Home GoDaddy Page 5

GoDaddy

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.

3 Notable Changes Coming to Dan.com

3

I received an email from Dan.com announcing three changes to the platform. At least two of these changes will impact most sellers and attention should be paid to them. The email I received is below, but in short, the changes are:

  • Sellers can choose a payout currency
  • All listing prices will be converted to USD
  • All domain names with BIN prices on Dan.com will be added to Afternic and its network

The first change is not important to me. I have always been paid out in USD and that will continue for me. I assume sellers outside of the US may be happy with this change.

The currency change to listings is probably not going to have much impact on the perceived value of the domain name, but sellers may wish to update the gross price to reflect preferred “charm pricing.” Some sellers prefer to have prices that end in -888, -999, or even -111. When EUR or other currency is converted to USD, the charm pricing will likely be lost and need to be updated.

I don’t see much of a downside for domain names to be added to Afternic’s network, but sellers should be aware of this change.

Email received from Dan.com this morning:

Don’t Blindly Authorize Domain Listings

A few days ago, I received an “Action required: Authorize your domain listings.” email from GoDaddy. It listed several domain names I own that are listed for sale on Squadhelp. When I listed them on Squadhelp, I removed them from Afternic.

This email is the Afternic Fast Transfer authorization email. If the approval link is clicked, the domain name(s) will be opted in to Afternic’s Fast Transfer network. If the domain names subsequently sell via the Afternic network, they will be automatically removed from my account and transferred to the buyer.

Uni-Parked Domains Now “may be for sale”

When GoDaddy announced the Afternic to Uni transition, I was notified I would need to change any Uni-related nameservers I use. I was curious about what would happen to domain names utilizing the InternetTraffic.com nameservers that didn’t get changed.

Several domain names I previously sold maintained the nameservers I had been using after their sale. Obviously, the buyers of these domain names would not receive these notifications. I presume some wouldn’t care considering they did not update the nameservers on their own following their acquisitions.

The Appraised Value is “too high to estimate”

1

It is apparent that GoDaddy has been in the process of revamping its domain name appraisal tool. This became most obvious when expiry auctions in GoDaddy Auctions were missing their estimated values. Recently, domain investor Bob Hawkes noticed what appeared to be a change in the appraisal tool:

GoDaddy’s Paul Nicks replied that the algorithm hadn’t changed but GoDaddy added more sales data:

One thing that seems to have gone unnoticed is a tweak to what GoDaddy shows on appraisals for high value domain names. Instead of reporting the value as more than $25,000, the tool now says the value is “too high to estimate.” GoDaddy’s Michael Cyger – who is departing soon – shared this on Twitter this morning:

I actually think this is a very good change. Instead of putting that $25,000 number on valuable domain names – which can be very confusing unless the disclaimer is carefully read – it emphasizes the high value of the domain name.

With many prospective buyers trying to use the GoDaddy Appraisal as a means of getting a lower price on a domain name they don’t wish to buy, I have come to look unfavorably on this automated tool. That said, I think this new language is helpful.

AirPlay.com Sells for $202k as Apple Registers Swath of AirPlay Domain Names

0

The largest domain name sale of the day yesterday was AirPlay.com. The domain name sold for $202,000 in an expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions. I wasn’t following the auction closely, but NameBio reported the auction result this morning:

Originally created back in 1996, AirPlay.com is currently registered at GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd (formerly Uniregistry).

Questions Related to Uni —> Afternic Parking Migration

If you are a Uniregistry customer, you most likely received an email explaining the upcoming migration of the Uniregistry Market and parking platform to Afternic. The subject of the email I received was “Important notice – ACTION RECOMMENDED to move your Market & Parking accounts to Afternic within 6 weeks“. Andrew Allemann wrote about this as did Theo Develegas.

I have had a Uniregistry account since its inception. I started with parking and the Market for sales, but I later moved all of my domain names off of the Market and nearly all of them off of parking. I primarily use my own inquiry forms and Dan.com for my domain name sales right now.

I have about 1,100 domain names listed in my Uniregistry Market account. Since I neither parked most of my domain names nor directed them to the Market, I never took the time to delete sold or expired domain names. My portfolio at Uniregistry is totally outdated due to the lack of upkeep. If GoDaddy would migrate this list of domain names to my Afternic account, it would be annoying to remediate. I will almost certainly delete just about all of the domain names listed there, with the exception of my parked domain names.

Recent Posts

Handoff to Dan on Imported Leads Can be Confusing

0
I've been using the lead import option at Dan.com more regularly. Although the 5% commission is not ideal, transactions tend to move more quickly...

ArtificialIntelligence.com Goes Up for Sale

7
I tried to buy the ArtificialIntelligence.com domain name multiple times over the last 10 years. The emails I sent to the registrant went unanswered,...

EU Gives More IP Protection to Food & Drink Producers

0
Did you know that some well-known food and drink varieties are protected intellectual property regulations? Popular types of drinks and foods that are protected...

Price Testing

1
In 2022, my wife and I decided our kids were ready for some big mountain skiing and we planned a trip to the Rocky...

GoDaddy Making You Sign in to See What You Renewed (Updated)

3
This morning, I noticed something different in a domain name renewal email from GoDaddy. Instead of telling me exactly what domain names I renewed...