iPage.com got my attention the other day when I decided I was off topic once again with this site. That topic being that review sites are not honest, and want you to buy who they recommend so they can get a payout. What do you expect I suffer ADD (attention deficient disorder). Shiny things like the new iPad or even as simple as a shiny pebble can easily get me off topic. Seriously I have a lot of rocks I have picked up over the years. So I figured while I wait on new tablet accessories I would do what I used to do and actually look at search engine results, and try and stay focused.
This time around I looked at “host reviews” on Goggle, what caught my eye was what appeared at the top in a paid position was an ad by iPage.com titled ‘ 5 hosts that don’t suck”.
I had to do a double take, was I reading this right? Was this a sub-d0main off of iPage.com. Yes it was.
Wait a second, iPage.com is one host. But for those that do not know like I did not 2 years ago, iPage.com and around 40 or more hosts belong to a company called Endurance International Group.
Didn’t they send out FTC compliance emails to their affiliates about disclosing affiliate relations to them?
https://hosting-reviews-exposed.com/endurance-international-group/ipage-com.html
Well they do disclose, but not very clearly you have to click on the link labeled:
About top5hosts.ipage.com
http://top5hosts.ipage.com/disclaimer.html
Where iPage.com states:
“Top5Hosts.ipage.com is presented by iPage to provide information about hosting solutions offered by iPage and other hosting brands our company operates. We wholly own and operate all sites listed on top5hosts.ipage.com.
In compliance with FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, we want to be sure our visitors understand that this site is a promotional vehicle, and the opinions expressed are those of our company.
We operate this site because we believe that our brands offer an outstanding value, and we want to give customers an opportunity to compare our brands to each other.”
To bad they can’t do some disclosure on how they are 100 % windpowered. Not to mention some explanation on what separates them from Justhost.com which for all intents and purposes seems nothing more than a clone of fatcow.com and justhost.com.
So in short EIG (short for Endurance International Group) threw together a subdomain that lists 5 of many of their sites who are part of the iPage family on to what is called a “promotional vehicle“. I can’t say I find any of what Endurance International Group did impresses me. They seem more interested in buying hosts than actually working on owning and maintaining existing companies. This is really a cheap attempt at marketing that amounts to a fancy tinfoil wrapping.
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