These days, when everyone seems to have a Facebook friend, is LinkedIn or can Google themselves, it's hard to remember the old days, before the dot-com revolution.

It was 25 years ago -- March 15, 1985 -- that the first dot-com domain name -- Symbolics.com -- appeared on the Internet, ushering in the commercial age of the World Wide Web.

Having a domain name made it simpler for the average person to access a Web site. Instead of having to remember a long series of numbers and dots, you could type in ATT.com, IBM.com or CNN.com.

Development was slow, at first. It took more than two years for the first 100 sites to go online and by 1995, the number had grown to 18,000.

But from those humble beginnings the Internet has grown to more than 80 million dot-com domain names, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Crunching the numbers, 99.9 percent of all Internet growth has occurred over the past 15 years.

"The global diffusion of the commercial Internet has occurred with astounding speed," says the ITIF report "The Internet Economy 25 Years After .Com." "Every country on Earth, developed and developing alike, has adopted the Internet."

The impact on the U.S. economy of the Internet sector is estimated at $300 billion or about 2 percent of the total, according to a report issued by Hamilton Consultants and the Harvard Business school last year.

The expansion of the Internet hasn't been without its growing pains. The dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, taking billions of investor dollars with it, and fraud has been growing, tripling over the past five years, according to Internet Crime Complaint Center.

In 2005, losses attributable to Internet fraud were estimated at $183 million based on more than 230,000 complaints. By 2009, the number was nearly $560 million on 337,000 complaints.

"The figures contained in this report indicate that criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet," said Donald Brackman of the National White Collar Crime Center. "They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers. Internet crime is evolving in ways we couldn't have imagined just five years ago."

The scams range from the ubiquitous e-mail scheme where someone needs help getting money out of countries such as Nigeria to nondelivery of online purchases.

But despite the downside, the ITIF sees a bright future for the Web.

Not only for conducting business, but for the sharing of information, provided online security is maintained and the Internet is expanded throughout the globe.

"So to the commercial Internet, congratulations on hitting your 25th birthday; you're just starting to enter the prime of your working years," the ITIF said.

Hello Tiffany, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
Absolutely and thank you for this opportunity to sit down with you again and answer some of your questions.

As we speak about business and shared hosting, appreciate if you can provide more info to our business hosting shoppers. What is the most important element to look for as a business owner when searching for a web host, and why?

The most important element to look for when searching for a business host is the accessibility to qualified technicians and fast and reliable servers. The hosting package must have enough bandwidth, server space and for online business customers a security certificate. These are our most important elements!

There are always going to be issues in running a business and as business owners, time is money. Our support staff is trained to answer customer questions quickly and effective, and when possible, to answer any anticipated follow up questions as well. That’s why we have out award winning top 24/7 support center, where our support team is ready 24/7 for international customers. Support tickets can be answered in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch.

Please share more about the company’s data centers.
Our main data centers are located on the East and West Coast of Houston. Our collocation Servers are located in Europe, Asia Central London, Canada and South America, giving our clients the choice of which data center they want to utilize. Data center locations reduce the delay time it takes for servers to communicate with each other and the outside world. By offering a data center with top locations, we are able to keep data in a closer proximity to users, allowing them faster access and flexibility.

And what are your target markets?
These days our target markets are webmasters, small, medium and corporate companies. Our customers are looking for a premium affordable solution. Together with Cpanel, WHMCS, Fantastico, and The Planet, we give our customers all the tools needed to have a successful business online.

We are very focused on shared, resellers and dedicated.
Some of our clients needed more than what we offered and we started making calculations. So we finally decided to go ahead with it. We upgraded and activated the new hosting packages today. The monthly hosting cost stays the same. And yes, if you are a client your current hosting package would have been upgraded also, now isn’t that a bargain!

On the other hand, what makes you jump out of bed in the morning?

Working with our great client base and helping them meet their needs. It’s like getting to work with your friends. We enjoy feeling a part of their team and sharing in their successes.

Thank you very much for spending some time with us. It was a pleasure talking with you.

Thank You as well, it is always a pleasure to discuss web hosting with you and perhaps we’ll see each other again at this year’s web hosting conference!

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