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:
In 2013, GoDaddy acquired Afternic and SmartName. SmartName is a domain name monetization platform founded by Larry Fischer and Ari Goldberger. SmartName has continued to operate post-acquisition, and I use it to monetize some of my domain names that perform better there than elsewhere.
When I logged into my SmartName account yesterday afternoon, I noticed a message informing customers that SmartName is going to be retired later on this month. Accounts will be migrated to GoDaddy’s CashParking service, a similar type of domain name monetization platform.
The NYSE welcomes @GoDaddy and Walton Goggins to celebrate its 10th anniversary of listing! $GDDY https://t.co/9XYaVN4Moh
— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) April 1, 2025
GoDaddy executives range the opening bell this morning at the New York Stock Exchange. The honor was given to GoDaddy to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of GoDaddy becoming a publicly traded company. At the center of the GoDaddy team is Aman Bhutani, CEO of GoDaddy for the last 5+ years.
