Editors Yahoo! Review

Yahoo Hosting Review

Posted by Jim on Sep 21, 2005

Yahoo! is arguably the biggest player in the web hosting industry with millions upon millions of websites hosted. They offer premium web hosting through the Yahoo Small Business Portal, and free web hosting through Geocities.

We reviewed the Standard Hosting plan, which includes 75GB data transfer, 4GB disk space, and 50 POP accounts for $19.95 a month. At the time of signup there was also a $25 setup fee, however Yahoo tends to run semi-weekly promotions eliminating this extra charge.

Signup was relatively straight-forward, although you must have a Yahoo ID in order to checkout. The Yahoo ID allows you to access the plethora of products and features available in Yahoo-land and presumably allows them to track your every move. Signup is not instant, however you can get started with the control panel almost right away.

As is to be expected from a company like Yahoo, the Standard Plan control panel is packed with links to various features in a familiar directory-tree layout. However, sometimes the wealth of information makes it difficult to find what you are looking for, and it definitely gives the impression that there is more available than there actually is.

For the beginning user, they offer a whopping four separate web-based editors that meet most any website need. More advanced users have web-based text, HTML, and PHP editors. Their web-based file upload utility allows you to select up to twenty files at one time, and their FTP instructions are clear as day. The web-based file manager is thorough and easy to use.

No SSH or telnet access is available, and one significant downside is the non-existent CGI scripting. Setting up email accounts that also have access to web-mail is an extremely tedious process that is more complicated than any other host we've ever dealt with, and makes a deluge of spam almost inevitable for every POP account holder. It would be an amazingly patient person who could actually stand to setup 50 separate accounts, each linked to a unique Yahoo ID. However, if you don't need web-mail, you can setup standalone POP accounts without this hassle.

One big plus to hosting with such a large company is their guaranteed uptime. Since the core of their business relies on their own website being accessible 24/7, you can take comfort in knowing that the same reliability will be extended to your own website.

Being a major player in Internet advertising, Yahoo provides multiple partnership opportunities and savings/promotions for purchasing Internet advertising space. For a business website with nearly any budget, this connection helps to make Yahoo hosting stand out from the competition.

Like the rest of Yahoo, the help documentation is superb - very well-organized with an excellent intuitive search feature. If you still need help with your question, you can send in a trouble ticket online, or call their 24/7 toll-free support line. Being such a large company, they receive a great deal of support requests, so response times can vary greatly.

On the whole, Yahoo web hosting is a great idea for anyone who is already a Yahoo user and familiar with their way of doing things, and looking for a basic web hosting account. However, it is definitely geared more towards beginning users (do we really need four WYSIWYG editors?), and more advanced hosting customers may find their needs better met elsewhere. Yahoo web hosting is expensive in comparison to similar plans offered by other top-rated hosting companies; you are paying a premium for their brand, and presumably their experience and longevity.

Visit yahoo.com.com

Netfirms Site Screenshot (http://www.yahoo.com)

 

 

 

 

 

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