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?"

Very unprofessional move

[elrous0]

Dreamhost contends that "almost nobody CHOOSES a web host based on their email features." That may be true, but that's just because a robust email service is EXPECTED. If I've spent money to pay a provider to host my "acme.com" webpage every month, I damn sure expect that I will be able to make "[e-mail]" my official email address and my business card (and get reliable service out of it). The idea that I'm going to be content putting "[e-mail]" on my business card instead is laughable.

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. They 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).

I just prefer...

[cayenne8]

I just prefer to set up and run my own email server from home.

That way, I can handle spam they way I want, set up accounts for friends if need be (or businesses)

At the very least..."I" know who is storing and reading my mail. Me, not some corporation that holds it, reads it to display ads....and turns it over to the govt. at the govt's whim.

Re:I just prefer...

[jeiler]

You can stop the storage company from turning things over to the govt by removing the company from the equation ... but how do you stop the transiting ISPs from turning things over?

Re:Webmail

[xSauronx]

to be fair throwing putty and your keys on a usb key *isnt* that big of a deal. but i really dont want to do email browsing in a cli, thanks.

it's all about the SPAM...

[timjones]

I'm a very small webhost provider (< 20 domains), and for me, it was a no brainer to get all my customers to get GMail for Domains, point all their MX records to Google, and wash my hands of the SPAM. I use it for all my personal domains as well. Google does a far better job of SPAM filtering than I ever could with SpamAssassin and the blacklists thing... and for this small set of users (< 50 people total), it just wasn't worth it. My tech life got a lot easier when I decided I wasn't going to mess with email anymore, just like the day I decided I was going to ignore Microsoft's APIs. Both are losing propositions in the extreme. So, for me, Google is a VERY useful partner. And I like their web/chat interface too, both the browser version and the mobile edition, which I access from my Treo 650.

Re:I just prefer...

[Nursie]

Use encryption opportunistically, that helps, any comms between known hosts in your web of trust are then impenetrable to anyone but you.

Re:Webmail

[mweather]

For me, GMail equals unprofessional. It equals Mom and Pop. It means you can't even afford to run your own mail server or have someone do it for you. It means not knowing if the person I'm dealing with is really associated with the domain or the business in question.

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

Re:Webmail

[jafuser]

It means that my communications are being scanned by a third party, and that I should self-censor accordingly.

If your mail passes through the USA, this is unavoidable.

Re:Webmail

[ibmjones]

It means that my communications are being scanned by a third party, and that I should self-censor accordingly.

Most email are sent plain-text, so it doesn't take much effort to scan the contents. That is why you use PGP. :)

Re:Webmail

[jeiler]

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

For a business? Absolutely, although it doesn't to some people. But for a home account or hobby account? Not so much.

Re:We switched to gmail.

[Snocone]

For your sake, I hope your company doesn't have any trade secrets.

For your sake, I hope you're not stupid enough to think that your company's trade secrets are safe in email that doesn't go through gmail...

Re:Webmail

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Far more importantly, where [google.com] does it say that you do not [epic.org]?

Re:it's all about the SPAM...

[brad-x]

My tech life got a lot easier when I decided I wasn't going to mess with email anymore, just like the day I decided I was going to ignore Microsoft's APIs. Both are losing propositions in the extreme.

This is ridiculous. Blocking spam is not so impossible as to warrant outsourcing. I am sick of IT professionals outsourcing their tasks because they lack the talent to implement solutions on their own. Either swim with the big fish or get out of the pond.

Gmail is great except for....

[Prisoner's Dilemma]

Gmail sounds on the surface like a good idea. However, there are a critical items why I'll never use it beyond a disposable email account.

First of all, what about when you have a problem. Have you ever tried to get help from Google. Their customer service is non-existent. If you follow their 'contact us' links it funnels you into an FAQ. If you do find the form to contact them (like finding an exit in a casino), you're lucky to get a reply (They openly state they will ignore any correspondence that might be in their FAQ) it's just a form email answering some other question. It may take several iterations (each taking a day or two) of explaining that they didn't answer your question. That's on the off hand chance you can finally get to someone.

If it would cause you problems to have an interruption to your email, you might want to consider this.

Second, Google uses information from your email 'for your benefit' so they can advertise more effectively. What other ways might they decide to leverage it? The idea of Google having access to all of a companies email sounds like a stage for problems.

Third, depending on how international you are, what if some foreign government or other entity, requests your emails? We hear about some public cases, but the probability is good that there are a lot more we don't hear about.

Fourth, take it out of context for a moment. Google's better UI aside, what if the company was Yahoo or AOL?

Re:Very unprofessional move

[afabbro]

DreamHost is not phasing out email...and having been a customer for nearly 3 years, I can report they are indeed one of the most professional web-hosting companies. Non-stuffiness != non-professional.

Re:Very unprofessional move

[Binary Boy]

Totally agree - Dreamhost has been the most responsive and responsible vendor I've ever used in shared hosting projects - meaning less than a few hundred bucks per month, no one has come close to them in my experience. Of course, I've not tried every hosting provider out there, but against those I have, Dreamhost is tops.

It's just a bonus that you have a pretty geeky, almost confessional CEO who sends out some fairly amusing newsletters - they certainly provide much better communications about exactly what they are doing than just about anyone I've seen. The comedy can be ignored if that's not your thing.

Re:Webmail

[Knara]

As as a fellow dreamhost user, I noticed recently that they started integrating Google Apps into the hosting management area of the control panel. Might be useful as an alternative to Squirrel Mail (which I also think is klunky, but I use it as IMAP usually, so almost never am actually in that interface).

Re:Very unprofessional move

[Knara]

Yeah, by and large I like Dreamhost (except they need a more robust VPS offering). Their shared hosting is priced just right as far as I'm concerned.

Most of the complaints I see about DH are from wankers trying to run a 24/7/365 uptime business on shared hosting. They're amateurs that are trying to get by without paying for an SLA, and then get pissed when their shared hosting has unexpected downtime.

Aside from those wankers, most DH users (myself included) seem quite happy.

Re:Webmail

[Bitsy Boffin]

So you sent people home, and productivity went up, so for "management reasons" you brought everybody back, to the low productivity work environment. What does this tell you about your managers.