GoDaddy

I found that Jamie’s posts were helpful and made it easy to find auctions at Go Daddy with at least one bidder. They were helpful to me because I find GoDaddy’s auction platform a bit frustrating to use. Since Jamie said he isn’t going to post the auctions with at least one bid any longer, I will share the way for you to find them on your own.

I am sure it’s frustrating as a bidder to see a name you are bidding on highlighted, but there is some gamesmanship with auctions, and I recommend waiting until the final possible moments to place your bid.

1) Log in to your GoDaddy account (you need a membership)
2) In the top drop down menu under “Domains” click “GoDaddy Auctions”
3) On the Auctions page, click “Expired Domains”
4) On the right menu, check the following:
– Predefined: “A TO Z Listings”
– # of Bids: “More than 0”
– Type: “Expiring Auctions”
5) Make sure the other options are unchecked, although you can pare it down to .com if you want or other extensions, # of days remaining…etc.

There may be other ways to get there, but this is the best way I’ve found.

Personally, I think GoDaddy’s auction platform needs a user interface overhaul. I haven’t used it much because I have found it frustrating to search. IMO, they would be well advised to take a group of willing customers at TRAFFIC and watch them use the site to see where frustrations arise (hint, hint).

I saw a “cool” promotion being promoted by Go Daddy on Twitter and also on the Go Daddy Facebook page about an hour ago. If you call their customer service phone number right now and say the phrase, “stay cool,” you can register one domain name for $1.00 (there is some fine print). Among other tld, you can hand register a .com domain name for $1.00.  The US phone number is (866) 463-2339

I love seeing companies offer fun special offers like this via social media. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I probably will… there aren’t too many opportunities to buy a name for $1.18.  It looks like this offer is good for the first 10,000 names registered.  The rest of the  fine print for this offer is below.

Register any available .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain for just $1.00* (plus ICANN fee, if applicable)! Applies to the first year only of new registrations. This offer may not be used for renewals, transfers, bulk registrations, premium domains or Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations. Limited to one order per customer, expiring after 10,000 redemptions or at 11:59 PM on Aug 15, 2011 (whichever comes first). Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion. Customers may not use gift cards, PayPal ® or AliPay to redeem this offer.

* Plus ICANN fee of 18 cents per domain year. Certain TLD’s only.

I was reading up a bit about the Go Daddy partnership and found something interesting on AZCentral.com. According to the article, after the deal is finalized, “Warren Adelman, Go Daddy’s chief operating officer, becomes CEO.” Bob Parsons, current GoDaddy CEO and founder will then be named as the executive chairman.

Warren Adelman is currently President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. Although he seems like more of a behind the scenes guy with Parsons taking center stage, Adelman appears to be an active customer advocate, at least in my experience. I’ve seen him give out his personal email address, and a good way to get results at the company has generally been to email/contact the office of the president.

A couple of months ago, I had a transfer issue and was having trouble getting it resolved. After speaking with a few people over a couple of days, I sent Adelman an email to see if he could help. Within a couple of hours, my issue was resolved. I don’t know if Adelman personally had anything to do with it, but I can only assume he was responsible for fixing the problem.

The AZCentral news article indicated that Parsons will remain active within the company, and I suspect that’s a big reason he maintains a majority stake in the company (may be the largest shareholder rather owning the majority of the company). He likely could have sold more of his position if he wanted to step aside. While an executive chairman role may sometimes be more ceremonial than day to day management, I would bet Parsons will remain at the forefront of the company, especially with regards to marketing and advertising.

It will be interesting to see how the company transforms without Parsons at the helm.