Most of the Web's 150 million active domains use shared hosting. It's more accessible from a cost perspective, and in general does not come with any less features or functionality than dedicated hosting does.
But when you use shared hosting you are essentially "sharing" hosting space with other websites - some of which may host spam. And as we all know, spam is bad and can result in not just poor experiences for users but could it also affect your position on the search results?
In a new Google Webmaster Help video, Matt Cutts discusses the topic and whether or not a site that is hosted by a service that hosts spam has anything to worry about in terms of a negative impact on search rankings. The short answer is no, it doesn't - but there are some "fringe" cases to consider.
"Typically a hosting company has a lot of different stuff on it. Some of it will be good. Some of it will be bad," says Cutts. "There will be some spam, but just because you happen to be on an IP address or using a hosting company that also hosts some spam, that doesn't mean that you should be affected."