Web host hijacking error pages.

Bill in AZ · #1 (**permalink**) 10-05-2007, 02:24 PM

I found out yesterday that my webhost had hijacked the default 404 error page. Instead of the standard apache response a page came up that showed a not found message and a search this site form with my domain name right above it. The problem was the search did not search my site but instead returned sponsored ads based on the search term. In addition to the deceptive search box a listing of "mydomain.tld's" favorite links was shown that also led to a bunch of sponsored advertising and link farm listings.

I quickly created my own custom error page to keep this objectionable material from being associated with my domain but find I am still very upset about this practice. Does the webhost have the right to use my domain name in this manner?

hostBrain · #2 (**permalink**) 10-06-2007, 01:58 PM

Well, i don't know if they have the "right" to do it, but agree 100%
that it's unethical to say the least. This isn't GoDaddy by chance is it? I know they do it, I think they use AdWords actually.

If I were you, I would move on.
I can only assume you are with a budget host, and they need to supplement their income.

Bill in AZ · #3 (**permalink**) 10-06-2007, 02:17 PM

The host is Lunarpages which until the last 6 months has been a very good budget host. Their recent actions seem aimed at making the company look good on paper in the short term. Perhaps they are getting ready to sell out to a mega hosting company. Obviously they can not continue to treat customers as they have in tha last 6 months and expect to stay in business. I know many of their current customers are very upset at Lunarpages poaching their traffic away.

hostBrain · #4 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 01:39 PM

Interesting to know they are being purchased.
Do you know who?

blitzen · #5 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill in AZ

The host is Lunarpages which until the last 6 months has been a very good budget host. Their recent actions seem aimed at making the company look good on paper in the short term. Perhaps they are getting ready to sell out to a mega hosting company. Obviously they can not continue to treat customers as they have in tha last 6 months and expect to stay in business. I know many of their current customers are very upset at Lunarpages poaching their traffic away.

I wonder how many clients really test their pages to find what you did. I'll bet not many.

Heysal · #6 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 06:12 PM

A member of my site had his complete page hijacked - by two different hosts. The first one put up a pop up that you couldn't get off and if you clicked would take you straight to a page they get commissions on - the second didn't even bother with that, you just plain got their affiliate page when you click. These members aren't too savvy so we created a solution but what if we hadn't noticed? They lost a LOT of clicks. We had their link hooked to our front page with a killer teaser so those jerks made us look raw, too.

If you are getting your hosting free, I'm not sure what you can do about it but cough up a few bucks for a real host - you can get good hosts for $5.00 a month. If you are paying and they hijack your site - they owe you money. First for the hosting, second for the traffic they got on your dime. Just make sure your domains are safe before you make them public.

Leave them immediately - and let them know why. If you blog tell the world why you will be down for 24 while you change hosts, and why you are changing. If you don't blog list them on places like scam.com.

Anyone else getting just sick of the lack of ethics on the net?

dean · #7 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 06:17 PM

I've recently discovered something similar with my host. I have custom error pages set up. The 404 goes to my custom 404, but the 401, ( unauthorized ), goes to one of those spammy pages just like Bill describes even though I did set up a custom page for this error type. I don't know how to simulate other error types to check those. Since I'm no longer using the protected area, I kind of forgot about it until this thread.

The site: Intermodal Container Corporation - container trucking and logistics
The protected directory: http://intermodalcontainer.net/inside

Bill in AZ · #8 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 06:41 PM

I am one year into a pre-paid two year service contract with Lunarpages, they may be a budget host but they certainly are not free. When I and many others complained about the unannounced unauthorized use of our domain names to display advertising using their affiliate id, they changed the TOS after the fact to give themselves rights to our registered domain names.

bj · #9 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 07:25 PM

First I would move.

Then I would report it here:

Web Hosting Talk - The largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet

Complain very loudly. Doing so when MediaTemple tanked got a bunch of us a refund when we moved off the server because of the awful service. That's a hosting messageboard where ALL the reps from the top hosting companies hang out and they'll hang LunarPages for this behavior since it makes all hosts look slimy.

Quote:

I am one year into a pre-paid two year service contract with Lunarpages

I often tell people not to pay yearly for hosting. It isn't a bargain if the host goes belly up, and that can happen overnight with a change of sysadmin. The largest block of time I ever buy is quarterly. I can eat two to three months of hosting if I have to, but a year would hurt. That's just my feeling on the subject.

Also, if they change the TOS during a contracted period, then you might be able to get out of that contract with a refund for the balance since THEY changed the terms of it. I would file in small claims court for it, and submit complete documentation.

deepsand · #10 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hostBrain

Well, i don't know if they have the "right" to do it, but agree 100%
that it's unethical to say the least. This isn't GoDaddy by chance is it? I know they do it, I think they use AdWords actually.

If I were you, I would move on.
I can only assume you are with a budget host, and they need to supplement their income.

GoDadday does indeed publish ads, on parked pages, and then only at the domain owner's express request, with said owner receiving a portion of the realized revenues.

I've seen no evidence of their "hijacking" error pages. Of course, absence of proof does not constitute proof of absence.

As to the issue of the "rights" to error pages, as such are the result of a page request that cannot be fulfilled, and the error codes themselves are not owned by anyone, the host legally has the right to return to the requester that which they choose. If such are a result of changes to ones site, and no steps have been taken to ensure that requests for now non-existent pages are properly re-directed, then the owner/operator of said site has no reasonable expectation as to what the host returns to the requester.

You cannot lay claim to the "error codes" themselves.

dean · #11 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deepsand

As to the issue of the "rights" to error pages, as such are the result of a page request that cannot be fulfilled, and the error codes themselves are not owned by anyone, the host legally has the right to return to the requester that which they choose. If such are a result of changes to ones site, and no steps have been taken to ensure that requests for now non-existent pages are properly re-directed, then the owner/operator of said site has no reasonable expectation as to what the host returns to the requester.

I'll have to disagree with you there. If a host advertises custom error pages as a feature of the hosting and the site owner properly sets them up, I think it is reasonable and ethical to expect that site owners error pages to work.

Bill in AZ · #12 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 08:22 PM

To make it clear, the issue is not with an inability to set up custom error pages. Nor is it with the hosts right to have default error page if the client chooses not to institute custom error pages. My beef is Lunarpages was using my domain name on the default error page with a deceptive search this site box and a list of favorites attributed to the domain name. These all link to sponsored advertising benefitting an LunarPages affiliate code.

When people complained, their answer was to change the TOS after the fact to give Lunarpages rights to use the domain name to link to ANY site or service of their choosing. This is being discussed on WHT and several other forums.

bj · #13 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 09:42 PM

Well, there's nothing from stopping you from doing some .htaccess magic to direct errors to a php file named 404.php that has this in it:

In your htaccess:

Code:

ErrorDocument 404 /404.php

and in the file named 404.php

Code:

<?php 
header("HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found"); 
### Don't include HTTP streams
include("index.htm");
exit;
?>

I've included my sitemap in that "include", which is a good way to handle it.

operagost · #14 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill in AZ

I am one year into a pre-paid two year service contract with Lunarpages, they may be a budget host but they certainly are not free. When I and many others complained about the unannounced unauthorized use of our domain names to display advertising using their affiliate id, they changed the TOS after the fact to give themselves rights to our registered domain names.

That is a BREACH OF CONTRACT. That means, "lawsuit".

hostBrain · #15 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 12:14 AM

I have to disagree with you a bit too, deepsand.
I know what you're saying in that it's the server kicking up those error pages.

But, I don't think anyone, and that includes the host, has the right to interfere with pages showing up under anyone's domains - with exception, to the free hosts

mikmik · #16 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 05:58 AM

I used Lunarpages before, and I just signed for two years. They are far better than readyhosting was, which back then was always in top 5 at Cnet reviews.
I got immediate live help when I phoned toll free to LP, and I have just done the google thing. There are almost exclusively great reviews for LP, but a site has posted a blathing assasination of LP.
I reasearched last week to be sure, and they consistently scored 85% and top two or three everywhere I looked, eg. Web Hosting Review 2007 .
When I read stuff like this, Lunarpages - Read This BEFORE You Sign Up - Lunarpages Review ,I almost immediately suspect that the 'disatisfied customer' is really a royal a-hole and has no class. We see this all the time, don't we? Some bitter self-righteous crank that is really expecting to get away with murder and is sleazy themselves.

Now, I do know what you mean about the 401s, and it happened to me with 404s, but all I had to do was cpanel and set my own defaults -

Lunarpages allows you to easily change the look of error pages to something that matches your site. For example, if a visitor to your site reaches a dead link, instead of a typical white error page with the standard verbiage, they will see a customized error page with a look and message of your choosing. Lunarpages - Custom Error Pages

The specifics of any particular offer are contained within the offer itself as published on the Lunarpages website at the time you create your account and remain in effect throughout the term of your agreement. Web Hosting Service Agreement | Lunarpages.com

See this: Lunarpages Web Hosting - Announcements

Gotta say I agree with blitzen, but to be objective, here are some wildy conflicting reviews.
How many neg stuff is planted by competitors, I wonder, and where do the happy ones live, also?
---
Anyone else getting just sick of the lack of ethics on the net?
> There has always been a huge lack of ethics, because it is an easy place for shysters to do their thing. I remember about three or four years ago all the heated debates with people who insisted they had the right to spam people.
The web is very much a chance for idiots to do their thing in anonymity or at least difficult to catch and prove malicious intent. It is strongly free market, and cheap to set up. If there is a lack of ethics, and there most certainy are countless examples, just look to new and/or unregulated markets, ssuch as the 1800s gold rush, and there are tons of ruthless and unethical ttypes who thrive in such open systems.

**wige** · #17 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 10:18 AM

My first web site was even worst. In the early nineties, when I was learning web design, I got free hosting on one of the bigger hosting companies at the time. About a year in, I found out they started serving gator spyware to all visitors.

Technically, I think there is an expectation that a shared host will serve "default" error pages that contain non-specific content (such as advertising for the host) unless and until the hosted party creates and properly implements their own custom error pages. However, I have seen very few TOS documents that address the issue, but I have not seen any host that doesn't actually do this, either.