“I Went by GoDaddy’s Valuation Services”

21

GoDaddy’s automated appraisal tool is a double edged sword, and my affection for it varies depending on whether I am buying or selling a domain name. Put simply, when it comes to unique assets, I don’t think an automated tool can accurately value a domain name. People do use the appraisal tool though, so it is something investors need to keep in mind.

This morning, I received a $1,500 offer to buy a two word .com domain name I acquired via auction earlier this year. In passing on the offer, I told the prospective buyer my domain name is worth more than $1,500. He replied asking me the value of the domain name and told me he based his offer on the GoDaddy appraisal:

GoDaddy Sells At Least Four 2 Letter .com Domain Names

3

Yesterday morning, George Kirikos tweeted about the likely sale of HU.com, a two letter .com domain name that had been owned by GoDaddy via its NameFind portfolio company:

This morning, I noticed that at least three other LL.com domain names appear to have been sold by GoDaddy. The change of ownership was detected by the DomainTools Registrant Monitor tool, and I saw these names in my morning Registrant Alert email. Here are the three names that appear to have been sold by GoDaddy / NameFind:

Video: GoDaddy’s Websites + Marketing Launch Event

1

GoDaddy hosted a launch event earlier today with its new CEO Aman Bhutani and spokeswoman Ayesha Curry. You will want to fast forward to about 12 minutes to catch the start of the event. The revamp of the company’s website building product with marketing tools (Websites + Marketing) is not really related to domain names, but the entrepreneurs who are GoDaddy clients need domain names for their businesses so anything GoDaddy does has an impact on investors.

Here’s a video of the live stream that concluded a short while ago:

GoDaddy to Make “Huge Product Announcement” Today

3

If you visited YouTube today, you may have come across the huge GoDaddy advertising banner across the top of the website announcing a product launch event with Ayesha Curry:

I don’t have details about what will be launched or who is targeted with the launch, but here’s a description about the event found via the YouTube page:

GoDaddy Employees Say Farewell to CEO Scott Wagner

2

On August 1, GoDaddy announced that its CEO Scott Wagner would have to “step down for health reasons.” Prior to the unexpected August announcement, Scott had been with the company for 6+ years, and he was well-respected and well-liked by GoDaddy employees.

As Scott departed his role last week and Aman Bhutani took over as CEO, GoDaddy employees made and shared this video tribute to honor Scott’s time at, and commitment to, GoDaddy and its employees:

Thank you Scott from Auguste Goldman on Vimeo.

GoDaddy Should Add a Year of Registration for Aftermarket Purchases

In July, I noticed a domain name I had sold for five figures on Afternic was coming up for auction at GoDaddy Auctions. The domain name had been sold less than a year before, so it was surprising to see it had already reached expiry status. I posted a tweet mentioning that I think GoDaddy should add one year of registration after a domain name was sold via Afternic: