Why Most Other Review Sites Suck

I’ve been feeling lazy all day and I’ve got no work to do, so I decided to read some web hosting reviews by other people. I was browsing through many sites including WebHostingTalk but the one site that made my day was WhoIsHostingThis.

WhoIsHostingThis is a popular web hosting review site. As far as I know, they appear on Google’s first page for various web hosting review-related search terms. I know they’re one of those “we wanna make affiliate commissions outta you” sites but their ethos page say otherwise.

Anyway as I was clicking through their site, I heard a chat sound notif — they actually had a live chat feature! I was bored and all so I decided to have a little conversation with their rep named “Becky.”

Becky asked me what I thought of iPage, the host I was currently viewing on their site. I just said “they suck” because well… I know they suck! I’ve used them in the past (I’ve yet to publish my review though) and I’ve had a bad experience, as you would expect from any other EIG host. She said she was sorry to hear that. I was curious as to what host she would recommend new users so I pretended I was looking for a host and asked for Becky’s recommendation.

Our initial conversation (if the image is too small, click on it to view the full size image in a new window):

Now she knew what kind of sites I was going to host, she asked where I was currently hosted and how many visitors my sites get. Hmm, seemed to me like she cared and would like to recommend the best host for my needs. Everything was going well I suppose!

So I kinda made up a story, saying the sites were currently with a local provider. This story is actually half-true. I do have a client in this situation and I’m helping them move their sites off of their web designer’s servers. Anyway… Here’s our chat convo (if the image is too small, click on it to view the full size image in a new window):

Ok sure, I would recomnmed [sic] taking a look at [affiliate link here]

They offer a great service, they are top on the site for customer reviews and offer great customer support. They are also voted #1 for WordPress hosting.

I was excited to click on the link. I was very curious on which host she was gonna recommend but when the page loaded, I was kind of disappointed and at the same time I said to myself, “Hah, I told you so!”

Guess what host Becky recommended! If you thought “an EIG host,” then you’ve got it right! Her link led me to Bluehost. Don’t believe me? I don’t know if they’ve modified/deleted the link yet but feel free to check it out yourself. Becky was thoughtful enough to ask me what I thought, so I said I didn’t expect that link to be Bluehost because I know they suck. And I know she knew the same. So I left the chat and their site altogether.

The last part of our conversation (if the image is too small, click on it to view the full size image in a new window):

Yeah, maybe I’ve got nothing better to do tonight but at least I’ve got yet another proof that a lot of web hosting review sites are just in it for the money. “They offer a great service … and offer great customer support” MY ASS! WHAT A LOAD OF BULLCRAP!

I forgot to ask Becky if she had actually used Bluehost, but I don’t think it would have made any difference. I bet she would’ve said something like “yes and they’re the best thing since sliced bread,” anyway. So yeah. Buyers beware, don’t ever trust those review sites who recommend all the big brands with identical web hosting packages. They’re definitely making a move to get more affiliate sales — recommendations through live chat seem to be the new trend! Always make sure you do extensive research and read legit reviews before making a purchase. :)