If you don’t think there’s a monopoly in the web hosting industry, you’re dead wrong. While none of us involved in BurlyHost.com, Inc. are new to this line of work, our company is fairly new, and being new you have to get the word out — which means advertising. Try going to any of the popular web hosting forums and tell them you’re willing and ready to pay their fees for advertising and you’ll quickly find that the current hosts in the industry have completely saturated and monopolized the market.

Some forums have only one company per area, say under “web hosting” and its sub forums, while others offer such campaigns as well as run of site (ROS). Some allow only a single company to have an ad, and some allow several. Regardless of this, the current advertiser is able to completely take over and keep their position and no slots are available for any new advertisers, regardless of the fees they’re ready to pay. The current companies have locked in their positions and they continue to renew their ad programs with these forums every month, quarter or year. They also have first rights to refusal, if they wish to continue the ads or not. The ads work well, so they continue to run them.

In other words, there is absolutely no room or availability for anyone else, even if they are willing to pre-pay for a month or quarter or year of advertising (we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars, potentially each month and beyond). They say there are no available positions and there won’t be any in the foreseeable future. Therefore, the current companies have locked into leaderboard, skyscraper and other prominent ad positions indefinitely and there is no way anyone else can advertise on the same level. This makes it very difficult to break into the same category on the same playing field as the hosts that have effectively and literally monopolized upon.

I have personally worked with and for some of these hosts in question and have been a member of these forums for 8-10 years (on one of them I’m user #45 out of over 200,000 members), and I can tell you with great accuracy and truth, that knowing these companies and how they operate, they will never let go of the ad positions they have, and they will quite literally outspend themselves to remain at the top (meaning, they’ll spend more money on ads to stay the top dog on these forums and hosting lists, than they’ll have coming in, and I mean in a perpetual fashion, not just them being down one month and up the next, but their willingness to be down every month, just to try and impress some people or try and intimidate others).

Therein lies another issue. The forums themselves. They are in this for the money, only. They will say otherwise and act like they are a community for the people and to offer help and a fair, unbiased web community, but they’ve made a business out of buying popular web related forums and directories that have been built up, so they can benefit from the traffic and make money (i.e., selling ads). This is fine, this is how it works, but to pick and chose and lock in only certain companies and not allowing the competition to compete and advertise on the same level, is disappointing to see. In fact, given the option to instead consider advertising on significantly less popular and trafficked “web hosting directories”, I had mentioned that new clients will not click on a company that doesn’t over sell at an extremely ridiculous level.

On a directory list, you would pay to be on a list with 30 other companies, and everyone would offer “unlimited” disk space and bandwidth, or TeraBytes of space and bandwidth for $5/mo. We will not lie to clients or trick people into using our services, so we’d be on a list of 30 choices and be the lowest (and only honest) one. No one new to hosting would see the specs, compared, and choose us. Thus, you’re paying for nothing other than the random illegitimate click through. Simply put, when you’re competing in specs, you can’t compete on a list of 30 dishonest, greedy companies and expect a good return on your investment. The only people that win in that situation, is the company you’re paying so you can appear on their list. These lists are completely biased, as almost every single top 10 and best web hosting guide is. It’s sad, but true.

Upon mentioning the lack of value in competing against hosts that post fraudulent numbers, without prompting this discussion, the staff member at the ad company explained that “this is why we don’t allow people to use the word UNLIMITED” on the ads, because, he says with a chuckle, well, physics dictate it’s not possible”. I agree, and this is why we’re not going to sink to that level. However, I said in response “You realize, that almost every company you have locked into and monopolizing the leader board and skyscraper ads on your forum offer unlimited plans, even if their banner ad doesn’t use that word? Even so, the banners DO use the words that claim you get 8 Terabyes of bandwidth for $5/mo.” His response was that they have no control over what the companies do on their own sites.

Clearly they do not control what’s on the company’s site, but they are aware of it, and while they think it’s unethical to allow advertisers to use the word unlimited on their ad because they say “it’s not possible”, they don’t mind allowing a dishonest company to post ads, just as long as it doesn’t have the dishonest verbiage right on the banner ad image itself. Interesting. So, they are uncomfortable with “unlimited” claims, but they do allow them to splash claims of 3, 5, 8, 15+ Terabytes on them, which is equally impossible. They have the sites to make money, which means they’re not going to care that much about what companies they allow to get ads and display for them, but why pretend you have an ethical line? You’ve locked those companies in and allowed them to monopolize your popular web hosting forum and you don’t really care what they really claim to offer, provided they continue to pay you… and really, who will complain if those are the only choices?

The fact is, users of the forum, this is all they ever see and while it’s hotly debated about how unethical unlimited and extremely impossible high limits of space and transfer limits on the forum, user’s get used to it and accept it as the norm. After all, why don’t any non extreme oversellers place ads there, it *must* be working, right? Wrong, it’s because they have managed to be the only one’s that are “allowed” to place the ads, which gives that impression. There are plenty of hosts that offer generous (more than a client would need) amounts of disk space and bandwidth, whom are honest, realistic and talented people running web hosts, and they respect their clients enough not to lie. Anyone can claim unlimited or high numbers that aren’t possible for the price charged, and hope and pray not many people actually use much, but if that’s the case, why play some childish game about numbers so high that it makes the company actually look like they don’t know what they are doing. After all, if they did, they’d know how those claims make them look and how poorly it reflects on them.

Of course, none of that matters, since the extreme oversellers have been allowed to monopolize the market so much, that no one gets much of a chance to see what other specialty services, custom services or high quality plans that any other host with their head on their shoulders and a clue of what they are doing, could offer to them (their potential clients). In other words, there’s not even a means for these other hosts to get the same type of ads to show people they have a choice or to start a healthy discussion about what host might be better and why. Instead, the people see the same few hosts everywhere they go, everywhere they look and every time they search, and they figure “why not, what have I got to lose?” They try it, and they usually are disappointed, even possibly thinking this is how hosting is, so still why look for anyone else that doesn’t offer impossibly huge amounts. These people seem fine being lied to. Out of those people that were ignorant about the facts and either don’t know or are content with being lied to, some will come to tolerate it. Enough people tolerate poor service, the bigger that company grows, the more ads they display and the more new ignorant clients they get and the cycle continues. Good for the greedy host that lies, bad for everyone else.

Just formulating a business model by outspending yourself to be the most overexposed host with ads, everywhere on the Web, offering unrealistic things for too good to be true prices (and it never is true), is the same mentality the banks had with the sub prime loans. You can only operate for so long, and the more hosts that compete with each other to offer things that aren’t tangible or true, just for the sake of underselling the competition to get that client before the other guy does, is not only chaotic and nonsense, but it will spell disaster. You can’t operate in that fashion forever and things collapse. Just like the housing bubble, they knew it was a risk and didn’t care, all for the sake of competition and now the economy has been severely impacted in a negative way. This is the absolute same problem with extreme overselling. It’s a model that isn’t mean to last, it’s to feed on the ignorant and make a quick buck. No plans for the future.

Nothing is going to be free, so they clearly can’t give it away now or plan to in the future, especially when you consider they sell for $5/mo. 3-8 TBs of disk space, yet their entire server only has 1 TB total, and has 80-300 clients (depending on the number of accounts they house). You don’t have to have a degree in mathematics to see the problem with the physical limits, nor do you have to have a degree in economics to see that it’s financially impossible and reckless. They live on a fine line that operates on the notion that they can keep making these promises as long as things hold up. Some companies last longer than others, but ultimately it’s a sure fire sign that they have no idea what they are doing, even on the very basic business sense. It’s no secret that a great number of online businesses, especially web hosting providers, are run by owners and managers that really have no business in the field and luck is usually the only contributing factor to any success they might see. However, anyone that continues down this reckless and greedy path of lies, is eventually going to run themselves out of business.

That is only a very small part of the problem with the companies themselves, but going back to the forums and hosting review sites, they just don’t care. The ad sales rep I spoke with recognized me, knew who I was and I know several people there who work on the forum/at the company that respect me. He said that he’s seen a lot of people try the business, but knows that I know what I’m doing — and without sounding egotistical, I do! I’ve been doing it for over 17 years, just regarding web hosting, not including computers, programming, communications before that. So, rest assured, I have some idea what I’m talking about. Even so, this doesn’t sway any policies or facts of the matter, and that they’ve given up their ad space to the same people that are knowingly reckless about their companies and make fraudulent promises all based on the odds that enough people won’t use enough to expose them and their lies.

This is how it is. So be it. However, here’s where the problem continues. Even on their forum alone, some moderators, as well as community liaisons have prominent links to their own “hosting review” sites of “the best hosts”, of which are nothing more than propaganda about how great such and such host is, how much you can trust their list or hosts and how honest the hosts and they are, yet every sub page with detailed information about the company they are promoting, allegedly without motivation or bias, all have affiliate links, which point to that host’s site and they are paid per referral. They argue that if you like a host and would refer them anyway, what difference does it make if you’re paid? Well, besides the financial motivation, they are a community representative, and this gives more credence to what they say, at least to the members. They rightfully assume they can trust them over just any random person raving about such-and-such web host. Also, consider their stance if they had another company that paid $500 per referral, instead of $100. Who do you think would be more recommended? This is out of place and biased and is allowed.

The fact is, people go to these “communities” for unbiased information and reviews. People understand the reason and need for the people to make money from running the site, and make it worth their while (maybe by a lot), but when they allow unethical hosts to place banners and corner the market there and lock out/deny any competition that has a different view and plans that are actually honest (maybe this will shatter the image of the lying hosts) and don’t care that they violate their own rules of not offering impossible limits, how does that make them look when they decide to turn their heads, provided they have money generated from displaying those ads? I guess you can’t blame them, right?

Money is money, they are selling advertising, not hosting and they “make no guarantees”. Great policy, especially when you know they aren’t able to give what they offer. So much for morals. Now, let’s consider them allowing moderators to “recommend” and “defend” hosts that do this, and how the mods and community liaisons are allowed to have their own “hosting review” sites that are nothing more than affiliate links. This is their entire activity throughout the day. They post as a trusted member and community leader, only to have vested interest sites promoted on their own link within the forum. So what if most members don’t know or realize how biased it is, if they are happy with their choice (assuming they were told of all of the choices they actually have, which they never are, for obvious reasons), right? Let’s not consider playing fair or being honest, because in the end, tricking someone into thinking they got the best deal at the best host, is better than them having risked the odds of making their own informed and unbiased choice. Surely someone with financial motivation knows more about what the client wants than the client does, right?

Heck, the one “community liaisons” that sticks out in my mind like a sore thumb, frequents several of the most popular web hosting forums, gaining trust of the new members, and makes an actual career out of posting (I mean this literally, it’s their job, they do all day), so people follow the links and they get paid for each referral (rather handsomely, I might add. I know of affiliates that do nothing more than post in forums (usually nothing really helpful, unless you count their “view” and “opinions” about “hosting recommendations” or enjoy seeing them argue with people while they defend a host that just happens to be on their “honest hosts” list — big surprise) who make over $50K per month). Usually these people post for the sake of posting, finding any excuse to discuss a topic and offer nothing of value, hopeful people will follow their signature link and trick another person so they get another $100 for that single referral.

Ironically, some of these hosts they defend on their list, I know more about than they do, having worked with some of them, and know exactly how they operate, so I can immediately see the financial motivation. All of that said, all of these activities and inconsistencies and going against what they claim is unethical by allowing it anyway, and so much more… considering these things, what value and purpose do the forums have any longer once they start operating like that? No wonder people lost their heads when they found that the forums were bought by ad companies after the original owner(s) sold them. They aren’t the same, but by all accounts, they can’t be the same. You have to take these things with a grain of salt.

Apparently, the trust, the non biased input and recommendations and all of these things everyone pretends to uphold, at this point is really nothing more than ensuring financial self preservation, ensuring they are the only one’s allowed to do it and benefit thusly in a financial sense. Only select people are allowed to actually have prominent banners, and only the community leaders/liaisons and special members can really get away with this, while I’ve seen new users come and go and be ripped apart for making their intentions obvious when they try and rave, recommend and post/ask about and bring attention to a company they are affiliated with and also get money in exchange… but that’s against the rules. This entire thing just smacks of the tactics of those that are involved in and allow this monopoly. The web hosting community forums are not what they used to be, they are not as I knew them. They are a money generator now, and nothing more. The intent to build a thriving community was clearly only with the goal of creating a monopoly. This is nothing different from the many, many “top ten hosting lists” and “honest hosts lists” or the “best ranked hosts” or other “hosting directory” or “hosting guide” sites.

Back in the day, people could buy ads in those “top lists” and “directories”, and the rest would be (usually categorized) areas for the list of known hosts that were not fly by night. Then the people that buy ads rightfully get the most exposure, and the other hosts are all ranked on reviews by real customers. They’d be pretty fair and non biased, so people could make informed decisions, not being tricked and swayed by only what they see (or can see) in a forum that claims to be a hosting community. Sadly, now they are only “portals” that are just lists of the top paying affiliate programs from the top 10 highest paying companies. They care nothing about the integrity of the companies and want to make money, nothing more. Any ranks or reviews are created and fraudulent in most cases. There are now thousands of these top 10 and hosting directories, and if you look closely, you’ll start noting that these directories and top 10 listing sites are paying for ads for people to come to their site. This includes google ad words. Most of the top paying sites you get results for, are the top 10 lists, and that alone should be a tip off.

Essentially, they operate like any other spammer and trick people into using their site, so they get paid when you are suckered or tricked into using their list. You’d hope that chances of avoiding such things by advertising in a trusted community that’s been around for years would help remove all of that clutter and give potential clients a fair shake at finding the right host for them, but that’s not the case, it’s the same product in different packaging and no one else is even allowed the opportunity to put their service out there. Sure, you can, but on a much, much smaller, trivial level, if you were to try on the same site. “Sorry, all of the good ad slots are taken by the same hosts that have taken all of the available slots on all of the other forums (hosts willing to outspend themselves to stay on top and offer specs we know are untrue), but you’re welcome to a small text link on a pay per click basis, which is located at the bottom of the forum where no one in their right mind would be looking.” God forbid, the last thing we want, is for the clients to have a good chance of seeing all of the different companies that they could choose from. Good luck finding a legitimate host that is interested in service and quality, rather than underselling in price and overselling in specs, to grab as much money as quickly as they can. That’s the way they want it, so that’s the way it is. Disappointing.

Note: To make matters worse about the above issues, is that these hosts practice tactics where they effectively recruit an army of spammers to go around forums and post or comment on blogs, etc. to get the word out, which goes to their fake “top hosting list” sites and has the affiliate links. Not less than 4 hours after posting this article, a spammer actually commented with some jibberish on this blog article (luckily we don’t auto-approve comments for this reason), which had a link to their hosting list and had the top 10 very spammed hosting providers. You notice in a lot of blogs, newsgroups and hosting sites, that this is common, the same hosts listed, the same hosts spammed and the sleazy army of people that just want to make money for a referral, so it breeds an army of spammers to promote their service. They don’t care how this reflects on them, because spamming generates business and money for both the spammer and the company they spam for. The depth of sleaze practiced by some people in this industry knows no bounds. This might explain why affiliates of these hosts are seen posting “hosting deals” on forums (only the company should be posting hosting deals, per the rules), when all they do is direct traffic to the host in question so they can get their money.