free webhosts - why? - geek/talk: Signature-free discourse for serious web publishers

Kev I V · 03-20-2002, 07:45 PM

Hey there,

I'm posting because in this day and age, I see that there are still a few free webhosts around. I was under the impression that the whole banner ad business model hadn't quite worked out for them. Furtheremore, there are still webhosts around that provide webhosting for free entirely, that have no banner ads, or ads of any kind at all. As a businessman, I'm just wondering why. Is there something I'm not seeing? Why would anyone still provide free webhosting that has no source of revenue whatsoever. Also, are these companies actually surviving for any time at all? Or do these few free hosts I see come and go?

Having said that, I'm certainly not arguing that I'd rather not use these free webhosts. In fact, if someone could recommend a reliable webhost that is entirely free (I don't need more than 3 or 4 megs of space for this project) that does not have any banner ads of any sort, and would provide a SUBDOMAIN as my URL, that would be awesome. Just because something seems too good to be true to me, doesn't necessarily mean that it is. I'd still be happy to use it if you could convince me that it would be reliable.

Thanks!

- Kevin

AhmedF · 03-20-2002, 10:26 PM

As far as I see it, there are two possible reasons to still offer this. [this does not apply to localized/friend hosting you for free].

1) Popups. Oh yes ... a popup barrage of unseen proportions. Many free hosts now just pop away like mad, and are possibly just tiding themselves over until things settle down again.

2) Name branding - a lot of them have shifted this way. Offer free hosting, and then offer upgrades with enticing offers. You can build up quite a nice customer db like this.

As for what you ask for .. GL with that ... we can all dream, cant we?

dayshumor · 03-20-2002, 11:20 PM

well whatever you do, stay away from freehostspace.com. They got rave reviews from many sites but I guess I caught them at the wrong time because they were in the middle of a transition to new servers when I joined.

Their customer service was awful and they tried to tell me I had to pay them to get help with my cgi-bin and I KNEW that the problem was on their side, not mine.

I think it's worth it to pay the few extra bucks per month.

batcavenet · 04-03-2002, 04:41 PM

Here is why -

1. upgrades where people actually pay

I don't see any other way they can stay in business and that's the only reason I do it - and for ad views

JDT

dayshumor · 04-03-2002, 05:45 PM

well it looks like freehostspace.com just lost the battle. Glad I moved my site.

03-20-2002, 07:45 PM	#1
Kev I V Registered User Join Date: Jan 1999 Location: Amherst, Mass. Posts: 142	free webhosts - why? Hey there, I'm posting because in this day and age, I see that there are still a few free webhosts around. I was under the impression that the whole banner ad business model hadn't quite worked out for them. Furtheremore, there are still webhosts around that provide webhosting for free entirely, that have no banner ads, or ads of any kind at all. As a businessman, I'm just wondering why. Is there something I'm not seeing? Why would anyone still provide free webhosting that has no source of revenue whatsoever. Also, are these companies actually surviving for any time at all? Or do these few free hosts I see come and go? Having said that, I'm certainly not arguing that I'd rather not use these free webhosts. In fact, if someone could recommend a reliable webhost that is entirely free (I don't need more than 3 or 4 megs of space for this project) that does not have any banner ads of any sort, and would provide a SUBDOMAIN as my URL, that would be awesome. Just because something seems too good to be true to me, doesn't necessarily mean that it is. I'd still be happy to use it if you could convince me that it would be reliable. Thanks! - Kevin

04-03-2002, 04:41 PM	#4
batcavenet Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Batcave Posts: 186	freehosts Here is why - 1. upgrades where people actually pay I don't see any other way they can stay in business and that's the only reason I do it - and for ad views JDT __________________ Free Online Arcade Batcave.net Free Hosting WebHostingCompare.com

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03-20-2002, 10:26 PM	#2
AhmedF Registered User Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 671	As far as I see it, there are two possible reasons to still offer this. [this does not apply to localized/friend hosting you for free]. 1) Popups. Oh yes ... a popup barrage of unseen proportions. Many free hosts now just pop away like mad, and are possibly just tiding themselves over until things settle down again. 2) Name branding - a lot of them have shifted this way. Offer free hosting, and then offer upgrades with enticing offers. You can build up quite a nice customer db like this. As for what you ask for .. GL with that ... we can all dream, cant we?

03-20-2002, 11:20 PM	#3
dayshumor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2000 Posts: 40	well whatever you do, stay away from freehostspace.com. They got rave reviews from many sites but I guess I caught them at the wrong time because they were in the middle of a transition to new servers when I joined. Their customer service was awful and they tried to tell me I had to pay them to get help with my cgi-bin and I KNEW that the problem was on their side, not mine. I think it's worth it to pay the few extra bucks per month.

04-03-2002, 05:45 PM	#5
dayshumor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2000 Posts: 40	well it looks like freehostspace.com just lost the battle. Glad I moved my site.