Earth: Mostly Harmless

Hostmonster Are Spammers

September 19, 2006 on 12:28 pm |
Categories: akismet, site news, technology, wordpress
Tags: akismet, comment, comments, hosting, hostmonster, site news, spam, technology, wordpress

I was going to move this site to HostMonster, as I noted in an earlier post.

However, I picked up a comment on this blog which Akismet (correctly) identified as spam:

HostMonster | admin@hostmonsterwebhostingreview.com | http://www.hostmonsterwebhostingreview.com/ | IP: 68.3.51.196

Hostmonster is a really nice choice of a host, feel free to drop by and tell our readers about your experience.

I’ve removed the links, but the email address and the website address linked to hostmonsterwebhostingreview.com, which, unsurprisingly, gives hostmonster a 100% positive rating, and opens with the stunningly unbiased remark:

We have tested the service and know the owners of HostMonster. They are one of the truely great companies that we have had the pleasure of dealing with.

Sorry, but I don’t support spammers. If this wasn’t done by someone acting on behalf of HostMonster, then I apologise - but why would anyone go to the trouble of registering a domain like that if it weren’t for some commercial benefit?

Here’s the WHOIS output for that domain:

Registrant:
   Domains by Proxy, Inc.
   DomainsByProxy.com
   15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
   Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
   United States

   Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
   Domain Name: HOSTMONSTERWEBHOSTINGREVIEW.COM
      Created on: 31-Aug-06
      Expires on: 31-Aug-07
      Last Updated on: 31-Aug-06

   Administrative Contact:
      Private, Registration  HOSTMONSTERWEBHOSTINGREVIEW.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
      Domains by Proxy, Inc.
      DomainsByProxy.com
      15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
      Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
      United States
      (480) 624-2599      Fax -- (480) 624-2599

   Technical Contact:
      Private, Registration  HOSTMONSTERWEBHOSTINGREVIEW.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
      Domains by Proxy, Inc.
      DomainsByProxy.com
      15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
      Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
      United States
      (480) 624-2599      Fax -- (480) 624-2599

   Domain servers in listed order:
      NS97.HOSTGATOR.COM
      NS98.HOSTGATOR.COM