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Research Quality on LowEndBox
So, looking through the new design I searched for "Sweden". Always interesting to see local offers.
What I stumbled upon is an article about an amazing Swedish comparison site for web hosting offers.
The article tells the story about a website researching and providing relevant information as to which is the best web hosting service in Sweden.
In the bottom of the article, @raindog308 writes:
"Thanks to HostUp, a LowEndBox community host, for tipping us off about this site. HostUp has some great deals on their web site, so be sure to check them out!"
Hmm, a free website doing web hosting research without any affiliate links, recommended to LEB by @HostUp, constantly picking @HostUp as the winning host?
So I dug a bit further, but first, another quote from @raindog308:
"Second, Webbhotel Info doesn’t use affiliate links. That’s huge. You’re getting an unbiased opinion cheap vps and cheap shared hosting providers."
Unbiased, nice! Let's continue.
The WHOIS for webbhotellinfo.se is of course hidden.
What's not hidden is the dates:
created: 2020-04-16
modified: 2022-02-16
expires: 2024-04-16
transferred: 2021-04-11
Compare this to the WHOIS of hostup.se:
created: 2018-12-29
modified: 2022-02-18
expires: 2022-12-29
transferred: 2021-04-11
Let's take a look at the transfer date, 2021-04-11 for webbhotellinfo.se and, what? The same for hostup.se? The unbiased opinion and @HostUp accidentally transferred their domains on the exact same date.
Surely, to different registrars to hide the affiliation? Nope!
Both to Openprovider (https://registrar.eu/). Now, surely it's just one of the biggest domain registrars in Sweden and therefore it's a total coincidence. I hate to say it, but they're a niche player focused on resellers, with very few registered domains quarterly.
But hey, there's a new design!
Comments
Thanks for the data @emgh, I've directed @raindog308 to this thread so he can take a look.
We appreciate your efforts.
Good find. Quality died years ago btw.
They were once under the same roof
apiscp.hostup.se has address 46.227.67.110Got curious about openprovider -- anyone else get a sketchy feeling due to the abundant number of "placeholder photos" on their site?
SO many of those gray gradient animated boxes, even including logo.
Could be a nice service but those gradient animated boxes makes a very sketchy feel
Isn't HostUp = Boomer?
No, it's a intentional whitelabel service as far as I know, everyone that I've seen using it is not with openprovider directly.
So LowEndBox is now a platform for building back links to shady affiliate websites/niche blogs with fake reviews that were setup by boomer.host/HostUp employees to promote their brand? Seems like a bit of a stretch away from the intended audience and a bit interesting that it’s all just a spam platform now.
This is called an "advertorial" in the marketing world, great for contextual advertising traffic sources like Outbrain.
LOL.
You actually do have a point amid all this fist-pumping bluster, but attempts to make it into a major global scandal drown out your idea.
Here are the facts:
(1) HostUp submitted a tip on this site. Didn't know they own it. Of course, we still don't. @HostUp do you own this site?
(2) The site lists 8 hosts. Yes, HostUp is first, and I think they were first back in August 2021 as well. However, the site does present many positive comments about other hosts:
Etc. As well as uptime and ping stats. And it's devoted to a specific geography, which is of interest to our readers.
That's what I had in front of me when I decided to publish it. Was I thinking "ah hah, @Prime404 will never suspect that we're laundering HostUp funds through the Cayman Islands"? No. In fact, I've never posted an offer for HostUp. Jon did back in 2020, so it's not like LEB is some marketing juggernaut for them.
What I was actually thinking was "people looking in Sweden will probably like this."
I truly salute your research @emgh but it's not exactly the sinister machinations suggested by some. I would run the story again, though I'd put in a disclaimer and write it up differently. Heck, I'll add a disclaimer now if you want.
We rarely run these kinds of articles. I can't think of another similar one we've ran in the last couple years. We have commented on "review sites" which are peppered with affiliate links and it's obvious the owner has never used any of them. In this article, the author documented various experiences he'd had with sites and wasn't affing.
@raindog308 While I appreciate your kindness, It's a lot shadier than you might think.
Of course they do.
Yes, kind of has to in order to fool the visitor that it's not owned by HostUp and that it's transparent. It only makes it worse.
It's still their site trying to fool the LEB mod team and us visitors that it's an independent comparison site, when it's in fact, not.
No, it's just a cheap way to get backlinks to a shady site that's actually less independent than an affiliate website.
Doesn't decrease their SEO points scored. If you were open to making any links to them from LEB "nofollow" I'm sure you'd ruin their objective though, so I'd like that.
That's what's much worse, the site even mentions how great it is because it's not an affiliate, but is owned by the company you're recommending is as affiliated as it gets.
Again, I really do appreciate your kindness, but these types of scams really trigger me.
Also, I DEEPLY apologize to @HostUp if it turns out that I'm wrong. Therefore, I included what I based my assumption on in the topic, so that anyone can decide for themselves. I personally though, think I'd be one in a million that it's not owned by them.
Here's another forum where the owner of the site (or "someone") created an account, added his link to the footer, wrote 1 post and GTFO: https://www.seo-forum.se/member.php?u=7874
The forum is called "SEO Forum"
Still convinced it's not just a cheap link grab?
Good suggestion.
Implemented.
He's right they knew what they were doing, however... I can guarantee you that wasn't their objective.
Ehm, not too sure. LEB isn't a huge market for Swedish web hosting, but it's a really high-authority site. Such a link makes a huge difference in a tiny market such as Sweden. Especially since the site's main point probably is SEO; I'd guess he'd be aware of that.
They rank #1 for "bästa webbhotellet". Basically "best web hosting" in Sweden. Screening the domains in Ahrefs shows that they do a lot of link building.
Being in the SEO industry, it seems weird to me that they didn't realize their relationship with LEB, and wanted a high-DA link for their sketch site.
But I'll level with you, how do you figure that's not the motivation?
Great!
They didn't think that far ahead, the short term traffic was enough.
I don't think so, since they were link-building a whole lot, as well as link-building in forums (using signature links). They had their minds on link building, so getting a link from a high authority site to be able to get their top position on "best web hosting" (the equivalent) is 100x more worth than the LEB traffic.
Yea that's why openprovider got me curious, but i get a sketchy feeling from their site. But i guess they are trustworthy despite the obvious marketing mishap? or is it genius marketing because i am asking about it and curious about it?
Not sure which 
It’s the only reasonable explanation based on how the article is structured. There would be no reasonable reason to write articles with the following word order if it wasn’t for SEO link building:
“ Second, Webbhotel Info doesn’t use affiliate links. That’s huge. You’re getting an unbiased opinion cheap vps and cheap shared hosting providers.”
Can we call this as a "new normal"?
Another scam by boom @ezeth
Hi. No but we have a very close relationship with them and keep in touch often. They're a valued resource so of course we have helped them with a lot, including design, hosting, SEO, domain management, and a lot of things related to their site. We still help them with a lot of things. Similar to how hittawebbhotellet.se who lists Miss Hosting as #1 also uses them as registrar, and their web hosting.
As for the transfer date, the explanation is simple.
We sell domains using registrar.eu. They're a reseller known as Openprovider. Before using registrar.eu, we used another provider, then we transfered all domains away from there that's the reason all have same transfer date.
Haven't had time to transfer all domains yet but the same thing is true for the domains we transfered recently when we became a registrar.
See whois for example radioburlov.se meishu.se happyorganisations.se. Of course we don't own these plus 300 more.
The lowendbox ticket included this.
"I'm very much interested in getting some publicity for one of the people we work with"
Hell it even said thanks to HostUp for tipping us off at the end, and I didn't complain.
mmm i love lowenddetectives
@HostUp I do question the credibility of their opinion stating HostUp is #1 if you are hosting their site and doing their design/SEO. Not a very clean unbiased review imho
hittawebbhotellet - #1 ranking for the even more competitive keyword "web hosting" in Sweden. They rank Miss Hosting as #1, and use them for web hosting and domain provider.
I don't see this as anything strange tbh. Why wouldn't they want to use the people who they think is best after all?
With design I meant a theme for WordPress, and SEO is just spreading the word around.
It would have been so much better if you just admitted wrongdoing.
Hitta webbhoteller dosen’t brag about not using affiliate links and therefore basically being holier than god. ”Your” site does.
Your strategy of making your obvious lie more trustworthy by saying that while you don’t own it you do their SEO and their design is just plain stupid.
I don’t know how to even say this with different words: anyone that reads your comment and thinks ”oh, that’s it. Not shady” has an IQ of <80.
You also state that you didn’t get mad about them posting the fact that you wanted them to post it, when my point was that you wanted SEO power. Not anything else, your point argues against a point that NOBODY made.
Lastly, you stated that you’re doing their SEO, and I stated that it was a shitty post meant to give you a backlink to a scam website - so I was right even in the reality of your poorly constructed lie.
in your little fantasy dream world where you doing their SEO and design make the site unbiased, is lying about being unaffiliated when you’re really not something Reklamombudsmannen would be interested in pursuing?
Do not understand
Right they have no information about the fact that they do use affiliate links thereby breaking hidden marketing laws.
Lmao is this officially the best LET response so far by a confronted scam provider?
bruh, they break marketing laws and therefore so do you?
So you’re aware that your breaking laws but do so because others too break laws?