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The Internet

Go Daddy Usurps Network Solutions 349

Posted by CmdrTaco from the thats-a-whole-lotta-dns dept.
miller60 writes "Go Daddy has passed Network Solutions as the top domain registrar, and now manages more than 6.8 million domains. This marks the first time that any registrar other than Network Solutions has held the top spot. The change is no surprise, given the growth trends and pricing for the two providers ($8.95 for Go Daddy, $34.99 for Network Solutions), but its controversial Super Bowl ads no doubt helped put Go Daddy over the top."
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Go Daddy Usurps Network Solutions More

Go Daddy Usurps Network Solutions

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  • The uncut GoDaddy ad here (Score:5, Informative)

    by winkydink ( 650484 ) * <sv.dude@gmail.com> on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:27PM (#12361209) Homepage Journal
    but first, like any good Slashdotter, I must pick nits and point out that waaaaay back in the last century, SRI held the top spot too.

    The ad is here [networkmirror.com]. Be gentle.

  • It's annoying... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Veinor ( 871770 )
    I think that advertisement agencies should not use controversy to promote their sales. The commercials do make me remember GoDaddy, but not in a positive way. And if this worked in general, you would think that SCO's sales would go up among the geek community. But, we know what's really happened, don't we?

    • Re:It's annoying... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MetalliQaZ ( 539913 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:32PM (#12361282)
      Are you kidding me? The GoDaddy ad was NOT that controversial. Take one look at any of the prime time reality shows on the air and you will see WAY more sexual content and inappropriate behavior. The Super Bowl was just a sore spot, thats all. Heck, take a look at the new Victoria's Secret ad... Whew!!

      -d
    • The thing is, though, that I liked the ad. As long as people who agree with me outnumber the people who share your opinion, then they're on the right track.
      • I would guess you must of been bottle fed 8-) !
      • As long as people who agree with me outnumber the people who share your opinion, then they're on the right track.
        Back that one up a bit -- relative percentages have nothing to do with it. What's better from a marketing perspective -- an ad that 50% of your potential audience really likes, and 50% of of them really dislike, or an ad that 100% of your audience likes?

        Not that I'm commenting on the effectiveness of this particular ad.

        • "Back that one up a bit -- relative percentages have nothing to do with it. What's better from a marketing perspective -- an ad that 50% of your potential audience really likes, and 50% of of them really dislike, or an ad that 100% of your audience likes?"

          It doesn't really matter what ad they like. All that matters is what ad they remember. When it comes time to register a new domain I am going to check the actual features and objective factors of the hosts I think of, not go with the company whose name I
        • What's better from a marketing perspective -- an ad that 50% of your potential audience really likes, and 50% of of them really dislike, or an ad that 100% of your audience likes?

          I'll take "50% really likes" over "100% merely likes" any day of the week.

    • On the contrary the reason I like the commercial is how over the top it is. One one hand I feel offended that a pair of tits attached to annoying voice passes as a spokesperson, on the other hand I have to give them points for unabashedly appealing to the base instincts of their audience. Its like Howard Stern or those Coors commercials, the first couple times its hilarious and appalling just how absurd it is. They better not try to run a whole strings of these though, then it would just get stupid.

      Either

  • Porn Sites (Score:3, Funny)

    by chucks86 ( 799149 ) <chucks86@gmail.com> on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:29PM (#12361232)
    Any registrar that would sells names to the tons of porn sites is destined to be number 1. (Warning: This post is probably incorrect.)

    • Re:Porn Sites (Score:3, Informative)

      by ChaosCube ( 862389 )
      Are you kidding? Wasn't the internet made for academics, funded by the military, the hijacked by porn? It's been a while since college, but that's how I remember it.

  • Yeah, but with GoDaddy (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You have to surf through 240 pages of adverts when all you really want to do is click "checkout".

  • Vote with your wallet (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Vamphyri ( 26309 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:29PM (#12361240) Homepage Journal
    In this service economy, consumers have chosen to vote with their wallet. No surprise there. Way back when in internet years, Joker.com was only ten euro's per year, which was about $6 US and they were the best. Joker didn't have the marketing clout that Godaddy had. Now GoDaddy has usurped the top spot.

    • Re:Vote with your wallet (Score:5, Interesting)

      by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:42PM (#12361416)
      Or you can know that NetSol (as of 11/2004) likes to hold domains during transfers until they go over the expiration date to make it EXTREMELY difficult for you to move away from them.

      They are also difficult to deal with over the phone, over the Internet, etc.

      I was completely disappointed in their service and while attempting to move elsewhere ran into the problems above. Luckily I won't have to deal w/them again in the near future and I hope no one else does either.
      • I always found it amazing that Network Solutions combined premium pricing with nonexistant customer service and managed to stay in business... absolutely amazing.
      • I did a transfer away from Network Solutions less than two months ago.

        Either they cleaned up their act, or I got lucky. Opened a ticket to get the auth-id's, they sent them to me in less than a day. Inititated transfer from new registrar, netsol sent me an alert and said the transfer would happen in 5 days. 5 days later.. it went off without a hitch.

        Not saying they're a great company, else I wouldn't have transferred to a new registrar. Just that they do seem to be improving. By tiny amounts. ;)
        • Their customer service has improved markedly. I've been with them for the few domains I have because it's convenient, stable, not spattered with ads, and because I get airline miles when I keep going with them (not the best reason, but I'd like to be able to fly first class someday). Early on in my experiences with them, customer service was slow and kind of haphazard. Recently, on the rare occasion where I do need to go to them, even e-mail responses from real people are fairly snappy, and phone calls a
      • to go daddy last month without a problem. I had to turn off their anti-hijacking feature in three places but thats it. Plus, I was sick of paying $35/yr per domain. Go daddy is a little harder to use (trying to figure out how to use their DNS servers could have been a little easier). I signed up with netsol back in the day because they had coupons and deals, 50%, etc, which made it $17.50/yr, but I havent seen any deals in the past 18 months so I decided to switch to go daddy and go with the cheaper domain

  • .bomb take II? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gtrubetskoy ( 734033 ) * on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:31PM (#12361270)

    Personally I'd much rather see GoDaddy surpass NetSol in profit than number of domains. It's not difficult to sell products cheaper than anyone else - remember all the free stuff during the .com boom?

    6.8 million domains times $8.95 - do the math - this is hardly a lot of annual revenue. GoDaddy is a privately held company, so no details on their financial standing are available. Their infrastructure and staff expenses have to be pretty significant (just the DNS infrastructure and not to mention the SB ads), and it's very difficult for me to see how you can do this for $8.95/year, even if it's multiplied by 7 mil. Either they have an alternative source of revenue, or (most likely) you'll see them being bough out by the likes of NetSol (which will promptly jack the prices up on all the customers) and that's their whole "business plan".

    • Re:.bomb take II? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Robert Hayden ( 58313 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:35PM (#12361336) Homepage
      GoDaddy upsells all of their domains with options for SSL certs, privacy options, web hosting, email hosting, etc etc etc.

      Their revenues are much more than just domain registrations.
    • You are speaking without knowing what you're talking about. Well, typing. GoDaddy sells a lot more than domain registration - they have web and email hosting packages, for example. The domain registration thing gets people in the door - in droves. It doesn't supply a lot of revenue, but I'm pretty sure it's profitable, or at least can be.

    • Re:.bomb take II? (Score:5, Informative)

      by numark ( 577503 ) <jcolson@ndgonline.DALIcom minus painter> on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:37PM (#12361357) Homepage Journal
      Have you ever bought a domain from GoDaddy? They try to upsell you on a lot of things like hosting, "search engine ranking increaser" programs, and privately-registered domains. A lot of them are marked "Yes" by default, so I'm sure some people buy things without realizing it. Their hosting business also seems to be quite lucrative, so I'm sure that contributes to their bottom line. They also have pretty cheap SSL certificates, as well as backordered domains at a premium price, so I could see them having a good amount of money made per year.

      • Re:.bomb take II? (Score:3, Informative)

        by GabboFlabbo ( 595073 )
        Actually, I've registered about 5 domains recently at Go-Daddy (3 of which were transfers) and All options were defaulted off. All I had to do was find the "Continue" button and that was it.

        It's true they try to upsell a lot of stuff but I'm not sure where you're getting the "marked 'Yes' by default"

    • 6.8 million domains times $8.95 - do the math

      Let's see: $61 million - (100 employes * $60000 [1]) - DNS and web infrastructure of $1,000,000 [2] - Super Bowl ad of $2,000,000 = $52 million in profit.

      I'd have to be of by orders of magnitude in a few areas for that not to be a sure-fire profit center.

      [1] I doubt it takes 100 professional-level employees to run something like that, but you never know.
      [2] Remember, you're only hosting the "domain parking" pages, and DNS for people with sites so small tha

    • 6.8 million domains times $8.95 - do the math - this is hardly a lot of annual revenue.

      Dunno about you, but I'd be pretty happy with > $50 million in annual revenue...

      And in a market where they are selling the exact same thing, the only way to compete is on the basis of price.

  • no address verification (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    is what put GoDaddy over the top. If you want to be dishonest and register a name without giving up any information -- like name and address -- GoDaddy is for you.

    Plus, the price difference isn't as much as advertised here: the domain registration price is if you host the URL with GoDaddy. Domain transfers cost you money with GoDaddy (and try getting them to give it up even with the proper documentation -- it's a huge pain), while they're free with Network Solutions.
    • Plus, the price difference isn't as much as advertised here: the domain registration price is if you host the URL with GoDaddy.

      that is the LARGEST lie I have ever heard.

      I have several .com and .org domains registered with godaddy and are hosted elsewhere. colortek as one for example. they do not "jack up my prices" and let me change my DNS information at will with no "fees" you are tyring to imply.

      i suggest that you get some REAL information as it seems that everything you say is 100% wrong.
  • I have my internet domains with register.com for the simple reason that they provide DNS for me. Can anyone tell me how Go Daddy compares in this area? I'd sure like to pay $8/year insteal of $35.
    • they provide DNS, although IMHO it is a bit lacking. I own two domains through GoDaddy and they are just simple MX records, an A record and a few CNAMES. if you are fairly simple with your DNS needs you're ok, get too complex and they might not be the best choice for you... although if you get too complex chances are it means you can afford better than $8 a year.

      they do however allow you to do the DNS yourself if thats your thing, which i've considered doing but with the number of Bind vulnerabilities out
      • This sounds like what I want, do they allow the A record to point to my machine? I don't want their hosting service i just want them to direct my domain to my machine. Other people are saything that you have to host your domain with them or user their parked domain feature (what ever that is).
        • No, my seven domains all point to my virtual account at bluehost, for example.
        • I don't want their hosting service i just want them to direct my domain to my machine.

          I've been using granitecanyon for my DNS for years and had absolutely no problems at all. Free is a pretty good price too since you don't need banners or anything ;) The only issue is the turnaround time for the automated system to make DNS changes. No biggie for a home operation though. Link here [granitecanyon.com]

    • GoDaddy only provides DNS service if you host with them or you want to use their "parked domain" page.

      There are plenty of free DNS providers out there though. I used to use everydns.net and had a good experience with them. It's free although donations are welcome.

      • > GoDaddy only provides DNS service if you host with them or you want to use their "parked domain" page.

        Incorrect. You do not need to host with them, but you do need to point to their "parked" servers. However, once you do, you can change A, CNAME, MX records to point wherever you like.

    • I went with Joker.com with my latest registrations. $12/year and very flexible with the tools they give you. You can create a joker.com account for free before actually registering anything with them to see what your control panel offers.

      Way better than NetSol who I've used for a few years and paid way too much for what I got.

      While joker.com may not be a saint, I've heard some complaints from people, they seem just fine for me. And I'd rather pay $12 to joker than $8 GoDaddy that has some underhanded p
    • I did the exact same thing last month. I moved my two domain names from register to go daddy.

      GoDaddy has DNS, you have to use their parked servers, and then edit the domain and go to the "Total DNS Control" applet.

      Make sure at register you turn off anti-hijacking features for all of your domains, and additionally, each individual domain.

      It should take about a week to transfer the names over (5 business days).

  • Got on-board before the SuperBowl (Score:5, Informative)

    by sremick ( 91371 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:36PM (#12361350)
    I got on-board with GoDaddy before the SuperBowl ad. I had simply heard through the grapevine that they were cheap and offered good service. While I agree that all the hoops and stuff you have to dodge and click "NO" to to just checkout is a tad annoying, the price and service can't be beat. I've been very happy with them and have transferred all my domains there at this point.

    Their other services such as webhosting don't offer anything special, but as a domain-name registrar I think they're great.

    • Funny, we switced a number of our corporate domains before the ad, and I switched my domain afterward.

      In full disclosure I am switching. While Go Daddy offered excellent support, I can't say that has been the case lately. When we transfered the corporate domains away from Go Daddy, they marked that they needed our intervention though they never put the email through. And currently I am in the throws with them about their domain proxy *losing* the emails being sent to corroborate the transfer.

      Then there wa
      • I checked out HostSite per your recommendation (always interested in saving money), but they are $13.95/yr vs. GoDaddy's $8.95/yr. Doesn't seem cheaper to me...?

        Note that I'm just talking about domain-name registrars here, not actual site-hosting with space and all.

  • Good to see (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sv-Manowar ( 772313 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:37PM (#12361361) Homepage Journal
    It's good to see Godaddy doing so well, I just hope they don't forget where they came from. One issue being the ease of which they take domains if you get spam complaints, I've known people who have lost hundreds from suspended domains when a business rival reported them to godaddy

    If they got a bulletproof way of dealing with issues like this, I would definetley consider transferring a lot more of my domains to be managed with them. Congratulations Godaddy.

  • Surpassed, not usurped (Score:4, Informative)

    by ap0 ( 587424 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:40PM (#12361392)
    If GoDaddy usurped NS, they'd control it. They merely surpassed the number of registered domains. Still an accomplishment, but not a usurpment.
  • ...Over a simple wardrobe malfunction.

  • Surpasses != Usurps (Score:3, Informative)

    by Kesha ( 5861 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:42PM (#12361408) Homepage
    My native tongue is Russian, but even I know that Usurps is not the correct verb to use in that sentence. According to m-w.com, to usurp is "to take possession of without legal claim" - not the same as to surpass a competitor in one away or another.

    Learn your language!
    Paul.
    • Hear hear!

      Cmdr Taco, you should learn your own freakin' langwich. Your stumbling babble is a disgrace even to the resilient ears of non-native speakers.

    • I swear I meant to write "way" instead of "away". Ain't it funny - I try to correct someones English and end up making mistakes myself. Oh well, it was good for a laugh.

      Paul.
    • Well, I can understand your confusion from reading the m-w definition, but your conclusion is a false one.

      "Usurp" (in colloquial English) is sometimes used as a colorful synonym for "supplant", especially when the one being replaced is viewed as being part of the status quo. It's often used humorously, to imply that the new "leader" doesn't actually deserve their newfound position. In this case, the implication seems to be that gaining fame and success by using 'controversial' advertisements is an invalid
      • Thank you for your non-hostile attitude while putting me back in my place. I've seen a similar argument from AveryT below, you can read my reply to him if you care.

        Paul.
        • I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to "put you in your place." Personally, I'm happy that there are people who care about what words mean, and when they are being used correctly.

          As for your other comment, while I appreciate the difficulties that can arise when unfamiliar terms or phrases are used, I respectfully disagree that colorless, bland clarity and concision should be the ultimate goal of all communication.

          If metaphor and colorful language were eliminated from daily usage altogether (with the excepti
        • Ignore him, he's making up stuff to defend the misuse of the word, you were correct.

  • I hated the ads - but signed up anyway (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) * <jhummel.johnhummel@net> on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:43PM (#12361417) Homepage
    I gave GoDaddy a try after reading some slashdot posters sing the praises. Since my own domain name was going to expire in a month anyway, I thought I'd look into them.

    For $9, I'm pretty damn impressed. Network Solutions gave me eternal run around when there was problems. When I moved and tried to change my DNS information a few years back, it was this horrific experience that gave me a bad taste in my mouth. Dealing with them on other issues such as when a former employer of mine bought a domain name from another party was just a nightmare.

    Godaddy doesn't have the prettiest interface, but damn if it doesn't work. I signed in, it told me what I needed to give them, kept me updated on the progress transferring from Network Solutions, and when it was over someone gave me a phone call. The last time I tried to call Network Solutions for anything I felt like taking a bath afterwards. Sure, the guy wanted to ask me about hosting, but he basically said "Mr. Hummel, everything's done, need anything else? Great, call if you need something." Not pushy at all.

    I have another domain name, and I know I'm going to use Godaddy. The price is nice, and I may even give their hosting services a try based on how well this experience has gone so far.

    Now - one note on the ads. Stop it. I hate them, and almost didn't sign up just because the ad made me feel dumber after seeing them. Hell, change the name - Godaddy sounds more like a porn service than a domain name system.

    Service: good. Support: Excellent. Name and marketing: Butt ugly awful.

    Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

  • Go Daddy to Network Solutions... (Score:4, Funny)

    by zepmaid ( 694112 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:44PM (#12361433)
    Who's your daddy??
  • in terms of being sleazy and disreputable enough to garner more business.

    Dotster is THE registrar of choice if you ask me, and they use a lot of open source software for their system. We routinely have huge problems wrestling domains from Godaddy or diagnosing problems with their system and management. Dotster has proven to be more reliable and more ethical in their operation. I've been with them for probably five years at least and am very happy. I have tons of horror stories about Godaddy. They total
    • Dotster is evil. They took like two extra months to release my domain after I failed to renew it. I ended up filing one of those domain-sniping actions with godaddy to get it back. Dotster can kiss my ass. Also, their interface is confusing (in a different way from godaddy's, which is covered in upsell adverts, admittedly) and I didn't care for it at all. So far, I far prefer godaddy to dotster.

  • Godaddy's ad here (Score:5, Informative)

    by imuffin ( 196159 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @01:58PM (#12361610)
    You can watch Godaddy's Super Bowl Spot [tubespot.com] here along with all the other superbowl spots on my site which strives to shamelessly rip-off what AdCritic was before they started charging.

    Go ahead and slashdot it. I've got like 100 gigs of bandwidth to use before the end of the month.
  • Right now I use Dotster for my domain, it's around twice what GoDaddy charges, but other than price, why should I switch?
  • I use GoDaddy for domain and email hosting. I have to say, their service is great and the price is just right.

  • The commercial's humor... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Crash Culligan ( 227354 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @02:01PM (#12361650) Journal

    When it comes down to it, all humor is codified ridicule. The reason the commercial is funny is not because they had a proto-Hooters girl gyrating around (though it was fun to laugh at the apparent airhead too), but you got to laugh at the reactions of the old men on the "committee," not one of whom looked to be under 100, and one of whom was so shocked -- Shocked! -- that he needed an oxygen mask.

    The commercial was not simply a jab at the "wardrobe malfunction as art," but also a not-so-subtle poke at the people who made it such a big deal of them.

    For that reason alone, I'm thinking GoDaddy should get more of my business. The commercial stood well on its own, not necessarily for the product but as an attention-getter. The viral marketing campaign around it was just gilding.

  • NSol is also LOSING domains the fastest (Score:5, Informative)

    by Saeger ( 456549 ) <farrellj@g m a il.com> on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @02:04PM (#12361678) Homepage
    A few more interesting points of interest:
    • Fastest Gaining Registrars [webhosting.info]: GoDaddy (+278,692 domains in the last 4 weeks), with eNom in a distant 2nd place (at +73,744/month)
    • Fastest Losing Registrars: [webhosting.info] Network Solutions (-14,382), followed closely by that other ripoff registrar, Register.com (-10,293)
    • Does anyone really think the "NetSol" brand counts for that much of premium? Register.com certainly never did, but they didn't count on the people they were marketing to getting a cluestick.
  • They said "Shit" more than 100 times on Southpark last night. It didn't offend me, but I'm sure that had to offend more people than the GoDaddy.com ad!
  • Apple Computer demonstrated the power of a Super Bowl ad with its 1984 ad.
    What crap. Geeks love to tell each other that the 1984 ad was really cool. But to most people who see it, it's just about the stupidest commercial they've ever seen. No product identification, and the story it tells is lame and patronizing, worthy of Harlan Ellison on one of his bad days.
  • Am I reading their Economny Web Hosting Plan correctly - that I get 100 email accounts with 10 MB of space each, in addition to the 500 MB of disk space I get for the web site, for a total of $3.16/mo if I buy 12 Months? That's not right, is it? What am I missing?

    And why do I get only 50 forwarding email accounts? Seems odd that I can forward fewer email addresses than they'll host. Am I just reading this whole thing wrong?

    Is the second year more expensive, or is that the price?

    And finally a question

  • Price Match -- (Score:5, Informative)

    by naught ( 16634 ) on Wednesday April 27, 2005 @02:48PM (#12362268) Homepage
    NetSol will price match on request. It's not something they advertise, but they'll do it. I found this out when transferring my domains away.

    FYI.

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