Happy New Year to you all -

Hosting continues to die (as a marketing concept of interest). Open Source CMS solutions continue their rise in interest, and so demand. Those are two predictions based on an analysis of Google Trends showing clear movement along those lines. You can vote on this in the Poll.

Let's take a look -- there are three Google "Trends" charts attached (click thumbnail below to see larger chart), showing and comparing search volume (interest) for "Hosting" compared with other CMS search terms.

1. The first chart shows the Google search trends (what people are looking for) in all regions of the world, with hosting on steady decline (blue), storage and transfer (aspects of hosting) of more interest than "hosting" (red and yellow), those too on a decline since 2004. "Applications" has been trending down between 2004 and 2007, but in 2007 you see a decided uptick and at the end of last year, interest in "Applications" actually exceeds interest in "Hosting."
2. This second chart shows search volume in all regions of the world for "Hosting," compared with WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal -- three popular open source CMS scripts. It very clearly shows interest in looking for "Hosting" declining over the past four years, while interest in popular CMS solutions rising out of nowhere in 2004 to approach interest in "Hosting" by the end of last year.
   
3. The third chart shows interest in "Hosting" compared with "WordPress," and the more generic "CMS". Again, aside from the annual holiday plunge at the end of each year, Hosting is taking a dive (dieing in interest), while WordPress shows a marked increase, and "CMS" trends up over four years, but seems a bit flat in 2007.

CONCLUSION: While potential customers continue to be disenchanted with "Hosting" (the hardware for their web presence), they are also becoming bored with the generic "CMS" (Content Management System), and more interested in specific applications (like Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, etc.), or specific solutions (Customer Relationship Management).

What say you?

Regards -
Scott

CMSes require a server (i.e. hosting). Hosting cannot die.

Just because people aren't searching for hosting specifically on a single search engine doesn't mean that ther'es no interest or customer base in hosting in general. There are a number of webmasters in my boat, who are quite happy with their host and have been for years (in my case, almost 6). Why would I go looking for hosting if I'm already happy with mine as a customer?

Not only that, you can't compare people searching for the word "hosting" with people saerching for the word "WordPress" and think you've got even close to the full picture. There are about a million other phrases that would make up the hosting equation.

Here are a few from the hosting side:

Hosting review
Hosting reviews
Windows hosting
Linux hosting
cheap linux hosting
oscommerce hosting
ASP hosting
PHP hosting
Ruby on Rails hosting
...
...
...
There would be similar phrases from a WordPress point of view:

WordPress extensions
WordPress plugins
any WordPress function


On top of that, you'd have to consider hosting vs. CMS behavior on pretty much any web design discussion board, the success of sites such as tophosts.com, and about a million other things that we will never have access to.

Finally, a CMS is not essential to the operation of a website (a static website does not require a CMS as such). It's a luxury. You need a host to operate a website.

I seriously don't know where you come up with your ideas, and why you insist on blasting them out in the loudest, most obnoxious way possible. Do you think using lots of bold and really big letters makes your point that much stronger? I've got a news flash for you: it doesn't.

There is very simple explanation in drop and that is because 3 - 4 years ago Domain Registrars such as godaddy, yahoo, google, NS etc. started offering web hosting services in addition to domains and people simply stop using search to find hosting companies per say because 95% of them will host their site in toilet bowl as far as they care.

On another had more web savvy users start looking for hosts who are specializing in all kind of fancy application and in addition Joe Public got the idea and understood that he will have problems with wordpress and other applications if he stays with godaddy so he too start looking for someone who supports fancy stuff.

Now, you tell me how many people that you know can configure DNS or Mail or Web server etc. functions on either Unix or Windows based platforms? How many people know how to setup "A" or "MX" or "PTR" etc. functions? Until you can answer - everyone, web hosting companies continue be the place to go.


fastreplies

P.S Edit your post and make your fonts normal

Hello -

The Google trends cited match the reported findings by a web hosting industry panel in an article about Web Hosting trends discussed at the 2007 Hosting Convention, HostingCon. According to the article which appears at the WHIR (Web Host Industry Review) website, "Ultimately, the as-a-service model for delivering software is going to matter most to answering those customer needs. And software as a service should mean more to hosts than it does even now, with its hot-topic status."

Here, "as-a-service" refers to software solutions for customers seeking an online presence, like project management applications, sales management solutions (sometimes called "CRM" -- Customer Relationship Management), and content management solutions in general.

Of course the need for "Hosting" is not going away. The value of it as a marketing term is.

Yours -
Scott

Dude it's got to be said (seen this before) that copy and pasting replies and posts isn't a good idea. It would be better to link to the post or article or whatever IMO. Copying and pasting replies is worse really:

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/show....php?p=3671438

Dan

Dan, you just confirmed a suspicion I've had in my own mind, and now I'm going to air it publicly.

Scott: you couldn't care less (or could care marginally at best) what other people think. You're just going around making idiotic, bombastic statements (quite often in bold and large letters) to draw attention to yourself and what you're doing; and [potential flame snipped], you haven't yet figured out that there are good forms of attention and bad forms of attention.

Cross-posting to forums to try and get people riled up: bad form of attention. Won't get you to where you want to go. You'll draw attention to yourself, but you won't draw the kind of attention you want. Much like most online "viral marketing" campaigns, awareness of the campaign usually leads to its eventual death.

Helping people, psoting intelligent commentary, using bold and italics the way they were intended to be used: good form of attention. Will get you to where you want to go.

Hello All -

Here is what I am doing, and what the other posters missed. I am polling different market places (just two in this case), with similar but slightly different polls. Check the polls, which are close, but ask different questions. For example, the SitePoint poll has an optional answer which reads, "On the Fence - There's room to market both concepts." This Forum does not show that option on its poll.

I then read all the results, and it serves to fine tune my thinking on a particular subject. This "conversation" is then echoed in my own blog, and in comments I might make on others. You will see in my own blog that I have included (and will continue to do so) poll results showing a majority of votes against a particular idea that I put forward (can you believe that actually happens? )
.

Once again, we see the arrival of a poster who wishes to pull us off the question, into some sort of ego whining debate (you can follow the link to his recent posts if you wish to see examples of a serial, off-topic ranter). Is this an example of best forum behavior? It is ironic, though, to find him railing bombastically against perceived bombastic posts. And the really weak point in his argument is that you can Google my posts here and see that very few, maybe 2-3 times, have I posted similar polls in other forums, though I do have 80 posts here at WebMaster-Talk.

Suggestion: If you wish to have a debate on the usefulness of studying peoples thoughts in different forums, then please start a thread about it, and we can hash it out there. I suggest you include a poll, and ask if people believe polling similar concepts in more than one forum is good for the community.

Whym, you have made an interesting suggestion that one should link to another poll (if it is exactly the same, I think you meant). Why? Isn't it easier to simply restate it? This is probably best answered in a different thread... go ahead and create one, and let us know.

Back to THIS Thread's Point: I have worked in hosting for a long time. I think the term "hosting" is nearing the end of its usefulness in a marketing sense, and I am interested in your take on it.

Yours -
Scott

First of all, cross-posting is a form of spam, if you want to poll different communities, fine, but the least you could have done is typed it uniquely, so it wouldn't have been easily detectable, and come off as a spammer.

Originally Posted by Webmaster-Talk Rules

In order for us all to enjoy our visits to Webmaster-Talk, a few rules need to be placed and followed. They are as follows:

• No Spamming
  
  Spamming is characterized by the initiation of threads or posts that contribute nothing to a forum, be it off topic or on topic. Examples include: empty posts, posts with few words that have no relation to the current thread or discussion and those posts that state they are spam, either to annoy or increase a member's post count. This determination is made by the forum Moderator or Administrator and is not up for discussion.

Originally Posted by OSWebMaster

Check the polls, which are close, but ask different questions. For example, the SitePoint poll has an optional answer which reads, "On the Fence - There's room to market both concepts." This Forum does not show that option on its poll.

Ummmm..... yes it does


But to answer the question posed:
I don't believe the hosting "business" will *die* as you put it, because people still use CMS's and at the same time pay for hosting, to have complete control over how they own and administrate their websites.

Originally Posted by jamestl2

First of all, cross-posting is a form of spam, if you want to poll different communities, fine, but the least you could have done is typed it uniquely, so it wouldn't have been easily detectable, and come off as a spammer.

Ummmm..... yes it does


But to answer the question posed:
I don't believe the hosting "business" will *die* as you put it, because people still use CMS's and at the same time pay for hosting, to have complete control over how they own and administrate their websites.

Hello James -

I agree. The hosting "business", as you put it, will not die. It cannot because it is required hardware for an internet presence. But I still believe that "hosting -- the concept," as I put it, is near the end of its useful life span as a a marketing term.

Selling "hosting", instead of a CMS powered website business solution is like selling four tires, some pistons, and bumpers -- instead of presenting the idea of a compact, sports, or luxury "car" which accomplishes the mission of getting you around town, and is fun to drive.

Yours -
Scott

P.S. This postscript is for a reply to the off topic points you brought forward.

You are correct, the phrase you quoted does appear in the poll in this forum, but it does not in the other forum in which I posted a slightly different poll. (refer to: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3671438)
Thanks for pointing that mistake out.

And, thank you also, James, for proving my point that this posting is not SPAM, since it meets none of the criteria in the definition you have offered.

more interested in specific applications (like Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, etc

Both Drupal and joomla are CMS

Originally Posted by jetbrains

Both Drupal and joomla are CMS

As is WordPress which won an award for best CMS from PACKT publishing last year, and for which at least one company (Know Now) offers an "Enterprise CMS" solution.

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

CMSes require a server (i.e. hosting). Hosting cannot die.

Just because people aren't searching for hosting specifically on a single search engine doesn't mean that ther'es no interest or customer base in hosting in general. There are a number of webmasters in my boat, who are quite happy with their host and have been for years (in my case, almost 6). Why would I go looking for hosting if I'm already happy with mine as a customer?

Not only that, you can't compare people searching for the word "hosting" with people saerching for the word "WordPress" and think you've got even close to the full picture. There are about a million other phrases that would make up the hosting equation.

Very well put, when I read the OP, I was like how is this even in question? It's not that people do not know how to setup servers to run their own hosting. Not everyone has money for their own server or fast enough connection at home to run it (FIOS). People and businesses will always need hosting regardless of the technology they will be using CMS, Wordpress, etc.

Originally Posted by OSWebMaster

Selling "hosting", instead of a CMS powered website

CMS, requires hosting

Why specialize in just CMS when you can offer solutions for everyone. Even just people who put up a 5 page site and their done. I dont see the point of a CMS for that, that's a lost client.

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

CMSes require a server (i.e. hosting). Hosting cannot die.

I agree with the previous poster, hosting cannot die. It only changes.

Scott, I'd say the thread title isn't quite correct, it has mislead me, as it the content of the package changes, and that's inevitable, and will see greater changes as Web 3.0 is developing. But you can't deny the fact that still lots of sites require basic features like php and databases. And there are still many people who don't have sites at all....I guess hosting with plain, basic features will be in demand for quite a lot of time, too early to say goodbye to it.

Hi Icy -

I think you (and some others here) are correct -- the thread title can mislead, if you focus on the hardware service that is hosting, and not on "hosting" as a marketing term.

If you read the Poll here, the first post (which clarified that hosting dieing meant, "as a marketing concept of interest" -- not the whole hardware as a service industry), and you saw that search interest in "Hosting" (the term) is way down -- you might see what I was driving at.

I will say it again -- hosting, the hardward service, cannot die. "Hosting" as a marketing term, however, I believe is nearing the end of its useful life.

I think you can "repackage" the concept as a business mission solution. For example, when someone signs up to get a free blog, at WordPress.com (not the WordPress.org site where you download the script and run it on your own hosting platform), they are thinking of a specific usage solution -- a blog, and are less concerned (if they think about it at all) with the underlying "hosting" going on.

That's basically where I was coming from, after selling hosting for Microsoft, and managing two hosting companies.

Yours -
Scott

Also, signing up for multiple accounts and rehashing the same questions isn't a good idea either:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/web-ho...ting-dead.html

Hi James -

Yup... over a year ago I signed up with a different username, and then forgot that account -- that's why the last message from it was posted last April.

Yes... I earlier (link you posted) had a similar discussion about Hosting with different people here, and a different poll attached to it.

If you look at the old poll and discussion, the CMS aspect wasn't closely tied into it.

- Scott

You have read the forum rules, right?:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/news-a...rum-rules.html

Originally Posted by Webmaster-talk Rules

* This determination is made by the forum Moderator or Administrator and is not up for discussion.

A member can only have one account.

Any member having more than one account will get all accounts banned, especially if they are talking to each other!

I'd recommend PM'ing or talking to one of the WT staff, if you don't wish to see your accounts banned, even if you "forgot" about that one.

Hi James -

Did the PM thing, and I believe they will delete the old one, or already have. Note the "especially if they are talking to each other"... seems a bit schizo to me, and none of mine were talking to each other -- thank God.

- Scott

Yeah, we've had people here at WT that have talked to themselves through different accounts before, just look at this thread for a perfect example:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/bloggi...bout-blog.html

Others have done it for manipulative purposes such as for twice as many links, to double their TP count, having twice as many signature links, among other similar reasons.

(OK, I'm done hijacking your hosting thread )