These are the reasons why Lightcast.com is referenced in small, unobtrusive letters in the footer of WebApps we develop and host:
- Because Lightcast IS the hosting provider of the WebApp and if you ordered and paid for the setup of the WebApp, then hosting is free for you. Lightcast.com pays for the ongoing hosting (server costs) for the WebApp as long as you have an active OVP Service Package and your account is in good standing. Not only is your WebApp hosted on Lightcast’s web hosting servers, but it is also free for you, as Lightcast pays for the ongoing hosting of the WebApp, its graphics and files. You are only paying for the hosting and delivery of the video content embedded on the WebApp, not for the hosting of the WebApp in itself.
- There is also a legal reason for hosting providers mentioned on websites in general and that is to make the public aware where the website is hosted, whose servers the website is stored on. This is important so that visitors of any website in the world know which server they are currently connected to via their browser.
- There is also a customer satisfaction reason for hosting providers mentioned on websites in general and that is to notify website visitors who is responsible if a website’s functionalities is limited or temporarily affected. This is also the reason why many websites mention not only the hosting provider in the website’s footer, but also the web developer or webmaster who is responsible for the website’s functionality.
Referencing a hosting disclaimer in the footer of a website has nothing to do with “white labeling” as sometimes erroneously believed. To “white label” a website or app means that the overall branding of the website or app is controlled by the customer/publisher, not by the developer. It has nothing to do with referencing who the hosting provider is or who the developer of an app or website might be, nor does it have anything to do with the URL or Domain which hosts the folder on the server which contains the website or web app. It is all about who has the ability to control the graphics / images, including logo, backgrounds or video gallery images for example - whose “label” (the dominant graphical logo brand) is on the website or WebApp, just as the word “white label” implies.
It also has nothing to do with the types or brands of video players might be embedded on a website. E.g. if you commission a web developer to build you a website, you might embed even a YouTube player on it, which has YouTube branding all over it. This does not make your website “non-white-labeled”. Your website is still fully white-labeled in your graphics and branding, even if a YouTube player is embedded on it.
If hosting provider and web developer / web master is one and the same, the vendor is sometimes referred to as “Powered by…” to indicate that this entity both hosts and develops this website or WebApp. See other hosting providers and web developers you might recognize who all follow these internet standards and policies: Wix.com , Fiverr, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly, Shopify and many more.