Web Hosting News & Industry Updates
Breaking news, M&A deals, pricing moves, security alerts and in-depth analysis for the web hosting industry — 812 articles across 14 categories.
✦ Featured
Software reviews
A Vercel for Africa? HOSTAFRICA’s HCode Runs in South Africa
HOSTAFRICA launched HCode on November 5 as its answer to platforms like Vercel, with prices in local currencies across six African countries. The apps run in South Africa. HCode, a rebranded version of the Zanode platform HOSTAFRICA bought in May, starts at R50, or about $3, a month.
Monarx Reviewed 65 Hosts: 10 of 12 Large Hosting Brands Sell Website Security Add-Ons
Partners #cybersecurity#monarx
Monarx's review of 65 hosting providers finds 37 including advanced website protection at no extra cost, 31 selling a separate security product and 18 doing both. Mass-market brands lean toward add-ons, while managed WordPress hosts mostly build protection into the plan.
Who Owns Europe’s Largest Hosting Markets: IONOS Controls the Leader in Germany, Poland and Spain
Industry reports #domains#europe
The four largest Swiss-owned hosts hold 39.8% of .ch domains, while the UK has one British-owned operator among its eight largest. We matched the leading operators in Europe's eight largest domain markets with their owners, and IONOS owns the leader in three of them.
DreamHost Confirms File Manager Breach. FTP/SFTP and Some Webmail Credentials Were Exposed
Security #cybersecurity#dreamhost
A security breach prompted DreamHost's October 23 File Manager shutdown and password resets. An attacker exploited third-party software behind the tool and could access FTP/SFTP credentials of users who signed in, plus some webmail logins. Well under 10% of email and FTP/SFTP accounts were affected.
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M&A
Group.one expands its reach in Finland with Wepardi acquisition
Group.one, a rapidly expanding European web services company, has taken another significant step in the Finnish market by acquiring Wepardi’s web hosting and domain business. This move strengthens Group.one's foothold in Finland,
M&A
HOSTAFRICA expands in West Africa with Webmanager.ng
HOSTAFRICA continues to grow, sharing news of another acquisition on LinkedIn. The company has been steadily increasing its presence across Africa, and this move shows its aim to lead the web hosting market. After buying Web4Africa earlier this year, HOSTAFRICA has now acquired Webmanager.ng, a fast-growing web hosting provider in Nigeria.
M&A
Permira completes acquisition of Squarespace for $7.2 Billion
Permira, a global investment firm, has completed its acquisition of website builder Squarespace in a deal worth $7.2 billion. This move takes Squarespace off the New York Stock Exchange, making it a private company again.
Industry reports
Public launch of the .MUSIC domain
The long-awaited public launch of the .MUSIC domain was officially announced through the registry's social media channels. Earlier this year, in May, the registry had already hinted at the upcoming release, revealing
Industry reports
Identity Digital joins forces with Government of Anguilla to manage .AI domain
Identity Digital announced on their LinkedIn profile that they have entered into a significant partnership with the Government of Anguilla (GOA) to manage the .AI domain. This deal is a key move
Pricing updates
WHMCS hike costs for 2025
The rising prices and stagnation in platform development, with its owners seemingly ignoring the needs of the community, could lead to a greater loss of customers in the long term if a suitable alternative emerges, as demonstrated by users' experiments in attempting to move away from WHMCS.
Pricing updates
cPanel and Plesk Panel raises prices again: what does this mean for hosting providers?
In the web hosting industry, frustration over cPanel's constant price increases is growing. Since 2019, cPanel has been raising its prices regularly, sometimes to the point where the cost of the license is higher than the cost of the server hardware. Does this mean users should start looking for alternatives?
M&A
Kolsquare joins team.blue
Quentin Bordage, CEO of Kolsquare, announced that the company is joining team.blue, a major tech group in Europe. This move is seen as an important milestone for the influencer marketing industry. He added that this partnership would help accelerate Kolsquare's growth and innovation.
Industry reports
The number of .ai domain registrations surpasses 500,000
The .ai domain, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, has reached a major milestone by surpassing half a million registrations. According to the latest data, as of October 1, 2024, there are 533,068 .ai domains registered.
M&A
Absolute Hosting acquires ZA Domains
Absolute Hosting, a web hosting company from South Africa, has announced the acquisition of ZA Domains, a company that specializes in registering .za domain names for websites in South Africa. ZA Domains has been providing these services for over 11 years, helping people and businesses get their domain names registered and managed.
Industry reports
WebPros and Vultr introduce WP Squared on Vultr Marketplace
WebPros, the company behind well-known hosting management platforms like cPanel and Plesk, has teamed up with Vultr, a global cloud infrastructure provider, to launch WP Squared. This new solution aims to simplify
Industry reports
Verisign agrees to implement .com domain takedown rules
Verisign has agreed to incorporate new rules regarding the takedown of abusive .com domains as part of its upcoming registry contract with ICANN. The proposed contract, now open for public comment, may
Other
Hosting providers don’t truly know their customers
In a recent conversation, Wences Garcia, the founder and CEO of MarketGoo, shared fascinating insights into the web hosting industry and discussed how providers can improve customer relationships. MarketGoo is known for
WordPress Controversy 🔴Live Updates
More and more information is coming to light. WP Engine has been asked to pay what seems to be a staggering 8% of their revenue for using the WordPress trademarks. This raises
Industry reports
Is WPEngine the first company to pay extortion to WordPress?
It looks like a new chapter has opened in the WordPress ecosystem, and it's not about innovation or community support. WP Engine, one of the largest WordPress hosting companies, is being pressured
Other
WordCamp US controversy: Matt Mullenweg targets WP Engine, calling it the ‘Cancer’ of WordPress
WordCamp US 2024 took an unexpected turn when Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic, sharply criticized WP Engine, particularly its majority investor, Silver Lake. Mullenweg displayed WP Engine's CEO on screen, urging customers
Industry reports
NameHero introduces new VPS hosting solutions for resellers
CloudShield is designed specifically to meet the evolving needs of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), resellers, and web hosts, offering a cloud hosting solution with enhanced features that aim to improve performance, security, and scalability.
Industry reports
Interesting results of AI implementation at Hostinger – an example for the web hosting industry?
Many hosting companies are exploring how to effectively integrate AI into their services and overall operations, aiming to improve efficiency and enhance the customer experience. Hostinger is one such company that has made significant progress by implementing its AI assistant, Kodee, to streamline customer interactions and automate routine tasks.
M&A
Team.blue invests in Metricool, expands SaaS offerings for SMBs
team.blue, a European tech leader, recently announced on their LinkedIn profile the acquisition of Metricool, a social media management tool. Metricool, founded in 2015, serves over two million users globally and helps businesses optimize their social media presence through features like content scheduling, analytics, and engagement tracking.
CloudLinux supports the ‘Five for the Future’ WordPress initiative
CloudLinux is highly regarded for its operating system, which powers a significant portion of hosting servers. The company’s products, such as CloudLinux OS and Imunify Security, provide greater stability and protection for over 30 million WordPress sites. With its commitment to this initiative, the company plans to support WordPress by focusing on improving its security and performance.