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.
Logan Flatt noticed what appears to be a new GoDaddy / Afternic inquiry landing page, which he shared on Twitter today:
When I visit https://t.co/MRkK8uheE8, I see what appears to be a new or test lander from Afternic. Using
Nameserver 1:https://t.co/NkK3UqHVDs
Nameserver 2:https://t.co/i9kkvT4sey pic.twitter.com/SC9JeYoKA6— Logan (@LoganFlatt) December 12, 2020
GoDaddy will be hosting the annual Namescon live domain name auction in January during the NamesCon Online event. People who are interested in having their domain names listed in the live and silent auctions may now submit their domain names to GoDaddy for review, according to a tweet from GoDaddy’s Paul Nicks:
Submit your names today for the upcoming NamesCon Online Auction! Easy submission form here: https://t.co/dWx5qxvjMQ
— Paul Nicks (@PaulENicks) December 1, 2020
According to a report published earlier today on Krebs on Security, a popular and well-sourced cybersecurity blog, there was an “incursion at GoDaddy that relied on tricking employees into transferring ownership and/or control over targeted domains to fraudsters.” This social engineering targeted the Liquid.com domain name owned and used by a cryptocurrency company called Liquid. Other cryptocurrency platforms may have also been targeted, according to Krebs.
Prior to reading this report, I read a blog article published by Liquid CEO Mike Kayamori on the Liquid corporate blog discussing a “security incident” involving the company’s domain name. In the blog article, Kayamori reported the following involving GoDaddy:
GoDaddy has acquired the GCD.com domain name, as it announces a new entity called GoDaddy Corporate Domains. GCD is “a domain management solution for large companies.” While GoDaddy Corporate Domains is a new entity, it has its roots in the company’s acquisition of Brandsight, and it appears the Brandsight team is now working for GCD.
Earlier this year, GoDaddy acquired Brandsight, a corporate domain name management and branding agency. The Brandsight domain name now forwards to GCD.com. In addition, the Brandsight Twitter account can now be found at the @gcd_team handle, which reported the press release:
Exciting news today, GoDaddy Launches GoDaddy Corporate Domains https://t.co/vr8hWGTMfR
— GoDaddy Corporate Domains (@gcd_team) November 17, 2020
On November 12th at noon Eastern time, the .US Registry will be hosting its 2020 Town Hall meeting. .US ccTLD domain registrants and others are invited to participate in this virtually-held annual meeting. Featured speakers in this meeting include Dustin Phillips, Chair .US Stakeholder Council, Crystal Peterson, Director, Registry Services, and Kristin Johnson, Council Secretariat, Registry Services Global Marketing and Brand. .US stakeholders who attend the meeting are invited “to provide input and feedback on .US Policies and other initiatives.”
Here’s what attendees should expect from this Town Hall meeting:
I received a $1,300 offer for a domain name via Afternic broker. The name was listed for sale at Afternic with a $1,999 buy it now price. When I had a look at the landing page, I saw that I had repriced it to $3,999 on DAN.com at some point in the past year. I replied to the broker to let him know I would not accept the offer and that the name had been repriced to $3,999 although I neglected to update it at Afternic. The broker came back a few hours later with the buyer’s new offer: $1,999.
