GoDaddy is a privately owned, Internet-based company that provides a variety of services including domain name registration, web hosting and e-business software sales. The company, which is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, was founded by Bob Parsons. Parsons previously owned a financial services software company, which he sold in the mid-1990s upon retirement. He came out of retirement in 1997 to form Jomax Technologies, the predecessor to GoDaddy.
Since it’s inception, GoDaddy has risen to become the largest domain registrar in the world, with tens of million of domains registered to its clients. The company ranks as the world’s largest ICANN-accredited registrar; it’s approximately four times larger than its nearest competition. Recent corporate acquisitions include Outright, Locu, Afternic, and Media Temple.
GoDaddy has redefined Internet hosting services, and it has been the recipient of numerous industry awards and accolades. Among these awards are the 2001 Arizona BBB award for Business Ethics and the 2011 SC Magazine award for Best Security Team. In 2011, it ranked number four in the Phoenix Business Magazine list of “Best Places to Work in the Valley” and it made the 2012 Forbes list of “Best 100 Companies to Work For.”
Known for its sometimes controversial commercials and interesting spokespersons, GoDaddy also sponsors a number of charitable causes in support of domestic violence and child abuse awareness, and sports events, including NASCAR and the Super Bowl. In 2013, the company shifted its advertising strategy to focus more on small to medium sized business owners (SMB). Reflecting this change, its commercials and advertising materials shifted from “sexy” to smart.
I noticed something interesting over the weekend that I thought I would share with you. I typed in OutOfTheWorld.com to see if it was registered, and I was forwarded to a GoDaddy search results page. As is typical for a domain name listed for sale via Afternic with a buy it now price, the purchase option was what showed up after being forwarded:
When I place a bid on GoDaddy Auctions, there is a bid confirmation screen that shows me my maximum bid amount. This is helpful in the event that I made a typo in the bidding field, allowing me to confirm that I my bid is for the intended amount. Here’s a screenshot of the confirmation page that I see when bidding on GoDaddy Auctions:
Several weeks ago, I saw that Jebidiah Burnett had left Donuts to pursue other domain industry opportunities. Jebidiah has also worked with the new gTLD domain names at Rightside and eNom. Yesterday afternoon, I learned that Jebidiah was hired by GoDaddy to do outbound marketing on the company’s NameFind domain portfolio as well as some of the premium new gTLD domain names owned by its registry partners.
Following up on GoDaddy’s pledge to make its auctions more transparent, I was just notified that GoDaddy will be introducing unique bidder IDs for all bidders on GoDaddy Auctions. The plan is to implement this change following the close of auctions tomorrow, April 11th.
The top publicly reported domain name sale of the day this past Saturday was the auction for ChefD.com. The domain name sold for $11,850, as reported in a tweet from NameBio on Sunday morning:
Top sale of the day goes to @GoDaddy – chefd(.)com sold for $11,850. Daily market report: https://t.co/bwkj9sdiCu
— NameBio (@NameBio) April 7, 2019
For the past few days, I have been digesting the news about a GoDaddy employee bidding on GoDaddy Auctions. As I wrote on Thursday evening, the news is disappointing. In the article revealing the discovery, Paul Nicks wrote, “We are also reviewing platform changes to make things even more transparent.” After thinking about this, I think there are three things GoDaddy should do to be transparent and reassure customers that GoDaddy Auctions is a fair auction platform.
