HostitCheap - Are they stealing your clients? - Knowledgebase

Portal Home > Knowledgebase > Articles Database > HostitCheap - Are they stealing your clients?

HostitCheap - Are they stealing your clients?

Posted by CentralMass, 04-10-2003, 09:49 AM
Suddenly, all of my clients stats show refferalls of Hostitcheap.com Has anyone had any issues with them stealing clients? It seems to me that it cannot just be coincindence that all of my customers have this refferal in the stats rather than just one or two.
Posted by Barbara, 04-10-2003, 01:04 PM
FYI, you can not have pricing information in your signature.
Posted by WHRKit, 04-10-2003, 03:52 PM
I've seen it in my stats, too. What's going on?
Posted by CentralMass, 04-10-2003, 03:57 PM
I think we may have an alarming pattern here.... Does anyone else see this in their stats?
Posted by cove, 04-11-2003, 01:04 AM
Yep!
Posted by redhead, 04-11-2003, 02:24 AM
nope
Posted by bear, 04-11-2003, 06:27 AM
Yes, I've been seeing it. Apparently they are spidering sites, since it acts like a bot.
Posted by WHRKit, 04-11-2003, 03:00 PM
Can we block them via .htaccess ?
Posted by CentralMass, 04-11-2003, 03:25 PM
Ok....well I called the company, got nothing but a recorded message. They have an 800 number...which means they pay for every incoming call. Please call this number to raise their prices if you are under attack by their company... 1-800-863-8838
Posted by CentralMass, 04-11-2003, 03:26 PM
also....I did the live help....here is the transcript - notice the help email is listed as escape.com and not hostitcheap. Company Kazan LLC Department Support Name Support Email help@escape.com Day Fri 04/11/03 03:23 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome Matt! Please hold while we contact the next available representative. The average hold time is 1-2 minutes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Can you tell me if you allow php scripts?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** You are now speaking with Support, Support. ** Support : Hello Matt : hi Matt : Where is your company located? Support : Yes we do support PHP scripts Support : Our main office is located in Midtown Manhattan as well as our private data facility Matt : is Support also in NY? Support : Yes Matt : do you offer reseller programs? Support : Yes as listed on our website Matt : ok...question.... Matt : do you solicit other webhosting companies customers? Support : What do you mean "solicit"? Matt : send email requesting to transfer Matt : gather data Support : No...what does this have to do with PHP scripts... Matt : I have proof that your company is soliciting my customers Matt : and you reputation is being affectied on webhostingtalk.com Support : Well then Matt email the admin@hostitcheap.com Matt : a number of other host have noticed hits on all their sites from your company, there is an alarming pattern developing Support : We never send spam of any typo Matt : but you do acknowledge that you spider for sites Support : It may be one of our customers using a spidering search engine...but as I said I'm just an online chat operator you should address this to the admins.... Matt : you work for escape or hostitcheap? Support : So what company do you represent? Matt : my own hosting and design company Support : Which is? Matt : is that necessary? Matt : if you can resolve it then I would be happy to state it Support : well the questions you are asking have nothing to do with your chat request so yes... Support : Email admin@hostitcheap.com Matt : that is because, when I stated earlier in the subject of bots, I was disconnected Matt : it seemed to me that no one wanted to discuss this Support : Listen, I help people with simple support and sales questions email the admin. Support : If you can follow directions how can we help answer a question for you. Support : can't follow Matt : hrm...ya know I called first Matt : can't get through that way either Matt : recorded loop message Matt : that says------USE LIVE HELP Support : ? Clarify yourself Matt : now you tell me not too Matt : I called the 1-800 number listed on the site Support : You are not saying you are a customer Support : What's your username Support : You are saying that you are a competitor are you not? Matt : I am not a customer, I am a pissed off business owner, who found out that you are contacting my customers Support : If you are a paying customer I would be happy to help you Support : Well then pissed off contact the admins as instructed. Support : Good bye. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your party has left this session. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt : you don't even work for this company, do you?
Posted by mrlarter, 04-11-2003, 03:37 PM
oh my...
Posted by Nanda, 04-11-2003, 03:51 PM
From Mannhatan So What??????? hahaha New York City is not that great right now. My self is working and staying in Long Island New York only about an hour to Mannhatan but I won't go to Mannhatan unless I really need something or some kind of emergency.
Posted by ultfris101, 04-11-2003, 10:48 PM
I've noticed them in a few of my domains as well. Not aware of any emails yet. I was wondering what was going on.
Posted by DarktidesNET, 04-11-2003, 11:20 PM
Nope not this one, but some of the huge oversellers on here are (people willing to take a loss for sales... hehe) I think I'll send out a mass email regarding this company just incase. Thanks for the heads up.
Posted by Tropical Tundra, 04-12-2003, 01:37 AM
Is there an unwritten rule about soliciting other hosts clients or are you guys pissed because they're spidering? What are they exactly doing collecting websites from servers or search engines? I'm not a host so I'm just curious because I don't see what so wrong about soliciting (without spam). I get tons of letters and calls from banks, credit cards, phone companies begging me to switch from my current provider to them. Those solicitations are annoying to me as a consumer but I don't think Wells Fargo can call Bank of America complaining that they trying to steal their customers.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-12-2003, 09:52 AM
The problem I have is that I worked very hard to gain customers, and they are just spidering to get domains to send info to becuase they have lower pricing. If everyone did this then this business would be regarded more like ambulance chasing lawyers who are greedy punks. I don't even claim to have a large number of clients, but I want to keep the few I do have and this attempt at gathering the info is rude and intrusive.....just to make my point....of all the companies spidering or hitting your customers sites, IS THERE EVEN ONE OTHER HOSTING COMPANY OTHER THAN HOSTITCHEAP? I think that this point clearly states that what they are doing is unconventional, and although not unlawful, it does seem to me to be immoral! To further that they cannot even respond to their actions regarding this issue. I sent an email to the admin as stated above. Below is the response...notice that they simply state that they don't gather information, but this is contradictory to what some of us have found on our stats.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are not gathering information on your customers or anybody's customers. We have a 0-tolerance on email spam. If you have any spam related issues please email abuse@hostitcheap.com Hostitcheap.com provides support via Online Chat, Email, and our online ticketing system. Hostitcheap.com does not provide phone support, this is a way for us to be able to provide the services at the rates we offer them. We do provide fast prompt responses (usually under an hour never more than 12 hours via one of these 3 methods) But, if you did leave a message on our line it would be forwarded to a sales rep promptly. If you are interested in phone support you may want to consider another hosting company that charges a higher rate. We do apologize if you had trouble with out live chat support rep. If you need additional support feel free to email: help@hostitcheap.com for technical support info@hostitcheap.com for Pre-Sales Questions billing@hostitcheap.com for billing questions - Administration ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Ward" To: Cc: "Matt Ward" Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 3:35 PM Subject: Please explain why.... Please explain why you are gathering information on all of my customers. Other web hosting companies have also noticed this. Please explain this as well? You may consider that your reputation is being diminished by the day as more hosts find this information on their customers servers! I have called your company for an answer, all I got was a recording that stated for more info, contact live support. I did that and they refused to discuss it, in fact they said that "Support : Email admin@hostitcheap.com Support : Listen, I help people with simple support and sales questions email the admin." This is quite rude!!!!
Posted by Tom Pyles, 04-14-2003, 06:57 AM
How interesting. I've looked through the sites that I own and sure enough they are in several of the sites. I'm still not 100% sure what they are up to.
Posted by mpalamar, 04-14-2003, 09:32 AM
If they send spam email, that would be bad. If they send postal mail or make phone calls, that is just competition for your customers. It's done all the time and is no big deal. An example would be getting aol or msn cd's when you use a local isp.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-14-2003, 09:35 AM
I actually think that it is a big deal, since they are acquiring the information from my sources that did not give them the information or the right to it. This isn't like they opened the phone book and sent letters to published addresses. They crawl sites for links then get the information that way. That is mischeiveaous and clearly is not a conventional way of acquiring business in this market. How many other hosting companies do you see doing this? If that isn't clear about the expectations of this market then what could be?
Posted by necrocyte, 04-14-2003, 09:48 AM
If they are sending spam and you can prove it, I believe legal action should take place.... how are you checking your logs to find this out? I would like to look into it on my server.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-14-2003, 09:54 AM
I just reviewed my stats and they showed as a referral site on one customer, so I checked another customers site and saw the same thing, then I check another and saw that as well.
Posted by mpalamar, 04-14-2003, 10:04 AM
Unfortunately they do not need your permission to use contact information that is posted on a web site. Information posted on a web site is there for general consumption. It's not really unethical, it's just tough business. I get offers to transfer my domains to different registers all the time. I get phone calls from hosting companies after registering new domain names. I get postal mail advertising hosting companies every day. You just have to fight back and keep your customers happy. Keep your customers informed about the growth of your company and they will not leave to a cheaper host. Well written press releases and a monthly mailing list will help greatly with client retention. This doesn't seem like something to stress out about.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-14-2003, 10:15 AM
I have to agree with you about the stress point. Although it may seem as though (through my posts) that I am stressed out, rest assured I am not. I am just ticked. I hate sneeky people. Sneeky punks in high school got beat down regularly when caught, and I suppose that Hostitcheap will get their due course someday. Things alwasy seem to come back and knock you in the face when you aren't upfront about things. It just seems to be to be very clear in this industry that less than 3% do this type of marketing and lead generation that you refer to. I get nothing in the mail, have only received a few emails, all from 2 companies, and have never received a phone call. After I call their 800 number 100 times, they may think about sending bots to my page again, after all they thought it was free (hehehehehehe) they are going to pay in dollars on their 800 number for being so sneeky. If you play fair, people don't get ticked. I see no issue with someone coming accross my customers site to buy their product, then offering hosting, that is good business, spreading the word of their company. Crawling for info and links is simply sneeky.
Posted by WebSnail.net, 04-14-2003, 10:18 AM
This seems to have a blown a little out of proportion and it's a little hard to know whether the company in question have done much more than spidered a few web sites... What I WOULD worry about is if you saw a lot of your existing customers leaving because they felt your service didn't offer the features, cost effectiveness, etc... that they require... Certainly if a company is spreading BS about you and your services then that's a whole other ball game but overall it seems that if you want to hang on to your customers then you have to give them a reason to want to stay... eg: reliability, professionalism, communication, cost effectiveness, etc...
Posted by ChickenFart, 04-14-2003, 03:02 PM
Not really.. I doubt the tech support rep could do much for you besides refer you to the proper contact, which is what he did. But then you told on him? Why on earth do people take their frustrations out on the tech support reps? He was doing his job. Imagine having a job that required you to sit around and get abused constantly by people you don't even know, and then get told on by someone THAT ISN'T EVEN A CUSTOMER. You've got some nerve.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-14-2003, 03:15 PM
Chicken Fart---- What the real issue here is that this customer service department refused to take the issue the first time, so I had to LIE to get them to even talk to me. Secondly, the act as though they work for the company when in fact they do not. They did not answer the question posed to them, in fact they did not answer more than one question asked. Why do you think that is the case? Taking the road of "I am just support" is no excuse in the business world that is called PASSING THE BUCK and there is no place for that in customer service. I would like to see the statement that I made that says "I AM TAKING MY FRUSTRATIONS OUT ON CUSTOMER SERVICE" That was never stated, as clearly indicated above, I asked questions that they should be able to answer. If they choose to not answer them then that is their choice and results in POOR customer service. OH by the way, based on the reps statements, I would never outsource with this company ESCAPE, because I would not want my customers treated with this perceived attitude.
Posted by Tom Pyles, 04-14-2003, 04:22 PM
Hmmm....Could it be that these guys are doing this so it in fact shows in our clients logs....Thats enough IMO. I know my clients watch their stats like you wouldn't believe...I'm sure when they see that in their referers, they go and check the site out....Sort of like SPAM without the e-mail.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-14-2003, 04:26 PM
Good Point Tom! Perhaps they are contacting the customers but just putting the bug in their ear!
Posted by nuthin, 04-15-2003, 02:40 AM
as Tom Pyles mentioned, the company appears to be "log spamming" and targetting quite a selection of sites. i monitor quite a few(500+) sites, and quite a few have a referal from hostitcheap. they are trying to get people to look at their site, obviously by doing this hoping they will see their "pricing" and switch to them for hosting. i view this just as bad as email spamming. this is not the only company that does it.. but i think you will find this becoming alot more common.
Posted by necrocyte, 04-15-2003, 03:34 AM
crap.. and i wanted to sue somebody lol, jk I believe that I would have handled this the same way if i were the support tech.. he was not rude, he told you who to contact.. you were just trying to squeeze info out of him he did not know. (or perhaps he did and was playing stupid) HIC is in my logs too, is their a way to block them from doing this? I think that would be the best resolution.
Posted by nuthin, 04-15-2003, 03:42 AM
you might notice another web hosting company doing this(least i have in clients stats we monitor) .. virtual-private-server.com - which is spry.com nothing but spammers as far as i'm concerned.
Posted by qm8309, 04-15-2003, 04:45 AM
hey cant u guys make some kind of script to keep all hostitcheap.com entries from being logged or at least delete them on a regular basis?
Posted by CentralMass, 04-15-2003, 08:38 AM
can anyone note in the thread how to stop the bot?
Posted by rey, 04-15-2003, 12:50 PM
If you know their ip address, you can block it using ipchains/iptables so their server won't be able to see your server. Best regards, Reyner
Posted by Matt, 04-15-2003, 03:14 PM
I didn't even think about this when I read the topic yesterday, but one of my sites has hostitcheap as well. I (being the ever curious one) took a visit to their site after seeing them in the referrals. I was not impressed.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-15-2003, 03:20 PM
hey savage, I wasn't all that impressed either....but was even less impressed after calling the 800 number. When I did that I got an outbout telemarketing RECORDED message. This was a message used to call people on the phone, and they had it answering their 800 number. I found that very bizarre.
Posted by Dunbar7376, 04-16-2003, 07:53 PM
Hmmm, it seemed that the support guy wanted to help you but you were unwilling to help him out by providing your company information. How can he even begin to attempt to address your claim if you wouldn't give him that much? Alternatively, you can email the admin. This did seem reasonable request. Have you had any luck in finding out in the meantime if they are soliciting resellers' customers. Last edited by Dunbar7376; 04-16-2003 at 09:32 PM.
Posted by CentralMass, 04-17-2003, 08:46 AM
I did everything that the support rep asked for, I clearly told him that I would provided my info as stated in the thread, please read it carefully. The support rep cancelled the live chat prior to me being able to send the info. As for the email, I did email the admin and that resulted in nothing but blaming their resellers, I responded and have heard nothing. I have contacted my clients and they have not heard from them but they did note that they noticed the info on the stats page and wondered why that occurred.
Posted by delpino, 06-19-2003, 03:50 PM
Same, here.. this threaded was started in April.. now we have June and I've seen "Referer Spamming" in two of my and my customers websites.. sent email to abuse@hostitcheap.com .. guess what.. no answer
Posted by bedlam, 06-20-2003, 01:10 PM
I've been trying to get answers thru their helpdesk. The best response I had so far was that they had a "0 tolerance on email spam"... In case anyone should wish to ask 'em this question as well, their support desk is located here: http://www.hostitcheap.com/helpdesk/pdesk.cgi?do=main And the rest of their contact info: HostItCheap.com (DBA) c/o Kazan LLC 244 Madison Ave PMB#347 New York, NY 10016-2819 Sales: 1-800-863-8838 Fax: 212-354-4492 Customer Support :: support@hostitcheap.com Abuse Department :: abuse@hostitcheap.com Incidentally, I also see http://www.bmhost.com/index.php in my logs... Last edited by bedlam; 06-20-2003 at 01:22 PM.
Posted by OK__whatever, 06-21-2003, 11:28 PM
I have bmhost and hostitcheap in my logs. What kind of spidering software are you using hostitcheap.com? PM me if you want I want to know how you do it. Does anyone know what kind of software will leave a track like that? I mean how does it leave a link to thier site in logs? I have seen spidering software work but I havn't seen it leave evidence an HTTP refererrer. Leaving a link to your site may be slightly underhanded but I see nothing immoral or particularly wrong with it. You cannot stop someone from visiting your site and when someone does it leaves a referrer link. Last edited by OK__whatever; 06-22-2003 at 12:05 AM.
Posted by bedlam, 06-21-2003, 11:56 PM
Well, they keep closing my tickets so it's hard to answer, but here's their last response to me: ...they have not, as yet, indicated how to block the bot. If anyone else has any ideas...
Posted by OK__whatever, 06-22-2003, 12:09 AM
Search engines that allow spidering? What is that? I don't get it. I'm not upset about it it just has my curiosity up now.
Posted by bedlam, 06-22-2003, 12:46 AM
Yeah, I'm mainly irritated by the principle rather than the fact of it. That and their alternate insistence that they don't do spam and their half-baked excuses... UPDATE: New spam-hosters in my logs: www.vacation4.com which, when typed into a browser redirects you to www.wholesale4.com. Spam Weasels. *sigh* Last edited by bedlam; 06-22-2003 at 03:15 AM.
Posted by OK__whatever, 06-22-2003, 03:34 AM
I don't really want to make excuses for them because I don't know what they are up to but.... Who said they are spamming? Has anyone gotten an email or did I miss part of the conversation? I thought they were just spidering sites.
Posted by bedlam, 06-22-2003, 03:43 AM
Heya, I think the touchy issue is that these are all web hosting sites...and, speaking for myself at least, the responses I've gotten to my queries about what they're spidering fo are...well, kinda dodgy. Best guess I've seen here about why they do it is simply to leave their company name and a link in people's logfiles. Can any host here come up with a good reason for running your own spider? (incidentally, hostitcheap's help desk response notwithstanding, I can't locate a search-engine on their site...not on their site map, anyhow)...
Posted by blue27, 06-22-2003, 10:39 AM
Spamming can come in many forms. An email is not always necessary.
Posted by Cirtex, 06-22-2003, 10:43 AM
lol, thats very mean
Posted by OK__whatever, 06-22-2003, 04:02 PM
I may have to jump on the bashing bandwagon. I opened up a help desk ticket and asked nicely about it and was ignored. So I will assume they have something to hide. Hostitcheap you must be a spammer! Answer my ticket under the username of xcel and I will retract my accusation. Until then you are guilty as charged.
Posted by delpino, 06-22-2003, 04:48 PM
they ignored me too! they are guilty as sin!
Posted by CentralMass, 06-23-2003, 09:13 AM
You see what I mean? They are clearly hiding something, and are probably very ashamed that they are even getting caught. If there was nothing to hide, then they would at least respond to the questions and explain their point of view. I have even emailed the admin with a link to this thread...yet there is still no response. MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!
Posted by memyselfandi, 07-10-2003, 12:59 AM
How the heck do you block hostitcheap.com form spamming your log files? This is insane. If I was in NY I'd be at thier door in 2 seconds. These losers are trying to steal clients form me. They have managed to get in all my sites log files as a Refering URL. Any idea how to block them?
Posted by dbbrock1, 07-10-2003, 01:09 AM
www.HostitCheap.com <---click that link so they see this thread in their access logs!
Posted by dftchris, 07-10-2003, 04:56 PM
I've been getting their link in the logs on my band's website. I think they are getting everybody! Or maybe they get the hosts from WHT.
Posted by CentralMass, 07-10-2003, 05:02 PM
I say we click the link above and start racking up their transfer....let's utilize their bandwidth to stress our point!
Posted by rrdega, 07-10-2003, 05:04 PM
Nope! Not just the hosts from WHT... I've never posted my hosting domain here, and my logs are getting spammed... I just read this over on webmasterworld: If I understand that correctly, and if HIC is using a similar technique, then they are basically spoofing the referral headers, and nothing else in the request can really be relied upon to be accurate for "blocking" purposes... That is, unless someone has a means of blocking requests from a certain referring site... Which I have not seen as yet...
Posted by 25GigPak, 07-10-2003, 05:11 PM
I quick search at Arin brings up the datacenter that owns the IP that the website is hosted on INTELLISPACE, INC You could filter the datacenters IP block on your firewalls, This should stop them unless they are running the spam bot from another datacenter. Datacenters IP block: 66.9.0.0 - 69.9.255.255
Posted by CentralMass, 07-10-2003, 05:16 PM
It is one thing to stop them, but another to find out why they are doing this! I am confident that my customers will not move. But I sure would like to know what they are achieving by doing this!
Posted by rrdega, 07-10-2003, 05:21 PM
I would believe they are Log Spamming to generate traffic... Spam 100,000 sites' logs, and I bet at least 1,000 will go to the site to check it out, and a percentage of those will likely switch hosts for the cheaper rates...
Posted by bubba hyde, 07-10-2003, 06:39 PM
hostitcheap has been doing this for months. I own around 20 sites and each month they show up in the logs for every site.
Posted by ttremeth, 07-10-2003, 08:40 PM
Try faxing them.
Posted by kathystover, 07-11-2003, 11:33 AM
but I thought I'd put my 2 cents in. First of all while spam is bad, bad, bad it is not illegal in any other state other than Washington state and they are having an impossible time enforcing it. Matter of fact the current legislation UNDER CONSIDERATION by congress only states than any unsolicited email must have a valid return address and a way to be removed and must be removed when requested properly. Thats it. There will probably never be a time when spam defined as ANY unsolicited email will ever ever ever become illegal. Also, did any of you watch the congressional hearings on spam where they had the guy from Yahoo plus several other big spam company guys? One of the biggest spam guys (forgot his name) was showing proof where AOL was selling for BIG bucks all the AOL email address then turning around and BLOCKING them out. Guess who is getting in trouble for this? AOL - unethical business practice, fraud, etc. So, anyway. Back to your point. I really don't see anything wrong with soliciting other hosting companies business (not spam). Most of, I'm sure, our business comes from transfers from other hosts so all of us are "taking" other hosts business. We all say we have the "best service", the "best cost" or whatever. Who do you think we are saying we are better than? YOU, thats who and any other hosting company on the face of the planet. This isn't the frat house guys! This is business. Do you think Coke doesn't try and target Pepsi?!!!
Posted by high-flying, 07-11-2003, 11:38 AM
Coke doesn't go aroudnd putting "coke stickers" on pepsi vending machines.
Posted by bedlam, 07-11-2003, 11:43 AM
Well, I still take issue with spam-weasels such as hostitcheap spamming my logfiles - and for more or less the same reason as with email. That is, it makes my logs less useful, or at least harder to use. If I have to wade through all the #@#!$ hostitcheap's of the world whose only way of attracting new business is the mere statistical probability that someone will click on a link and sign up with a service they know nothing about, it's gonna take a lot more time to review my logs. It's not so bad yet, I've only found three companies that do this, but in a little while, if this catches on and there are hundreds of 'em, that time could seriously add up. Incidentally, your Pepsi-Coke comparison is pretty thin. What we're talking about here is similar to Pepsi reps going around to your house and sticking Pepsi labels on the Coke in your fridge... B
Posted by bedlam, 07-11-2003, 11:44 AM
LOL high-flying, you beat me to the punch!
Posted by mpalamar, 07-11-2003, 07:01 PM
Slightly off topic but can Internet Explorer be modified to put a saying in the access logs of sites that are visited? I could see a market for a browser plugin that places advertisements in the access logs of visited web sites. This might even become a feature for the spyware programs. Unless they are emailing you your server logs, this is not spam. Every spam law I have seen defines spam as unsolicited electronic mail.
Posted by rrdega, 07-11-2003, 07:09 PM
That is, in essence, what they are doing... I am sure I have no links on their domain for them to be a legit referrer. So therefore they are faking the referrer in their http requests in order for it to be spammed into the logs. And, at least in my logs, their domain is mixed case. Unlike all others, which are all lower case...
Posted by bedlam, 07-11-2003, 08:49 PM
Well, mpalamar, you may have heard the expression "the law is an ass"? As far as I'm concerned it's spammy enough. Web logs are a tool. Having to filter out the fake referrers from the real ones is going to cost me time - the same way email spam prices time. It's a sleazy practice, and the more widespread it becomes, the less effective it will be for any given advertiser. This will cause advertisers to increase the number of entries they leave in peoples' logs - maybe by varying the text etc. Sound familiar? Sound like something you want to be the recipient of? B
Posted by kathystover, 07-12-2003, 02:29 PM
I was referring to your repeated use of the term spam and "illegal". I even defined how I was using the term spam.
Posted by bedlam, 07-12-2003, 02:56 PM
Check the thread over - the first occurence of the word illegal that I can find is in your post here: By the way, this thread is about hostitcheap (among others) faking their company name as a referrer in logfiles. Why weren't you "referring to the log files"? Did you post in the wrong thread? B
Posted by InternetPEI, 07-12-2003, 09:03 PM
Host: 66.9.80.210 Url: / Http Code : 200 Date: Jul 12 20:03:05 Http Version: HTTP/1.1" Size in Bytes: 18668 Referer: "http://www.HostItCheap.com" Agent: "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; www.HostItCheap.com Hosting Client-Agent)"
Posted by rrdega, 07-13-2003, 07:00 AM
Okay... Now its making more sense to me! Try running a Google Search on "Hosting Client-Agent" "HostItCheap". You'll get an idea of how many sites' logs they've spammed that are also indexed by Google. And having their URL in the log creates a backlink, thereby raising their PageRank! I would think Google would take exception to that Tomfoolery!
Posted by memyselfandi, 07-26-2003, 02:55 AM
Spamming Log Files! This site is spamming log files on other hosting companies server trying to take clietns. Looks like they are a rackshack client. Go make a report and show Rackshack.net yoru referral logs 12 vl130.core1.sat.rackspace.com (64.39.2.33) 69.903 ms 70.071 ms 70.035 ms 13 vl905.aggr5.sat2.rackspace.com (64.39.2.82) 70.156 ms 70.184 ms 70.095 ms 14 65.61.169.158 (65.61.169.158) 70.333 ms 70.294 ms 70.233 ms
Posted by Exthost, 07-26-2003, 04:12 AM
This is messed up. All I have to say is mass leave them and put them on a black list. Cant put up with this fu*ken spamming. And client stealing. -Matt
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 05:44 AM
we can all hosts.deny him...
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 06:00 AM
can we simply do the eye for an eye scenerio
Posted by rrdega, 07-26-2003, 07:22 AM
We can? How's that? The (likely spoofed) URL that is being logged appears as the HTTP Request Referrer. Not as the host name/address...
Posted by naknek, 07-26-2003, 01:04 PM
Why is everyone knocking these guys? Instead of ripping them for their unethical marketing practices, I think we should sign up for their excellent deal: 500MB of space and 10GB of transfer for only $5/month! I think I will sign up for a few accounts to host some 100MB Photoshop files for a graphic arts exposition. I'm sure many of this thread's readers would also be interested in showcasing their own graphic art talents in such a manner. We could have a nice little graphic arts exchange going, even if we do max out the bandwidth on all our accounts every month. I'm sure HIC would be happy to get all these new customers, so everybody wins!
Posted by rrdega, 07-26-2003, 01:15 PM
Vito! Quick, we need some links on "Conspiracy" I'm not sure, but I bet discussions that are along the lines of "Let's all get the competitor!" rank right up there with "Price Fixing," as has been beat to death in another thread. I could be wrong though...
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 01:36 PM
Last edited by bizness; 07-26-2003 at 04:37 PM.
Posted by VNPIXEL, 07-26-2003, 03:55 PM
hee hee...you're evil
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 04:30 PM
im not evil... i am righteous
Posted by thedavid, 07-26-2003, 04:34 PM
Now now... We've been on the other side of one of these 'attacks' before, and they're both easily blocked as well as ineffective as a DDOS - just runs the bandwidth up till you notice it is all. you deleted the script - good deal, it'll probably get you in trouble with the mods -David
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 04:36 PM
thats is true... sorry hostit ... i simply do not like people that are not honest...
Posted by DayGlo, 07-26-2003, 05:16 PM
This is interesting so I asked a few unreleated questions through their live help. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "why is it so cheap?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** You are now speaking with Support, Support. ** Support : Hello, you exited chat last time before I could answer you. hellooo : browser crashed Support : We are able to provide our hosting service at the rate we offer it at because we have elimindated telephone support, but if you are in need of a service with telephone support you may want to consider our sister company escape.com, although they are more expensive. hellooo : ah hellooo : how is the uptime? Support : Our uptime for the past 6 months is ... Support : one moment looking it up hellooo : ok thanks Support : 99.9795392 Support : % hellooo : cool Support : Do you have any other questions that I can answer for you? hellooo : do you have dedicated servers too? Support : Hostitcheap is strictly provides shared hosting accounts, if you are looking for dedicated servers you may want to contact escape.com.. Support : Can I help you with anything else? hellooo : thats fine, thanks. Support : Feel free to contact us again if you have any questions or comments in the future. hellooo : ok thanks Support : bye Your party has left this session.
Posted by Exthost, 07-26-2003, 05:22 PM
I am not sure if that proved anything
Posted by DayGlo, 07-26-2003, 05:27 PM
It didn't really, they are more than willing to mention escape.com though.
Posted by bizness, 07-26-2003, 05:35 PM
i can mention sister sites as well... that still doesnt give me the right to go after someone elses customers.. Last edited by bizness; 07-27-2003 at 12:02 AM.
Posted by Exthost, 07-26-2003, 10:35 PM
Isnt that spam?
Posted by bizness, 07-27-2003, 12:01 AM
i was simply making a point... i will take off the URL.... DayGlo talked about hostitforcheap mentioning escape.com ... a sister site...
Posted by Defcon|Rich, 07-29-2003, 02:01 PM
Let me understand something... I get referrers all the time as I"m sure everyone else does, But since these guys are another hosting company you are pissed? Is that about right? It's the same thing as when i reinstall my OS i have to delete the folder that says "online services" with all the different ISP info in it... whats the difference? Well I'm not an ISP... Now suppose that folder said "reseller hosting" or something like that? Would you get mad too since these people are your direct competition? I'm not saying these people are moral or right or any of that stuff but spidering your customers sites certaintly isn't illegal... Immoral maybe but not against the law... My suggestion would be for you to take the energy you have shown here and apply it to keeping your customers happy, I like yourself only have a few customers and I'm sure they could find better deals elsewhere but I make sure to provide them with everything they need and keep them happy, As long as you do that they will stay....
Posted by bizness, 07-29-2003, 02:11 PM
When they solicite for hosting on one of my domains that i purchased with my brother.... I think that justifies it very well.
Posted by mpalamar, 07-29-2003, 03:54 PM
Something like this might work if you have the time and money. http://www.eff.org/Cases/Intel_v_Ham..._analysis.html Something like this might be useful for my free content site. If you visit my site with an ad blocker, I will consider you to be trespassing and file a suit.
Posted by Monkeyshack, 08-15-2003, 11:37 PM
I see them in my logs as well... can we call this spam if it affects more then 20 of us?
Posted by Ash, 08-16-2003, 04:22 AM
Spam is not defined by the number of people that recieve it, one single email to one person only can be spam, it's unsolicited commercial email. "Spamming" is slightly different, enforcing unwanted advertisments on a group or multiple number of others (message boards etc) I guess when you look at it that way it could be classed as spamming, but there's nothing illegal about it and i'm sorry to say there's really nothing you can do to stop them. I'm sure many of us would like to believe that all hosting companies are run by people with decent moral standards, that wouldn't hesitate to help out somebody else in the business, wouldn't do anything intentionally to annoy them, and even go so far as to reccomend them, as happens here all the time. But in reality there's a number of larger, more commercial hosting companies that don't give a damm about the rest if you, and will just do whatever it takes to increase their business, just like any other industry.
Posted by Ruling, 08-17-2003, 12:07 AM
I successfully wasted 19 minutes and 21 seconds of there Live Chat Assitants time. "What brand of control panel do you offer? cpanel, ensim, plesk? other" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** You are now speaking with Support, Support. ** Support : Cpanel with fantastico Ruling : cool Ruling : I hate plesk Support : Do you have any other questions that I can answer for you? Ruling : is there any accounts that give you whm? Support : Resellers have access to whm... Ruling : Does your company participate in access log spamming? Support : What is that? Ruling : spamming the access logs of other domains which leaves a link back to hostitcheap.com Support : We have a 0 tolerance with spam.. Support : You can review our terms of service from our web site. Ruling : I have about 40 customers, just last month hostitcheap has showed up in all of my customers referrer logs Support : I am not sure what this has to do with our control panel. Ruling : almost like you want my customers to visit your website in hopes of stealing my customers Ruling : Ok.... I got a little off topic...back to cpanel Support : I don't think we can steal anyones customers a customer has to decide to sign up with us. Support : In order to use our hosting service. Ruling : In cpanel/Whm is it possible to block particular Referrers from showing up in my customers logfiles Support : I am not firmular with such a feature you may want to email our technical support. Ruling : not really stealing a customer...Just kind of advertising your company by visiting there site (which leaves a mark in there logfiles) with a link back to your company Ruling : I just found it weird that out of my 37 customers, hostitcheap.com showed up in 35 of there logfiles Ruling : I mean....I understand some people like to surf...but the chance of one company surfing 35 of my customers sites.... Support : We don't allow spam . Ruling : doesn't that sound fishy to you? Support : If you plan on spamming from our service you will be suspended. Ruling : I don't plan on doing this...I am simply accusing your compnay of doing this Support : I think you have something mixed up. Support : Do you have any other questions that I can answer for you? Ruling : ok....Your company "hostitcheap.com" has showed up in 35 of my customers logfiles Ruling : can you explain that? Support : Logfiles for what? Support : Sounds technical. Support : You may want to email our technical support. Support : They can be reached at help@hostitcheap.com Ruling : Why are you in sales if you don't even know what a logfile is? Support : There are logfiles for many things. Ruling : a logfile records every visitor to a certain website Support : I don't understand how a log file... is spamming. Ruling : It is really not spamming.... Ruling : I just find it weird that your company has visited 35 out of my 37 customers websites Support : We generally don't visit web sites.. Ruling : I am just trying to get some kind of explanation for this? Ruling : do you run some kind of bot program? That spiders websites? Support : Spiders? Support : We do have a few customers running search engines... that spider Ruling : yes....but those customers have there own domains....in that case...there domain would show up as the referrer Ruling : not hostitcheap.com Support : Unless they do it from our servers.. Ruling : servers are based on an IP address, not on a domain name Ruling : there domain name is on your server (your ip address) Support : Ip numbers resolve... via dns.. Support : IF an ip address does not resolve.. Ruling : and in that case, possibly your IP address would show up in my logfiles Support : you are usually blocked from sending email Support : to many servers on the internet. Support : And I can bet our ip address does show up. Support : Can you show me a "Copy paste of your log file" Ruling : yes...hold one sec Support : I am sure it will show you an ip of one of our servers. Support : Anyway Support : Email it to help@hostitcheap.com Support : I am sure they can help you Ruling : Host: 66.9.80.210 Url: / Http Code : 200 Ruling : Date: Jul 12 20:03:05 Http Version: HTTP/1.1" Size in Bytes: 18668 Ruling : Referer: "http://www.HostItCheap.com" Agent: "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Ruling : www.HostItCheap.com Hosting Client-Agent)" Ruling : where it says "Hosting Client" is the name of the browser htey are using Ruling : do you provide a browser called hosting agent? Support : web: {4} % nslookup 66.9.80.210 Support : Name: www.hostitcheap.com Support : Address: 66.9.80.210 Support : Seems like one of the servers. Ruling : yes....but a Referrer is what website a client was at before he came to yours Support : If you do not want a search engine to index your website Support : you can use a robots file.. Support : When the spider visits Support : it won't save your web site for the search engine that it is spidering for. Ruling : the only way it would be possible to have hostitcheap.com as a referrer is hostitcheap.com must be running the search engine Ruling : if it was one of your clients....it would show up as yourclientsdomain.com Support : Our ip address do not resolve back to our customers. Ruling : however I do not see a search engine at hostitcheap.com Ruling : the referrer has nothing to do with who the domain resolves to Support : Anyway.. I think we are going in circles.. and you are accusing that you don't fully understand.. Support : If you have additional questions on this topic Support : feel free to email our technical support. Support : 'Bye! Your party has left this session.
Posted by PCplayground, 08-17-2003, 01:41 AM
Couldn't you add this to the .htaccess? Not too sure... just a thought
Posted by nomis23uk, 08-19-2003, 03:42 PM
Did you have any thoughts about trying to lower the cost of your webhosting, to improve your service and keep your costomers? just a suggestion.
Posted by bedlam, 08-19-2003, 04:25 PM
Why not read the thread and try to understand why people are objecting to the log-spamming (that's a hint, by the way) in the first place before posting fatuous replies? Just a suggestion. B
Posted by nomis23uk, 08-19-2003, 04:35 PM
thats a hint by the way" of course i read it thats why im bottom of it replying i simply said why not lower the cost to improve the service becasue lets face it there aint much you or anyone can do about them stealing customers, you cant exactly sue. well suppose you could always try, let me know if you get anywhere could be interesting. so there stealing customers, i know your pissed but hey thats life the hosting market is just a big compertition anyway, of who can have the best deals costs etc. its just one of them things people have to live with.
Posted by bedlam, 08-19-2003, 04:56 PM
Of course you read what? Your reply suggests that you read the title of the thread. If you actually read the posts, you'll see that hardly anyone is seriously concerned that they will lose clients to this. My 'hint,' which you so glibly failed to understand, was that this method of advertising is yet another variety of spam-like lowest-common-denominator business practice. I'm concerned about it because if it were to become as widely adopted as email spam my access logs would become totally unusable. If any of my customers wanted to switch to a host like hostitcheap just to save a few nickels, I'd be happy to see them go... B
Posted by kmsd, 08-19-2003, 05:17 PM
Is there any way to block HostItCheap from the master WHM for all hosting and reseller clients? Thanks, kmsd
Posted by luisfalcon, 08-22-2003, 09:40 PM
Will this work? (on httpd.conf) SetEnvIf Referer "^http://www.HostItCheap.com/" dontlog
Posted by MrAlien, 08-24-2003, 01:23 AM
I think you hosts are .... sad instead of thinking a way to stop the problem, you guys discuss whether it's right or wrong everyone has it's own opinion. Each time lost in 'right and wrong' posts, hostitcheap is getting your clients
Posted by kmsd, 08-24-2003, 02:04 AM
LOL! I'll second that; being a reseller of HTTPme and Dathorn I don't really have too much system admin experience and even then no root access, but, it would be nice if the big name bad a$$ reseller space/bandwidth providers around here could find a solution that applies server wide in the WHM/CPanel, Ensim, Plex, etc platforms. lol, kmsd
Posted by mrl14, 08-24-2003, 01:56 PM
Yep , one my friends site showed a referrer for these guys. I'll find out if they contacted him.
Posted by Project X, 08-25-2003, 12:01 AM
PMB - postal mail box why are they using a po box?? that sounds fishy enough... kinda reminds me of this one company pretending to be more important than they really are!
Posted by Project X, 08-25-2003, 12:13 AM
rackshack.net? or rackspace.com?? now im really confused!
Posted by MilkMan, 08-25-2003, 06:26 AM
Not even a real po box. They are using a mail boxes etc type drop box.
Posted by phisholay, 08-25-2003, 08:56 AM
Hostitcheap is nearly on everyone of my sites...when i fisrt saw it i thought it was cool someone has link me, then i click the link and its a webhosting company, din't think long before i realized that theres something fishy going on here. I did Googling search. http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...&q=HostItCheap http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum39/1415.htm http://openrbl.org/ip/66/9/81/41.htm http://www.justinpaul.com/wwwstat/log.refs.html Apparently they are on nearly on every ones stats page. If you are a webhosting company and has been affected by the loss of business, then my guess theres a law suit to be made here. This is a bad business practice, seems like a new and a different type of spam, most people think that spam are webmail type, this type is very intrussive. So if you have the guts and willing, take them to court or Blacklist this ****ers.
Posted by microsol, 08-25-2003, 11:48 AM
Well, out of couriosity I check my customers sites. Yes, THEY ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE THOSE SU$$ERS. Now they are blocked: 66.9.0.0/16
Posted by rrdega, 10-03-2003, 04:11 PM
Okay... I reckon this is a new twist to an old saga. Anyone else getting referrers from: http://www.aweblist.com and http://www.asitelist.com? I had this show up in a client's logs twice today... Surprise, surprise! Look where it leads you when you wonder what "Web List" it is the visitor is coming from! Oh yeah, on closer inspection, they are only doing an HTTP HEAD, not a GET. But its enough to get into your logs as a referrer... Last edited by rrdega; 10-03-2003 at 06:13 PM.
Posted by rrdega, 10-03-2003, 04:16 PM
Oh, and doesn't this graphic on HostItCheap's page just make you all warm and fuzzy inside? http://www.hostitcheap.com/images/happy2.gif
Posted by rrdega, 10-05-2003, 07:48 AM
And now add http://www.catagoryhound.com to that list of Refering Sites that will forward to HostItCheap
Posted by Pica, 10-06-2003, 07:32 AM
I have been looking for an alternative hosting solution for various domains. And I did find HIC packages interesting. When doing some research on them (namely on WHT) I found this thread. Seeing I was/am about to do business with them, I wanted to have a clear position on this "steal customers" issue prior to any subscription. I discussed with their "Live-support" and here's the most relevant lines : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ... Paulo : Curiously, when doing some research on your services I found a thread mentioning curoius activity from you Paulo : Additionaly, this graphic (http://www.hostitcheap.com/images/happy2.gif) makes me hesitate to do business with you Support : That graphic appears to be from our web site. Support : www.hostitcheap.com Support : is a part of the large graphic on the upper right hand corner. Paulo : Exactly : it is !!! That's why... Support : Why would this graphic on our website make you hesitate? Paulo : It implies you may ask customers of other "providers" to subscribe to your services in stead... Paulo : By hositng several domains (my clients) on your server, you would appear in their logfiles (as stated widely in WHT forum) Support : I don't understand, it's a marketing graphic on our web site.. We advertise to everyone on the Internet.. Paulo : This kind of graphic would "invite" my own clients to move directly to you Support : Everyone has a choice to switch.. Support : If they dont like their current host. Support : Your clients would not know that you are using hostitcheap Support : unless you point them to our web site. Support : and show them that graphic. Support : If one of your customers finds an add on the Internet... from us.. Support : Like you did.. Support : There is no way of stopping them from signing up. Support : This goes for any hosting company.. Support : If you provide good support to your customer.. Support : they will have no reason to switch to any other host. Support : Do you have any other questions that I can answer for you? Paulo : it seems that by your logfiles in your clients'-clients websites your are targetting for new clients... Support : Our name does not appear in log files of our customers.. Support : Why would it? Paulo : If I'm to host various of my clients on your servers I would rather have a signed document stating you will NOT proceed to this kind of actions Support : I am not sure what sort of action you are referring. Support : We are not going to stop advertising on the internet for the sake of one client. Paulo : If a client of your clients requests direct services from you, would you accpet it or refuse and "send him back" to your clients ? Support : If the client tells us they are on a resold account.. Support : I don't know Support : I don't think that ever happened. Paulo : Do you have any kind of NON-COMPETITION Agreement between you and your clients ? Support : We don't keep track of our customer's customers. Support : We do not contact your customers. Paulo : it seems you do... that's why I'm asking about it... ( check http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...hreadid=131187 ) Support : They would need to find us and contact us. Support : That thread has nothing to do with our customers. Support : or our resellers. Support : That has to do with random domains on the Internet .. Paulo : Again, could you sign a NON-COMPETITION Agreement between you and your client ? Support : We don't have any sort of contract.. Support : But I'll ask administration to add it to our terms of service. Paulo : OK... that puts it clear then ! Support : Alright Paulo : If you do have it and you do respect it I would most probably host my clients on your servers. Support : It would be wrong to go after our reseller's clients.. Support : It would make 0 business sense. Paulo : I look forward to find it on your website as soon as it becomes available ! Support : According to that thread. Support : It means we'd me already in your logs Support : I don't understand it. Support : Has nothing to do with our current customers. Support : I can bet nobody in that thread was every a customer.. Paulo : In short, independently of that thread, ... Support : Alright Support : We have company meetings once a month. Support : At the end of the month.. Paulo : I am used to sign agreements (NON-Disclosure and Non-Competition) with people I work with... Support : I'll bring this issue up. Support : I do know we never go after our reseller's customers. Support : It makes no sense. Paulo : that goes to hosting providers too ! Support : As we make the same amount of money Support : if they are with a reseller or directly with us. Support : We don't have different rates... Paulo : That makes sense ! Paulo : Ok... I would be pleased to find clear information about both kind of agreement on your website Support : Alright.. Support : If administration agrees on it.. Support : It won't be till next month for it to appear in our terms of service.. Paulo : For me that's a priority when choosing providers. Support : Legal needs to review it too. .... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess this is a clear position and they will "think" about having some sort of Non-Competition Agreement included in their "terms of service". As it has been said : it makes no real sense as they have no additional profit (... well not quite!!! ). Still, it would be a more decent and clear position if they stick to this kind of "terms". They provide their bandwidth, servers, etc... Each one of us manages the clients. Everyone his happy ! Regards, P.
Posted by bizness, 10-06-2003, 07:50 AM
looks to me like hostitcheap is avoiding you the entire conversation.
Posted by rrdega, 10-06-2003, 08:01 AM
Ayuh... I agree! But that's pretty much been their position throughout this discussion of their tactics. It might be interesting to see how they respond to inquiries about how http://www.catagoryhound.com http://www.aweblist.com and http://www.asitelist.com all get logged as Referring Sites, and in the raw logs are only executing HTTP HEAD requests... Not even a GET! And that these domains are nothing but fronts that are forwarded to their own site (with an Affiliate ID in the URL). Hmmmm... And, do their "Affiliates" keep off sites hosted by HIC, and their Resellers?
Posted by Ash, 10-06-2003, 08:23 AM
I don't defend these tactics in any way, if they are using some kind of bot/site crawler to leave a mark in peoples logs then it's quite patethic, but some people here seem to feel threatened by them doing this. It's not like your customers are not aware that there's other web hosts around, they probally see banners and popups for them on sites every day. Do you not have enough confidence in your own services to know that your customers are not going to run off and sign up with hostitcheap just because they see their name in a log file? Don't bite my head off, just curious
Posted by rrdega, 10-06-2003, 08:35 AM
Hey XeroMedia! I don't bite heads... Too laid back for that. Actually, its the business tactics that I most object to. It just gets under my skin; ya know? Personally, nearly all my clients (for whom I not only host their sites, but I also designed and service their sites) don't even look at their logs, or stats. I shoot 'em a graph now and then with the pertinent info on Visitors, Search Engine activities, etc. So they don't even know about HIC. But even for those who do get into their stats, I feel that I have no worries... Your point is well taken there. My niche is local, close, and personal support. I do a lot of my business on an initial handshake agreement (followed by a contract for safety). So I really do not believe any of them would bail on me for Dirt Cheap rates. In fact, in my selling pitches (always delivered in person, in their place of business) I almost always tell them there are cheaper hosts out there. But I also add that you get what you pay for...
Posted by rrdega, 10-06-2003, 08:42 AM
P.S. to my last... I know I revived an old dead thread here. And perhaps more or less needlessly. But it was the development of these new domains which are mere fronts (not even live sites) that I thought I'd bring to bare...
Posted by JonR, 10-06-2003, 02:22 PM
are these guys still doing this? ive started to see this on my clients, even my sites.
Posted by rrdega, 10-06-2003, 03:17 PM
Yeppers! Here's a line from my log:
Posted by motl, 10-07-2003, 06:30 PM
yep.... 46 hits on my site
Posted by dlmoore, 10-08-2003, 02:53 PM
Would someone explain to this neophyte the term "spidering", bot I thought I understood until I saw them both together. Thanks
Posted by rrdega, 10-08-2003, 03:16 PM
Hi dlmoore, Welcome to WHT. At first, when I read your post, I thought you were flaming... On second read, I believe you are seriously inquiring for an explanation of the terms. I hope, and am assuming, the latter is the case. Bot is short for Robot... Definition (from about.com): An automated program that follows links to visit web sites on behalf of search engines or directories. Robots then process and index the code and content of a web page to be stored in the search engine's database. Spidering is the act of what the Robot (defined above) does as it "crawls" the web... If you follow the link I provided above to About.com, you will see that Spider, Robot, and Crawler are all related terms... Hope that helps! [edit] Note: In the context of this thread, however, the Bots that are afoot are not acting to Index the web for search engines. They are, presumably, doing their thing merely to spam HostItCheap's website address, and affiliated domains, into website access logs in order to geneate traffic to their own site, in the hopes of getting site owners to change their hosting provider. [/edit] Last edited by rrdega; 10-08-2003 at 03:23 PM.
Posted by bizness, 10-08-2003, 03:45 PM
well put rrdega
Posted by dlmoore, 10-08-2003, 07:45 PM
Thanks so much for the information RRDEGA. We call it "crawling the web" in my group. I kept trying to relate the "bot" to the bot MS FrontPage uses so needless to say, I was lost. Funny how the vernacular was just different enough. Thanks again for the help.
Posted by CrazyTech, 10-09-2003, 06:53 AM
They starting up with us again. We have them coming from asitelist.com now. Seems that they have started it up again.
Posted by AF, 10-23-2003, 10:16 PM
Same happened with me... I would like to have this cleared... - Andre
Posted by CrazyTech, 10-23-2003, 10:20 PM
Looks as if they have stopped again or at least with us. We haven't had any more (at least that I can see) since 10.09.03.
Posted by bedlam, 10-23-2003, 10:33 PM
They haven't been sniffing around my sites lately either...nothing since September. And CrazyTech, sorry I can't resist - it must be the pedantic streak in me - your sig isn't quite right. It's not "Nothing comes from doing nothing," it's "Nothing comes from nothing". (King Lear I.i. where Lear is paraphrasing the Latin phrase "Ex nihilo nihil fit" - 'from nothing nothing comes')
Posted by CrazyTech, 10-23-2003, 10:34 PM
Thanks, guess the quote site I found it from was wrong.
Posted by Lientje.com, 10-25-2003, 04:50 AM
It seems they do the same here. aweblist.com is the one in the stats. Strange people I have a dutch hostingsite so why?
Posted by achost_ca, 10-26-2003, 01:34 PM
We've seen this quite often also... its actually what some companies do to get better listings in search engines (due mainly to the massive number of 'unprotected' statistics pages out there). They run a script that makes the referrer their url, then connect to your site. Their link ends up in the statistics page which then is spidered by the search engine.
Posted by Vidvandre, 10-28-2003, 09:51 AM
This might be explained by a referrer I just found in my logs. http://www.makeindex.com which leads straight to hostitcheap.com... It might be an affiliate though, as the redirect is to an affiliate link. WhoIs for makeindex.com returns; Spam non-the-less...
Posted by Ruling, 10-28-2003, 06:22 PM
I did checks on all the domains that people have seen in there logs. Whois shows they all belong to Smart Search.
Posted by Telemetry, 11-09-2003, 04:34 AM
205.236.189.111 HIC moved their site to canada eye for an eye, thats why. anyone know what server IP their clients are on? :-) Make sure and write a nice reveiw about these spam holes rate HostitCheap.com http://www.whois.sc/members/reverse-...kup=66.9.80.32 Last edited by Telemetry; 11-09-2003 at 04:58 AM.
Posted by AF, 11-09-2003, 10:24 AM
They are ruined by their own attitude. - AF
Posted by MilkMan, 11-09-2003, 03:40 PM
According to that comparewebhosts site, HIC's is listed as: Host It Cheap.com 244 Madison Ave. PMB#347 New York, NY 10016-2819 U.S.A. Tel: 800-863-8838 Sales Fax: 212-354-4492 Hehe, they are using a Mail Boxes Etc drop box location. What is funnier is do a Google search on that address and see what comes up. For example, this page here.
Posted by Ruling, 11-10-2003, 02:41 AM
Hostitcheap.com appears to be a brand name for Kazan LLC. Same with escape.com. Here is the REAL address for the company behind this all. Courtesy of godaddy: Registrant: Kazan LLC 16 East 55 Street New York, NY 10022 US Domain name: KAZANLLC.COM Administrative Contact: Admin, Dns help@escape.com 16 East 55 Street New York, NY 10022 US 212-888-8780 Technical Contact: ISP, Domain Admin help@escape.com 16 East 55 Street 5th Floor New York, NY 10022 US 212-888-8780 Fax: 212-888-5646 Registration Service Provider: Escape.com / Kazan Corp, help@escape.com 212-354-2002 212-354-4492 (fax) http://www.escape.com
Posted by Ruling, 11-10-2003, 02:52 AM
I posted the below to there helpdesk system just thought you would like to know what others think of your service. I was about to go with you tell I read this site: http://www.comparewebhosts.com/ReadR...sp?FeedId=3661 Also your secure ordering site was down when I was about to place an order, good thing is was, it gave me time to find out more about your company. I guess the people at comparewebhosts were right.
Posted by Vidvandre, 11-10-2003, 11:09 AM
I'm tooo curious; So i had to check their site.... www.kazanllc.com returns a 404, while kazanllc.com tells you they're in hosting... The most interesting thing about the latter is that the title of the page was "kazserv.com"!....