Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Do You Think This is Ethical?

[troika]

When we search Google for keyword 'webhosting' this is the #1 ad that comes up:

Top 10 Web Hosting Sites
Compare The Top 10 Rated Web Hosts. All offer Free Setup & Domain Name.
Top-10-Web-Hosting.com

At first this looks like a typical affiliate "review page", right? Wrong.

Upon looking a little closer we notice that 2 of the top 3 spots are occupied by Hostmonster and Bluehost, which are owned by the same company. Soon it becomes pretty obvious, that this is no regular affiliate review site.

The webhosting company behind Bluehost and Hostmonster THEMSELVES "rated" their two sites into the top 3 spots.

Do you think this is ethical? Do you think this is legal? Do you think this could withstand FTC scrutiny?

[IPv6]

It's basically whichever converts the best. No, it's not ethical in any way. Legal, possibly.

[Tom P]

Ethical? I don't think so but I don't have any reason to suspect it isn't legal, you sometimes find with high ranked review sites they crumble under offers of large amounts of money for the top spots, which I do find unethical and goes against the idea of an independant review site.

It could always be that those 2 companies for what ever reason are infact voted the best on that site If one of their divisions offer superb support then I would expect their other divisions to offer the same level of service... so it's a possibility.

[RSNET-John]

Just to play devil's advicate there, it is their web site and they can put anything they want on it. They aren't forcing you to do anything, they are just ranked #1 in google. Google is a search tool, not the ultimate source to all questions

[IPv6]

For reviews, the typical point is to not click "sponsored links" on google.

[kjaonline]

This is what wehbhostingtalk.com is for

[iHubNet-Matt]

That's not ethical, but is business. I think the best option to get unbiased answers will be to search the forums like WHT. From what I have seen, you can read unbiased reviews here.

[nutznboltz2003]

Originally Posted by kjaonline

This is what wehbhostingtalk.com is for

Exactly! When I started looking for a host I had no idea. All my friends used GoDaddy or DreamHost or ADDR. I disliked ADDR for various reasons, and ended up going with GoDaddy. It was not until a few months later that I realized I had made a mistake. A lot of searches, and a lot of affiliate links later, I stumbled upon this site. It has become my greatest resource, and I tell anyone considering building a website to check it out.

--adam

[iHubNet-Matt]

Originally Posted by nutznboltz2003

Exactly! When I started looking for a host I had no idea. All my friends used GoDaddy or DreamHost or ADDR. I disliked ADDR for various reasons, and ended up going with GoDaddy. It was not until a few months later that I realized I had made a mistake. A lot of searches, and a lot of affiliate links later, I stumbled upon this site. It has become my greatest resource, and I tell anyone considering building a website to check it out.

--adam

Its very true. as I said in my above post, you will be able to see unbiased reviews here. Mods are very careful that you are not promoting your own business. And you can see very detailed and complete reviews on many hosts here. It's nice more and more people are giving review here, as it is helping many in chosing their host.

[kjaonline]

Fortunately for me a google search of "webhosting forums" brought me here. I spent one week searching and reading the forums for more than 8 hours per day that week. I ended up with ASO and I have wht and all its members to thank for it..

[ldcdc]

Upon looking a little closer we notice that 2 of the top 3 spots are occupied by Hostmonster and Bluehost, which are owned by the same company. Soon it becomes pretty obvious, that this is no regular affiliate review site.

The webhosting company behind Bluehost and Hostmonster THEMSELVES "rated" their two sites into the top 3 spots.

Frankly, I think you're rushing to draw the conclusion a bit.

[Cylestyne]

Business is cut-throat competition, while I don't exactly condone those methods- I don't think they're wrong. It takes a lot of time to SEO such websites and get them to show up on page #1, its all a part of marketing.

[ldcdc]

It takes a lot of time to SEO such websites and get them to show up on page #1, its all a part of marketing.

This site was in the ads section of the search engine results page. SEO actually doesn't seem to be much of a concern for this particular site.

[Cylestyne]

Originally Posted by ldcdc

This site was in the ads section of the search engine results page. SEO actually doesn't seem to be much of a concern for this particular site.

Missed the ad part, even then its money thrown at marketing, all part of the competition

[Dave Zan]

Originally Posted by troika

Soon it becomes pretty obvious, that

Someone didn't bother checking further rather than taking things at face value.