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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.

Details About New Dashboard from Afternic

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In October, Afternic made a significant upgrade to the user control panel in a beta platform that became available to all sellers. The objective was to integrate some of GoDaddy’s look and feel as well as provide functionality upgrades for Afternic customers. I’ve been toggling back and forth between the beta and classic version, and I think the new platform offers a cleaner look and saves me time making pricing updates.

This afternoon, Afternic unveiled a new dashboard to all customers with added features and enhanced functionality. I have spent a bit of time using the new dashboard, and I think it is a solid upgrade from the classic platform.

I asked a representative from GoDaddy to share what updates were made and are now available, and here’s what I was told:

GCD to Host Webinar on Blockchain Domain Names

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I was chatting with a Chiropractor friend yesterday about domain names. He has been into cryptocurrency trading for several years, and we regularly chat about that despite the fact that my knowledge is generally limited to what I read on my Twitter feed.

Yesterday, my friend asked me about .ETH domain names, and admittedly, I did not know much. He mentioned that he tried to secure one but the gas fee was outrageous. I told him I know very little about the topic beyond the fact that .ETH is not governed by ICANN and you couldn’t easily access a .ETH website. I typed in nic.eth on my phone to show him what I meant, and it returned a Google search rather than a website or error page.

I reiterated that I don’t know much about blockchain domain names and felt badly that I couldn’t share more information with him.

Making Sense of the GoDaddy Domain Broker Service Status Page

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In the domain name management control panel at GoDaddy, there’s a Buy & Sell drop down menu. Within that menu, there is a Domain Broker Service link that takes customers to a status page with all of the Domain Broker Service inquiries received on their domain names.

These inquiries are from GoDaddy’s Domain Broker Service, a premium upsell that costs customers $99.99 plus a 20% commission on a completed sale. When a GoDaddy customer engages the Domain Broker Service for a GoDaddy-registered domain name, the inquiry is listed within this section of the domain registrant’s GoDaddy account.

I first learned about this page after seeing a post about it on Twitter:

Suggestions to Improve GoDaddy / Afternic Sale Process

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GoDaddy and Afternic operate the largest domain name sales network, partnering with more than 100 other domain name registrars and platforms to sell customer-owned domain names. A customer that lists a domain name for sale via Afternic will have their listings shown on the purchase pages at registrars like Namecheap, Google, Name.com, and many others when a prospective buyer searches for that domain name.

GoDaddy’s Fast Transfer network makes it relatively easy for domain investors to sell their domain names. When a buyer at Namecheap, for example, purchases a domain name listed for sale via GoDaddy/Afternic on the Fast Transfer network, the domain name will automatically transfer to the buyer without the seller having to take action. Once listed and approved, the seller doesn’t play much of a role in selling domain names via this channel.

The GoDaddy / Afternic network should and does make it easier for domain investors to sell domain names to people they may have never reached, but it is not without its issues. There are pain points that I deal with when selling via GoDaddy and Afternic, and I want to offer some suggestions to improve the process.

Upstream Provider Issue at Uniregistry Resolved – Data Updated by Friday

I have a small percentage of my domain names resolving to pay per click landing pages at Uniregistry. When I checked in on my PPC earnings this afternoon, it showed zero revenue was earned since October 1. The traffic figures seemed to be consistent, so there is an issue with revenue reporting.

Media Options Brokers Sale of Gorillas.com

In September, I noticed that Gorillas.com had a Media Options landing page with a $500,000 asking price. What was interesting to me is that Gorillas.com has been owned by NameFind, the domain name portfolio company owned and operated by GoDaddy. I shared what I noticed on Twitter:

Paul Nicks, GoDaddy VP and GM of its Aftermarket, responded to share that Media Options was doing outbound brokering for some of NameFind’s domain names:

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