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  1. #1
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    cPanel will advertise third party services by default

    What do you think about this?
    http://forums.cpanel.net/f133/attrac...-q-264422.html

    By default this will be installed on all new servers, and probably as its default re-enabled on each update.

    It seems cPanel will now go the Plesk approach forcing third party services on their customers paid and licensing software.

    I don´t think even free control panel softwares do this.

  2. #2
    You can turn it on or off.
    Q. How do I turn Attracta on and off?
    We believe you should have the freedom of choice, and this feature can be turned OFF at your convenience if you do not wish to offer these services. Like other software bundled within cPanel, this add-on can be restrictedon a per-user basis.
    I think end users will like this addon.
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  3. #3
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    Wait, we already have this enable in our cpanel setups. Do not how this could be a bad think unless you are a snake oil (seo) host.

  4. #4
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    Are you people insane?

    This is a third party service, nothing more than a link to an external service. Have you read the cPanel thread on their forums?

    Nobody is against the addon. I think its great, its the issue that it will be enabled by default that is concerning. This means you need to opt-out instead of choosing if you like this or not.

    This means, on any new cPanel server, it will be enabled by default on all your cPanel customer accounts. This means you need to turn it off manually. This means that for people that don´t want to use this, they will need to turn it off manually on each new server, more support burden and on each update again make sure its disabled again.

    Nothing is against the addon. Its the issue that will be enabled by default so for people that don´t like this they will be forced to opt-out. If people really like this service there would not be a problem by choosing it.

    Do you also happen to see that for the ones that enable it need to put a badge icon on their websites back to Attracta?

    This is bad. Because on the future what makes you think another third party service will also not ship enabled by default? And also does other SEO services and companies then also deserve the same treatment? This means they should also allowed to ship their add ons enabled by default.

    This is not how software works. There should be a marketplace where people can manually enable and decide which services they want to ship on their servers for their customers. Nothing like this should be enabled by default on each new installation. On cPanel usually they give you the choice on setup and installation to choose what you want to enable. This will be the first third party addon service enabled by default. So whats next? A SiteBuilder enabled and shipped by default also installed? Or a application installer?

    If you guys want to see a future where 100 third party services are enabled as default and you need to turn off each one you don´t want on each update, by my guest. That is not something I want. Specially because you will end up with services that compete itself together, like 10 SEO plugins, 10 sitebuilders, etc.

    And the fact its advertised as the only one enabled by default by cPanel on Attracta websites means your customers will think its part of cPanel and for those that don´t want to offer this in the future will have to explain your customers why its not enabled.

    Not to mention you are the ones now having to support this. Did you happen to know that your customers data will automatically be send to Attracta as well? And did you even see how its looks inside cPanel? With a big banner on the top? I guess not. Privacy concern comes to mind and also if they are hacked (any server can be hacked) they will gain access to every cPanel server that has this enabled as they can call back back to your server. Once thousands of servers have this enabled, Attracta servers will surely be a nice target to get access to cPanel servers.

    And believe me every server has security issue, the idea of centralizing is just insane. And the fact its shipped by default will mean allot of sys admins forget to turn it off.

    I don´t want something like this enabled on every new customer account. Its just a Sitemap feature a service you can get for free anywhere else, even with freebie scripts.

    So why doesn't then Google Webmaster tools also come enabled as default? Or how about Adwords?

    For those that are not aware Attracta will and is promoting the big hosts on their partner website and once you enabled it on your cPanel YOUR customers will be on their servers, nothing there stops them from clicking on their partner page or looking at better suggested hosts like "This hosts work better with Attracta"

    You people are just insane if you want to lose your customers control like this and it will be installed on each new server. Forced opt-out is what spammers use. If their service is really great, people will choose to enable it and use it. My guess is that its not, so its forced on each new cPanel.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by omax View Post
    You can turn it on or off.


    I think end users will like this addon.
    Sure, if you happen to be in the list:
    http://www.attracta.com/partner.jsp

    Do you think they will put every single host in the planet there? Guess again. Only the big boys are going to be keep in the top. And that is one of the link your customers will go (or can) from inside your cPanel.

    I don´t have anything against their service. But I do that they want to force this as default on new installs. cPanel is licensed software, we pay for it, its not a freebie. Whats next? Banners ads inside our control panel? This is nothing more than an affiliated service, you don´t control anything about this addon at all. Its even wrong to call it an addon because nothing is installed in your server, except some API calls and stuff that redirects to their servers.

  6. #6
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    Hello,
    I am wondering how much revenue sharing is cPanel getting from this deal, if any, it should offset the license costs
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  7. #7
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    I don't think it should be on by default.
    Erick T.

  8. #8
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    I also don´t think it should be enabled by default. I welcome any new feature, but its about choice. If you read the cPanel forum there are allot of concerns and answers not replied, silence is the answer.

    This feature is nice, but not turned on by default on each new server and install.

    For people that disable this, it will be a pain to check each time on each upgrade if its enabled again. And what happens if someone signs up in the meantime? And then you remove it?

    Or what about if you forget to do it in one server?

    Not to mention it would be a nice target for hackers, to get backdoor access to cPanel servers, all they need to do is concentrate their efforts in Attracta servers.

    I remember when LastPass said it was 100% safe. The idea of having a centralized database for logins and passwords means jackpot for hackers, now they just need to concentrate their efforts into 1 single point. And eventually they got compromised. Not completely but they had a breach.

    So what makes you think Attracte is safer than some security companies? Its not.

    Their will have security breaches and I wonder how much power that will gain cPanel users. All they need to do is change the pages in Attracta servers and redirect each cPanel user that clicks on its icon to a malware or fake page. Or they just need to send compromised API calls back to your server.

    Sure, you may think, this can happen with any third party service. Absolutely ! But the minute one of this is a default, it means thousands and thousands of servers will have it enabled, intentionally or not, and with so many servers having it on, including new installs, Attracta servers will be jackpot in order to gain access to millions of websites where they can upload malware of infect files. Attracta will have access to every single pages of every single client in your cPanel servers?

    This could be the biggest security breach in the history of the internet. Millions of websites infected? And who will they blame? Your host? Attracta? Guess, probably cPanel. I see the titles in the media "Websites using cPanel where hacked"

    Please don´t let us forget all the breaches lately. Enabling this third party plugins by default on every server is just absolutely insane, its giving them to much power. And I don´t even want to enter into the morals of how dishonest this is for other SEO companies that are left out by cPanel with this decision.

    cPanel, neither you will have any control of the service, they all will reside on Attracta servers, and your users and its data, and its website data is send to them. Do I trust them? Yes, but do I trust them to handle millions of websites on the Internet? Absolutely not. The minute they become centralized like this, its a single attack point.

    Also, how this is supposed to be easier for Sys Admins now? For people in different countries where Attracta TOS cannot be applied or for people that just want to turn it off? Its now another step you need to manage and make sure on each new install or updates to be turned off again. How awkward, having to turn it off each time you update or change something in cPanel.

    I had the best views and comments about cPanel as a company and product. But this decisions just makes me scare, because they are the leader in the hosting industry regarding control panel, and if they start to bundle third party services and addons into their services, it sure makes me think allot about their future as a company and where they are going. This are not hosting tools, this are websites tools, they should not enter the arena of webmaster, SEO is not part of their core cPanel product, and Attracta tools are silly at best. You just need to search in Google "Seo tools" and you will thousands of websites offering similar services, paid and free, as well scripts that do the same.

    A sitemap? This is what get with them. A sitemap send to Google. I don´t know if I have to laugh or cry. And they actually must scan the whole account to do this, that is giving a third party to much power, not even Google does this and their Webmaster Tools panels is way better than anything they can offer on their free services.

  9. #9
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    It's interesting that they are making this opt-out automatically.

    From a cPanel rep on their forum:

    At the onset of this partnership, cPanel evaluated the current revenue share program Attracta has in place currently. We felt that it was important for cPanel as a company to make sure all Hosting Providers that took advantage of this new Feature received a comparable revenue payout that the many current Attracta partners where provided.

    On our end, we didn't want to take anything away from that 10% recurring revenue and in the end we were able to work out different model with Attracta to insure this was the case.

    I will be reviewing some of the other questions that have been answered and providing a more detailed response later today or in the morning.
    So, they're making money out of it, and hoping that most won't disable it. Considering the amount of USD they must take each month in cPanel licences, it seems a very odd thing to do...

  10. #10
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    Like any business, they are trying to make more money off their software. They own it it, not me, not you but them.
    If you do not like what they are doing, make your own or switch. There is option.

  11. #11
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    I agree with you, it's entirely up to them, I'll give it a test and probably disable it anyway, just interested to see how this is going to work out. As long as it won't reactivate on every update then that's fine by me. It would be more decent and honest of them to make it opt-IN rather than opt-OUT though.

    It's probably the first of many 3rd party modules which will come as standard until people get too annoyed with it.

  12. #12
    I really don't care much for it, but hopefully they can have a 3rd party module section, and have some other simple nice stuff.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeriesN View Post
    Like any business, they are trying to make more money off their software. They own it it, not me, not you but them.
    If you do not like what they are doing, make your own or switch. There is option.
    Your wrong. cPanel is not a freebie. Its a paid software, yes we don´t own it but customers license it for use. Not even free control panel puts forced opt-out affiliate programs on their panels. And this is all this is, an affiliate program.

    If you are so sure about, then don´t let use forget Microsoft was in troubles for shipping Windows with IE build in. Yes, that was extreme, but its not like you say "they own, they can do what they want".

    Some respect for customers should be there. Its if Microsoft would ship a forced icon in their desktop that sends to an external service and sends your data with it. And then when you disable it, its installed again on updates. Sure they can do this, but how do you think people will react to it?

    Yes, you can imagine how they would.

    The correct thing cPanel should do, is have a marketplace or sections where every third party service that has cPanel modules are offered after some testing and verification. This way administrators can then choose which they want to ship or enable on their customers control panels.

    And do you think this will be only one? Think again. If this works as they expect, Attracta will not the last one. Other companies will also make agreements to ship their addons installed by default to the point admins will have to eventually disabled like 50 third party services on each new server.

    Your comment is like cPanel is free, and we are have to thank them for using it and don´t have a voice on this.

    Your wrong. Companies pay for this software, their license costs money. And its a hosting control panel, what in the world does it have to evolve into a SEO bundled service.

    Its also installed on our servers, not cPanel servers, not Attracta ones, your comments feels like people should give away their rights on their own hardware, network and servers just because they are using a software. Companies and sys admins want to know what things are installed and which data is send out from their networks, specially when it includes customers information send to third party services.

    When Parallels started with this, all they got was rage from their customers. I remember when Parallels decided it was nice to show a big fat Virtuozzo banner on the top header of every licensed Plesk control panel and you could not remove it unless you edited the code directly. Customers felt insulted by this, allot of customers decided this was to much from SW Soft which is what they where called back them to the point they then made a switch to disable it for admins. Today I think they even removed that as well including the banner.

    If you feel this is allot different its not.

    You are right about one think if you don´t like others will build other stuff and they are doing it. There are cPanel alternatives, some paid, some free, none of this pulls this off and people will just go with that they consider more professional and serious.

    I don´t consider a serious software to make this stuff, and decided which third party service is best for their customers. It shocked me that such a band decision came from company with great reputation and brand.

    For those of you that are not aware please read this in the Terms of Services of the service:
    http://www.attracta.com/terms.jsp

    Definitions

    1.1. "AdDollars" means an in-text advertising service that analyzes your website pages, determines topics, keywords and matches and serves relevant sponsored keyword links within the text of your website pages.

    If their service is so great, they would have drama in making it opt-in and allot of companies could choose to use it or not.

    So its ok to force people to opt-out? Think again, that is what spammers do with advertising and its considered spam. The emailing has to be forced opt-in to not be considered spam. Anything on which you need to opt-out is considered intrusive. And this is forced opt-out.

    Of course I expect allot of people here to say its ok, mostly people that hate cPanel or welcome anything they can use to hurt the cPanel brand of take advantage on the issue. I would at least. I would say "Its great, they can do what they want" but internally would be laughing on the huge mistake they are doing. Competition is not doing this because its not nice to spam your customers with third party services.

    Today its SEO, what comes tomorrow? There are thousands of plugins and services for cPanel, so why not ship all of them installed by default then and let people have to disable every single one of them manually?

    I also find it very funny when you say "There is option." in your post. So this is called option for you? How about we all spam your WHT inbox with private message ads and then tell you. You don´t want to read them? You can delete them so there is option.
    Last edited by nibb; 03-22-2012 at 12:28 AM.

  14. #14
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    I wonder how much Attracta paid cPanel.... hmmm... or maybe "You include us in cPanel, we include you in search engine - Attracta deal" .

    It is being advertised all over their forum.

    Really wow!

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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by net View Post
    I wonder how much Attracta paid cPanel.... hmmm...

    It is being advertised all over their forum.

    Really wow!
    You mean bribe? Because I asked on their forums if I make a similar module to Attracta then cPanel would ship it installed as default as well on every new cPanel. Guess what? No answer.

    So it seems they have a special privilege over other third party services.

    "Bribery, is an act of implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient"
    Last edited by nibb; 03-22-2012 at 12:32 AM.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by net View Post
    I wonder how much Attracta paid cPanel.... hmmm...

    It is being advertised all over their forum.

    Really wow!
    cPanel claims they are not making anything, I tend to not believe this. Time is money and I doubt they would invest the time without money
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by KMyers View Post
    cPanel claims they are not making anything, I tend to not believe this. Time is money and I doubt they would invest the time without money
    I don't believe that.

    If they are so kind to include Attracta, then include other 3rd party scripts too....

    Looks like they made some "great deal agreement to each other" :-)

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  18. #18
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    I forgot, it will install something into Apache as a module and some cron scripts on your server. So nice, it first installs and modifies your web server but sure you can then disable it (since its forced opt-out) which means they already made changes to your server before you are giving the choice not to do it in the first place. I wonder how many customs installs this may break first.

    So first we install then we ask?

    If they go with this, I suggest people NOT to upgrade their cPanel installations anymore. I don´t want this crap on my webservers. How they dare to install modules in Apache (probably the javascript that will puts ads on websites on the fly) and some cron script which I don´t even know how much or what they will run.

    And when I mean how they dare, I say this because one think is if you decide to do it, like with Cloudflare, another thing is if its installed by default and then you need to uninstall it and remove it if you don´t want it.

    When I dropped Plesk as the major panel for similar issues like this and other issues, I had 2 choices in mind. Hosting Controller and cPanel.

    It seems its time again to start taking Hosting Controller more seriously. Back then they where a bit new, but they are still here after years, and they kill them in terms of features. Why? Because cPanel is to busy integration this stupid little things they consider features like others are clustering, load balancing, multi platforms, etc. Its not like cPanel did not had enough works to do with features, they decide to start earning some profits with Affiliate programs. I'm wondering if cPanel has financial problems.
    Last edited by nibb; 03-22-2012 at 12:47 AM.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by nibb View Post
    How they dare to install modules in Apache
    Agreed, not good. At least it can be disabled.

    Quote Originally Posted by nibb View Post
    Its not like cPanel did not had enough works to do with features, they decide to start earning some profits with Affiliate programs. I'm wondering if cPanel has financial problems.
    I was wondering what was holding up important features, like I don't know...IPv6, now we know, forced opt-out 3rd party SEO modules.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by nibb View Post
    I'm wondering if cPanel has financial problems.
    It has crossed my mind once or twice simply because their development and bug fixing seems utterly slow...

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by KMyers View Post
    cPanel claims they are not making anything, I tend to not believe this.
    In that thread they started out denying any financial compensation, then later stated emphatically they were indeed being compensated (unless they deleted that?). Cpanel is incredibly widely used, and installed on who knows how many servers overall so if they are having financial issues, they are obviously doing something horribly wrong with their money. I understand additional revenue streams are good for business, but sheesh...this is a terrible idea.
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  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by bear View Post
    In that thread they started out denying any financial compensation, then later stated emphatically they were indeed being compensated (unless they deleted that?).
    Maybe it is a per installed copy deal they have going. This would be less of a PR nightmare if they just were pro-actively answering the concerns.

    Quote Originally Posted by cPanelAP
    cPanel doesn't earn any revenue share on this deal.
    Quote Originally Posted by cPanelAP
    cPanel makes sure this all works as planned on our end and keeps everyone fully supported as only cPanel Support can do, and Attracta compensates the company for this inclusion of the Attracta software with cPanel.
    The above is pretty ambiguously worded though, not certain that's done on purpose or not.

  23. #23
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    He later confesses they're profiting:
    http://forums.cpanel.net/f133/attrac...ml#post1107091
    Answering the question then; “Is there financial incentive for cPanel, Inc. to offer the Attracta product like this?” The answer of course is, yes!
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  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by bear View Post
    He later confesses they're profiting:
    http://forums.cpanel.net/f133/attrac...ml#post1107091
    Then it's even more annoying that they're forcing the install.

  25. #25
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    like many operator in China, when you buy a new handphone it come with already installed game inside the phone and if you want to play the game loaded in the handphone you need to pay for it. Same goes to the addon on service in the cpanel.

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