HOSTING HOTLINE

Freehosts have been regularly debated in the adult industry. As in every debate, there are pros and there are cons, and in most cases, your mind is already made up.HOSTING HOTLINE

Freehosts have been regularly debated in the adult industry. As in every debate, there are pros and there are cons, and in most cases, your mind is already made up. However, one thing that has perhaps been overlooked is the evolution of the freehost over the past year or two.

Most would argue that nothing has changed and that they are still breeding grounds for illegal materials that are unmonitored, etc. However, what many fail to realize is that freehosts are less costly to operate and therefore, from a Webmaster’s perspective, offer more options, such as fewer ads from the freehost provider and more space for the Webmaster. Additionally, the drop in operational costs allows for technological advancements that, when used appropriately, can assist in keeping freehosts clean.

Bandwidth costs have dropped considerably – the value of a freehost vs. the cost to run it is almost too good to be true. Hence, freehosts have popped up all over the place. What many don’t realize is that regardless of how inexpensive it is to run a freehost, the same liability exists. Freehosts are still proving to be technical challenges in terms of staying one step ahead of the cheaters who are out to ruin the freehost reputation.

The catch-22 is that there are many freehosts who do not survive as a direct result of their commitment to keeping up with the cheaters because this commitment takes over and attention is drawn away from operation, maintenance and improvements. Essentially – damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The key to survival, which very few understand, is being able to maintain the “one step ahead” position, while still being able to maintain the costs of operation.

In the past years, the effort has been made to run a “successful” freehost. Drops in operation costs offer more time, energy and money to be spent catering to the legitimate Webmasters and trying to make the free space a reputable destination. Catch phrases such as “friendly” and “compliant” are used – and in many cases, are true. Advertising has decreased, space limits have increased, bandwidth is unlimited – all steps toward improving the reputation of freehosts as a whole.

There is no denying that problems with freehosts still exist. However, it would be unfair to say that no efforts have been made for improvement. To show commitment to their success, many freehosts have reduced their ads on the bottom and top ad bars and are making a point to treat their surfers better. Another feature of the newer and more reliable freehosts is that many will no longer recycle your site if you have traffic coming in. This has been a problem with past freehosts that would simply drop your site completely if you hadn’t logged into your account in a while.

PornParks (http://wm.pornparks.com), by SexTracker, is a solid example of the efforts that have been put forward to improve the freehost reputation. Technological developments, which improve the freehost experience for the Webmaster and make it easier to stay ahead of the game, have been implemented. The admin tool on the back end allows for incredibly quick response to cheaters – and helps keep things legitimate. Technically sound code, and the addition of Web Folders, a great new feature to facilitate transfers, make things a lot easier for Webmasters. Finally, with less aggressive advertising, PornParks has made a substantial effort to improve the freehost reputation by doing what they can to make a “better” freehost.

It’s fairly unanimous that the lifespan of many freehosts can be rather short-lived. As inconvenient as this is for the Webmaster who has put time and effort into his/her site(s), consider the flip side: the hosts that actually put forth the effort to improve their services are the ones that will last. This makes it a lot easier to find the right freehost to work with.

Freehosts are still a great place for new Webmasters to test the waters of the adult Internet. When looking for a freehost, first of all, know what you are getting into. There are risks; know what they are. To get started, pay attention to what the free host offers and how they treat their surfers – it will make a difference in the long run. Look for features such as minimal advertising, unlimited bandwidth, no transfer limitations and limited site recycling – these are all features that can make a difference. Also, check out what company the free host is associated with or operated by. If you trust them, odds are good you can trust the freehost to make every effort to keep its nose clean and stick around for the long haul.

Liz works in marketing for SexTracker MoneyTree and PornParks and can be reached at lizr@flyingcroc.com.