Ok, I created a website with freewebs maybe 2 months ago, can't remember now how long it's been. At first it was awesome. 100% free and I was so happy with the way it looked, then one day I went to my site and there were Google Ads at the top of each page. Not mine, but freewebs. So, I then had competition on my own site! You see, I use Google Ads too, but theirs were far more dominant than mine, so that posed a problem. I grew to accept the Google Ad competition... after all they at least matched my site and were usually cake related, so what's the big deal? The site was free. Then, I noticed just the other day that when you go to my website there is this full screen ad that appears for about 8 or 9 seconds before you even see any sign at all of my site. This is ridiculous! If I were looking for a website and pulled this up I'd think I had the wrong web address!

I want everyone's opinion on this. My webaddresses are below. One is for the site in question and the other is my blog. Blogs are completely free and no one will place anything there without your permission. So, the ads and content on my blog are all mine. The freewebs site is the one I'm concerned about. I'm actually thinking of not using it. Can't afford to pay anyone for a site. After all, I'm not licensed to do business out of my home and so the point of this site was just to share my hobby with friends and family... maybe getting a couple jobs here and there, but not actually running a business. What would you do? How bad is this? Should I find a way to get a paid site or just stick with my blog???

If anything else I wanted to warn everyone about freewebs. You can put a whole lot of work into a new site thinking you'll have a free way to share your hobby or business and then one day find it's not as good a deal as you thought. If I'd known this in advance, probably wouldn't have wasted my time with it. After all, if I'm going to pay for a site, I'd like to shop around for a better template first and make sure that it has all the functions and capabilities I want. Didn't do this with freewebs.

Anyway, any advice on what to do about my site would be sooo much appreciated!

ok i went to your freewebs site and yes there is a pop up but if u are a knowledgable surfer u know theres a "skip this ad" button up in the right hand corner so u dont have to wait. alot of sites are doing that now . your page looks wonderful... keep it and just warn people if u give them the site to skip the first ad

Godaddy.com has really affordable web hosting...$3.95 per month, payable month to month without a contract - and NO ADS!!

I always hit the "skip ad" button too. Your site looks really nice and it was free!!! I'd keep the site! My oldest sister owns her own business, so she insisted that I should have one. So, she "sponsors" my website. It's like $8 a month (as long as I don't have to pay for it!!). The thing is though, I'm not a "real" business either, so when my DH set up the site, he didn't put meta files on it. I'm pretty sure that means you have to type the web name directly or you won't be able to find it. So search engines don't pick up my website. The only way to get there is if I tell you or word of mouth. I just don't want any trouble, you know. Anyway, I'd keep the site. It shows off your talent and only cocsts you some time to do it. The Google ads don't take away from your cakes - they really are beautiful!!

I went to both sites and I liked them both...I loved on your blog that you had the meaning of the flowers....I do see what you mean about the ad..but I agree that anyone visiting your site can just click ..skip ad at the to right had corner of the page.....

I'm probably just being silly. I know it's free and I shouldn't get so frustrated, but I think I got spoiled with the blog thing. I've had that a lot longer and never had anyone intrude on my territory! I guess my real frustration is in that I can't afford to get the site I want. I'm a stay-at-home mom and I'm always looking for ways to earn a few extra dollars... not spend them!

Thanks for the compliments and the advice. I appreciate everyone taking the time to visit my sites and share their opinions. This is a great forum! Love you all!

The cakespace/ blog site was great. The eye was taken directly to the cakes, and I paid no attention to the ads.

But the freewebs site I really had trouble with. The popups ran on a loop and I couldn't access the site. Then I read the posts about the skip ad button. Unfortunately, the skip ad was hard to find, it was in blue and overlaid with black writing, so i really had to search for it.

When I finally accessed the site, the pictures wouldn't load. And everytime I clicked on a picture, it took me back to the advertising loop. Very frustrating. If I were a customer, I doubt I would have the patience to navigate this site.

But I really like the first one, and the cakes show beautifully! It was a winner!

www.godaddy.com and www.yahoo.com have pretty cheap webspace. You may even be able to get some through whoever your web provider is.

I like your site, very pretty...one thing though. I'm not sure how many people access the web from work, but I do. I usually have my speakers turned off but sometimes I leave them on just a little to hear when I have an email pop up and that's when the music is a dead giveaway that I'm not working . Just a thought.

Your site appears to be lovely, but I can't get it to load. It crashes my browser. The last time, I had to totally reboot. So, maybe freeweb ain't that good....

Also, someone said, I believe, that it has music on it. I guess to each his own, but usually I just close a site when I open it and it's got music on it. It gets on my last nerve.

Pictures and layout...what I could see of them...are great.

The music on that site has sentimental meaning and I just guessed that most would turn down their speakers if they didn't like it, but hadn't thought about people accessing the site at work, so that's something to consider.

I'm still so confused! Half of the responses so positive and the other half make me think this is not a good site to keep. I especially am troubled about the loop of advertisements... that's totally not cool.

I think were I stand now is to leave the other site alone and think about it, but not pass the address along to others. It doesn't cost me anything to do that, so until I find a better solution I'll just use the blog. Doesn't sound like anyone has problems with the blog, so probably the answer.

Thanks to all!