When it comes to web hosting, one of the basic challenges most people face is cost. The cost has made many website and blog owners get so trapped in some sort of good to be true web hosting services.

Funny enough, they leave the so called good to be true host company and still get back in without knowing. Also, I believe by now you would be wondering “how?”. Before the end of this article you will have an eye opener of what is going on and I plead with you not to withhold this information go ahead and share Top Web hosting Companies You should Run Away From.

Now Lets take a look at the Big (EIG) group who love setting up these traps for website owners. Also, EIG group do this by acquiring dozens of web hosting companies and make them run the same policy. And so when you pull out from one, you end up going back to them, because EIG may own the next one you think is better of

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Meet The Endurance International Group (EIG)

You may ask who are they?. Well EIG is probably the biggest player in today’s web hosting industry. EIG initially began as BizLand in 1996 and its HQ is in Burlington, Massachusetts, but began buying smaller web hosting businesses to grow their customer-base. Today, they own some of the most well known hosting companies such as BlueHost and HostGator.

In 2011, EIG was acquired by Accel-KKR and GS Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. And today, the company is listed on NASDAQ (under the ticker EIGI) and valued at $1.2 billion dollars.

At this time of writing, EIG has more than 80 web hosting brands under its umbrella (more on this shortly) and over 5 million subscribers all over the world.

SO What Happens To a Hosting Acquired by EIG?

If the past is any indication of the future, we can safely assume that EIG will continue to expand it’s operations and acquire more and more web hosting properties. As soon as EIG buys a hosting company, it typically makes several changes to the company such as changing the control panels, equipment, data center locations, operational changes to existing staff and starts moving customers to their own network. Some customers have noticed a significant reduction in the level of customer/technical support following the purchase of a hosting company by EIG.

Since the purchase of HostGator, some customers have become frustrated with their quality of service. Some have noticed a delay in response time when submitting tickets. Also with accounts being moved from SoftLayer to the EIG data center in Provo, UT there has been an increase in customers complaints .

On the outside, HostGator among most of EIG’s other acquisitions have remained the same, while all the changes took place on the administration and technical side of things. It is possible that HostGator is not the same company we once knew to be reliable and performance-based.

The Sad Truth — With EIG owning a number of the top web hosting companies in the industry, even if you are dissatisfied with one host and choose to switch to another there’s a good chance that you might still end up with a company owned by EIG (see full list of EIG brands below).

Also, you should remember to verify that the hosting you going to work with is a non-EIG one. And, for example, HostNamaste , a non-EIG & highly secured hosting service.

Hosting Companies and Brands Under EIG You should Run Away From Includes;

EIG is an umbrella company for over approximately 80+ companies, many of which are web hosting companies.

The following is a list of the host companies acquired by EIG over the years:

2slick (2slick.com)Probably belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
AccountSupport (accountsupport.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
ApolloHosting.com (apollohosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
AptHost (apthost.com)Belongs to EIG as a part of wwwh.com since at least June 25, 2015.
A Small Orange (asmallorange.com)Acquired by EIG in July 2010.
Arvixe (arvixe.com)Acquired by EIG in October 2014.
Athenix Corporation, Athenix Inc. (athenixinc.com)Belongs to EIG since 2012 or earlier.
Berry Information Systems L.L.C. (berryinfosysllc.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
BigRock (bigrock.com)Acquired in January 2014.
BizLand (bizland.com)Former name of EIG. Founded in 1996.
BlueDomino (bluedomino.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
BlueFur (bluefur.com)Belongs to EIG since at least 25, June 2015.
BlueHost (bluehost.com)Acquired by EIG in November 2010.
Cloud by IX (cloudbyix.com)Acquired by EIG in Q4 2015 with IXWebHosting.
Directi Web Technologies (Directi, directi.com)Acquired in January 2014.
Domain.comBelongs to EIG since October 2011 or earlier.
DomainHost (domainhost.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Dotster (dotster.com)Belongs to EIG since July 2011 or earlier.
Dot5Hosting.com (dot5hosting.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.iPower, StartLogic and Dot5Hosting were acquired by EIG at the same time in 2007.
EasyCGI (easycgi.com)Belongs to EIG since July 2009 or earlier.
EntryHost (entryhost.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Escalate Internet (escalateinternet.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
FastDomain (fastdomain.com)Has become part of Bluehost since December 2006 (or earlier).Bluehost was later acquired by EIG.
FatCow (fatcow.com, fatcowhosting.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
FreeYellow (freeyellow.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
Globat (Glob@t, globat.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Homestead Technologies, Inc. (homestead.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
HostADay (hostaday.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
HostCentric (hostcentric.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
HostClear (hostclear.com)Bought by JustHost in October 2011, which was later acquired by EIG
Host Excellence (hostexcellence.com)Acquired by EIG in Q4 2015 with IXWebHosting.
HostGator (hostgator.com)Acquired in June 2012.
HostNine (hostnine.com)Is a sister company of A Small Orange (ASO), which is an EIG.
HostMonster (hostmonster.com)Is a sister company of BlueHost, which was acquired by EIG.
HostYourSite.com (hostyoursite.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
HyperMart (hypermart.com, hypermart.net)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
IMOutdoorsHosting (imoutdoorshosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
IdeaHost (ideahost.com)Belongs to EIG.
Impress.ly (impress.ly)BigRock, which is a part of EIG, launched impress.ly since 15, Dec 2015.
Intuit WebsitesAcquired in August 2012.
iPage (ipage.com)A tool used by iPage and turned into a brand.Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
iPower (IpowerWeb, ipower.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.iPower, StartLogic and Dot5Hosting were acquired by EIG at the same time in 2007.
IX Web Hosting (ixwebhosting.com)Acquired by EIG in Q4 2015.
JustCloud (justcloud.com)Belongs to EIG since February 2014 or earlier.
JustHost (justhost.com)Acquired by EIG in 2010.
LogicBoxes (logicboxes.com)Acquired by Directi, which was bought by EIG.
MyDomain (mydomain.com)Belongs to EIG.
NamesDirect (namesdirect.com)Belongs to EIG since 2011 or earlier.
NameZero (namezero.com)Belongs to EIG since 2011 or earlier.
NetFirms (netfirms.com)Was acquired by EIG in 2011.
NetworksHosting (networkshosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Nexx (nexx.com)Was acquired by EIG in 2012 or earlier.
PowWeb (powweb.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2006 or earlier.
PureHost (purehost.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
ReadyHosting (readyhosting.co.uk, readyhosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
ResellerClub (resellerclub.com)Acquired in January 2014.
SEO Hosting (seohosting.com, seowebhosting.net)Was part of HostGator which was later acquired by EIG.
Site5 (site5.com)Belongs to EIG since the 4th of August 2015.
SiteBuilder (sitebuilder.com)A part of EIG since Q2 2015.
Sitelio (sitelio.com)A part of EIG.
Sitey (sitey.com)A part of EIG since Q2 2015.
SouthEastWeb (southeastweb.com)Probably belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Spry (spry.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
StartLogic (startlogic.com)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.iPower, StartLogic and Dot5Hosting were acquired by EIG at the same time in 2007.
SuperGreen Hosting (SuperGreenHosting, supergreenhosting.com)Merged with JustHost, which was later acquired by EIG.
TightHost (tighthost.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
TypePad (typepad.com)Belongs to EIG since 2014 or earlier.
UsaNetHosting (usanethosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Verio (verio.com)Belongs to EIG since the 4th of August 2015.
Virtual Avenue (virtualave.net)Belongs to EIG since May 2007 or earlier.
VPSlink (vpslink.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010.
Web2010 (web2010.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
WebDevHosting (webdevhosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
WebHost4Life.com (webhost4life.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
webhosting.infoAcquired by Directi, which was bought by EIG.
WebSiteBuilder (websitebuilder.com)A part of EIG since Q2 2015.
WebstrikeSolutions (WebstrikeSolutions.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
Webzai (webzai.com)Acquired by EIG in the 3d quarter 2014.
World Wide Web Hosting (wwwh.com)Fictitious Names: PRESSED, WEBSITE.ME, WP MANAGED HOST.Belongs to EIG since at least June 25, 2015.
Xeran (xeran.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
YourWebHosting (yourwebhosting.com)Belongs to EIG since April 2010 or earlier.
There maybe more

Final Thought

The fortunate fact is that there are several other highly reputable hosting companies in the industry that still have not been taken over by EIG. Slowly but surely, many hosting companies are finding out about EIG and will refrain from a deal if it means a reduction in service, support and reliability for their customers.

That’s why I recommend choosing non-EIG hosting services for you site.

Also, there are options available for those who are looking for non-EIG hosting. The following independently owned and operated web hosting companies are some of the best options for reliability, price, customer service and performance.

For example, check out HostNamaste , a non-EIG, reliable and SSD driver based web hosting solution. Already using them for a couple of years, on a numerous websites and absolutely satisfied with them. Great uptime and support when I need it.

In their own words:

A Reliable Indian Hosting. Company You Can Trust. HostNamaste is the perfect web hosting solution for your small and big websites.

4+ Years Of Excellence

HostNamaste, The Best Indian Web Hosting Company Around.

We offers the best-in-class fast SSD Shared, Reseller, OpenVZ VPS, KVM VPS, Windows VPS, and Dedicated Servers for small and big websites across US, UK, India and Russia. We endeavour to offer our clients the best services at competitive prices.

We came into this business because we saw a lack of support in the hosting bussiness. We have used numerous other well known hosting providers and they left us dissatisfied. We felt a need for a hosting provider that was not only capable of understanding your needs, but had the resources to provide you support though out. Therefore, HostNamaste was born out of necessity.