Today, we turn to a recent article from the Web Host Industry Review for an informative rundown of a new trend in the web hosting industry.

Those of you who follow the shared hosting marketplace have most likely already noticed this trend: Some of the market’s biggest players are merging. The most recent example is Website Pros’ acquisition of Web.com; a few months earlier, and even more significantly in terms of market share, Affinity Internet was acquired by Hostway.

These developments aren’t all that revolutionary given the customary ebb and flow of commerce. However, they do represent a relatively new trend in the web hosting industry, historically a very fractured and competitive marketplace.

Many times, these mergers are a result of a larger company that wants to branch out into new territory. Rather than spend tons of resources and revenue to get a new division up and running, a larger company simply acquires a smaller company that already specializes in providing the service.

So what does that mean to consumers? Oftentimes, it’s an advantage, since they’re given greater access to more developed products and services under one roof, rather than having to go from company to company in search of every piece of the puzzle that they’re looking for. The downside to corporate mergers is that it usually reduces the choices that consumers have, but with all the thousands of companies in the web hosting game, that’s not really an issue here.

In terms of the marketplace itself, it’s a trend worth watching. Who will be next? After the dust settles, will there be one uncontested web hosting champion, similar to the way that Google dominates the search engine field?

A much more detailed summary of this trend can be found in the latest print edition of the Web Host Industry Review. Aplus.Net’s own President and CEO, Gabriel Murphy, is quoted extensively in the article. Check it out here.