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.
A week ago, I shared how I am cautious with offering a Lease to Own option on some of my domain names. I do not want to put my valuable domain names at risk by allowing buyers to pay for them over a long period of time while potentially putting them at risk.
With GoDaddy now offering LTO to some buyers and a roll-out to all buyers expected soon, IP attorney John Berryhill shared some commentary on Twitter regarding the risks for sellers based on the GoDaddy LTO Terms of Service (TOS):
GoDaddy announced it would allow sellers to give buyers the opportunity to choose a lease to own option for domain names listed for sale on its Afternic platform. The company gave sellers a lead time to implement the LTO option before offering it to customers searching to buy domain names.
Yesterday afternoon, the Afternic X / Twitter account shared that the LTO option is being rolled out to select buyers on GoDaddy’s website. I asked Paul Nicks, President of Domains at GoDaddy, if he can share how the LTO offer is presented to prospective buyers who search for a domain name.
By now, I am sure you heard that Twitter is becoming X. Elon Musk, who bought X.com, is now forwarding X.com to the Twitter website. I would not be surprised if that flips at some point and X.com becomes the home for the matching X brand.
As you may recall, GoDaddy previously operated the X.CO domain name, where it served as a url shortener. In 2017, GoDaddy sunsetted the X.CO shortener, and it currently forwards to GoDaddy’s home page.
GoDaddy is set to introduce a Lease to Own purchase option for buyers of aftermarket domain names listed for sale via Afternic. This option has been one of the unique points of differentiation for sellers on Dan.com, a company acquired by GoDaddy last year.
While I offer LTO on most of my domain names I have listed on Dan, I am cautious about it with others because of the potential damage highlighted by Brad Mugford:
Interesting, but a quick question.
Is the buyer allowed to use the domain during the lease period?
If so, where are the terms regarding the buyer’s usage?
For the low price of a LTO payment, a buyer could possibly damage the value of a domain.@jamesiles @PaulENicks https://t.co/lWxvZBwiJL
— DataCube (@datacubecom) July 14, 2023
One of the most helpful offerings from Dan.com is the easy to use Lease to Own (LTO) purchase option. Domain name buyers who do not want to spend the money to acquire a domain name at the time of the sale can opt to pay for it over a period of time when offered by the seller.
Dan.com was acquired by GoDaddy last year, and the LTO option is now coming to Afternic. This means domain name buyers shopping on GoDaddy will be given the ability to purchase a domain name over a period of time, if leasing is offered by the seller of the domain name.
Afternic posted a tweet about the new offering along with an article that covers how sellers will be able to add the LTO option to their domain names listed for sale via Afternic:
OpenAI’s ChatGPT service has really taken off in the last several months. With its growth, third party companies and developers have been creating plugins within the ChatGPT platform offering various types of information and services.
GoDaddy recently launched its ChatGPT plugin called GoDaddy Name Search, and anyone can use the free tool to search for domain name ideas. Unlike visiting GoDaddy’s website to search for domain names, users can type in a descriptive idea for their business, and the plugin will return domain name suggestions based on availability. Users can click through on the domain names they like to hand register them via GoDaddy’s website.
