Quote:
Originally posted by Lightning:
Dizzy, I dont know what other Free Hosts do, but when we recieve a complaint from any Legal content owner, and they say a site on our hosting is using their content. We send the webmaster an email, and give them 24 hours to provide proof that the pics are theirs to use. If they dont respond, we have no choice but to remove their account. But we only do this if they can't provide proof.
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That is actually very generous. I'm sure some guys bitch and whine because they only get 24 hours notice, but as far as I ever knew --
A) The content owners do not owe anyone ANY notice at all, and it is within their rights to proceed directly to the lawsuit phaze if they so desire,
and
B) Most freehosts give absolutely no notice. They nuke the site first, and let the webmaster plead his/her case later.
Solution: buy legal content or produce your own, and have proof of permission or ownership handy at all times.
File sizes --
Again, I've said this before, 200 or 250kb for images is HUGE and a waste of time and bandwidth. I am telling you here and now, I can take any (read - ANY) full-sized pic of any file size (even 2 megs) and resize it, crop it, edit it and compress it, and it will come out looking nice and clean and nearly as clear as the original, and it will be well UNDER 100kb, likely 35 - 75 kb MAX. Those images load faster, and I can jamb more of them into a hosting account if the server space is limited. Why the hell would anyone need a 200kb size limit? I have no idea, as far as I know .mpg's are not allowed on most freehosts, so why the huge limit needed?
However, I'm not really crazy about using freehosts that go overboard with the limit either. I think that 50kb is a bit excessively harsh, really. 80 or 100 kb is perfect for free image sites though.
Suggestions for freehosts --
As some that have known me for a longer time will tell you, I've been a "damn freehoster" for forever, and here's what I look for...
FTP -- If my site is established and of any size at all, ftp is a must. It would take me a month of Sundays to upload 'CD's Models on the Web' for example, in it's entirety using a file manager, 5 or 10 files at a time. I have about 2000 files for that site. For newer and smaller sites, no problem. Lack of FTP is pretty much the only thing now keeping me from firing up a few accounts with Lightning btw.
Space -- 30+ megs is okay, more is better.
Speed -- I like it when a freehost specifies on their information page exactly what connectivity they possess, and how fast their servers are. Not all of us are doorknobs that know nuthin bout nuthin.
Headers/footers -- It really frosts my ass when there is no sample page for me to look at so that I know what I'm getting myself into as far as what the ads look like. I've signed up more than a few times for what looked like a great deal, only to find that my beautiful site was literally buried in top/bottom ads of over half a page each (both top AND bottom!). Not every webmaster will know what your freehost is all about, so I suggest putting a link on your information pages to show them "this is what our headers/footers/banners currently look like."
Bad decisions --
I've moved sites off of some freehosts in a matter of minutes and emailed all my trades to update my links to the new url. Why? Well, one freehost added those annoying audio ads that we all love to hate so much, for pure-fuck-dot-dumb. Me gone!
Also, I moved off of a few hosts for allowing their service to become shit slow to the point that I could no longer get galleries listed anywhere. I'm sure there are ways of making $$ from freehost ads without making fatal decisions that will ultimately drive guys like me away in droves.
Tech support -- well, I thought that waiting 3 to 5 days to get an answer to my emails was pretty good and pretty standard, that is until I met Wayne (from smutserver) and Lightning (from....Lightning). These guys should be called the Lightning brothers, both are as fast as shit through a goose
(and twice as runny) It's just damn nice to feel like someone at the other end cares about your business, you know?
When I find a service such as a freehost that I really like, I tend to become very loyal, and will promote them and put my name behind what I say about them, and that doesn't come lightly by any means.
I'll close by saying that any freehost that runs itself well and doesn't overload it's servers, keeps it's ad space narrow and clever instead of HUGE and annoying, and offers ftp to guys like me with bigger sites, and answers emails in a timely fashion should be able to make a killing, because they will not only be TGP friendly but they will draw to it a lot of loyal business. They will also be a company that other big adult organizations will want to pay for ad space as well. By the way, the person that made the decision to put in those "expanding mouseover ads" in the headers of sexshare.com and a few other freehosts ought to be fucking shot and pissed on.
Okay, I'll take a breath now and let you guys get a word in, and since it's Friday night, I'll pour meself another icy homemade vodka cooler, hee hee evil me
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[This message has been edited by CDSmith (edited 05-18-2001).]