GoDaddy

There have been reports that a team of private equity companies (led by Henry Kravis’ KKR) are in talks to acquire the world’s largest domain registrar, Go Daddy. I’ve been a customer of Go Daddy for about 8 years, and there are some things that I would hate to see changed should a deal be consummated.

Competitive Pricing – Go Daddy has always offered some of the most competitive pricing when it comes to domain registrations. If pricing goes up at GoDaddy, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other companies follow suit. I hope GoDaddy continues to be a price leader.

Executive Accounts – Hands down, GoDaddy has one of the best VIP customer support centers in the business. Their executive accounts group helps clients with a variety of issues, and I know that when I need something from GoDaddy, I can contact my account rep (Brad Larson) and he will get it done.

American Call Centers – With all due respect to my friends in other countries, I like being able to call GoDaddy at off-hours and speak with someone in an English speaking call center. I am sure that you would prefer to speak with someone who speaks the same language as you, and I can almost guarantee that I will speak with a knowledgeable person when I call Godaddy, no matter what time it is.

Racy Advertising – For better or worse, the commercials are one of the reasons Go Daddy has become a household name for many and given an introduction to domain name purchasing. Some think they’re distasteful and others think they’re edgy. Whatever your position on them is, they get people talking and when someone needs a domain name, they are likely to visit GoDaddy.

Event Sponsorships – Similar to the comment above, GoDaddy sponsors things like a NASCAR team to a poker tournament. These events bring domain names to the forefront.

Bob Parsons – He may be a polarizing figure, especially in light of his elephant hunting trip, but Parsons is the heart and soul of the company. He throws big parties every year and does things throughout the year to keep his employees happy. Parsons supports many non-profit organizations and he’s the number 1 vocal promoter of Go Daddy.

It seems like once or twice a week that I receive a spoofed Go Daddy email pretending to be the company. Sometimes it’s a fake account update, and more often, it’s a ICANN Whois update notice. The key thing is that the emails say “Dear User,” when Go Daddy always personalizes the email. I suppose someone could easily customize these emails and send it personalized, but the intro is usually the dead giveaway.

Instead of deleting these illegal phishing emails that want me to enter my account information and password, I send them immediately to my account manager, the Go Daddy Legal Department, and the GoDaddy Abuse Department. This allows the company to investigate the source of the spam email and hopefully shut it down ASAP so nobody has their domain names stolen.

If you receive what you suspect is a fake GoDaddy email, you should forward it to abuse@godaddy.com and legal@godaddy.com so they can investigate. Not only will they tell you if the email happens to be real, but you can also help prevent domain theft as well.