Large Web Host Urges Customers to Use Gmail

1sockchuck writes "LA hosting company DreamHost, which hosts more than 700,000 web sites, is encouraging its customers to use Google's Gmail for their e-mail, rather than the DreamHost mail servers. DreamHost is continuing to support all its existing e-mail offerings, but said in a blog post that email is "just not something people are looking for from us, and it's something the big free email providers like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google can do better." DreamHost addresses a question about Google that has vexed many web hosting companies: is Google a useful partner, or a competitor that intends to make "traditional" web hosting companies obsolete? In this case, partnering with Google offers DreamHost a way to offload many of its trouble tickets, reducing the support overhead. Is Google starting to make web hosts less necessary?"

Re:Very unprofessional move

[HansF]

Using google apps for your domain [google.com] enables you to use your [e-mail]... they just take your mx record and handle your mail.

Re:Very unprofessional move

[morganga]

Use Google Apps, they provide a [e-mail] email service. http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/users/gmail.html [google.com]

Very professional move

[Vellmont]

The idea that I'm going to be content putting "[e-mail]" on my business card instead is laughable.

Who said anything about gmail.com? Google also provides DOMAIN based hosting of your email. i.e. [e-mail] can go to Google's servers.

If Dreamhost doesn't want to include email with their web hosting accounts (and it looks like this is the first step towards phasing it out), then they need to get out of the web hosting business

I very much disagree. Web hosting and email hosting have very little to do with each other. They both involve the internet, but beyond that, there's little crossover. Why not let each provider provide what they can do best? I don't eat at gas stations, even though driving across country often involves feeding myself as well as my car. Why should my website host try to also provide poor email?

Not just webmail

[Midnight Thunder]

For me non-webmail is a thing of the past, I love being able to easily access my mail from any computer anywhere (and I'm on quite a lot of different ones on different places). And GMail is the best of all webmails, so they sure made a good choice!

For those who want a bit more than simply webmail, there is also the SMTP and IMAP interfaces offered by GMail.

Re:Very unprofessional move

[MaxInBxl]

Well you can simply configure your host to forward your "[e-mail]" mails to "[e-mail]" automatically. It is then trivial to set Gmail up so that incoming mails sent to "[e-mail]" are replied with "[e-mail]" as a reply-to address.

I use this for several of my domains. The clear advantage for me is that I can use the Gmail interface which I've known and used for years now. Every hosting provider has their own brew of online mail and I've yet to find one that can compete with Gmail.

This is starting to sound like a fan boy post, but another sizable advantage of using Gmail (or hotmail or yahoo-mail etc.) is that your current ISP probably does not have global coverage. So when you move to France next year and have to use neuf.fr as your provider your old e-mail address and messages will not follow you. However you can check your hotmail / Gmail / yahoo for free, no matter where you live and no matter who your ISP is.

However, on a professional front, I personally don't think it is a good move for the simple reason that people hang on to ISPs despite better competition only because they've been "using the same [IS provided]e-mail for years now".

Just my 2 cents

Re:Webmail

[Ngarrang]

Use the correct tool for the job. Google makes for a wonderful mail host. You can still have your [e-mail] address through their mail servers while gaining access to their superior spam-filtering and fantastic uptime.

There will always be a need for web hosters, though a different niche may need to be found. For example, not ever host offers PHP, or Python, or fill-in-name-of-technology and that is where the hosters can differentiate themselves from the free providers like Google, geocities.

From previous experience, e-mail seems to be the red-headed step-child in the service package that a web host offers.

Re:Very unprofessional move

[DerekLyons]

They [Dreamhost] obviously don't have the kind of professionalism that it takes to run a web hosting company (as further evidenced by making glib comments referring to "studly CEO's" in an official blog).

(Chuckle.) I love it when a Slashdot stereotype shatters... I mean, usually the complaint is that most companies are bland and sterile soul sucking Dilbertesque hells... And here we have a complaint because a company isn't!
 
Now, obviously not everyone is going to be happy with a given company - someones always going to be upset. (And here in the 'net age the squeaky wheels of course get all the attention.) But I've been a Dreamhost customer for over eight years - and I've had nothing but good experiences.

Dreamhost is incorrect.

[snarfies]

1) I have run websites for three different local anime clubs over the years. In all cases I wanted a webhost that had pre-installed mailing list software (mailman preferred, but I'd go for whatever). A lot of webhosts may or may not offer mailing lists, they don't specify - that also means they lose, do not want.

2) I said this before in a largely-unrelated story, but I'll say it again here because its relevant: I own otakubell.com, and its primary purpose (nowadays) is email. Its my server, its my domain (registered through an independent registrar, not tied to the hosting). I don't have to worry about Yahoo or Google suffering a security breach. I don't have to worry about them mining my email for advertising data. And I certainly have a hell of a lot less spam (my Yahoo email account gets HUNDREDS of spam messages every week). If the webhost screws up, I can point my domain elsewhere (hit upon routhost a few years ago, have been quite satisfied). You, on the other hand, are stuck if Google or Yahoo screw up.

Re:Webmail

[mark_hill97]

They already do that, and its quite easy to set up. You just have to set the mx records and place a file in the root of the server to authenticate that you are the one controlling the server

Re:Very unprofessional move

[joelstobart]

They have released a limited trial of application hosting. Only python at the moment - its called the Google App Engine [blogspot.com] and its like a free (for limited use) version of Amazon's EC2 Cloud.

Re:Webmail

[Anonymous Coward]

For me, GMail equals unprofessional. It equals Mom and Pop...

Last I checked, you could pay for Gmail and use your own domain name.

Actually it's free for your own domain for the same services as a generic gmail account. You only need to pay for it if you want 24/7 phone support and an obscene amount of HDD space. I host a few dozen websites for clients. I've converted most of them over to gmail using their own domain names. I can even remove the gmail logo so it isn't obvious they're using gmail.

Re:Webmail

[tgd]

Last I checked the six domains I have sitting on GMail, you can use your own domain name for free.

Re:Webmail

[vtrac]

You don't even have to pay Google to use Gmail on your own domain name. Check out Google Apps for your Domain. I wrote about it here: http://victortrac.com/migrating-to-Google-Apps [victortrac.com]

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:First, do no harm (to another's marketplace)

[homer_s]

...eliminating competition in an otherwise viable industry because someone can afford to offer the service for free as a loss leader to other business.

You should read Bastiat's petition [bastiat.org] to block out the sun.
You are leaving out the benefits to the end user due to the cheap/free software. It is the classic "Seen vs Unseen".(Of course, if your point about "profiting off an unrelated industry" is true, then it is theft and hence wrong. But I don't believe that that is true.)

but also no one can afford not to use the free thing because the cost of the luxury of buying an alternative brand will be exposed by the market as superfluous if passed along to end users.

Yes. That is a feature, not a bug.
Either the alternative brand has some value, which end users will pay for or its value is not worth anything and the end users are not willing to pay for it.

The mistake you are making is that you value competition for its own sake. Competition (and producers) exist only for the sake of the end consumer. If the consumer can obtain what he wants for a low cost or for free, then there is no need for competition or producers.
This is also the mistake people make when they argue against free-trade and monopolies.

Re:Webmail

[Beetle B.]

If you're a dreamhost user, you can use Gmail with your domain name for no extra charge.

Re:Webmail

[HughsOnFirst]

My accountant has been sending encrypted PDFs of my tax returns to me in gmail for at least 3 years

Re:Webmail

[grassy_knoll]

Think you're right.

From his description, he's ending up with a .zip file which contains encrypted files. Any mail system which blocks attachments by file name and blocks .zip files would remove the attachment and / or block the mail.

When I tested it, I ended up with a .zip.gpg file. That made it through fine.

Re:Webmail

[phrenq]

While GMail may be unacceptable for business communications in a company of 100+ employees

Why? I work for Google, so I'm not entirely impartial, but we use Gmail here with well over 10k employees, and it is by far the best corporate email experience I've had. I'm on several high-volume mailing lists which I have permanently archived and can search through immediately.

With Google Apps, nobody knows your domain is using Gmail, so there's no appearance of unprofessionalism to external companies.

For most large companies, email is not their main focus. It's just a distraction, something they need in order to do their real business. I'd think that offloading that headache would be a relief.

Re:Webmail

[PerfectlyNormal]

And if you're not a DreamHost-customer, you can *still* use GMail with your domain name for no extra charge (meaning, free). Isn't the world just amazing?