Expert Overview
A once great service seems to be going down hill
Yahoo! is one of the biggest internet companies in the world so one might expect that they would make sure all their lines of business are operating properly. Sadly, while the web hosting service was actually quite good back in 1999 when they bought it, it has been allowed to go down hill since then.
They are focused just on providing their services to small businesses, and they only offer shared hosting services. Their e-commerce platforms, which was once what attracted many people to the services, has now become unstable and outdated. In fact, Yahoo! made a lot of headlines back in 2007 because their hosting and e-commerce platforms experienced lots of outages on 'Cyber Monday' costing their customers a lot of money.
If you are just looking for a simple web hosting company and you like the idea of being associated with a major internet company like Yahoo!, you may be ok with this option. For most individuals and businesses, however, you can find a much better service for a lower price.
Read MoreUptime & Reliability
Overall a stable hosting service but vulnerable to traffic spikes
Sites hosted on Yahoo! Small Business web hosting are generally going to be stable without any major problems. One issue, however, is that since they are focused on small businesses, the entire hosting operation is vulnerable to traffic spikes.
Holiday shopping spikes, for example, will hit many of the sites they host, which can end up slowing everyone down or even causing outages. This type of thing tends to happen at the worst times, since the businesses need their site up during busy times more than ever.
Features
Some nice little Yahoo extras
This is one area where this hosting platform actually has some nice things to say about it. Since it is owned by Yahoo!, you actually get access to some of the great services that they provide. Sadly, most of them are limited only to the middle and higher end hosting packages.
You'll get their site builder program, and a lot of free templates to choose from. You'll also get access to forms, maps, a photo gallery, a variety of free PayPal buttons, assistance with social media, integrated video and/or audio players and more. You can even use the Yahoo! SEO tracker and reporting system.
All of these combined can be quite attractive for someone who wants all their hosting and site management to be combined into one place.
Support
Great self-help but little live support
Yahoo! has an extensive library of different guides, manuals and other resources that you can use to learn more about hosting and fix some problems you'll have. When you search for just about any error or question you have, you'll likely get dozens or even hundreds of results. Unfortunately, this can sometimes make it confusing to figure out which one you actually need.
They do offer 24/7 live telephone and email support, but many report long hold times and the support doesn't always fix the problem right away.
Pricing
Prices are higher than they should be for the services you get
Yahoo! web hosting really only offers three differnet options, all of which are a form of shared hosting. Despite this, their prices are still higher than most other dedicated hosting companies. You can save money (or add to your bill) based on some of the features or special deals they offer, but this seems to just be confusing more than any type of actual price improvement.
Summary
Some nice features but overall not the best hosting option
Yahoo! web hosting does offer some nice features that will be attractive to many people. In addition, since they have one of the most recognizable names in the industry, it will likely be around for a very long time (though they could sell this line of business at some point). Despite some nice perks, this is not really a great hosting option for most people or businesses.
Pros:
- Backed by Yahoo!
- Access to many Yahoo! services
- Generally reliable
- Great self-help systems
Cons:
- Services have been going down hill for years
- Little live support
- Prone to outages during high traffic days
