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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.

My Thoughts on the GoDaddy Auction App

I spend a fair amount of money on domain name auctions, but I have only bought a handful of names on GoDaddy’s auction platform. Frankly, I did not like the bidding and searching experience, and I stayed away from GoDaddy Auctions.

Case in point: at the beginning of December, there was a domain name I wanted to own that was at auction at GoDaddy. I was on a brief vacation and away from my computer. I was outbid at the final moments of the auction, and I needed to bid from my iPhone. Needless to say, I experienced some serious troubles and I let Paul Nicks and my account rep know about it. Despite trying hard to bid higher than the final price, I lost the auction, which ended at around $10,000.

A few weeks later, I was contacted by a couple of contacts at GoDaddy asking if I would like to test out their new Auctions app that was undergoing beta testing. I let them know that I was not a regular bidder but would give it a shot.

For the last few weeks, I have been testing the app.

No Super Bowl Commercial for GoDaddy

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GoDaddy has become known for their annual Super Bowl commercial. Some years, the company has aired two commercials, and other years, the company stuck to one commercial during the Super Bowl. I would attribute much of GoDaddy’s name recognition, especially in the company’s earlier years, to its Super Bowl advertisements.

According to an article in AdWeek, GoDaddy will not be running a Super Bowl commercial this year. In fact, this year will be the first time in 12 years that GoDaddy is not running a Super Bowl commercial. Adweek quotes a GoDaddy representative who said, “It’s done its job to get our name out there. Now, we can move beyond the generic megaphone of a Super Bowl campaign to a more targeted brand of marketing.”

In my opinion, unless a

My Face Was on Danica Patrick’s Last GoDaddy Race Car

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At the end of November, Danica Patrick drove the #10 GoDaddy race car for the last time during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the last race, the background of the GoDaddy race car was adorned with photos of Danica Patrick taken with GoDaddy customers and employees.

I just found out that a photo that was taken during my meet and greet with Danica Patrick was used on the back of the GoDaddy race car! I always wanted to attend a NASCAR race to see what makes them so popular (it was a blast), but I could never imagine that my face would be on the back of a NASCAR race car during a race!

Here is a photo of the back part of the race car along with a close up and one of the original shots (the one they used was taken by their professional race day photographer):

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GoDaddy Stock Jumps on Acquisition News

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GoDaddy stock closed up just under 4% today, a nice jump considering the Dow was down over 100 points at the close of business. A publication called Bidness Etc. said GoDaddy “stock surged after the company announced acquisition of almost 70,000 domain names to its Worldwide Media, Inc. domain name portfolio.”

According to Yahoo Finance, GoDaddy’s market capitalization is $5.27 Billion. After the market closed today, GoDaddy stock was trading at $33.94 Up $1.26 on the day and up 3.86%. Considering the market cap, this jump was worth somewhere around $200 million in valuation. Whatever the company paid for Mike Berkens’ portfolio, the market seems to like the news, and I assume the company will do well with the acquisition.

To get perspective from GoDaddy, Phoenix Business Journal

Mike Berkens Sells “Vast Majority” of Domain Portfolio to GoDaddy

I just saw a tweet from Mike Berkens announcing that his company sold the “vast majority of domain names in the Worldwide Media, Inc. domain name portfolio” to GoDaddy. The tweet linked to a press release with the entire announcement.

I am somewhat surprised about this news, although the acquisition

“My Domain Was Just Stolen”

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Several months ago, Stevan Lieberman, an intellectual property attorney in Washington DC, published an article about domain name theft. In the article, Stevan offered some practical advice about how to recover a domain name following a theft. The article was (and is) timely given the amount of stolen domain names I have heard about of late.

This morning, someone commented on Stevan’s article to discuss a domain name that was allegedly stolen from his GoDaddy account. Here is what the commenter had to say:

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