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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
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    London, UK
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    web hosting "review" sites

    Are there actually any real ones?

    I don't mean the scammers that rank hosts based on how much they pay to be listed there each month like: top15hosts.com, webhostingunleashed.com, webhostingjungle.com, just to name a few i came across today.

    Please, show me one genuine, independant web hosting review site that doesn't offer advertising to hosts themselves.

    Thanks
    Hyperconfused (™)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    Chicago
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    If your looking for honest reviews from those who have years of experience, I would suggest UWSAG http://uwsag.com
    9/11 Memorial, do you have a story to tell?
    United Web Site Award Givers, do you believe your site is worthy of an award?

  3. #3
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    er, isn't that your site? it's in your signature.

    I don't even see any webhost reviews there and they offer hosting themselves, right on the front page so i don't see how they could honestly and genuinely rate and review competitors.
    Hyperconfused (™)

  4. #4
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    Apr 2004
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    338
    Websites that use our hosting;
    ...
    http://uwsag.com
    ...
    heh

  5. #5
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    Jan 2004
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    Chicago
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    UWSAG is a rating organization. Award programs apply for a rating to distinguish themselves. Look in the 'Hall of Awards'. If you want honest professional reviews, thats the best idea I know of.

    The web hosting is my own but to be honest its a long way from paying the bills I ask myself daily if its worth the effort.
    9/11 Memorial, do you have a story to tell?
    United Web Site Award Givers, do you believe your site is worthy of an award?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
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    Atlanta, Jawja
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    Loon, this may or may not fit your criteria, however, I've talked to Dan often enough to know that he doesn't pull punches. He's very careful about who he endorses, and it's a fairly unbiased opinion.

    www.whreviews.com
    Doug Hazard - "retired" Web Hosting Master
    * Full Stack (Web/WP) Dev for The Catholic Diocese of Richmond (160+ sites)
    * Sports Photographer, Media Personality and CFB Historian
    * Tech Admin for several Sports Networks/Sites

  7. #7
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    Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you meant reviews of web sites directly.
    9/11 Memorial, do you have a story to tell?
    United Web Site Award Givers, do you believe your site is worthy of an award?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Brighton, UK
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    61
    www.whreviews.com does seem fairly honest. I do not know the guy...

  9. #9
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    Apr 2003
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    London, UK
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    yes, whreviews is a great site for information, and it's good to see it's not sold out to a load of hosts with a big budget.

    Still interested in finding any rate/review sites like the ones i posted that don't sell rankings or even adverts to hosts.
    Hyperconfused (™)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    187
    http://www.findmyhosting.com is the best directory I've come across up to this point.

    Oh, and no, I don't host it or run it
    Joe
    http://www.allin1websolutions.com
    All in 1 Web Solutions LLC

  11. #11
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    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
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    3,690
    Loon, I honestly dont think there are any that actually exist. My advice would be to visit the various review sites and forums and just see what kind of feedback you can get. Then of course do your own research after you are able to choose some hosts. There are many:
    www.findsp.com
    www.comparewebhosts.com
    www.hostsearch.com
    While MOST of these directories do offer a top list, those are paid slots BUT most also have a user review section as well, just use common sense and follow up!
    HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999

  12. #12
    Originally posted by commishjoe
    http://www.findmyhosting.com is the best directory I've come across up to this point.

    Oh, and no, I don't host it or run it
    I think that one is the most popular and may be your best bet. Sort by review count! They are fun to read.

    **edit- not only fun to read, but also helpful. LOL. Sorry. Where is my mind..

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    Montreal, Canada
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    Re: web hosting "review" sites

    Originally posted by Loon
    Please, show me one genuine, independant web hosting review site that doesn't offer advertising to hosts themselves.
    Loon, you are making quite a statement that may be unfair in some ways. A directory can be independent and honest even if they offer advertising for sale. There are factors that definite who and how you sell that advertising space so that the directory remains honourable.

    Best,
    Hosting Discussion - web hosting community.

    Is your company represented?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    England
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    NetHosted - UK based hosting solutions.

  15. #15
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    London, UK
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    Re: Re: web hosting "review" sites

    sorry to confuse you all but i'm not actually looking for a host



    Originally posted by Artashes
    Loon, you are making quite a statement that may be unfair in some ways. A directory can be independent and honest even if they offer advertising for sale.
    Yes of course, but ....

    Lets say you're new to the internet, clicking around trying to find a host and you come across a hosting review site that claims they show you "only the best companies" and stuff like that.

    If they have a banner splashed across their page for a certain webhost, wouldn't you assume that they must be a decent company? i mean, this hosting review site wouldn't advertise for bad companies, would it?
    Hyperconfused (™)

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Montreal, Canada
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    Loon, you are right and that's the way it should be - a consumer would and should assume they can trust the company being advertised. Those directories might open their advertising channels only to those firms that were qualified for their site in the first place and it can be in their own terms to not list/advertise companies that do not fit the standard of their site.

    Basically, you filter bad companies out if you have certain enforced regulations in place.

    Best,
    Hosting Discussion - web hosting community.

    Is your company represented?

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    304
    There did used to be a couple of directories with an "unbiased" review model, and they actually made a lot of effort to gather technical data, company background info, and customer comments and surveys. But, eventually, these directories realized that in order to stay afloat and generate a profit, they had to start charging advertising fees. Eventually, they went to PPC models.

    Despite this, some of the review sites still do appear to have some "actual" reviews from customers either complaining or praising a company. You can usually spot the suspicious ones (the one where the person gives them 10 out of 10 everything and doesn't reveal their web site or provide any details about their experience). It's unfortunate that so many of the review sites are deceiving - but it's probably not going to change.

    If a newbie were to ask me how to search around for feedback on a host, I would suggest not only reading review sites but also doing a search on the host in Google search and newsgroups, just to be sure there aren't meriads of complaints. Aside from that, it's a good idea to request references directly from the web host.
    JC, www.webii.net
    Premium Hosting Services Since 1996
    Custom Development- www.webxess.net

  18. #18
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    Jun 2003
    Location
    Tampa FL
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    2,380
    Hostindex.com, hostchart.com and resellerreview.com. These are sites that users place reviews.

  19. #19
    There are many review directories, but the best way of choosing the host for newbie is not only to read a reviews and articles, but also try search on Google (Yahoo) and use such perfect forum as this is to find really reliable and professional web host.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Vancouver Canada
    Posts
    11

    Honest Hosts?

    We've been wondering this same thing - so many reviews websites out there... and strangely enough the best rated hosts, often have the best paying affiliate programs!

    Just for the sake of comparison - we compared the 'top hosts' listed on 10 different review sites:

    Hosting Review Comparison

    Also, we did an interview with Daniel from WHReviews a few weeks ago. He's a very straight-forward young man from Romania. We asked him about some of the less than honest reviews websites out there:

    Interview with Daniel Lemnaru
    Danny
    Editor - Web Hosting Voice

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Sofia
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    1,354
    Originally posted by TRN Douglas
    Loon, this may or may not fit your criteria, however, I've talked to Dan often enough to know that he doesn't pull punches. He's very careful about who he endorses, and it's a fairly unbiased opinion.

    www.whreviews.com
    "Honest Hosts:
    LunarPages
    HostGator
    UnitedHosting
    HostNexus
    EnhancedHost
    Pair
    Dathorn
    HostingMatters
    etc."

    Anybody can compile a list of honest or dishonest hosts. Honesty is of no avail when I am nobody.

    Oops, what's that in the bottom line?

    Advert: Reseller web hosting --> HostGator

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
    Posts
    21,920
    Hi everybody!

    Since this seems to get a bit personal I feel that I have to defend myself (and my website).

    Here's a quote from the homepage: "Well, ideally, this website will help you and it will help me. It will help you find a very good host and it should help me earn a living. I do have to earn a living because I'm very far from being rich. So I have to earn a living, like most people do. I'm sure that money will come if I provide good service to you."

    I try to be as clear as possible about what's an advertisement and what is not, hence the Advert: Reseller web hosting --> HostGator. I clearly mark that as an advertisment.

    Hostgator hosts my website in exchange for text advertisements and that ad is part of that barter. I would pay for hosting but I am forced to do that because the banking system is very weird where I live and getting a credit card (to pay for hosting and pretty much anything else) is costly, as strange as it may sound. I am working on this though and hopefully I will be able to pay for my own hosting soon enough. Too bad we're not all fortunate to live in developed countries.

    My website is not a non-profit organization and I say that clearly. I even say from which companies I get commisions for referred sales so people can choose if they believe what I say about those companies or not.

    I could list only companies with affiliate programs, like many other websites do, but I chose not to do that because it's not fair IMHO.

    Also, fact is that although more of the Honest Hosts in my (largely incomplete) list have affiliate programs, I did not join them. Why? I felt it's better this way for my visitors (although it makes no sense for me from a financial point of view).

    I even went as far as pointing out that the Ads by Google are just ads. Know anyone else that does this? Many try to make them look like they're just website content so that visitors click on them almost by mistake. I don't want that.

    I always think about my visitors and I try to be as fair as possible.

    Anybody can compile a list of honest or dishonest hosts.
    Very true. But not everybody tries to compile a true, fair list.

    I know that very well, because I try to make friends and partner with websites that are not in it just for the money. It's unbelievably hard to find "reviews" websites that are not recommending companies that always come up here as bad hosts (but have affiliate programs with high commisions).

    Thank you for taking time to read all this.

    PS. Thanks Douglas and Danny for your nice words. I really appreciate them.

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