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 have a small percentage of my domain names resolving to pay per click landing pages at Uniregistry. When I checked in on my PPC earnings this afternoon, it showed zero revenue was earned since October 1. The traffic figures seemed to be consistent, so there is an issue with revenue reporting.
In September, I noticed that Gorillas.com had a Media Options landing page with a $500,000 asking price. What was interesting to me is that Gorillas.com has been owned by NameFind, the domain name portfolio company owned and operated by GoDaddy. I shared what I noticed on Twitter:
Looks like @MediaOptions is brokering the generic and high value https://t.co/LntjHfL7nx domain name on behalf of NameFind (GoDaddy). https://t.co/yliYYMCXvp
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) September 23, 2021
Paul Nicks, GoDaddy VP and GM of its Aftermarket, responded to share that Media Options was doing outbound brokering for some of NameFind’s domain names:
Yesterday afternoon, Paul Nicks (GoDaddy VP and GM of the Aftermarket) announced that the Afternic beta website is now open to all Afternic customers:
Hey all, @afternic beta is now open to all accounts, just login and click the “Try Afternic 2.0 Beta” banner. Previously we limited to only smaller portfolios, so now y’all that have large portfolios can play as well.
— Paul Nicks (@PaulENicks) October 7, 2021
To access the beta, customers need to click the “Try the new Afternic 2.0 BETA” link on the left sidebar of the website. Once on the website, there is a quick guide sharing some screengrabs of what users can do on the beta site.
It has been a year and a half since GoDaddy acquired Uniregistry. GoDaddy recently began the process of notifying some Uniregistry (Uni) customers that their accounts will migrate to GoDaddy. I have been told this first batch of migrations is for Uni accounts that have 50 or fewer domain names in them that do not use Uni for parking or for its marketplace.
Customers whose accounts will be migrated will be given 30 days notice about the process. It will take approximately two days to move all associated account records (including domain names, payment profiles, data…etc) to GoDaddy. Once the migration is complete, customers will receive an email notifying them how to create a password and gain access to their account. The email will also contain a link to information on how to merge a new account with an existing GoDaddy account for customers that already use GoDaddy. Customers with migrated accounts will be able to login to their Uni account and SSO into their new GoDaddy account.
GoDaddy posted a job listing for a Public Relations Manager, and a good understanding of the domain name space would be helpful for this particular role. A Public Relations professional working within the domain name industry might be a good fit for this job, as would a PR professional who has experience buying domain names.
The first bullet point covering this job is directly related to GoDaddy’s domain name business: “Lead the public relations strategy and execution for GoDaddy’s domain name registration and web hosting businesses.” In addition, the job posting is looking for someone who might have “a passion for the domain name industry and cutting-edge technology.”
Fiscal.com appeared to be destined for an expiry auction at GoDaddy earlier this week. The domain name auction was due to conclude on Monday afternoon, and bidding had surpassed the $30,000 mark. I was a participant in the auction (bidding over $30,000), and I was prepared to spend considerably more than the high bid. In fact, I had offered more for the domain name earlier this year.
The Fiscal.com auction disappeared from GoDaddy Auctions at some point between Sunday night and Monday. This was surprising because the domain name was registered at GoDaddy and there was less than 24 hours remaining in the auction. As far as I know, a 2017 change in how the expiry process works was supposed to ensure that GoDaddy-registered domain names that make it to 3 days or fewer in an auction with bids can no longer be renewed by the registrant since the redemption period had passed.
