Can Hosting Review Websites Be Trusted?

Can They Be Trusted?

The World Wide Web is inundated by literally thousands of Best Review websites. These sites can have a massive impact on the perception about a product or service.

But most people do not know that the large majority of these review websites do not review anything. They are nothing more than Affiliate Websites.

Fake Review Websites

Related Posts

Why Trustpilot Cannot Be Trusted

Almost all Best Web Hosting Reviews found online are not review sites at all. Learn how to spot these fake review websites and how you can do your own comparison when shopping for a great web hosting company.

Best Hosting Reviews

How can you tell if a hosting review site is just another affiliate website?
Even some are the biggest name Websites like CNET and Business.com are nothing more than Advertisement Websites.

Affiliate Programs

Why does almost every website, blog, YouTube video with the Best Hosting Websites seem to recommend just a handful of Hosting Companies?

Those Companies pay the highest affiliate commissions.

Most of the biggest hosting companies have affiliate or payout programs.

This is why they need you to sign up for at least a year. They have to pay out their commission.

Affiliate Companies

Below is a short list of affiliate companies:.

BlueHost $65 per referral
Host Gator $50-$125 per referral (depends upon sign up volume per month)
Squidix $25 per referral
MDDHosting $15 per referral
Fresh Roasted Hosting $15 per referral
MonsterMegs $20 per referral
DreamHost $30 for month to month and $97 for annual referrals
LiquidWeb $60 per referral
GoDaddy 30% commission.

What Happened to Endurance International Group?

Endurance International Group, commonly known as EIG, no longer operates as a publicly traded hosting company. Once a massive conglomerate in the web hosting industry, was acquired in February 2021 by private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $3.0 billion In 2021. Its web presence business combined with Web.com Group to form Newfold Digital.

Newfold Digital operates numerous hosting and domain brands, including Bluehost, HostGator, Domain.com, Network Solutions, Crazy Domains, BigRock and Register.com. This shared ownership helps explain why apparently competing hosting brands may offer similar services or appear together across review websites. Before comparing providers, check who owns each brand and whether a review clearly discloses its affiliate relationships.

How to Tell If They Are Real

How to know if a review blog or site is an affiliate website?
Today, virtually all big companies have some sort of affiliate program
They offer high paying commissions to their Affiliates.

You can tell whether a review website is an affiliate site looking at the links they display for the products they are reviewing.

Are the links normal looking like these?
RSH Web Services Amazon.com Ebay.com.

Hover your mouse over the above links, look in the bottom right corner of your Browser, what do you see?
Links going directly to their website, like these?
https://rshweb.com    https://www.amazon.com    https://www.ebay.com.

Now hover your mouse over this link
https://prohostingreview.com

Do you see a link like this:

This is a good example of an affiliate link.

Other affiliate links might look like these:.

These review sites focus only on placing products with the highest affiliate commissions on their website.

How to Compare Web Hosting Services Without Relying on Reviews

Compare web hosting providers using verifiable service details instead of rankings alone. Review the regular renewal price, uptime history, server resources, backup policy, security features, support availability, cancellation terms and account migration options before choosing a hosting plan.

• • Compare introductory prices with regular renewal rates
• • Confirm storage, bandwidth, CPU and memory limits
• • Review backup frequency and restoration fees
• • Check SSL, malware protection and security features
• • Test customer support before purchasing a plan
• • Read cancellation, refund and migration policies
• • Look for verified customer experiences across multiple sources

Other Review Sites that are Affiliates

Here is a short list of Best Review Sites we found that are also Affiliate sites
Some are the biggest name websites are nothing more than Advertisement Websites
We all thought they could be trusted for their unbiased reviews!

Is There No One We Can Trust Anymore?

With hosting review sites often skewed by affiliate links and platforms like Trustpilot facing criticism for fake reviews, as noted on Reddit and Quora, trust is hard to come by. X users highlight biases on these paid review sites urging caution. To find reliable hosting, verify uptime and pricing directly, lean on user forums for raw feedback, and compare multiple sources. Trust is possible, but it demands diligent cross-checking to separate genuine insights from manipulated noise.

Other Sites Listing Fake Review Websites

We are not the only ones that are concerned about this problem, below are just a few sites we found.

CNBC.com
Is that online review site telling you the truth?

ResearchasaHobby
Fake web hosting reviews. How to recognize them.

Qquora.com
Is anyone sick of fake web hosting reviews?

hosting-reviews-exposed.com
A guide to fake hosting reviews.

support.google.com
Domains hosting fake reviews for branded keywords.

hostcolor.com
Tricked By The Best Web Hosting Services.

quora.com/
Why is an honest web host review so hard to find?

forumweb.hosting
They simple rank hosts based on which ones they get the best affiliate.

Hostinger Review
Fake reviews and con artists.

TGDaily
How to Recognize Fake Hosting Reviews.

HostingsThatSuck.com
Hostgator Sucks? Did you know Host Gator customers had problems?....

WikiHow.com
How to Spot a Fake Review Website.

WebSiteHosting.com
The 14 Types of Fake Review Sites.

hbr.org
How to Recognize Biased Online Reviews.

ForumWeb.Hosting
How to tell if the web hosting review site is an affiliate.

Cybercashworldwide.com
Affiliates write favorable reviews in order to earn commissions.

Endlayer.com
Spotting Fake Magento Hosting Review Sites.

ThisHosting.rocks
Guide on choosing a web hosting provider without affiliate links.

Trustpilot

Complaints Against Trustpilot - Listing Class Action Lawsuits. Complaints and Unethical practices. Also including Better Business Bureau Complaints

Even Trustpilot cannot always be trusted.

We have listed a few other websites talking about Trustpilot.

Can Trustpilot.com be trusted, or is it all just a scam? Unethical Practices The general consensus is that Trustpilot cannot be trusted. They manipulate reviews in favor of clients on their paid plans.

Trustpilot not to be trusted so much - MoneySavingExpert.

Can TrustPilot.com Be Trusted? - True Reviews.

Is Trustpilot Reliable? I Wouldn't Count On It.

Are Trustpilot reviews trustable? Quora I am going to go with, no Trustpilot reviews are not trustable.

Trustpilot Reviews DO NOT trust Trustpilot review

Can you trust Trustpilot? – 9 million reviews studied

Trustpilot, Inc. Complaints | Better Business Bureau®

Can Trustpilot be trusted? r/Scams

Why you shouldn't trust Trustpilot Reviews

Fighting Back Against Fake Reviews

Fake reviews plague platforms like Trustpilot, with Reddit and Quora users exposing paid reviews and biased moderation. X posts note AI's potential to detect fake patterns, but businesses still manipulate ratings. To fight back, verify purchases, flag suspicious reviews, and cross-check user feedback on forums like Reddit. Prioritize hosts with transparent practices and consistent uptime. Trust requires vigilance, rely on multiple sources to uncover genuine hosting experiences

Amazon, The Federal Trade Commission, Yelp and even the New York Attorney General to name just a few are suing fake review sites

ABC News: Amazon Sues Over Fake Reviews
Amazon suing more than 1,000 allegedly fake reviewers, that offer their services on the online marketplace - (Fiverr.com). For posting ads that promise a five-star review

FTC Brings First Case Challenging Fake Paid Reviews
When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules. What the FTC Did to Protect Consumers According to the FTC's complaint

Writing Fake Reviews On Yelp? You Might Get Sued
It is also important to note that this is not the first time Yelp has tried to sue someone over fake reviews. This is Yelps second complaint it filed against a business related to deceptive reviews

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General
All Tech Considered Nineteen companies agreed to pay more than $350,000 in penalties to settle accusations that they wrote or bought fake reviews

See our Video on The Hidden Truth Behind Web Hosting Review Websites

Summary

Navigating hosting review websites demands skepticism due to affiliate link biases, as seen on sites like CNET and TechRadar. Reddit users often highlight inconsistent experiences with hosts like GoDaddy and Bluehost, urging independent verification. And our Hosting Services Exclusively For The Reddit Community

Trustpilot's reliability is questioned due to potential biases, like paid subscriptions influencing review moderation. Reddit and Quora posts highlight issues with fake reviews and inconsistent moderation, suggesting businesses with premium accounts may manipulate ratings. Research multiple sources to make an informed hosting decision.

Author Bio: Tadeusz Kehan

One of the best creative blog writers and social media. He has been sharing his design insights for over two decades. His expertise and passion for crafting engaging...

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