Some time ago, when looking for the best hosting provider for our new project we used to google for something like "the best hosting provider". The task looked pretty simple: just take the few top hits and pick one of them. Well, there was something wrong with this approach.
What first struck us was the inconsistency among reviewers about allocating their ratings. The top positions they assign to leading hosting providers always differ from reviewer to reviewer. This means that there is no universal method of evaluation of the hosting provider's performance and every provider has to devise its own approach in naming the winner. So, actually, it was not the question of who is the best hosting provider but rather what is the best hosting provider reviewer methodology? But is there an official and bullet-proof method of reviewing the hosting provider's performance that would deliver a reliable? We don't know and it looks like nobody really knows this either.
Then there is this "in-depth" drilling of each provider's offers. The reviewers are doing a great job of investigating all the parameters that the hosting providers put forward in their advertisements. Sometimes they go and check everything even to a minuscule detail. While this is definitely a great job and can be very useful for customers, there are some caveats here as well. The problem is that it is not only reviewers who are evaluating the hosting provider's performance and offering quality, the first folks in line who would do this are the providers themselves. Web hosting and domain name provider market is an extremely competitive world and everyone is checking on the competition all the time, around the clock. This would ultimately result in a re-adjustment of the provider's advertisement campaign and swift inclusion of the missing offerings into their hosting plans.
So, if a provider shows up with something like "free SSL", all others are instantly starting to scratch their heads at their ability to offer the same or more. The same goes for all other parameters and properties that hosting providers are selling to the customers. As this happens, the reviews that were correct yesterday may be somewhat outdated a few days, or weeks after.
So, what is the solution? Is there a true and reliable criterion that would uniquely discriminate the best hosting provider independently of the reviewer's evaluation approach?