Author: 4GHadmin

April 27, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Did you know that 87 percent of internet users are uncomfortable when visiting new generic top-level domains? Or that according to the latest research by the NCC Group, that 40 percent of web users in both the United States and United Kingdom now fell less secure with the release of the new gTLDs. In this survey, NCC Group surveyed 10,000 consumers on both sides of the Atlantic in collaboration with IDG Research Services. This survey saw its responses as part of the groups newest study released in April, the New Internet Study. Interestingly, those respondents in the United Kingdom were slightly more trustworthy, 14 percent, compared to their American counterparts at 12 percent when it comes to trusting a new gLTD. The respondents that were selected for this survey actively used the internet for transactional activities such as online banking, shopping or managing health care services. Thus, these respondents naturally would be more skeptical of these new gGLTs than those who are new to the internet. The NCC Groups Domain Abuse Monitoring service has seen respondents fear to be justified. The monitoring service has seen over 50 new gTLDs that have launched for the sole purpose of sending phising emails between April 2014 and February 2015. However, this is not the first studying dealing with the issues surrounding the launching of new gLTDs. In a 2014 study by Sedo, they found that there are a number of hindrances for the adoption of gTLDs. These include everything from confusion, awareness, security and naturally the cost associated with both setting up and marketing. This landmark study by NCC Groups was also backed up by a study by the Domain Name Association that echoed similar findings. They found that 14 percent of respondents within the United States preferred to shop with a retailer with a new gLTD, while across the Atlantic, those in the United Kingdom responded with 20 percent of a new gLTD as their preferred shopping choice. The NCC Groups CEO Rob Cotton warns that businesses need to start to reconsider how they approach brand reputation within the new internet landscape and here at 4GoodHosting we know what it takes to...

April 15, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In the 2014 Transparency Report, the Canadian telecom Rogers Communication has reported fewer customer information requests since the Supreme Court ruled that Internet Service Providers could not voluntarily disclose customer information to law enforcement officials than in previous years. In 2013, Rogers had 174,917 requests for customer information, including addresses, billing records and names, but in 2014 there were only 113,655. This is partly due to the Canadian Supreme Court ruling that barred ISP's, including Rogers, from disclosing names, addresses and phone numbers of their clients at the request of law enforcement officials without a warrant from a judge. This landmark decision has seen the number of requests drop significantly, but requests that had a judge warrant only dropped by roughly 3000, from 74,415 to 71, 501. As well, Rogers confirmed that they denied access to information, or were unable to return a customers information in 2,278 cases in 2014. Whether this was due to the changes, or simply due to not keeping long term records is unknown, but this also signifies a raise in denials. As per the ruling, the other major carriers such as Bell Communications and Telus Communications also have seen a similar drop in requests. We were unable to acquire concrete numbers from the other two of the big three, but have been told the requests for both non-warrant and warrant requests have dropped significantly. This trend in Canada has not been repeated in other parts of the world, and this is worrying to many within the data industry. Just south of the border, the United States has seen a sharp increase in requests to the major providers, and this has not only been limited to telecommunication companies. For instance, in 2013 Verizon and AT&T received more than 300,000 requests from law enforcement, both federal and state, which sees little to no change. With Verizon seeing 150,000 requests in the first six months of 2014 and 140,000 requests in the last half of the year, a drop of only 10,000 between the two years. On the other side AT&T received 115,925 requests in the first half in both civil and criminal proceedings, and 147,830, and these...

April 9, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Do you know if your hosting provider here in Canada is releasing your personal information to US and Canadian authorities without your knowledge? A new study released today by the policy researchers Andrew Clement of the Universtiy of Toronto, and Jonathon Obar of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, in coordination with the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy looks at this exact question. This study looked at the privacy practices of the top 43 Canadian internet service providers, and surprisingly finds that most of them will tell very little about what they do with your personal information. According to the study, many Canadian internet carriers are in violation of their legal responsibilities under Canadian Privacy Law. The researchers based the internet service providers on 10 criteria including Whether they inform customers when a third party requests their information Whether they inform customers the circumstances in which they agree to the requests and provide customers information to said third parties. Whether they tell customers the location that their personal information is stored and processed Whether they attempt to avoid routing customers personal information outside of Canada, where it is at risk at being intercepted by American authorities. The study reveals that a number of the top carriers in Canada in fact scored quite poorly on this scale. Our of the ten criteria, the average was two out of ten, which speaks to the issues around Canadian carriers. Of the top isp's in the country, the top scorer was the Ontario based Teksavvy with six stars. Telus received five stars for their services in Western Canada. While the other two members of the big three, Rogers and Bell, scored with scores of four and three stars respectively. Rounding out the major isp's Shaw and Videotron were within the average at two stars each. The researchers hope that this landmark study will lead to tougher Canadian privacy laws either through federal or provincial legislation. As well, they hope that carriers will become more transparent when it comes to providing customers information on how they handle their private data. The issue with the lack of ISP transparency here in Canada, is it...

March 31, 2015

Domain Related, Hosting Related

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Canadians enjoy heading across the border for some great cross border shopping but, when choosing a web hosting company it is important to know what the differences between US and Canadian web hosting and what it can mean for your business. We are going to be looking at the differences in privacy between the two countries, the benefit of having your data near you, the benefit of being under your own nations law, the reason that you should be choosing local and of course the dangers of utilizing a US web hosting company, especially in regards to the DMCA concerns and lastly some added benefits of hosting within Canada. In the world of web hosting you have hundreds of options, and this article looks to show you why if you are a Canadian based business, having your web host based out of Canada is going to help your business succeed. Privacy We first start in the realm of privacy. Privacy is important, no matter what type of business you are running as proprietary information leaking to your competitors can mean the end to your success. However, how your information, and especially who has access to your information, is controlled is completely different between the two countries. In the United States their is practically no privacy protection for data owned by companies. There has been no comprehensive data protection legislation put through, and rather it relies on self regulation within the industry. The Patriot Act also allows federal authorities to block access to your data, as well as authorizes them to spy on you, through your site, all without a court order. On the other side of the 49th parallel personal data is regulated, and protects information for both individuals as well as businesses. This is from the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act passed through the Canadian government. In regards to your privacy, the only place to store it that is truly secure is right here in the Great White North. Data Location If you are looking for a fast loading time in San Diego, you store your websites information in San Diego, but if you are looking for...

March 24, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

At some points in your work with web page redirection, it can feel that you are simply dodging bombs and at your luck will eventually run out. Enter in the 301 redirect, and canonical options. These have been around for years, and yet throughout the industry they continue to bring debate and stir up questions on how to best approach them. In this article we will be looking at the two main methods to manage both the 301 redirect, as well the canonical attribute. Naturally, we will show you how to better the duplicate content issues, sustain your rankings and lastly how to improve the all important user experience. Before we dive in, lets make sure we are all on the same page with what the difference between 301 redirects and canonical redirects. In laymen terms: a 301 redirect communicates to search engines that this page is no longer here, and has permanently moved to a new page. Please remove it from your index and pass credit to the new page. a canonical redirect communicates to the search engine that, I have multiple versions of this page, but please only index this version. People can see the other versions, but please do not put them in your index thanks! 301 Redirects We have all seen the standard 301 HTTP status code that is mean to mange the complete and permanent redirection of page. Once this is established, in theory you will eventually pass the majority of the original page's link authority relevance as well as its ranking power to the page that you are redirecting to. A 301 redirect informs both the user and Google of this change. However, in realty we know that this can be trying process in which success is measured by increments rather than full authority all at once. Common issues with the 301 The first issue you may face is that it takes a long time, and I mean you are going to have to take a few turns of the calendar until some search engines will attribute authority to the redirected page. Naturally, this depends on how often your page is crawled by the...

March 16, 2015

Hosting Related, Security Related

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Internet is wide open, but sometimes your proprietary content that has value should she sold for a certain amount of money. This is where Paywall systems come into play. This creates a membership or customer or client base for you as well, giving you email addresses where you may be able to sell similar content to the same previous customers. For paying subscribers, they then get access to say your gallery, video, mp3s books, articles, or any other kind of files. Again to keep things under control, you will need a paywall system. Paywalls have received a bad reputation because content people think should be free isn't always free. However, that is the proper nature of things, that your works should have some sort of monetary value. You just need to make sure you publish interesting content that others can easily find for free anywhere else; that is the other half of things. read_more Setting up a paywall system should be integrated smoothly into your website. Some CMS's (Content Management Systems) have plugins that can be used to setup your subscription system. Or maybe you are handy at programming and have developed your own paywall integration. However, the easiest option is to use Paypal's service. See PayPal.com for their easy to use integrations. Search "Paypal Paywall" or can you certainly use another payment provider's services. There are too many to list here. Also, you should also enable your website to use SSL encryption to keep your customer information, such as credit card information, email, phone numbers - private. When your site is run under "https" potential customers feel more confident to use your services. The final item you will need to take care of is how you plan to receive payment and the kinds of payment you will accept (Paypal, bitcoin, etc.) Many of the members online plugins for CMS's support most of the popular payment processors, and supply integrations with them as well. This minimizes the amount of work and headache for you to run your little private ecommerce service. If you don't have a website yet, check out our Canadian Hosting Packages.

March 9, 2015

Hosting Related, SEO Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

April 21st is another 'big SEO day' around the world from a google ranking index perspective. Why a month and two weeks from the date of this article? Well, that is when Google will be changing the technique that they use to rank websites (with a higher high ranking factor given to websites that are also mobile friendly). Google started highlighting 'mobile friendly sites' in results last year. Google states that their April 21st update will have ''significant impact'' on all mobile-based searches from all around the world. Google justifies the change in saying that searchers will see better search results. Details on how ranking will effect desktop searches is yet to be seen; but it is anticipated that websites that are also mobile friendly will be given extra elevation by Google's new algorithm. These changes are good news for mobile webmasters. Also, it should help motivate webmasters and designers that still don’t have a mobile website deployed to create one. Since the middle of this past year - mobile internet users started outnumbering those who surf the web with a desktop computer (or laptop). Today's mobile users certainly expect that websites will display most effectively on their choice of device. Webmasters who want to test their website’s 'mobile compatibility' can use Google’s tools for detailed information. Overall the change means that owners of websites that are not 'mobile-friendly' as of April 21st, 2015 can now expect to see their search rankings and traffic take a significant downward hit. read_more However, 4GoodHosting - your global Canadian based web hosting provider and premium SEO service, already has the solutions for you in place, specifically a mobile siteuilder. Recently Google emailed mobile usability warnings to untold numbers of website owners, with a detailed about the ways their website is offering negative mobile experiences. For example it was said: “ These pages will not be seen as mobile-friendly by Google Search, and will therefore be displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users. ”- an obvious warning that they intend to prioritize mobile-friendly websites. After April 21st, 2015 , with a majority of people accessing the Internet with mobile devices, businesses and webmasters should...

March 4, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

According to the latest Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) one in five 18-34 year old Canadians have made a purchase on a mobile device. The CIRA announced its fourth annual .CA Factbook 2015 this last Tuesday, and within it the mobile device is becoming a central hub for ecommerce among the Canadian Youth. read_more Although the focus is on this trend, the .CA Factbook also presents the numerous statistics and findings that are related to the .CA TLD, which of course the CIRA administers, as well as Canadian internet practices and adoptions. As of 2013, over $136 million was sold in goods and services by Canadian enterprises, according to Statistics Canada, which is 11% increase from 2012. As well, the trend to buy local, or at least Canadian, as the majority of Canadians spending more money at domestic websites than international competitors. With this trend to buy Canadian, International enterprises may see a chance to increase sales by creating or partnering with Canadian sites. This potential increase, also points to this Canadian buying power as the future for ecommerce market, or at least those markets, like Canada, that have the level of internet development to allow it. Along with these statistics, CIRA also found that more and more Canadians are doing research online before coming into a store. As well, online and offline sales accounted for almost 25% of revenue by Canadian Enterprises. Canadians continue to utilize the internet to research, or complete their shopping and the importance of a effective online presence is paramount to a businesses success. David Fowler, who is the Director of Marketing and Communications for .CA summed it well, “ecommerce represents an important avenue of growth for Canadian companies. Our research found more than 40 percent of small businesses do not have websites, yet all Canadians, particularly younger adults, are increasingly making purchases from mobile devices. Canadian small business need to get online, and they need to be ready to sell on mobile.” This report also points out that 75% of Canadians now own smart phones, android, windows, blackberry or apple based, and of those 49% of their time online is spent while on their...

February 23, 2015

Domain Related, Hosting Related, Security, Security Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

What happens if we simply allow governments to make all the regulations and rules, not us, and let corporations argue about it, not us? That would be the clear merger of state and corporate power, which are the only two ingredients in the recipe for fascism; which has always occurred through all of the past two centuries of history under similar circumstance. Our case in point for this article is: Google Claims Opposition to New (without public consent) Rule that Gives American Federal Judges and their Government Omnipresent-Global Search Warrant Powers. The American “Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure” is quietly and slying consider changing a rule would allow judges to issue “ global warrants” to search computers (ie. your/anyone’s computer) and networks which are outside of the judge’s district. So, they wish to give the already outrageous NSA-spylike powers to all of their federal judges? If so, shouldn’t the American people be having some say on that particular huge issue? But they seem so utterly passive. Do the American people really need a “congress” to echo their concerns and trust that their elected officials vote likewise -> when today people can theoretically all take a vote simultaneously on the internet? The simple point is that individual citizens should claim their right to express their opinion publicly or privately over the internet without government suppression of it, nor interference. And why should we care? Because what happens in America certainly affects us here too; especially when pertaining to the internet. Back to the current scoop... Google has again surprised us all by just suddenly announcing an always-untimely proposed change to a procedural rule; which the google representative says could have “profound implications for the privacy and security of all web users”. read_more Into the nitty-gritty - American Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 dictates that federal judges cannot issue warrants to search things outside of their district, with specific exceptions. The US Department of Justice asked the Advisory Committee to make changes to allow the government to conduct “remote access” searches of content stored in a location “concealed through technological means,” { they are also saying they don’t...