Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Who Started Off the Unlimited Everything?

[GSalam]

Hi WHT-ians

The objective of offering "unlimited" disk space and bandwidth is obvious that it's to "mislead" the poor consumer.

I know, while the majority here on WHT are against the idea, so I am, there is also a significant number of host providers who are strongly in favour of it.

But I'm just curious to know who started to offer "ulimited" everything?

Thank you

[camm]

I read somewhere that it was HostGator, but not sure if this is 100% true or not

[RobM]

Originally Posted by camm

I read somewhere that it was HostGator, but not sure if this is 100% true or not

No it was not Hostgator, they started theirs Oct 20, 2008.

I also remember when HG said there not such thing as unlimited.

If I remember correctly 1and1 or GoDaddy starting the BIG unlimited move.

There was also another big company even before 1and1 and GD, but can't remember it off the top of my head....

[TonyB]

Well a lot of the justification was is there any difference between 10000GB of space and unlimited to the end user? Nope absolutely not so if one of your biggest competitors is saying unlimited you may as well do the same. It's not changing how much realistic disk anyone can use. That was essentially hostgators justification for doing it. I'm not sure on others like bluehost and such or who started the trend. It seemed like a case of trending disk and bandwidth upwards until the numbers were so absurd it may as well be unlimited.

[ldcdc]

The objective of offering "unlimited" disk space and bandwidth is obvious that it's to "mislead" the poor consumer.

Is it? As far as I know the limited hosts all have and will use a server resources abuse clause as well. Blind reliance of the customer on the space and bandwidth offered, be it limited or not, is always a mistake, and a misrepresentation of what is really being sold (or bought).

I'm not sure on others like bluehost and such or who started the trend.

As far as I recall, one of the first big hosts to go unlimited was Yahoo.

[RahulK5]

Competition. Greed.

It all started with small host, I suppose. No big corps. Again is it unlimited or unmetered, confusing usually, unlimited is so much unlimited.

[MannDude]

You can't hate a big company for changing the game and putting the odd's in their favor. I'm willing to bet the majority of us, in the same place and time would of thought the 'Unlimited Plan' was a golden idea and would have implemented it to compete better in this market.

But of course, this has been going on for years now and most of us have learned that this isn't a good route to go down as the consumer is becoming more educated in the matter (At least here).

[pulsemediahosting]

Originally Posted by Vazapi-Curtis

But of course, this has been going on for years now and most of us have learned that this isn't a good route to go down as the consumer is becoming more educated in the matter (At least here).

Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, users think that 'Unlimited' is seriously STILL unlimited. LOL! The local hosts have to educate them on what unlimited really is.

[quantumphysics]

Dreamhost, late 90s.

[aeris]

Well, it didn't start with "unlimited". It started with hosts constantly increasing limits on each other in order to seem like the one that gave you most "bang for the bucks". Eventually they tired of that game, and just put "unlimited" instead.

Back in the days, by which I mean circa 2006, I used Dreamhost. At the time they were advertising something like 500 GB disk and 5 TB transfer for $10/month. Obviously they could not deliver any more than today's "unlimited" hosts, and the account was eventually suspended while using less than 1/10th of both. I remember them changing their moniker to "unlimited" just a few months after that, which I guess would make it early 2007. While I can't say for sure that they were the first, at the very least they jumped on the bandwagon quite early.

[NexDog]

Many hosts offered it 10 years ago but then it got such a bad rep that people stopped doing it. Then in the last 5 years big hosts started to compete with each other on space and bandwidth until they went Unlimited again in 2007-2008. I think BlueHost were the first in 2007 and then the others followed.

[plumsauce]

Originally Posted by aeris

Back in the days, by which I mean circa 2006, I used Dreamhost. At the time they were advertising something like 500 GB disk and 5 TB transfer for $10/month. Obviously they could not deliver any more than today's "unlimited" hosts, and the account was eventually suspended while using less than 1/10th of both.

Actually, even before 2006, a customer of an associate asked why his 10 dreamhost unlimited servers could not transfer as much as the single server we built for him. Really easy answer, look in the TOS and it said "10mbps port". He left

[plumsauce]

Originally Posted by Vazapi-Curtis

I'm willing to bet the majority of us, in the same place and time would of thought the 'Unlimited Plan' was a golden idea and would have implemented it to compete better in this market.

No, because first you have to be a wet behind the ears MBA without a cluestick. Sorry, that would be "Executive" MBA.

[plumsauce]

Originally Posted by IhsanHost

Hi WHT-ians

The objective of offering "unlimited" disk space and bandwidth is obvious that it's to "mislead" the poor consumer.

No, it would be more like "to satisfy greedy customers". He is not being misled. He knows full well there is no such thing as "unlimited", he is just so greedy that he hopes he can sneak under the radar.

Then when he gets nailed, he plays barracks lawyer on WHT and every other soapbox he can find. Whining about how he is losing "thousands of dollars every day" because his cheap ass 2.95 plan is suspended. Of course, he doesn't have a backup either because that actually 5.00 more a month.

[ninkynonk]

I've seen 1and1 do this in 2004. This was the first "unlimited" plan from a big company in that day. This was the days where you paid 20/mo (reseller acct) for 30GB B/W and only had 2GB disk space (for your whole reseller acct no overselling allowed!). If you planned on reselling your service you had to get very creative with managing the little resources you had allocated to you. It was very hard to compete with the "unlimited crowd" and you had to offer more services to set yourself apart.

I am glad the fad is over...... or is it?

How were all you able to cope with this?......