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.
The time finally came. Dan.com has been completely shuttered by GoDaddy.
The innovative platform was acquired by GoDaddy in 2022. It was operated independently for a short period of time, and the platform was absorbed by GoDaddy and Afternic. Earlier this year, it was announced that Dan.com would close down over the Summer, and that time has come.
If you visit Dan.com now, you will be forwarded to Afternic with a Dan.com tracking url.
My educational background is in the field of direct marketing. Following my undergraduate degree, I went to NYU and earned a Master’s degree in Direct and Interactive Marketing. I then worked at a direct marketing agency called Wunderman, followed by a corporate direct marketing role at AIG.
One of the hallmarks of direct marketing is testing. I recall one of my professors telling the class about the “test everything” mantra in this field. Testing is the most important thing, and once you have a winning campaign or strategy, you keep testing to see if you can iterate and improve your results. All of this is to say that I am a big believer in testing.
I read a blog post about testing written by GoDaddy’s Adam Ramsdell. While I agree with the testing sentiment, I think it would be very difficult for most domain investors – myself included – to accurately test in a way that will create actionable results.
Earlier today, GoDaddy announced that customers can now create checkout links for Lease to Own (LTO) deals. Customers have been able to import these types of leads for buy it now sales only.
Now at Afternic: Lease to Own for Custom Checkout Link!
Close Lease to Own deals using GoDaddy's checkout process, with a flat 10% commission.
Available from your portfolio page today! pic.twitter.com/Q3zS30v49r
— Afternic (@afternic) July 28, 2025
I discovered an issue with the way Whois records are displayed at GoDaddy that could be problematic for domain investors. I was made aware of this when DomainTools detected a Whois change for one of my domain names that hadn’t undergone any Whois updates. This is an issue GoDaddy is aware of, and I hope the company remedies it ASAP.
All of my domain names are registered / owned by my company, Top Notch Domains, LLC. Within the individual settings page, I can see the Whois information correctly shows my company name and other contact information. You can have a look at how I would like the Whois record to look for SelfCare.com:
As Aziz noted this morning on X, GoDaddy has added an AI feature to its for sale landing pages, allowing prospective buyers to get additional insight into why a domain name is valuable. On the right side of GoDaddy “for sale” landers, there’s an “Ask AI” button visible.
Clicking the button opens a pop-up window with a pre-populated question, What makes this domain name valuable? Clicking the prompt draws an AI-generated response from the tool emphasizing some of the unique traits of the domain name.
I recently noticed that GoDaddy Auctions began incorporating artificial intelligence-generated images and descriptions to its auction listings. This AI-generated content appears in the Details section below the fold, so visitors would need to scroll below the bid field to view this section for each auction. This field appears above comparable sales and other data related to the domain name in auction.
Here’s an example of the AI generated image and description for Trickster.com, a domain name that is currently in auction at GoDaddy:
