Penalty for pointing domain names?

Will search engines recognize my pointed domains

[orianaOOO]

I have about a dozen different domain names I want to build sites for, but in an effort to save on hosting, I'd like to use GoDaddy's free point & mask service and build all my sites as sections of the same site. Will search engines consider these pointed domains as separate websites? Or will they just think I have one huge UNfocused site? WOuld it matter if I pointed them to subdomains versus www.maindomain/site2.html? I thought I had a decent solution, using One Dollar Host, but they seem to have stopped functioning. Even though I have 2 sites paid for a year with them, they no longer function & they don't answer my e-mails. What's a poor webmistress to do?
Thanks,
Oriana

[keyplyr]

I was doing similar. No problem since I:

Do not cross link the individual sites to each other

Do not cross link files

Do not use duplicate content

Clearly define separate domain hierarchy

(Also used Go Daddy's pointers)

[orianaOOO]

Thanks keyplyr...
I do plan to link them to each other though, but no duplicate content. How do SE respond to this? Is it better to point to a subdomain or to www.othersite/pointed domain.html?

Thanks,
Oriana

[keyplyr]

I do plan to link them to each other though, but no duplicate content. How do SE respond to this?

No one can say for sure, but you are taking a chance of getting a penalty, at least by Google for creating artificial link popularity. However, I know a webdesigner that hosts all her customer's sites on one IP, each linking to her main site (also on the same IP) but not to each other. So far, the last year has been OK. Your mileage may vary ;)

Personally though, I wouldn't do it.