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.
GoDaddy shared the video below with its new CEO Aman Bhutani discussing his job at GoDaddy. Bhutani was interviewed by Shannon Truax, who is Global Vice President, Brand Social at GoDaddy. With a few weeks as CEO under his belt, Bhutani shared some thoughts about taking the job at GoDaddy and shared what he wants to do as CEO of the publicly traded company. It’s a friendly 5 minute interview, but it’s a good chance to catch a glimpse of the company’s new CEO and his personality.
I received an email from GoDaddy this afternoon telling me a domain name had been canceled. The email either means I let a domain name expire or one of my names sold and transferred out of my GoDaddy account. I was sure the name was not canceled, but when I logged in to my GoDaddy account to see what was going on, I encountered this error: “504 Gateway Time-out”.
I called my account representative who told me the 504 errors was something other customers are experiencing, and GoDaddy’s Twitter account confirmed this as well:
Many years ago when I traveled less frequently than I do now, I had a routine when I got to the airport. I would visit Hudson News or whatever other newsstand was in close proximity, and I would buy a Maxim magazine and a Stuff magazine to read on the airplane. It’s been a long time since I have done that, but I can see that Maxim is still published (at least online), but Stuff is published by a different company with a different theme.
Last week, I wrote about a prospective buyer whose offer was made based on a GoDaddy appraisal. After the opening offer was made, I think I was able to make a pretty salient rebuttal to his offer. Although he ended up increasing his offer to a more reasonable number, we were unable to reach a deal. I won’t say the appraisal is what doomed the deal, but it did set the discussion off on a bad note for me.
Sometimes a low appraisal isn’t the issue. There have been other times when someone cited an appraisal that was more than I believe the domain name is worth.
According to my Registrant Alert emails from DomainTools over the past couple of days, it appears that GoDaddy may have sold a small portfolio of generic one and two word .com domain names from its NameFind portfolio. The domain names below were previously registered to NameFind, and the registrant information changed to GoDaddy’s Whois privacy service, Domains By Proxy, LLC. I have not seen NameFind use Whois privacy on its domain names before, so I presume the domain names below have been sold.
Here are the valuable generic domain names with a registrant change I noticed over the past two days:
GoDaddy’s automated appraisal tool is a double edged sword, and my affection for it varies depending on whether I am buying or selling a domain name. Put simply, when it comes to unique assets, I don’t think an automated tool can accurately value a domain name. People do use the appraisal tool though, so it is something investors need to keep in mind.
This morning, I received a $1,500 offer to buy a two word .com domain name I acquired via auction earlier this year. In passing on the offer, I told the prospective buyer my domain name is worth more than $1,500. He replied asking me the value of the domain name and told me he based his offer on the GoDaddy appraisal:
