many perfect 10s.

Then they were just so difficult to use - their search results would lead you to believe they had reviews but then you'd click to find a blank page.

Just one dir I'll say left me with a good taste: ActionJackson - altough as I sais since I found WHT I've never been back...

Originally posted by Reality Host
Having hosts advertise on your site for finding webhosting just seems like a conflict of interest to me.

So whats that say about the yellow pages????

......just give high ratings to their sponsors - I can't remember the names but they gave high ratings to really ridiculous outfits. It was obvious their rating mechansims were being spammed as well - just so many perfect 10s.

This is a generalization - I can't speak for other directories, but we don't have any sponsors and we don't rate hosts - only customers can rate hosts in FindMyHosting. Nothing is perfect, but we check that the rater is actually hosted by the company & we require email validation of the rating. In addition - the rating system is far more involved than a 1-10 rating - it is based on specific questions.

I do agree that for an ad based site there is a perceived conflict of interest, and in some cases there is a fairly obvious conflict of interest being demonstrated, but there are I believe many ad based directories that operate ethically. Just because a potential for a conflict of interest exists does not mean that it is being abused. At the end of the day you have to make that judgement for yourself.

The problem is that the market is saturated & some bad apples make all the apples look rotten.

I was wondering, why are those directories selling their ad space? Dont they make more from commissions? And also, what are conversion rates usualy, considering that traffic of such directory is targeted (comes from banner/link ads, SE listings, etc)? thanks, and sorry for digging this up :)

Originally posted by rackyou
I was wondering, why are those directories selling their ad space? Dont they make more from commissions? And also, what are conversion rates usualy, considering that traffic of such directory is targeted (comes from banner/link ads, SE listings, etc)? thanks, and sorry for digging this up :)

In my case, I meet hosting companies audience, and I would have to rely on the hosting companies prices, promo pages, design, their support, reputation, the whole deal in order to meet sales. Also, I've been involved in advertising for years, and have never been a fan of CPA only, or results-oriented campaigns. One being, too many variables in closing a sales that are outside of my hands, I don't believe that impulse buys still happen in web hosting (exceptions), and as I said before, I meet the audience which is my job in creating a platform for hosting companies.

Another reason is because I think hosting companies value from advertising beyond immediate sales, and clicks to their site. They value from branding, which accounts for more sales than immediate buys (CPA).

Also, I wouldn't want to take findmyhosting.com's edge away. ;)

I would have to agree with this whole advertising concept on directory sites. Hosts can't expect to get a reasonable ROI without having some remotely competitive plans. It's tough to compete with companies that are offering substantial packages for $8.00 or less.