Hi all:

I know a lot of web hosting companies uses EV1Servers. Do any of you view the free URL forwarding services that are offered by companies such as GoDaddy and Namesecure a threat to your service offerings?

The number of clients that I am finding that are hosting multiple web sites under their main account due to these free URL forwarding services are increasing. We do have the ability for clients to do this but we charge $2 per domain per month using the add-on domain function of cPanel. So obviously this cuts into our business and now we are even getting clients who want tech support for their domain names that are being serviced by someone else!

Am I just overly paranoid here or are their other hosting companies feeling the same unease about this? We don't offer reseller service but I can see the potential damage that these free URL forwarding services can do to a Reseller hosting company.

Comments and opinions are definitely welcomed and desired. Thanks.

Brian

Correction: they're hosting multiple domains, not websites, via domain forwarding. Most dom reg co's offer this as a free service.

I know this and mentioned this in my original post. Not sure what needed correction?

They point their domain names to directories that contain separate web sites NOT on their servers but on someone else's. After all a domain name ONLY points to a directory via Apache's httpd conf file. What we are really charging via our hosting services is mainly for the content that is taking up disk space and the content that is being served. So now we have this content being called up by free services and not by our own that is being paid for by the client.

Brian

But they still get charged for the bandwidth of all of the visitors? Also how many people host multiple domains all pointing to the same site? I agree it is not the best but I think it is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. They still need your hosting and atleast they are not hosting it on their isp's account...

I guess the reality is that they are paying for webspace and bandwidth and there is no way to stop them putting extra websites under the main one. My recommendation is "get realistic about the webspace and transfer you offer and be prepared for people to use it all". That's what they are paying for...

I used to offer free url forarding with my domain sales, but i don't anymore - I just offer a real cheap hosting package (with not much space or bandwidth).

My customers can have all the domain aliases they want. Like freddo said, they are paying for the disk space and bandwidth. Extra domains don't change anything, anyway. Personally I think it is a dishonest way to profit - making people pay to have domain aliases, but hey, as long as you keep doing it, it will just give me a bit of an edge.

Besides, people that get fooled by those forwards probably aren't even fit to run their own hosting account in the first place. Even the ones that are "cloaked" are just frames encasing the specified content.

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Not necessarily so. How many of us have clients that pay us to host several differnent sites of theirs? Now if these clients realise they can circumvent paying for hosting of these additional sites by simply using a free URL forwarding service then it is a very really possibility that a hosting company's profit margin would be adversely affected.



No that is not true either. They also pay for tech support, security and software upgrades, backups, server resources, e-mail, etc. Its sad that the hosting industry has defined itself to the lowest common denominator.

It is possible that a client by having multiple web sites under their main account (not necessarily his but his friends, neighbors, etc) could seriouly mulitply the workload of both servers and hosting employees. I am not saying I am trying to get the least amount of work done for the most money because that has never been my business model and the growth of my business has demonstrated that. It is just that it is amazing to see an industry that is so vital to the success of the internet continue to cut its own throat with ridicously low prices and allowing other industries to cut into its service offerings. I think a serious shake out is coming in the hosting industry with interest rates set to rise, inflation rearing its ugly head and the price of oil that must rise in price due to peak oil which will affect prices on every level of society.



So you allow your clients to use their space not only for their web sites but also for their music files, their backups of their local computer, etc? My service offering specifically informs the potentional client that we are providing various services (space, bandwidth, etc) for their web site ONLY. In other words our resources are not to be used for anything else that has nothing to do with the written purpose of their web site. Obviously e-mail can be use in many different ways and we allow for that.

I don't have a problem with a client using the space and bandwidth for their sites BUT not for anything else. If they are using up most of what they are paying for then it means their web site is a success which turns into a long term client.



What a wicked assertation. "Yea man, I think what you are doing is sinful and immoral, but as long as you are making some money keep doing it!" Do you work for the mafia?

So what is dishonest about it? I provide additional DNS services for these domain aliases, I provide additional e-mail services for these domain aliases, I provide additional backup services for these domain names, the servers work more logging the traffic that these additionals domain aliases bring which has nothing to do with the bandwidth allotted for the main accounts. So I am dishonest for charging a small amount for additonal work that is rendered?

I am not trying to find a way to stop them. My intent is to simply get a feel what other hosting companies feel about other companies that allow their users to use a hosting company's resources without paying for it.

I do appreciate the input except when I am told what I am doing is dishonest.

Brian

Why did you ask people their opinions when you don't seem to want to hear (see) them? You seem very closed minded. I don't know what control panel you use, but Ensim uses very neglible resources for domain aliases. The extra disk space from extra lines in config files, symlinks, ect. ammounts to nil. The extra lines in the logs you speak of would just be directed to the primary domain if the alias wasn't there anyway.

I feel sorry for your customers. I know I wouldn't buy hosting from such an uptight organization, and I imagine most people here wouldn't either. Most people just want freedom with their hosting accounts, and I give it to them. As long as they aren't breaking the rules in my AUP / TOS or breaking the law, they can do just about whatever like with their account.

Oh, almost forgot...



Your logic is flawed. I think of it as profiting from my honesty, not your dishonesty. Perhaps it isn't dishonesty on your part though, just greed, or something else? I'm not the most experienced sysadmin in the world, but I know enough to know aliases take up very neglible extra resources. You have yourself convinced otherwise though, and you are probably too stubborn to sway from that opinion.

Decided not to reply to seven.

-Edit-
I'm going to end the argument as well. It is far too trivial an argument to continue, and I simply have no desire to, as it will not prove to be productive in any way.