Hosting Directories Like Web Hosting Jury? Good or not?

Blue said:
Webhostingunleashed.com?
Not a chance. There is no accountability for the reviews at all. Just look at all of the reviews posted by "no name" Don't you also find it a little coincidental that all of the top rated hosts are the ones who webhostingunleashed make the most money from affiliate programs?
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Hi, that is not true, my name is Ben and me and a friend took over Web Hosting Unleashed from the old owner in October. I spent the next two months going through the entire database of old reviews and removing what were obvious fake reviews, reviews that were fluff, reviews that were just plain wrong etc, it took two months of intense work but the database as it exists now is clean. If you see something I missed please email and let me know.

In early december we launched the new design and backend my partner had coded. Also since October we require a lot more on the review and we do a lot more to verify then the old owner did. In the backend we get their email, domain or domains, length they have used them etc.. Also the only reason some are shown as Anonymous is because the old owner didn't require names, we do now.

I'll go over what steps we take:
Here is a link to our review policies page for more examples:
http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/p/reviewpolicies.htm

I personally verify each review via email with the person. I usually end up asking for more info and to try to get some specific example from the person. We track a number of things to catch hosts posting fake reviews, IP, IP proximity, compare whois, search google for review names/domains to see if any connections are obvious. We do our best to ensure the reviews coming in our real reviews, in fact this last week with these methods we caught three companies faking reviews. One was a bigger one who thought we wouldn't catch their IP proximity and that ownership of the IPs traced back to their office hometown, one was family of a host company and apologized. We will soon have a wall of shame that lists hosts that do this as well.

Right now the hosting companies we recommend on our frontpages is based 90% on user ratings and 10% by me (long time hosting veteran). The only difference between that and the user generated list at http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/hosts/best-hosts.php is that I removed ICDSoft. The best hosts list is a list of all hosts in our system who have more than 15 positive reviews and are recommended by at least 90% of the reviewers. We are in the process of tweaking the design and in the next two weeks the frontpage will be purely driven by user reviews and the only place my recommendations will be will be on guides (they are being redesigned as well) and on those it will clearly mark them as editor choices. Besides that its all user driven.

Any host that has an affiliate program we join and use their affiliate link as we have to make some money off the site to run it. I don't feel that impacts our credibility, espicially once we get the new design up for the frontpages up. Similarly an ad system is also being integrated as well so we make money off that that will fund the site.

Let me know what you think, sorry for the late reply, I took a month break over christmas to see family and travel and just got back mid january and now I'm back to writing for the site full time. I also write for resellerguide.com, site for hosting companies to get tips on how to improve.
 
Artashes said:
As Blue said, webhostingunleashed is infested with affiliate links. Quite ironic for an honest review web site. As far as hostsearch goes, I was never a fan of search engine based sites because you can't control listings, while a lot of companies cheat on them to get better search results.
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We join every affiliate program by every host, we need the money to run a site and we have put a ton of time into it. After the changes next week with the new frontpages the only place MY recommendations will be is on the guides and they will be marked once that design is finished as editor recommendations. For more info on me and my drive please read this post at WHT on the same issue:
http://webhostingtalk.com/showpost.php?p=4257704&postcount=12

I hate bad hosting companies, my goal is to help people find hosting for their specific needs. You don't see the site recommending companies like ipower or startlogic or other high paying **** companies right?

We are also working on a number of new features that should be coming over the next six months as we have time:
1. Widget/Badges - dynamic and static to show your positive reviews, or for users to link to their reviews, etc.
2. Big comparison engine for host to host
3. Big comparison engine for hosting plan to hosting plan although that will take some time for the data entry, not sure how to do that yet.

And some other cool stuff, where you can locate the closest local host by putting in your zip etc :).
 
Review Sites, Definately Questionable!

O.k., something I do know something about! I do actually run a review site. And I have also reviewed MANY other review sites! I must say most are all over the board because yes, many are fake and yes many do rate by the highest commission payouts. My review site may also look questionable to some, however, I am one of the two people who run my site that work our butts off every day researching and interviewing (or trying to at least!) employees of these hosting companies. I base my rankings off of my research and personal opinions and respectablilty of these hosts. So yes, definately be weary about those "web jury review sites", however, keep in mind that maybe some, just some are trying to not only make a buck! Thanks. :smash:
 
globalgoods said:
O.k., something I do know something about! I do actually run a review site. And I have also reviewed MANY other review sites! I must say most are all over the board because yes, many are fake and yes many do rate by the highest commission payouts. My review site may also look questionable to some, however, I am one of the two people who run my site that work our butts off every day researching and interviewing (or trying to at least!) employees of these hosting companies. I base my rankings off of my research and personal opinions and respectablilty of these hosts. So yes, definately be weary about those "web jury review sites", however, keep in mind that maybe some, just some are trying to not only make a buck! Thanks. :smash:
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Why are you posting here? Your site is just a list of hosts that pay you? You rank Globat in the top 10 when they turn over any canceled customer to debt collectors and have one of the worst rankings in the industry. Plus you don't have any user reviews or revews by you, just a company listing page of hosting companies. Half the companies on your page have more then 20 negative reviews in our database.
 
Web Jurys Unveiled

I think the net is in desperate need of all the honest real experience reviews of webhosting companies available. Not to advertise myself or anything, but I run a webhosting review website called <<MOD NOTE: Self-promotion is not allowed anywhere on the forum>>. A real webhost directory! We put a lot of blood sweat and tears in to that website, most of it research that we continue to do every single day to bring real people like you top hosting companies that are actually worth a click! Our ratings are based on our own opinions, as well as research and testimonials from real people with real experiences. Most review sites are meant to credit and rate hosts based on how much commission they will receive from referring that host and so on, it rarely has anything to do with anything else. They refer webite A and make $100 instead of referring website B and only make $20 from. Even if website B is 10 times the better host. But they do not care, and rarely do they even know the first thing about what makes a good host, etc. I also created a forum on the site so that the average user can voice their opinion freely and people get a better idea of what a host is like when its coming from real people with experiences. Unfortunately we can't reach everyone, so hopefully you can reach us and many others while providing informative, honest opinions and reviews of these hosts. Anyways, I just wanted to give a quick heads up about a lot of these so called review sites that are out there, barely you can trust them so do not rely on them. Rather, rely on forums and word of mouth from friends, etc. That's a better idea. However, being that I also run a review site, I didnt want to kick myself here, so I just wanted you to know at the same time there are SOME review sites that are credible. Like I said, I review, research and interview some of the top host employees continuosly so that I can get a good idea of how a hosts credibility and professionalism stands up to its competition. Because there are SO many hosts out there and its really hard to know which is which. I used to run a paid hosting website, and I hate to say it but I wouldnt have used my services if I were them. Bad to say, but running a host is really hard. And I didnt have what it took. So I decided to take my love of enterprenuership and the webhosting field and use it in a better manner. Now I still get to stay in the field, and better yet it never gets boring because I always find out something new every day. And even better I get to help better make better choices on choosing a host!
 
Nowadays, review sites are not trusted anymore as can be seen in the posts here. Not that they dont provide real or good information. Its just that some "bad eggs" have rotten the whole basket. So I don't think there is one out there that is really (and solely) relied upon by webmasters and hosting customers.

I always take a grain a salt whenever I go and see who is on top of these directories. What I do is I compare and see what other people are saying in various webhosting forums with that of the reviews in these directories.

Normally, if the review on the directories matches those of the people or customers testimonies in the forums (say they are both satisfied), then I would tend to believe that the rankings are true. But that's just the beginning of more research and testing of the prospect web host. Webhosting directories has helped me in some ways but not an absolute reference point for choosing a good host for my websites.

It always pays to be patient in search of really reliable hosts. And web hosting directories and review sites IMHO cannot satisfy the webmaster's need to know who is really the best in the industry.
 
globalgoods said:
I think the net is in desperate need of all the honest real experience reviews of webhosting companies available. Not to advertise myself or anything, but I run a webhosting review website called 16hosts.com. A real webhost directory! We put a lot of blood sweat and tears in to that website, most of it research that we continue to do every single day to bring real people like you top hosting companies that are actually worth a click! Our ratings are based on our own opinions, as well as research and testimonials from real people with real experiences. Most review sites are meant to credit and rate hosts based on how much commission they will receive from referring that host and so on, it rarely has anything to do with anything else. They refer webite A and make $100 instead of referring website B and only make $20 from. Even if website B is 10 times the better host. But they do not care, and rarely do they even know the first thing about what makes a good host, etc. I also created a forum on the site so that the average user can voice their opinion freely and people get a better idea of what a host is like when its coming from real people with experiences. Unfortunately we can't reach everyone, so hopefully you can reach us and many others while providing informative, honest opinions and reviews of these hosts. Anyways, I just wanted to give a quick heads up about a lot of these so called review sites that are out there, barely you can trust them so do not rely on them. Rather, rely on forums and word of mouth from friends, etc. That's a better idea. However, being that I also run a review site, I didnt want to kick myself here, so I just wanted you to know at the same time there are SOME review sites that are credible. Like I said, I review, research and interview some of the top host employees continuosly so that I can get a good idea of how a hosts credibility and professionalism stands up to its competition. Because there are SO many hosts out there and its really hard to know which is which. I used to run a paid hosting website, and I hate to say it but I wouldnt have used my services if I were them. Bad to say, but running a host is really hard. And I didnt have what it took. So I decided to take my love of enterprenuership and the webhosting field and use it in a better manner. Now I still get to stay in the field, and better yet it never gets boring because I always find out something new every day. And even better I get to help better make better choices on choosing a host!
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Um, your site doesn't have reviews, its just a product info page and I have no idea what you are talking about.
 
cpsitesaver.com said:
Nowadays, review sites are not trusted anymore as can be seen in the posts here. Not that they dont provide real or good information. Its just that some "bad eggs" have rotten the whole basket. So I don't think there is one out there that is really (and solely) relied upon by webmasters and hosting customers.

I always take a grain a salt whenever I go and see who is on top of these directories. What I do is I compare and see what other people are saying in various webhosting forums with that of the reviews in these directories.

Normally, if the review on the directories matches those of the people or customers testimonies in the forums (say they are both satisfied), then I would tend to believe that the rankings are true. But that's just the beginning of more research and testing of the prospect web host. Webhosting directories has helped me in some ways but not an absolute reference point for choosing a good host for my websites.

It always pays to be patient in search of really reliable hosts. And web hosting directories and review sites IMHO cannot satisfy the webmaster's need to know who is really the best in the industry.
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True but I feel our site is the best resource out of those available, esp with the changes we have coming out. I think in six months you will agree with me. Not that I think we should be the only source either, webhostingtalk.com and other forums are a good source too, esp non webmaster forums like wickedfire, digitalpoint, v7n, etc. Its hard when we only have 5 reviews on a host that is big as it would be better if we had 20, hopefully we start getting more and more reviews as we grow in popularity.
 
Authentic and personalized reviews makes review sites credible and reliable. Hope you can get more of that not just reviews of all sorts.

Its good to know you are committed to become the authoritative webhosting review site or what have you there. This is badly needed and I can say that if this proves to be successful, its not only for the benefit of the review site owner only but for more specifically to the webhosting industry as well.

I can't wait to see that come into realization.

Good luck bwbbwb! :thumbsup:
 
cpsitesaver.com said:
Authentic and personalized reviews makes review sites credible and reliable. Hope you can get more of that not just reviews of all sorts.

Its good to know you are committed to become the authoritative webhosting review site or what have you there. This is badly needed and I can say that if this proves to be successful, its not only for the benefit of the review site owner only but for more specifically to the webhosting industry as well.

I can't wait to see that come into realization.

Good luck bwbbwb! :thumbsup:
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Thanks! Ya one thing we have hard a hard time with is getting quality reviews out of people. Usually I emailed them back and ask them nicely if they can send us a specific example of how support is good or bad instead of just the typical this host is awesome and cheap.

I think what we are planning on doing is add in something called featured reviews, basically reviews that are more then two sentences to help people reading find the longer more detailed reviews.

Apart that the main way we are hoping to attract more reviews is by having some contests you enter if you post a review and we are coming out with a bunch of widgets hosts and users can use to show off their rating or request users leave them.

Anyone else got any ideas?

The widgets are really cool btw, we just got the first version of it done and hopefully in about 2 or 3 days we will have a lot more, basically a way hosts can display their rating and number of reviews to show visitors they are open and have a good service/support team.
thanks, Ben

btw, have you guys taken a look at resellerguide.com at all?
 
nothing wrong with free host directories. its just theres so many sites in there, that its hard for ur site to get any attention.
 
globalgoods said:
A real webhost directory! We put a lot of blood sweat and tears in to that website, most of it research that we continue to do every single day to bring real people like you top hosting companies that are actually worth a click! Our ratings are based on our own opinions, as well as research and testimonials from real people with real experiences.
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You must be kidding... There is not one company URL listed in your "top-list" that doesn't have an affiliate link pointed at them. What credibility are you talking about?
 
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