I just can not figure out, how free hosts earn by giving away adfree hosting accounts for free. how do they make money from it?
Some of them offer a paid upgrade with more traffic/space/features. Customers soon realize that they need them and pay for the upgrade. This is what I think.
That's true.. What about totally free webhosts, or those who just want to be free webhosts. I have seen some here on DP.
Yes blichev is 100% true But remember if you want customers trust then give them 100% support all the time with best service.
True.. But My question is not, 'How to win customers trust' or how to convert free customers to paid one. I just want to know, How free hosts monetize and run their business. Some free hosting provider may want to comment. Come on..
Well i don't know the general rule, but a friend of mine run one of those free hosting companies and earn his money offering premium packages (domains, webmaster tools) and he's also working with paid hostings to lead the users that have specifical needs. Besides, he have one or two advertisement spaces to sell them to ad networks. But I think his final goal is to build his reputation so if he launch a paid hosting -and better- service he doesn't have to start from zero, and in the meantime he's monetizing it with alternatives.
Backlinks are probably one of the biggest reasons, and as others have mentioned, people upgrade when they realise that the "free" account is sufficient for their site anymore.
All replies talking about the Premium stuf. Which I believe most free hoster out there really into it. But here is my difference views. It may be not for all free hosting provider, but I believe they are numbers of them. In my oppinions, this free hosting providers can make huge money later. I mean, they lose first and win later. Simply say, they will sell their websites or company profiles. It works like people selling their website or forum or blog on DP. "I got bla..bla.. of registered user, My traffic is this, my PR is this, my alexa rank is this etc.etc"
The ads involved pay for it. Paying for premium features is also another way they earn money, as mentioned above.
There are some free hosting with ads, but seldom without ads . IMO, they don't earn money from free ad-free hosting . They get a reputation and traffic of free hosting seekers .