No GoDaddy No!
The latest issue of Brandweek is reporting FOX Television has sold 75% of its advertising inventory for the 2005 Super Bowl. Of the 58 thirty-second commercials FOX has to sell, 42 spots are confirmed sold with an asking price of $2.4 million per spot.
The usual suspects (Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, and Visa) have committed to airing commercials. And some not so usual suspects (CareerBuilder.com and MBNA) are also participating.
And then there is GoDaddy.com.
This fledging domain name registrar has committed to airing one spot during the Super Bowl commercial mayhem in hopes of scoring “huge exposure” for the GoDaddy.com brand.
No GoDaddy no!
I beg you to please put the $2.4 million outlay into building a better product and not waste your entire marketing budget on a thirty-second Super Bowl commercial.
No GoDaddy no! Don’t do it!
You are being blinded by the marketing mirage of creating brand awareness that comes with the possibility of reaching 95 million viewers watching the Super Bowl … not to mention the publicity you hope to gain by being mentioned in the media as an advertiser.
But awareness doesn’t build preference.
Computer.com, OurBeginning.com, netpliance.com, and onmoney.com all tried to build awareness by advertising during the 2000 Super Bowl. Look where it got them – absolutely nowhere. You can learn a lot from their failures.
But since you obviously haven’t learned from the failures of past dot-com failures in advertising, maybe you’ll listen to a dot-com ‘advertising’ success story in Amazon.com.
Amazon has stopped doing broad-scale television advertising in favor of spending marketing dollars to make the customer experience better … like free shipping for orders over $25. (And sales are still going strong at Amazon).
I beg of you GoDaddy … don’t spend $2.4 million on one lousy thirty-second Super Bowl television commercial.
Instead, spend it on areas that will improve your product and improve your customer’s experience. Why? Because products worth talking about get talked about and that will help you go from creating awareness to building preference.
Ugh.I hadn’t heard about GoDaddy’s intentions until now.I hope they listen to you John — I’ve been turning people on to GoDaddy since another friend pointed me in their direction a couple years ago. I’ll be truly disappointed in them if they buy into this type of “throw money at it and call it a branding spot” type of advertising.I swear ta God, if I hear the words “Who’s yer GoDaddy?” I’m immediately tranferring all my domains to Network Solutions!
No GoDaddy No!As a satisfied GoDaddy.com customer, I’d like to join John Moore in his plea that GoDaddy.com save the $2.4 Million. Spend the money on something that actually means something. Not on a three to four week ego boost from talking about your Super Bowl ad.
So what else could GoDaddy do to distinguish itself from every other domain registar? I’ve heard them recommended a few times but only due to the fact they charge so little to register a domain.
I almost pulled the trigger on a SuperBowl once as a brand manager. But two additional arguments stopped me:1. SuperBowl ad success is about kicking off a CAMPAIGN, not just 1 ad. Note that the big, experienced advertisers keep airing their commercial in the months following the SuperBowl. “one-and-out” just doesn’t happen. Do you have an extra $20MM for THAT campaign?2. Don’t forget that creating the “good” AD itself is a HUGE RISK/COST. First, there’s the $500,000 to $1 million production cost. Second, there’s the risk that the creative just plain sucks. Making winning advertising ain’t easy. It takes an experienced CLIENT. I’m guessing this is GoDaddy’s first ad – what’s the odds of coming up with a winner on the 1st try?
Another question that should be asked is whether or not the Super Bowl makes any sense for them as an outlet at any cost.Even if the creative is outstanding is it likely to resonate with whatever percentage of viewers might have an interest in registering a domain, or finding a web host. I suspect this is a need that will not be top of mind to all but the geekiest of Super Bowl watchers – and they are probably already aware of the brand.I think the 2.4 million would be better spent on print and online advertising where they can reach involved consumers. I would suggest they also approach a few influential sites and offer them a free deluxe package for 5 years. For the what it would cost them to host a site like Instapundit for instance, they could get a ton of far more relevant exposure.Also, they should take whatever they were planning to spend on producing the ad and bring someone in to design their home page. Because damn its ugly.
Hi folks,My name is Bob Parsons. I’m the President and Founder of GoDaddy.com.Hope you don’t mind if I chime on in here. After reading your comments I just couldn’t resist the temptation.First I appreciate everyone’s concern about Go Daddy making a mistake by advertising on the SuperBowl.Second, I want to assure everyone that being a SuperBowl advertiser is not a make or break deal for us.There’s probably a few things you might not know about Go Daddy and I thought maybe this might be a good time to point them out. Here they are:1. GoDaddy is the world leader in domain registrations. We’ve been profitable since Oct 2001 and expect sales in 2005 (without the SuperBowl) of close to $200 million. The earlier dot coms that busted after advertising on the SuperBowl were never viable to begin with.2. GoDaddy has no debt and I’m the only investor. After paying for the ad we have very significant cash balances. The lion’s share of the cash Go Daddy generates always has been reinvested back into the company to develop new product, improve our systems, provide better support etc.3. GoDaddy is the one of the very few companies that develops every bit of the technology that it sells. Presently we have 30 full time development teams (all here in the USA). So because we have no licensing fees to pay, our prices are lower than our competitors and our margins are good. Let’s us provide good support(all based here in the USA) for our customers.4. I promise that the ad will not say “who’s your GoDaddy?”5. GoDaddy registers a new domain name about every 7 seconds. Our market share is between 20 to 25%.6. We believe we have the best value proposition in our industry but many prospective customers just don’t know about us. We’ve decided to try reaching them using traditional media (radio, tv and print).7. The SuperBowl ad will *not* be a one shot deal. It’s just the beginning. It’s going to be followed up by an extensive advertising campaign.8. The money we’re using for the SuperBowl Ad and the followup campaign will not in any way take away from what we spend on developing our products, improving our systems and supporting our customers.9. Either way the SuperBowl ad works out, the company will be just fine. We’re paying for the ad using cash surpluses generated this year (most companies would simply pay this money out to the owners — not me — I’d rather have a SuperBowl ad). Our product development will continue as it is, and our support will stay sharp.10. I agree that our home page could be a little prettier, but it works. So you know the old saying about if it ain’t broke….Thanks,Bob ParsonsPresident & FounderGoDaddy.com
I think it’s cool that Bob dropped by and kudos to him for a ballsy contribution.Sounds like Bob has money to burn, and has found an extremely efficient means to do so!
While I have been critical of GoDaddy.com’s decision to advertise during the 2005 Super Bowl … I too was impressed with Bob stopping by to give his ‘ballsy’ perspective.(And I have augmented the ‘C-E-O E-G-O’ post to reflect that.)
Wow! Never once did Bob write: “And we are convinced that our investment of $2 million will return . . .”If your truly NOT convinced Bob, either get convinced, or use the $2 million to feed some hungry people.
$2.4 million for 30 seconds.Contrary to popular belief, this is not what it costs to date Paris Hilton, but the price of an ad spot during the 2005 Super Bowl. Brand Autopsy reported yesterday that FOX Television has sold 75% of its inventory (42…
Hi Tom,Just so you know, Go Daddy has a very active philanthropic effort in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area. We support things like outreach for homeless kids, orphanages, domestic violence centers, the food bank, things like that. To the best of my knowledge little Go Daddy does more for the community in this regard than most of the very large companies in the valley.Regarding “needing to be convinced” that the SuperBowl ad will work, if “being convinced” was a requirement for all my business decisions I can pretty much tell you that Go Daddy wouldn’t exist today.When we entered the domain registrar business. I was told that it was a dead end business and that it wasn’t possible to make much money in it. No doubt about it, it’s a tough business, but contrary to all those warnings we’ve managed to do pretty well in it.When I made the decision to enter the domain name business I wasn’t convinced that it would work, but I thought it stood a reasonable chance of working. My thoughts were that if it didn’t I’d simply do something else.Here’s how I feel about the SuperBowl ad. It stands a chance of really working out well. Also stands a chance of not doing much. As we all know there’s no guarantees. Business is an imprecise art.The one thing I do know for sure is that either way it will be our introduction into the traditional advertising media channels.Thanks,Bob ParsonsGoDaddy.com
Bob, I’ll make your homepage look (and function) a lot better for only half of what you’ll spend on a SuperBowl ad. But seriously, I for one congratulate you on your decision. Why is everyone so concerned about what you and your company does with its money anyway?
I have a dozen or so domain names registered at godaddy, have finally moved them all there. I think that we are forgetting that GoDaddy wants customers for hosting, email, etc (something you can’t forget if you use godaddy, they force you to click through a ridiculous number of ads between “checkout” and the actual checkout process, something that has probably cost them more customers than anything else).As far as domains go, with 20% of the market, I think anyone who needs to know about GoDaddy already knows. They must be pushing for the ‘user’ market now.And I have to call Bob out on his statement “3. GoDaddy is the one of the very few companies that develops every bit of the technology that it sells. Presently we have 30 full time development teams (all here in the USA). So because we have no licensing fees to pay,”.I just logged in to my email account at GoDaddy and at the very top of the page of my mailbox, I see “Licensed to Go Daddy Software” (and “Licensed” is underlined, reinforcing Bob’s mistake).
Jason … we’re concerned because we are DEEPLY PASSIONATE about marketing and we want as many companies as possible to engage in meaningful marketing and not in meaningless marketing.
Bob Parsons says “if it ain’t broke…” but it is.I recommended Go Daddy to a fellow developer once. He wasn’t very happy with me afterwards:http://www.tallent.us/blog/commentview.aspx?guid=d1e21f44-bb12-4f81-8c69-2326c2aa9883
Veer From The Lovemarks SpectacleJohn Moore (not to be confused with Johnnie Moore) at Brand Autopsy has started something by telling domain name registrar Go Daddy to stop trying to be Big Daddy. Moore wants the dot com to put their $2.4 mil. earmarked…
John, I can appreciate your passion and, if I didn’t share it I wouldn’t be reading and commenting on this blog. I guess my comment was a little too flippant. To clarify: What makes everyone who is critical of this decision so sure that it is a good one, not meaningful marketing? Especially without having seen the creative or the marketing plan of which it is a part? I certainly don’t have the answers. Sounds like Bob is aware that the choice could end up being courageous or foolish.
SirShannon,Let me clear up the “Licensed to” confusion. This text was on the site because of an internal agreement that GoDaddy.com had with its sister company Starfield Technologies. Both of these companies always have been, and are currently, under the umbrella of The Go Daddy Group. Starfield Technologies is the research and development arm of the GoDaddy Group and has created numerous products for GoDaddy.com as well as the reseller division of The Go Daddy Group, Wild West Domains. All of our development efforts are done in house and we do not license products from 3rd parties for sale to our customer base. While I can understand the confusion, I can assure you these products were created in house.Kindest Regards,Nick FullerGoDaddy GuyGoDaddy.com
Bob,Excellent responses, and very well put. I have had one of my domains on GoDaddy for years now, and just recently consolidated the rest of them as well.To everyone else. Would you all like a tissue?I fail to see any fuel to this fire you are trying to stoke regarding GoDaddy and the Superbowl.I, for one, will be watching the Superbowl with one goal this year, to see GoDaddy’s ad.Unfortunately, the only thing that would upset me is if the ad turns out to be a turd.Good luck Bob!
Thanks for the reply, Nick. I notice you’ve changed that wording.
If anyone from GoDaddy is still reading this, I’d like to ask for some sort of easy way to add a tiny GoDaddy banner to my sites. I’ve looked all over my account page and I see no easy way to spread the word.I’m a very happy customer, help me spread the word.
I’m a GoDaddy customer too, and I can’t believe that they don’t realize that their home page looks horrible. I don’t care whether they advertise on the superbowl or not, but please hire some usability/web design experts for that amount of money. Frankly, the terrible, cliched design was the one reason I thought it might be a fishy, fly-by-night operation when I first signed up.
It is amazing how many people are talking about this. Each time a blog runs this story, or a person comments on this company, it reduces the cost the company paid for their super bowl commercial.This is why I love marketing. A few days ago GoDaddy had a Super Bowl campaign, now they have a PR campaign. How many of us went to their site? The Super Bowl is two months away and the commercial is already airing.
While any PR is ‘good’ PR … this GoDaddy.com conversation is more about questioning their actions rather than applauding their actions.If I was a GoDaddy.com marketer, I’d prefer the conversation to be about applauding their marketing actions. Dig?
Dinosaur in Sheep’s Clothing
Veer From The Lovemarks SpectacleJohn Moore at Brand Autopsy (not to be confused with Johnnie Moore) has started something by telling domain name registrar Go Daddy to stop trying to be Big Daddy. Moore wants the dot com to put their $2.4 mil. earmarked…
Raising the Bar on MarketingIf you had a $2.4M lying around for marketing, would you plop it down on a SuperBowl ad? John Moore at BrandAutopsy.com lists his creative suggestions for alternatives to GoDaddy.com’s decision to hit the SuperBowl with a big bang. His
Dear Bob Parsons:I was going to make a hasty remark about your service being too autonomous.Heigh ho – I check my mail box and Presto the response was there and it was dated some time before my decision to write here. But, I had to write direct to you (president@godaddy.com) to get the correct instructions to rectify my fault.Thanks Bob
No GoDaddy No!?Brand Autopsy has an interesting critique of plans afoot at domain registrar Go Daddy Software (backend providers for our Namiac.com – irresistible plug!) to buy a $2.4 million advertising spot during the 2005 SuperBowl – made all the more enlightening…
A whole new domain for jobs?I’ve commented on this before, but do we really need an entire .jobs domain? ABC News suggests:A company might keep job postings at “Company.jobs,” rather than force visitors to navigate the main site, whose home page tends to have only…
Good job at deleting my last post. I guess you only support feedback calling GoDaddy stupid for doing this? Well, I think it’s pure genius – that is, if their ad comes out good. Otherwise, it could be a total bust. But, this is the beginning of their ad campaign and I think that this will bring GoDaddy to new heights. I think this is a great move, good job, GoDaddy.
While deleting spam comments I inadvertently deleted ‘real’ comments. I think it was nine ‘real’ comments (and 50+ spam comments) in total that were deleted.So sorry.To the comment, we welcome all perspectives on this blog. Sorry for inadvertently deleting your comment in support of Go Daddy.johnmooreBRAND AUTOPSY
“No, GoDaddy No” is absolutely right! The truth about GoDaddy is here:http://www.GoDaddySux.com/
Dear Bob,I appreciate what your marketing folks said. I am sure you came to them with the question, how can we obtain the rest of the market share, another words… how can we take as many domains away from Network Solutions as possible? Why do people still spend $35 when they only need to spend $7.95?Bob.. GoDaddy is not Network Solutions. (and I’m glad) And as much as you spend the big bucks and advertise in an attempt to get big name recognition, or your recent homepage color change (the green used on Network Solutions home page) there are still many, who, like it or not, still consider Network Solutions the trusted choice.Think of it this way … there are Walmarts and then there is Neiman Marcus .. sometimes they both carry the same exact products
I have used Godaddy for years. I am a reseller (via my site http://www.dataflurry.com ) of their services because I believe in the company. Their support and product pricing is excellent. The company has helped to bring down the market price for internet services (like domain names) which has lead to opportunities for many small businesses (such as mine)
I’ve been using GoDaddy for years (domain registration/management only). I now manage at least a half dozen domains through them and always refer friends and colleagues looking to purchase a domain name to GoDaddy. Sure, the “add-on” pages between purchase and checkout are annoying, but it’s a part of their revenue stream – and a reason why they have so much cash they can even think about a Super Bowl ad, let alone run one.And while the homepage might leave something to be desired, their domain management system is quite easy to navigate. For all the problems a domain registrar COULD cause you, I’m thankful I only had to deal with Network Solutions once before I found GoDaddy.
For those who would question where GoDaddy spends its money, where do you spend yours? When was the last time YOU funded a childrens home or sent $25,000 to help victims of a tsunami?
GoDaddy has now put up $250,000 to help the victims of the tsunami.
A couple of quick fire points.1. Aside from the barrage of ads before checkout Go Daddy offers a a pretty good user-experience. Of course a site redesign maybe in order but that’s not urgent. Plus for $8.50 per .com I’ll put up with the barrage any day. A 20% market share proves I am not alone.2. Let the man spend his money as he pleases. Wether or ot he gave money to the tsunami relief effort or to some poor kid in Compton does not mean he then has the permission to spend on the Super Bowl.3. I can understand that some people would like to the image of Go Daddy to remain as one of a little cottage business being run from a garage, well I bet this is eaxctly why Mr. Parsons wants to run this ad. Not everyone wants to stay small. And Go Daddy is by far beyond their humble beginnings.So bring on the glitz and the glamour or whatever you have planned Bob. Because after the free PR you are getting here, who cares who plays, IT’LL BE GO-DADDY PRIMETIME!1 satisfied customer,Yorkali
When blogs and comments live up to their potentialMarketing blog Brand Autopsy posted an entry on internet registrar/service provider GoDaddy.com’s surprising decision to spend $2.4 million and advertise on this year’s Super Bowl. The post generated a lot of supportive comments and trackbacks questi…
I’m based in Perth, Western Australia and I have been a Go Daddy customer for a few years now (originally for my site http://www.clikdate.com). I stumbled across Go Daddy by accident. When I first looked at the site I too thought it might be a bit risky but for $7.95 well… I gave it a try? Needless to say I have never looked back and I have registered with Go Daddy ever since.I agree with David Hauslaib’s comment about the annoying “add-on” pages between purchase and checkout but that’s because I have no need for them. For people starting a new online business or just purchasing a personal domain name these products would be quite useful (and obviously that’s the case based on the profits).I just wish I could find a hosting provider that offered comparable quality and value. The only problems I have ever had with my domains have been due to bad hosts with extremely poor customer service.Well done Bob.Go Daddy Go!
I think Bob is correct in his statements and should have a super bowl ad. Even if it doesnt bring any business, he is the sole investor and its his money to spend. He will be satisfied with sitting in front of a TV with all his friends when the ad comes on, as well as the employees at the company. I provide bandwidth to some of the largest dedicated server companies in the world and I could get free hosting and servers if I wanted yet I still use Godaddy because it works and never fails, and for that its worth paying the couple dollars a month.
I read this as ALL my GoDaddy domains are unaccessable, even GoDaddy.com is down.The money would definately be better spent on improvements.
Mr. Parsons,Looking forward to a great commercial. I hope it works out well for GoDaddy.Nay-sayers,Where exactly did you guys gain all this grand knowledge of exactly how to handle a company capable of shelling out the 2.4 million for a Super Bowl ad? Do you honestly think you know better as to how to handle GoDaddy’s finances than the man who built the company from the ground up. Step off. Actually.
J.S. … my knowledge comes from my many years experience developing and implementing in-store marketing, out-of-store advertising, and grassroots marketing programming for Starbucks Coffee. Plus, as the Director of National Marketing for Whole Foods Market, I engaged the company in marketing activities which were less about using traditional advertising tactics and more about using the influential power of customers as the advertising vehicle. I also have solid experience as a media planner in the ad agency game.Now, I wouldn’t call it ‘grand knowledge’ that I picked up from my ten years in the marketing trenches. Just a whole lot a tribal knowledge lessons learned.
johnmoore wrote:”… this GoDaddy.com conversation is more about questioning their actions rather than applauding their actions.”Eh? Isn’t applauding their actions just the other side of the discussion?I’ve been a customer of GoDaddy’s for years and had nothing but great service.Go, Daddy, Go!m00ndog
I say go for it Bob. I own over 300 domain names with Godaddy.com so, I am a favorite of you already. Best place to buy domain names should say a few words at the greatest event in the world. “Superbowl” where else to make a statement. Godaddy! Where else?
Bob Parsons … as evidence by many comments here and on your blog, Go Daddy has a very loyal and extremely supportive customer base. So loyal and so supportive that I can’t help but think you need to have your current customers serve as the Go Daddy marketing department. Yes … your customers as YOUR marketing department.If your goal is to gain new customers then you need to remember that new customers are going to look like and behave like your current customers. With that said, give your current customers all the tools to evangelize Go Daddy to grow the Go Daddy business. Before turning to mass advertising, maximize the micro marketing opportunity. Dig?I highly suggest you read Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force. Better yet, connect with the authors, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, to begin learning more about the power of customer evangelism. You can reach Ben and Jackie through their Creating Customer Evangelists website.
I work for Bob Parsons in the GoDaddy tech support department. One of the greatest things about working at GoDaddy is the very large percentage of customers who call in and rave about the quality of our service and the very “rightness” of our prices.I believe the reason that our customers are so happy about our service is that we go that extra step for everyone. They are not just numbers to us, we take an interest in them and what they are trying to achieve.That is also the reason for all the ads that come up on the website when someone tries to place an order. Many people come to us who have never done anything like setting up a website and they feel a little silly because they don’t even know the right questions to ask. These people are so happy to have all the helpful guidance that the website provides and if they choose to call us they find even more helpful advice. We go out of our way to make the awkward feel comfortable and even confident.When I listen to all the good things our customers have to say about us, it makes me feel very good about working for Bob Parsons. The other side of the coin is listening to all the complaints about “the other guys” from people who are trying to transfer their service to us. Nightmare stories about terrible service and outrageous prices that I don’t want to believe are true but can validate from my own experience.I feel for these people and although I have never spoken to Mr. Parsons about it, I am pretty sure he feels the same. I am delighted that he has decided to mount this ad campaign to let people know that they have an alternative. Every time I hear “the other guys” ads I think of all the complaints I have heard about them from people who have just transferred their business to us from them. I hope and believe that part of Bob Parsons’ reason for this new ad campaign is because of his heartfelt desire to spare people from a bad experience.On the other hand, some of our most loyal and extremely supportive customers have come to GoDaddy from other registrars and hosting companies. And even after several years are still complimenting us on our service and pricing and comparing it to their previous registrar or hosting provider. Their bad experience with “the other guys” has made them all the more appreciative of GoDaddy.It doesn’t have to be that way. GoDaddy truly does try to provide everyone, whether they start with GoDaddy or transfer to us from elsewhere, with the very best service at the most reasonable prices. I think that is a message worth getting out, don’t you?
Sorry Steve,I think there are way too many of us out here with IQs higher than yours that can recognize when PR damage control is being spun at us.I have used GoDaddy for domain name registration. I have used them for web hosting. I will NEVER use them for either again.GoDaddy sucks, Stevie, and I bet you know it.
Since when has it been anyone else’s business to decide what a company should do? Why is it that folks bash Bob Parsons’ decision to invest money in marketing. Yes, marketing. Have you ever complained that he advertises on the Internet? Or in emails? So why now. It’s his money. How come no one here is bagging on Coke or Budweiser or GMC or Snickers?Bob Parsons has guts to put that much of his PRIVATELY held company’s money up just to start an ad campaign. He should be applauded. If my company were as successful as his, I would invest it similarly.And on another note, Go Daddy Domain services are the best services I (personally) have ever used. I recommend them to all of my clients (who are also extremely pleased with the service). I have tried others and will never go back (especially to Network Solutions). So I am sure that the Go Daddy business itself will not suffer much if the ad spot they run does nothing. But I suspect they will reap some benefit by it.
And how long have you lived in Arizona, Bobbie?I have used GoDaddy for domain name registration. I have used them for web hosting. I will NEVER use them for either again.GoDaddy sucks, Boberino, and I bet you know it.
Hey buddy, just because you had a bad experience and it might have sucked for you, it doesn’t mean the company sucks. Understand that, accept it, and let it go–whatever it was. GoDaddy’s service and support is nothing short of superb, as many other people will attest to.
It is not surprising that this debate should rage. No one has provided even a scintilla of evidence for their positive and negative claims. The only data I saw was some shared by Parsons on market share and some financials. Yet phrases like “loyal customer base”, “all the good things our customes say about us”, etc. abound. I’m not doubting the veracity of the comments (although some are suspect), but it’s impossible to use them as evidence as they have no valence. Without weights we must weight all such claims equally as interesting but not useful.Moreover whether or not Godaddy spends the money or not is essentially a strategic choice that can only be evaluated over time. It cannot be known at this time whether or not this is a good decision. There is scant basis, statistical or otherwise on which to make such a prediction. If the money is spent, it will be a relatively hi risk decision, the wisdom of which won’t be known for a while.Parsons seems to be saying the $2 million is not a big deal. His statement that the money is available independently of application development would be laughable if it were not so indicative of how this species thinks. Because they are separated for accounting purposes, he slips into the fiction that they are really separate. Ever hear of ‘lost opportunity cost’ Bob?Your company Mr. Parsons is a system and all expenditures affect every part of the company. You can invent an accounting artiface to ignore that reality if you want, but that doesn’t change it.I’d have hoped for a more informed discourse. Informed of mehods, of course. Methods of thought.
John-Godaddy creates the software thus not having to pay licensing fees (most are monthly) saving a lot of money. Many other hosting companies have to pay control panel fees etc. The more you grow the more the control panel companies are going to charge.
Should Go Daddy advertise during the Super Bowl? I say no. Why? What do companies do after dumping millions into advertising campaigns? Raise prices.As a professional Web developer, I’ll have to say that I was so impressed with GoDaddy at first that we moved all of our clients’ domains over. It seemed like a smooth transition at first. Then came the problems. We’ve spent the last year moving them all away.Any other developers out there who would like REAL domain registration service, look into Tucows reseller program. Though the domain names cost us a whopping $.80 more than Go Daddy, it’s worth every penny! And, they don’t waste their money on useless advertising campaigns that satisfy a CEO’s huge EGO.
I will admit that I am no guru when it comes to marketing or business practices, and how to make a company bigger and better than it was. I just try to use a little sense when coming up with my opinions on whatever is going on at the time.I know this blog was supposed to be on weather it is a good idea for this commercial or not, but it seems to have evolved into “let’s try and change Bob’s mind on doing this” because I noticed another blog started with better ideas for the 2.4 million. First, it’s his money, saying that you don’t like the idea is one thing, but making a blog on other ideas will not change his mind all of a sudden. I honestly think it should of ended on this article. Second, the C-E-O E-G-O blog is the next worst thing you can do. You take a small part of a whole statement and turn it into something else. People will usually do this when they need to prove a point that does not exsist.I also noticed that a current Godaddy employee posted on this blog, probably not the best thing to go and do. As a current employee, trying to score brownie points this way isn’t always a smart way, where people on the outside can see what your up to. But some of things you say are true ( I used to actually work for that company also, but some short comings on my end prevented it after a while), you cannot just say that everyone who calls in just loves the company adn thinks they are the greatest. That company also does some not so smart things (examples being Turbo SSL and, getting specific from when I was there, the hosting did not work with verisign merchant accounts) some customers have vaild complaints that never get solved in a timely fashion. And then you have the programers who don’t know what a CGI-bin is, so it’s double sided.Anyway a little off topic there, but Parsons is a smart man, who has raised 2 very successful companies ( Godaddy and Parsons Technology), and knows what he is doing, this I’m sure of. That amount of money isn’t going to stop the company, or I seriously doubt raise the prices on much of anything. I figure if he has done this well, he’ll keep on going. And for the arguments that say ” well, this plan I have is a sure thing”, maybe it is, and maybe all this is a huge mistake. But then again, maybe this will double profits for the company. Can it do that? I believe so. Will it? I’m just going to wait and see. I hope it does well, I think that company has a lot of potential to be quite good.I would just say try to be more open-minded about this, I realize there are “business models” that can determine how things will go, but they are not always right. Just wait and see what happens, then speak. Then shout out your idea’s and let them decide what to doThat’s my two cents, sorry for wasting your time if I did.
I have been using godaddy for years, and love em, once i was setting up hosting and (I messed it up). called on the phone, got a real person (who spoke english) and the whole thing was resolved in less than 5 minutes. Very friendly, prompt, never put on hold the international call ended up only costing me 50c AUD, very well done.
Bob,Great comments and I back your Superbowl add 100%. I have over 60 domains at enom.com and would move them to GoDaddy in a second if you got rid of all the “adds” mentioned above.cheers,Mark EdwardsTorontoHosting.com
We used to have several websites hosted with GoDaddy, and as competent web professionals, we rarely required “assistance” from GoDaddy Tech Support. Unfortunately when we did, we learned that all those programmers who don’t know diddly about CGI (reference above) apparently work for Bob Parsons! We were a bit offended, in fact, that they even called themselves “programmers”.GoDaddy sucks.
I see two reasons why people are ripping on Parsons:1) They think that instead of engaging in somewhat chancy business advertising, that GoDaddy should “feed the world”, “create peace between Israel and Palestine”, or “give scholarships to inner city poor kids”, or whatever. Seems to me that Parsons already gives plenty to charity, so people oughta just lighten up.Buy a lottery ticket, and when you win (heh), spend it on whatever you want (poor kids, business expenses, strippers, whatever). I pro’lly won’t criticize you.2) One person keeps saying “GoDaddy Sucks and you know it, [Stevie] [Boberino] [etc]“Well, quit trying to tell OTHER people what they “know” and “don’t know”. Steve and Bob are speaking for themselves, and your assertion seems to be an attempt at calling them liars.Besides being terribly rude, it is the mark of a lack of worldly experience to suppose your view to be the only correct one, and any opposing view to be “incorrect” or “lies”.Seems that “Not Buying It” had little real criticism to say, except an “amen” to another post (CGI).On that point, perhaps Godaddy’s CGI support falls short (I dunno, I’ve never relied on them for it). If so, then that might be a point of complaint. Maybe so, maybe not. Beats me.But I am amused endlessly by the quote about how :”…those programmers who don’t know diddly about CGI … We were a bit offended, in fact, that they even called themselves “programmers”. “So I guess “Not Buying It”‘s massive army of ninja programmers must believe that programming CGI is a litmus test for who “is” and “isn’t” officially a “programmer”?Don’t do CGI? I guess you aren’t a programmer then!Well, there are untold numbers of programmers out there who never *touch* CGI stuff.It is yet another sign of inexperience to not know your own supposed area of expertise well enough to know who’s who. Calling anyone who doesn’t do CGI a “non-programmer” is just the kind of thing I’m talking about here.
Bob,As per the super bowl bad move.Consider it just an investment in the NFL.Because, with one spot you will placed in the end of the game rotation. The time when at every break it is off to the kitchen or the john.The last 30 second commercial I had a hand in was a company called Fair Issac remember the spot. No one else did.Could you stop the CEO, no way? He was going to the Super Bowl part of the big boys club now. Think of it kind of like a $3 million dollar road trip.Next time you plan to spend that kind of cash give us a hollar we can show you how to get some long term brand exposure to the customer base you desire and it lasts longer then 30 seconds.We love your company, with only 30 seconds the ad should say “we are always UP at godaddy”.Jim
Occasionally this sort of gamble can pay off big-time for a small online company. Being a Mass resident, I remember the Monster.com commercial that was going to air during the Super Bowl back in 1999 made all of the local news. The little Maynard company was taking a big risk and it ended up paying off in spades. Again, it was a great ad and Monster.com had/has a great product. This is always a gamble and doesn’t work for everyone. CNN Story On Monster.com Ad
I use Go Daddy as it’s a hometown company. But, I firmly believe you get what you pay for with Go Daddy. You get okay customer service, okay Web hosting, okay registration.And, that’s it – they’re okay.From good sources, they don’t like to hire outside firms, so I expect the ad to be created in house (like the looks of the Website?) and for it to be “okay” – nothing great, nothing spectacular, but okay. And, most likely, at the bottom of the USA Today Super Bowl ad survey.
Mea Culpa. Just read Bob’s blog, and it appears he did actually hire an outside firm. Now, let’s see if he really listens to them.
Honestly, I think when 1and1 finally get their act together on domains, they will really kick godaddy’s butt for lowest cost consumer.Yes 1and1 totally sucks, but they are a real company and they are dirt cheap if all you need it a registrar. I moved a few over to 1and1 (SCHLUND) around renewal times and enjoyed a couple happy meals on the $3 ea. savings.godady is all about the cheapest cost, this is why the superbowl ad makes little sense. All of us who chase the lowest cost already have W.O.M. heard or told of them. Their target customer group already knows. And if they want to segway into web hosting on the cheap, again, I think 1and1 will kick their butt in the race to uberhost.
The only problem with the article above is that it assumes Go Daddy is a “fledgling” domain registrar, which it is not.According to registrarstats.com, Network Solutions holds 6,941,720 domains while Go Daddy, who owns 2 of the top 11 registrars (Go Daddy & Wild West), combines for 6,789,561 domains. Data HereBut, that’s exactly why they’re airing the ad isn’t it? People still think they are a “little guy” when they are nipping on the heels of the biggest guy out there and have 2 million names over the guys in 3rd.
We have used GoDaddy for domain name registration. We have used them for web hosting. We will NEVER use them for either again.GoDaddy sucks.
Go Daddy Rocks, end of story….
“GoDaddy Rocks”?!? Query any major search engine on terms like “godaddy problems” or “godaddy sucks”, and you will find hundreds of references like the ones I list below.Read these, Pinocchio, then come back and tell us how much “GoDaddy Rocks”:http://forums.devshed.com/t163318/s.htmlhttp://www.webmasterworld.com/forum13/3738.htmhttp://geeksonsteroids.com/godaddy-sucks.htmhttp://www.dnforum.com/archive/index.php/t-55598http://www.strike-the-root.com/blog/archives/000104.htmlhttp://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=96998http://www.webdesignforums.net/archive/index.php/t-7549.htmlhttp://www.webservertalk.com/message243697.htmlhttp://www.webdesigntalk.net/showthread.php?threadid=11482http://ftelabs.blogspot.com/2004/07/godaddy-sucks-and-so-does-sammy.htmlhttp://www.eisonline.com/TWForum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3879http://babble.the-protagonist.com/index.php?showtopic=5265http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=83002&cid=7272781http://www.frontpagewebmaster.com/m-169774/tm.htmhttp://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=381168http://www.tabulas.com/~Lauryn/47180.htmlhttp://forums.hostmatters.com/showthread.php?t=10336http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1114344&highlight=http://www.calendarscript.com/support/forum/Forum2/HTML/000775.html
Bob Parsons is a “founder” of the computer software business. He has more money than he “needs” and makes money for a lot of us…Besides, everyone watches the Stupor Bowl for the ads anyway… I’ll bet GODADDY’s will be great!
Bob Parsons may have made a fortune in computer software, but he was by no means one of the industry “founders”, son.I have no problem with Bob Parsons wasting his money. I do have a problem with GoDaddy wasting *my* time and money by selling services they neither deliver nor support.
You may disagree, but as another one of the “founders,” of the industry, I’ll stand by my statement.And don’t call me SON. I’m to old, and _my_ Father died in 1980.Your retort explains more than anything you have ever said …
Been using GoDaddy for years as well as all friends and family that come to me for technology help. I am also a reseller through WildWest. I have yet to experience even one minor inconvenience from them. I know several employees through friends and the Lan of Doom in Scottsdale which I co-host that they attend. GoDaddy is without a doubt an awesome company with awesome employees.
I once had a friend who had ESCAPED from her country and managed to become a legal citizen of the United States. She said something to me one day that has reverberated through my mind on a regular basis for the past 10 years: “If you work hard in America, you can actually MAKE MONEY!” It seemed so EXCITING to her…My initial reaction to her comment was “DUH!”Then I thought about what she was saying…..The bottom line was that in her old country you could work hard all day, every day, in the harshest conditions and still never have food on your table, a bed to sleep in, or clothes for your kids. And to top it all off, you were probably not going to live past the age of 45 due to disease or war. I was born and raised in America and her statement really hit home…We should be DAMN PROUD to live in this country and we are damn lucky to have the opportunities we all have – and I do mean ALL.For those of you who are critical of Bob Parsons – *walk a mile in his shoes*. You don’t make it in the business he’s in without being very smart and being a very hard worker! He didn’t get where he is because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He got where he is because he has taken advantage of the opportunities in life that we ALL have here in America.I don’t know Bob, and I’m sure he’s not perfect, but he’s got his head in the game and he does not, apparently, back down from a challenge. I have the utmost respect for him. He is the epitome of the American spirit. The beautiful thing about America is that we all have CHOICES. Real, honest to goodness CHOICES. GoDaddy is one of the, if not THE, most successful companies of its type in the United States. Why? I think you know why…… That’s what it’s all about. I know Godaddy’s products are not PERFECT – I use a lot of them for personal and business use. But TECHNOLOGY is not perfect. The technology driven world we live in is constantly evolving and changing – there is no “perfect”. But I’d bet my bottom dollar that Bob STRIVES for perfection. Most successful people do.It’s nice to see a lot of you are so much smarter than Bob and know so much more about HIS business than he apparently does. Wow – the Nay Sayers among you must be rich beyond your wildest dreams, living the life of luxury on your own private island – all due to your brilliant business savvy and the dozens of successful companies you have built from the ground up. At least to hear you criticize Bob’s company and Super Bowl ad, one would think that. To you, I say – get a life of your own. Come back when you have worked your ass off and used every tool available to you to become as successful as Bob and his endeavors. Then, and only then, will you be worthy and respectable enough to listen to. Make yourself useful, stop whining and fulfill your dreams through hard work, honest means and the good old American Spirit!Class dismissed!
I thought I should post another note here saying that in no way did my above post mean to discount of offend any readers OUTSIDE Of the United States with my comments about the “American Spirit” and all that…. There are MANY GREAT nations in our world, and millions upon millions of hard working, decent people in them. Anyone can work their fingers to the bone to get ahead in life – not just Americans.I hope you understand that my post came from the perspective of a Proud, Patriotic American and the fact that Bob Parsons is an American business owner with quite a success story.More power to him! Even if his Super Bowl ad doesn’t work, I applaud him for his willingness to take risks and never back down from a challenge… That’s what getting ahead in life is all about – no matter what country you happen to live in!
yeah, i agree with that last guy. apparently the author of this blog had no idea how successful the company really was (the fact that it didn´t matter at all if they failed in their endeavor), or was applying textbook marketing ideas to a company that is hardly a slave to textbook ideas.
Robert … give me the name of the textbook you are referring to where the ideas we presented for Go Daddy are from. I’d like to read that textbook to mine more ideas. It really sounds like a textbook that I’d enjoy learning from.Thanks for the heads up on the textbook!
I rate GoDaddy #1 and I have accounts with all of their major competitors. The customer service is outstanding. Where else can you call and find people that answer the phones that are helpfull and excited about the jobs they have.I have never had a question that could not be answered. They aren’t perfect. So, who is? It seems to me that there is a pretty good chance that the people that are crying here are anti Godaddy because they have other motives… I first looked into the site after I saw a small add in USA Today. Now I have over 100 domains there. Why pay $35.00 to renew a domain? That’s just stupid these days. If you do not like GoDaddy, I can understand, it’s not for everybody. Neither is the Super Bowl. Mark my word, Godaddy is well on it’s way to being the Best of the Best.See ya at half time folks.The Pirate
I must say I am overly impressed with GoDaddy.com I have bought nearly 30 domains through them and am interested in hosting options. (Unfortunately they don’t offer exactly what I’m looking for, at the price i can get it elsewhere.)I believe that the right choice is being made, especially as a P.R. student.I will continue to buy every domain I want as well as every domain my customers purchase through Godaddy.I also am awed that they are giving so much to the Tsunami victims… the community at large, etc.~mark
Here is why they can afford to be so generous:http://forums.devshed.com/t163318/s.htmlhttp://www.webmasterworld.com/forum13/3738.htmhttp://geeksonsteroids.com/godaddy-sucks.htmhttp://www.dnforum.com/archive/index.php/t-55598http://www.strike-the-root.com/blog/archives/000104.htmlhttp://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=96998http://www.webdesignforums.net/archive/index.php/t-7549.htmlhttp://www.webservertalk.com/message243697.htmlhttp://www.webdesigntalk.net/showthread.php?threadid=11482http://ftelabs.blogspot.com/2004/07/godaddy-sucks-and-so-does-sammy.htmlhttp://www.eisonline.com/TWForum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3879http://babble.the-protagonist.com/index.php?showtopic=5265http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=83002&cid=7272781http://www.frontpagewebmaster.com/m-169774/tm.htmhttp://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=381168http://www.tabulas.com/~Lauryn/47180.htmlhttp://forums.hostmatters.com/showthread.php?t=10336http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1114344&highlight=http://www.calendarscript.com/support/forum/Forum2/HTML/000775.html
Not my intent to moderate comments but with all the ‘comment hijacking’ going on with this thread I want to step in and say …Please bring something new to this conversation. Back up your opinion(s) with succinct, intelligent, and coherent evidence. And stop being so freakin’ juvenile with vacuous Go Daddy hatin’ rhetoric.If you think Go Daddy sucks then succinctly tell us why. Don’t just say, “Go Daddy sucks and you know it.”And yes … I am referring to you ‘Not Buying It’ … cause I ain’t buying it ‘Not Buying It.’ You’ve left 10 comments with little but Vinnie Barbarino ‘up you nose with a rubber hose’-like retorts.As Jim Rome says … “Have a take and don’t suck.” Dig?
Am I the only one here who thinks that John Moore is a bit arrogant and thinks he knows everything there is to know about marketing?I agree with the comments of some who say to everyone else, and I would direct it to Mr. John Moore as well; when you are as successful as Mr. Parsons – personally and with one of your personal business endevours bringing in over $100 million a year – then maybe you’ll have the experience to draw an objective opinion about another company’s direction.Just because it didn’t work for other companies – who you can’t fairly compare with Godaddy for a whole slew of reasons listed in this blog – doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. Most extremely successful individuals and companies who I have researched and studied have done new things or even old things in unique ways, finding a different twist on how to make an idea work and sell.So all in all, John Moore can take his criticism of Godaddy – along with his lack of actual knowledge and research done before making Godaddy a target if misaligned criticism based off of a doom oriented mentality if you challenge “the status quo” – and choke on it as Godaddy continues to be a market leader – regardless of the results of their Super Bowl ad.I will continue to be a happy Godaddy.com customer with a score of domains, hosting and email accounts registered with them.I’d be surprised he Mr. Moore would actually post this response and position of thinking, as he apparently gets defensive and redirects criticism of himself without actually facing up the fact that he was wrong/misinform/pessemistic in his opening argument/position regarding Godaddy and their direction.
reply to ‘A young CEO’ …Never once have I criticized the validity of Go Daddy’s business model. Go Daddy has been very successful at building a business in the competitive web hosting/domain register space. I am not questioning anything about Go Daddy’s business model.However, I have questioned and will continue to question, solely from a marketing perspective, the appropriateness of spending $2,400,000 on a :30 second commercial to air during the Super Bowl.Simply put, I think there are better ways to use marketing dollars to grow Go Daddy’s business than spending it on a Super Bowl ad.The beauty of blogs is that we all have the opportunity to share our perspective on issues we are passionate about. I am passionate about marketing and enjoying having this forum to share my thoughts.My thoughts are just that … my thoughts. Just as your thoughts are your thoughts. I learn from your thoughts, just as I hope you learn something from my thoughts. That’s the beauty of the conversation we are having.
“I learn from your thoughts, just as I hope you learn something from my thoughts. That’s the beauty of the conversation we are having.”San Francisco 1968, John Boy. This is reality:http://forums.devshe.com/t163318/s.htmlhttp://www.webmastrworld.com/forum13/3738.htmhttp://geeksonsterods.com/godaddy-sucks.htmhttp://www.dnforu.com/archive/index.php/t-55598http://www.strikethe-root.com/blog/archives/000104.htmlhttp://www.webostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=96998http://www.wedesignforums.net/archive/index.php/t-7549.htmlhttp://www.webservetalk.com/message243697.htmlhttp://www.webdesintalk.net/showthread.php?threadid=11482http://ftelabs.blogsot.com/2004/07/godaddy-sucks-and-so-does-sammy.htmlhttp://www.eisonlie.com/TWForum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3879http://babble.theprotagonist.com/index.php?showtopic=5265http://ask.slashot.org/comments.pl?sid=83002&cid=7272781http://www.frotpagewebmaster.com/m-169774/tm.htmhttp://forums.asioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=381168http://www.tbulas.com/~Lauryn/47180.htmlhttp://forus.hostmatters.com/showthread.php?t=10336http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopichp?p=1114344&highlight=http://www.calendarscript.com/supportorum/Forum2/HTML/000775.html
Go Daddy’s $2.4 million employee morale boosterThere’s plenty of drama surrounding Go Daddy’s decision to purchase a 30-second Super Bowl spot. Hell, any company willing to dish out $2.4 million for 30 seconds (that’s $80,000 per second) should enter the spotlight of criticism. The Web registrar…
Wait the superball already eneded did godaddy spend the money at the end? James Mayer
GoDaddy Super Bowl AdWow. There’s a burning discussion going on about whether GoDaddy is beeing wise or stupid to run an ad in this year’s Super Bowl.As a marketer, I’m not a big fan of Super Bowl ads per se. Most of them are pretty lame, but there have been some bi…
FootballMy hosting company will be advertising during the Super Bowl! Holy pigskins, Batman. Maybe I’ll be watching a few touchdowns this year after all. There’s some debate about whether this is really a good idea, but Bob Parsons gives a good defense of…
My firm does not use Godaddy services, however when friends ask about domain names I refer them to Godaddy. On Bob Parsons blog (yes I read it after reading this one) he mentions Godaddy commissioned a marketing research study to determine why individuals choose other companies when they provide, in Godaddy’s minds, a better value package. The results were…people didn’t know they existed. This is true, as every person (100′s) I have referred to Godaddy has never heard of them. $3.4 million ($2.4 for the ad and another million for producing) is a huge one-time expenditure for marketing, not to mention the money that will be spent afterwards to maintain the marketing initiative. A SuperBowl ad whether bad or good will undoubtedly make a few of the 150-160 million viewers remember you. If the Godaddy’s ad can motivate 1/10th of one percent, which doesn’t seem to be a stretch, of the viewers to remember Godaddy and buy a domain at some point then the $3.4 expenditure million justifies the risk vs. reward. I am sure there are standard, text book, stable, proven and innovative marketing initiatives to spend $3.4 million on, but you will be hard-pressed to find one providing an immediate worldwide audience with as high a recall rate as a SuperBowl ad. Sure it is a risk, but without risk you have nothing but blah blah blah. Godaddy needs the name recognition, obviously has the money and is willing to take the risk. If the ad is successful the ROI could be tremendous and if it isn’t then Godaddy just spent the dividend check of the owner, either way the company comes out no worse for wear.I did visit and read all of NOTBUYINGIT’S links. In my opinion GoDaddy has a good domain registration and hosting service for basic users, but appears lacking on some advanced support issues with cgi, databases, etc. “NOTBUYINGIT’S repeated “listing of links” diminishes NOTBUYINGIT’S opinions which otherwise might have been considered credible rather than vengeful and ill conceived. I guess by saying this I can assure everyone few more repeats of the list and a lashing for me.I look forward for the end of the first quarter, and I don’t mean of the SuperBowl, to see if Bob will let us know if the ad was a good financial decision.
who is the woman in the godaddy commercial?
As a GoDaddy customer and reseller, I must say that my first response when I heard the Superbowl news was probably quite similiar to how a mom-n-pop small-town retailer must feel when they find out that a Walmart is coming to their town. I can’t help but feel that my manufacturer/supplier has bypassed me and gone direct to the retail customer. Harder to compete when my potential customer feels they can do-it-yourself, and meanwhile, the pricing (and margin) continues to decrease. Two point four could buy 600,000 domain names (at $4 each retail.) Would have been nice to get some free domains as a customer perk. Yeah, it’s not exactly the Superbowl, but it would be one helluva grass-roots marketing coup.What kind of retention numbers will come out of this campaign, what with all of the product *samplers* that will be generated? Will the new recruits have any stickiness?
I have personally visited Godaddy’s retail location in scottsdale and reviewed their company from the outside. They are a viable company – and in my opinion a cash cow. If the super bowl ad doesn’t help them, they will survive. I think the super bowl ad is a valuable tactic to use in order to create better brand identity. Think about it – A large number of people that watch super bowl commercials own a web address or have bought one – or have a need for a web site. Godaddy has great prices and great customer service, the commercial should spark interest in the powerful company.
http://www.mahix2.com/crew/archives/000210.phpClifford’s company GoDaddy is catching all kinds of flack for dropping $2.4million on a Super Bowl ad. Personally I think it is quite a bit better deal than the millions each team are paying their players. Plus, who gives a…
As a former Godaddy employee I couldn’t resist to put my comments in here. Please note, all of the below is my opionion based on working at Godaddy for a period of time.If you think paying millions for a super bowl ad is nuts, you should work at that place for a while. When I worked there they had video cameras filming all going ons. Video cameras everywhere, how wonderful. I was told by one of the IT guys that Bob had all of the video archived and uploaded to a server at his home. I wonder if he sat around at night and watched it?More later from Bob’s biggest fan.
Considering the amount of copy being written here about GoDaddy on this obscure little blog — several weeks before airing their commercial on the SuperBowl — I think Mr. Parsons will be very satisfied with the results. Go, Daddy!
http://advertising.about.com/od/superbowlxxxixcoverage/a/godaddyadv.htm
I agree, GoDaddy should spend their money on their existing customers and not waste time with a one shot Super Bowl ad. And have you seen the ad? (http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/superbowl05/landing.asp) It’s horrible.I wonder what Seth Godin thinks about all this. Seth?Michael SwartzMJS Web Solutions
I guess its to late to pull back. Let the ad roll.
GoDaddy has balls and also has had great success at what they do.For true entrepreneurs many decisions are gambles. That is how GoDaddy came to have several millions in their war chest to spend on these ads. They are not going into debt to do this, it is coming out of reserves.True entrepreneurs make the right decisions by the seat of their pants… they don’t have to listen to self-important bloggers that think they know everything but probably never spent 20K of their own money on any venture.Regardless of whether it flops or not, it is the RIGHT decision.And I bet it succeeds…
So it true that Godaddy has 2 Super Bowl ad’s. So thats 4.8 Million?
Okay “Not Buying It“. Posting the same URLs repeatedly does nothing but annoy someone who was trying to read the more significant comments.As for your comment saying, “”GoDaddy Rocks”?!? Query any major search engine on terms like “godaddy problems” or “godaddy sucks”, and you will find hundreds of references like the ones I list below.“You should know that people like to complain more than rave. Why do you think breaking news is always something negative and shocking rather than the the average hero who took some time to donate $50 to the Tsunami Relief Aid? Negativity captures attention. And you are only contributing the attention that Godaddy gets. Either way, if someone was contemplating on whether or not to use GoDaddy’s services, I’d doubt that they’d use anything you said in this post as the feather that tips the scale. You hold no weight.
I think that the GoDaddy.com superbowl commercial will be great and will be memorable. Not only for this superbowl, but it will be put in superbowl commercial hall of fame (similar to apples orwellian ad). At that time Apple was just making a cool commercial, but we now look back at it and view it as the government trying to turn us into robots (and guess what, we are turning into robots). The government controls more and more of our life. I have seen clips of the commercial and it features a very well endowned young women in front of a bunch of senators requesting that she be able to do a raunchy tv commercial. In the future we will look back at this commercial when the government starts to control more and more of the media we are allowed to see and this will epitomize it.Bryan ThomasA1mattress.com
Oh my.
Regarding ythe various posts on Brand Autopsy, about Bob Parsons & GoDaddy….1. Just becuase you might have had a bad experience doesn’t mean GoDaddy is a bad company. I work for GoDaddy, and must tell you, most problems are created BY THE CUSTOMER, not the other way around. 90% of the tech support calls I receive are the fault of the customers ignorance. You’d be surprised how many calls I get from people who own a domain name, and they don’t even know what a domain name is!2. Bob Parsons PERSONALLY created the Quicken software back in the early 80′s, developed and marketed that software, and then sold it to Intuit for a hefty chunk of change, then started GoDaddy, with his own money. And GoDaddy has grown from 7 to 700 employees in the last 5 years. We are doing well and proud of it. It’s really nobodys business how GoDaddy spends it’s money, we don’t have shareholders.3. I’ve found over the years, that most people who complain about companies/services, ect on web blogs don’t have a real life, they just like to complain.4. All of these comments are solely my own, and in no way reflect GoDaddy company policy.
I do believe that the cost to air a commercial during the super bowl is absolutely absurd. But if their pockets are deep enough as Bob Parson claims they are and they won’t be harmed by bad results then GO FOR IT GO DADDY! If they have the amount of cash they claim to have, I do not see why they feel the need to run it anyway other than to say “I told you so!”Anthony SummerfordTupeloWebHosting
Who needs Britney?We have the NFL! Nowthe SuperBowl has GirlsGone wild and GoDaddy.com?Gotta love that!Who cares that the viewers arefrom around the world and whatthey might think of us.Don’t you understand theHollywood Fight Song…Only in America!Anything goes.As long as it isAmerican!
Yeah … we gotta love the fact Bob Parsons and Go Daddy fell into advertising’s BOOBY TRAP — when it doubt, let the breasts hang out.I found it sad that the only thing remarkable about the commercial were the ‘double-Ds’ and not the ‘reason for being’ of Go Daddy.Quoting Jackie Huba from an earlier comment she made, “If Mr. Parsons really wants to create some buzz, he needs to think less like Donald Trump, and more like Richard Branson.”
I have been defending GoDaddy’s choice to advertise in the SuperBowl for a while now and I stand by all of my previous remarksBUT…those remarks were made assuming the commercial would be a little better than it was. I was more than a little disappointed when I saw the ad.
That godaddy.com ad was a waste of money. Poor taste. They apparently think so highly of their customers that they will try to use breasts as the primary argument that they offer a good domain registrar service. As a web developer, we use several domain name registrars, but after today, godaddy will not be one of them. This demonstrates a serious lack of good judgement; not a company we would want to entrust with an important service.If you’re going to drop $2.4M for a superbowl spot the least you could do is not blow the opportunity.
Godaddy + Hot Girl =SuperBowl CommericalGodaddy.com是今年“超级碗”的广告名单上仅有的两家Dot Com公司之一，自从网络泡沫破灭之后，鲜有Dot Com出现在SuperBowl的广告之列。而今年，Gooday丢下300万美金在FOX的广告时段占了个位置，引�…
Oh, boo hoo hoo. As if no company has ever used a beautiful spokesmodel to bring attention to its product(s).So, do you boycott every company that’s ever used attractive females and/or males in its advertizing? I’d imagine that must severely limit your choices as a consumer.
Your superbowl add was not funny. It was discriminitory to women and older Americans. I will not do business with your company that does not respect others and is a waste. For families, it presented a poor example as a terse, shortsighted gimic that was tasteless and insensative.
Duh… it’s not about attractive people, it’s about women’s breasts- just like the ad shows.It wasn’t a small chested woman, was it? Or a decently dressed woman? It was a stupid commercial and offensive and I am glad you weren’t allowed to show your original one- that was even worse. Why do women continue to degrade themselves for money?
What to say… honestly, I had hoped for more. It was entertaining to the primary demographic and technically the ad was well done (shot on grainy c-span video, good actors, etc..) but I guess I just wanted more of a concept. The boobs just weren’t enough for me and surely GoDaddy couldn’t have expected anyone to actually hear the brand message. The only reason I remembered that the ad was for GoDaddy was because of the ongoing discussion on the Brand Autopsy site – I was looking for it. Had I not been, I don’t think the brand message would have been communicated at all. Boobs have their place in advertising, but as long as the consumer still remembers what product they were advertising.
Oh give it up. I dont hear anyone complaining about the 10 things that makes a great commercial campaign. If I remember right there were attractive women. Infact I remember there being several commercials with attractive women. Give it up. I am so sick and tired of hearing about people complaining that their feelings were hurt about what they see or hear on tv. If you dont like it dont watch it. You are the ones that chose to turn on the Superbowl knowing that is normally a venue for edgy commercials. Kind of like going to a strip bar and being offended that the dancers took off their clothes. Stop your crying. I have one last thing to say. GO DADDY!!!!
The ad was terrible and it should not have shown. While I am no prude, this sort of stuff doesn’t belong on on network tv. Luckily, my kids were out of the room at the time it aired.I’ve taken a few minutes to browse some of these comments. It sounds like an innovative, community-oriented company. I can’t believe that they would go for the shock approach. I really have to question that business decision.
Well… I can understand wanting to kick off a campaign with a SuperBowl ad. But at the same time, I feel that the 2.4+ could have been spent a hell of a lot wiser, plus overall the ad was poor.
Oh, one more thing I forgot to comment on and it pertains to using attractive women (or men) for advertising. There’s a fine line that shouldn’t be crossed for network tv. This ad crossed that line and no I am not being hypocritical. There’s a place and time for everything and again, network tv during family time viewing is not the appropriate venue.
WHO CARES…ODDS ARE YOU’LL BE GONE IN LESS THAN A YEAR ANYWAYS…
I was a tech for Godaddy for just under a year. Truth be told I would not purchase most of their products. However, their domain registration is a good price, however the other services need work. If they focused more on their techs being techs and not selling, and worked on fixing what customers have issue with, word of mouth alone would sell their products for them. People there are promoted based on what they sell, not what they know, tech support is pathetic. Godaddy clean house, let sales be sales, techs be techs and your products at the prices you have them will sell themselves with more happy and less unhappy customers.Bob I know you are following these posts. Clean house on the sales team, typically tech people make lousy sales reps, the choice to go with sales reps and train them as techs, well the custormer support is hurting because of that. Watch how many people have to come back repeatedly because those people are not given valid answers, or leave unhappy. They wouldn’t leave, and they would promote your products for you if good support was focused on, a good product can speak for itself, good support is worth its weight in gold!
Go Daddy’s Super Bowl ad was as bad as its customer service.They could have used the spot to deliver a jingle like the Yahoo! yodel. But no, Bob Parsons decided to spend his cash on a very forgettable ad.Bob, Bob, Bob….you’re big time, but you still think small.
After seeing those sweet Double D’s I’ll never forget that ad. What’s that girls name?
Did you see that ad??? I say Yes GoDaddy Yes!
i can’t belive that godaddy is so big. i used go-daddy a few month ago to register and manage my domain names. i missed a lot of required dns management features. go-daddy is really dedicated to dummies and very small offices. after three or four days i transferred my domains to the german registrar regfish. com. now i have back all my nice features and more..ok, it’s possible that you are really big, but you are not so good, guys! really!other registrars are small or very small, but they are perfect for your needs!jo
Well, they have their brand awareness. Now we’ll see what happens in the follow-up campaign: “We will be following up our Super Bowl ad with an extensive advertising campaign that will embrace television, radio and print.” Register, register, register…
All you people criticizing GoDaddy’s values and its representation through the commercial and how it’s not appropriate for `family time` network tv.I hope you’re also all writing complaint letters to the other companies who bought a Superbowl Ad. In case you haven’t noticed, almost every commerical had to do with sex and women. Need I really point out the example of Bud Light and it’s fantasy?Degrading women…give me a break, and get a sense of humor. I’m a woman, and I’m hardly offended. When we’re watching the Superbowl, we are in the world of sports and marketing, we’re not sitting in a church. I do admit that it’s unfortunate that the majority is a tool to these commercials and we’ve dwindled down to mindless tv fanatics.
Those are still great Double D’s.. WowWhat’s her name???
What is the girls name????
Yes, I agree. The most important thing here is finding out that girls name, so we can see more.
Well, I must say that the ad worked for me. I never knew of GoDaddy! before the SuperBowl, but the advertisement got me to check out their web site. I dare say I’m not alone on that one. I wonder what their “bounce” was from the commercial. I’ll bet it’s a big one!
Jeezus, johnmoore you are a snotty individual. I realize this is your blog, but you clearly think too highly of yourself. God forbid that you should make a mistake. Or entertain the opinions of others whose English is not as good as yours (“Oh my.”).
Bill … my ‘oh my’ comment was directed at the following post made by Bryan from A1mattress.com:”… it [Go Daddy's ad] will be put in superbowl commercial hall of fame (similar to apples orwellian ad).”Comparing the Go Daddy ad to Apple’s 1984 ad will always elicit an ‘oh my’ from me. Oh my … oh yes.
I have been registering names with godaddy.com for clients for over 3 years. I must admit, when I first found out about the site, I had a skeptical attitude toward the site and the brand. Wouldn’t you if you could register your domain name for only $8.95 a year with a company that had a cartoon icon as the logo, when competitors who portrayed themselves as huge, financially sound, corporate animals were charging $34.95?When I would make mention of godaddy.com to my clients as my registrar of choice, they would squirm as if the name alone held no credibility….forget brand awareness. I had to assure them that they were indeed a reliable source.Could godaddy.com have put the 2.4 mil. into the sales and customer service departments? Sure, but I think that Bob Parsons made the right choice due to the fact that he received another 10+ million of free advertising. And if you think for one minute that unhappy customers will bring their business elsewhere, think again. When it comes to domain name ownership, people want to know that their names are secure and protected and for those who have transferred domain names in the past, you are aware of the hassle associated with it.So, Bob Parsons will have the last laugh at the professional ad critics and marketing experts as more and more people will familiarize themselves with the godaddy brand and come to know godaddy.com as the Internet’s best and cheapest source for domain name registration.
Hey GoDaddy Guys! How about telling us who the model/actress is from your Superbowl commercial?
Dude, you can check out more of Candice Michelle (‘Go Daddy Girl’)here: http://www.candicemichelle.comShe was even in the Lingerie Bowl PPV halftime event. Does she have a wicked cool body or what?
Howard Stern announced today that Bob Parsons, President of godaddy.com will be a guest on his LIVE radio show Thursday morning February. 10th, to talk about the ad and why FOX/NFL censored the original full length version.By the way, the godaddy.com girl will also be making an appearance. Should be some good stuff. Tune in.
GO DADDY’S SUPER BOWL ADWe have to wait and see if they get a return on their investment of $2.4 million. JimK (Right Thoughts) is noticing a “Streisand Effect.” Read Go Daddy’s founder and president, Bob Parson’s post, Was the Banned Go Daddy Super Bowl ad indecent? You co…
So – why does everyone say that GoDaddy sucks, and yet I can find virtually no reason why they think so? Just saying it sucks doesn’t make it so. I have a thriving web & graphic design business in Burbank, CA. I have several domains hosted with GoDaddy, and have recommended that my clients do the same. I am about to launch a reseller program through GoDaddy as all of the people I have recommended to GoDaddy have been satisfied, by both the quality of service and price. And as for those complaints about GoDaddy being too automated, have you ever tried to deal with customer service at Earthlink? How many times did you have to call to get things fixed correctly? Everything I need to make changes to my domains, hosting or email is online and it works. Maybe you guys are such noobs you can’t even use the simple and functional tools that GoDaddy provides. I’m a big fan, Bob. Keep up the good work.Jamesilluminati design
I think go daddy was okay in spending 2.4 million because it incrreased sales because so many people have been talking about it.
James,Huh? The functional tools that GoDaddy provides?? You need to get out in the real world. GoDaddy’s tools are awful, they are not logical, they don’t update in real time, and I hope you never need support because they’re techs are a bunch of idiots.I would never trust my business in the hands of these goons!
We will not have a TV ad in the Super Bowl (but GFor the record, CustomerServiceQuality.com, Servimetrica.com, or any of their affiliates, will not advertise during tomorrow’s TV broadcast of the Super Bowl.But, let us point you to a very interesting discussion…
This was sensored and not posted to GoDaddy’s website, so I’ll post it here—————————————-Dear Mr. Parsons,You live in an illusion. Your commercial didn’t rank #1 with anybody. In fact, up until the time you posted your BS on your website, your commercial had 4% of the popular vote. The only reason why it got to 21% was due to all your hype, not because it well done.The only thing you proved was the power of the internet.In addition, according to registrarstats.com, a 30 day snap shots shows the proof. A few good days, that’s about it. Otherwise your registrations have been pretty much the same.http://www.registrarstats.com/MainReport.asp?DateFrom=1-20-2005&DateTo=2-19-2005&GraphType=Growth&Registrars=112&Checked=1According to these stats, you had an increase in domain sales of 102,694 over a 10 day period.Let’s do the math.102,694 cost you about $6.40 per domain (with all fees) that’s $657,241.00, and you are selling domains at $3.99. (409,749) so your net LOSS over 10 days was $(247,492.00).Bob .. I bet you’re a “happy guy”, with this type of return, you needed that Fox settlement!Keep up the good work Bob, we need more bankrupt monopolies.
I work for Godaddy, and I couldn’t absolutely agree with this topic of conversation more. In fact I didn’t even watch the commercials, I honestly could care less. I wish Mr. Parsons would’ve put that money to bettering some of GoDaddy’s products that are in dire need of the bugs ironed out of them. Not to mention the gamble they took in offending so many people with the commercial (which I’ve still not seen – only heard about from the number of complaints that came in about it.) I really do unfortunately seeing this company collapsing from the inside out. Not much company pride, eh?
240万美金+30秒+争议无数=回报？[url=http://www.godaddy.com]godaddy[/url]公司，这个我以前一直打交道的玉米注册商，今年居然肯砸下巨资购买美国超级碗（相当于央视春晚）的黄金时段广告位，240万USD，30秒。立刻到godaddy上找到了commercial clip，看了看，果然震撼，一出[url=http://blog.timeti…
I listed this under entertainment because godaddy.com is getting a lot of attention from doing unethical things.First negative thing I read about them is their practice to charge less for domain names than they allow their affiliates to charge. Thus…affiliates don’t stand a chance! It doesn’t do much good to become an affiliate & hope to make any money from the deal. GoDaddy gets free advertising & affiliates get zip…zero…nada.The next disturbing thing is their charging almost $8.00 a year to make domain owners information private. They announced today that the supreme court said it’s a no no, that those who have their information private, will be ordered to make it public.Did that stop GoDaddy from promoting the privacy service? NO NO NO NO NO!The set up a web site with a petition for folks to sign, KNOWING that the litigations to over turn this decision is going to win them an unknown amount of dollars for the poor saps who are still paying for something that the supreme court deemed illegal!GoDaddy doesn’t give a rats patoot about your privacy, they want your money.NOW the super bowl, …they totally disregarded the normal standards for advertising on Super Bowl sunday to make a buck. They got their hand slapped, but their sales are soaring. Folks who didn’t know they existed are runnign to their site to purchase domain names.I have purchased 5 from them…they are cheap! I will spend a few bucks more to deal with a company who displays some ethics….go go go go .. AWAY godaddy!
You don’t have to buy anything from GoDaddy to get all the services and support, all coming from right out of there building. If you trust GoDaddy and you should when it comes to being there for you with your support and Domain management. We have the solution, we are a “Deep Discount Re-Seller” of Godaddy you can go to http://www.zoodoodle.com or http://www.janedomains.com or in UK at http://www.domains.moonfruit.com. The prices are less for a .com or .net with nothing else to buy built in the deal. Godaddy is about $9, Yahoo $10 now and we are $7.98 and you can buy all you want and still get the GoDaddy service.JaneDomains
What Blogging is all aboutI am a big fan of marketing and the antics that accompany the art and science of marketing. I am really big into the dialogue of consumers and companies.Recently (12/1/04), Brand Autopsy chastised GoDaddy.com for spending a whopping 2.4 million on…
Here we go again, GoDaddy will run ads, people will talk word will spread and business will go up. As a ReSeller of all products at http://www.janedomains.com and http://www.zoodoodle.com I see only one weak product and that is the new AfterMarket/Expiring names attempt. I am sure this will be changed so companies like http://www.DotComaMama.com can use it to list and help market and sell its Premium Domains. For now this feature at GoDaddy just looks like it might work for some Backorder/Expiring name biz.The GD Girl is at http://www.foxoutfoxed and back in two of the ads…the other Spots seem to be best.BethAnn
I purchased a domain from them and the basic website builder, which did not live up to the example portrayed, I decided to give the upgraded builder a try and lost content several times before they bothered to tell me about backing up the project, I asked them if that would guarantee that I would not lose anymore content, they said absolutely, I asked them again to make sure, they told me if you back it up it will over-ride the prior backup and save all new additions and changes,and that is all you need to do. I did back it up every single time after that before I uploaded to the web. I had to call tech support almost daily with one issue or another…the last straw was when I lost two pages, one still had the link to it but not even the template showed up, it was a blank white page.It was on the site earlier that day and I checked to make sure each page was as it should be in the builder before backing up and uploading to the web. When I tried to politely ask them for help in finding the page that I had worked all night on , they basically tried to make me feel stupid and said it was my fault, they claimed that it could not be their perfect software,that I must have messed it up by not knowing what I was doing…hello, if I knew how to build a website I would not have bought their VERY limiting and constricting site builder they talked me into buying. When all was said and done they said it would cost me $150.00 more for them to retrieve the lost page for me and acted like they were doing me a favor to boot! Let’s face it… all Bob Parsons cares about is making more money NOT providing good products or services! Pass the word…godaddy.com really does want to be the walmart of dotcoms and they don’t care who they hurt to get there!!!If something sounds to good to be true…you know how that story goes, it’s cheap for a reason folks! Don’t waste your time or money, he doesn’t deserve it and his company is nothing to be proud of!!!
Media-exposure monitor Multivision found that GoDaddy’s Super Bowl ad was mentioned in nearly 700 broadcasts on local, national and cable television. The broadcasts reached an audience of 262.9 million people, with an estimated publicity value of $11.7 million, according to Multivision. GoDaddy paid Fox $2.4 million only to air the 30-second ad. So Bob Parsons is very much right in choosing a Super Bowl Ad. He got a publicity value of $11.7 million with just $2.4 million investment. Its revenue almost doubled and at present its the No.1 Domain Registrar in the World. So who are fools? Those who said no to Super Bowl Ad or Bob Parsons????
Now look what GoDaddy has done, another girlie TV spot…This time Bikini Girls lots of them. Hot babes this time, don’t know how many networks are running the Joe Bikini Go Daddys Commerical spots on. They have put up all the go daddy ads on there website to see and download.
Bikinis and Domain names…whats this all about?Godaddy does it with class this time I have to admit, Shot on a boat with real hot looking Bikini Girls or Models I quess. It looks like Godaddy is going to ads with its customers there is another one out there and on Godaddys website about a realtor or home builder, not anywhere close the the Joe somebody bikinis. They have a Godaddy Bikini on the girl if you see the opening of the spot..wonder if Go Daddy is going to start selling Bikinis.R
Joe Bikini ad is hot..Go Daddy’s Bob Parsons Blog now has a link with all the new spots. Candice is back but we like Bikini Joe because we sorta know him and I have one of his Smiley Face Bikinis. He has a link on his site as http://www.joebikini.com , Check this out.
Ads or not. GoDaddy made a name for themselves and I personally know of a few customers whohave had good experiences. So much so that I decided to give up my privately owned co-located server, and move my servers to one of GoDaddy’s dedicated servers.It’s been an absoulte pain in the ass. Good documentation for new users sucks. I’m coming from a Windows environment to a Linux environment with Plesk. They use a killer service for their internal “trouble tickets” from a company called Right Now, but fail to use the best part of Right Now to shore up their support activities, the FAQ system.Bottom line is, as of the time of me writing this, I have been unable to access my server for 18 hours now, due to the instructions given me by one of their support engineers. 18 hours!Customer service has not been friendly on all calls. Half of them have been good, the other half, I have been talked to like I’m a fool. I’m 37 and an ex-support manager myself. I’m not a fool, nor am I technically un-savvy. But some of these kids they have really piss me off. They brag about how they “speak english”. Maybe so, but I can guarentee some foreigners, especially outsourced support departments are more friendlier than our own.Sorry for my rant. I think they did good with the ads, but they have thouroughly upset and pissed off this small business owner that was trying to save a few bucks. I should have known better than to rely on them.
Ok, Ok, lay off of GoDaddy, at least the domain names are still cheap, 6 or 7 dollars Sweetie. Just because Yahoo is selling all you want for 2.99 is nothing, you can’t transfer your names to them…you just have to buy new ones. As long as Yahoo and maybe 1 and 1 are priced this low Godaddie will just have to get new and better products. You are the first person I ever heard that had a problem with service, I have heard it to be the best out there, IF YOU NEED TO CALL.Giggle
Hi All,I have used GoDaddy for a couple years and registered lots of domains with them (over 300)I liked them for a long time until Oct/Nov 2005.First I get a marketing call from a person who says he is my account manager and he had called me “about 6 months back” I don’t know him from Adam but he promised to help me get better prices, etc.Long story short I renewed a lot of domains and did save over their advertised price for renewelsThis got me to thinking thought that they must be scrambling to save their accounts or something so I checked around and found another registrar which was significantly cheaper but unknown to me at the time….A couple weeks later I get a couple of emails from GoDaddy out of the blue saying that two of my domains contact addresses were not correct and GoDaddy charged me $9.95 per domain for having incorrect addresses.I checked with GoDaddy and they informed me that a contact address stated was not valid and they were within the bounds of our contract to charge me for this violation without notice! Upon inspection I had input an incorrect postal code.This seems pretty arrogant to me, to think they have the right to ding folks for having what amounts to typos in contact info.At any rate this led me to update the contact info for all my domains and start transferring ones coming up for renewel to a new registrar.I try to transfer a few and am then informed by GoDaddy that since the contact info was updated recently that the domains cannot be transferred for 60 days!This seems like a ploy to make it hard to transfer away, don’t you think ?I informed GoDaddy that I would not take that, and lodge a complaint with BBB and state my case in public. They didn’t budge.Here I am stating my case in public, already lodged the complaint with BBB. Hope this helps somebody!Feel free to reply with suggestions on more good places to post this info about GoDaddyGoneDaddy
Buyer BEWARE — GoDaddy is the must unethically run company of its size out there today. Their service is absolutely horrible, their email downtime is amazingly bad, and to spend 2.4 million on a SuperBowl ad instead of customer support is dispicable. Switch hosts now and if you are considering using this disgusting company STAY AWAY!!!
GoDady has become such a bummer for me. I turned a lot of people on to GoDaddy. So cheap, great service, the best option” etc.Now all I hear is how incredibly sexist and insulting their superbowl ads are. So this weekend I am having to explain to people how to move their domain names and web sites from GoDaddy to Dreamhost or some Behost or someone, anyone, who doesn’t feel the need to shove big breasts down my throat.I cannot possibly describe how disappointed I am with GoDaddy. All I want is domain name registrar. But now they make me swallow this whole thing about big chested women in teeny tiny tank tops. I don’t get it. What do these women have to do with domain name registration? Are large breasted women better at domain registration? If you have pronounced nipples are you a better steward of domain name sales or traffic blazer services?I have many things I would rather do this weekend than switch domain name registrars. But my clients are pretty clear that they want nothing to do with Bob Parsons, the Superbowl, and those ridiculous tank tops.What a pathetic and ridiculous waste of time. Obviously I support the right of a busines owner like Bob Parsons to do what he wants with his business. But my clients want nothing to do with something that smells like a strip club.YUK!!!
QUOTE FROM GODADDY.COM”It’s tough to beat GoDaddy.com for low pricing on domain registration, Web hosting and SSL secure certificates.”- Small Business ComputingI saw this interesting little quote on the gocrappy.com website.Whoever wrote it must of gotten paid off.Has this person actually used the cheap service, cheap quality, cheap web applications, completely crappy cheap tech support…. etc.Let’s spend a little less on super bowl commercials and a little more on your CHEAP services/support.Just an example, they farm out certificate services to this company STARFIELD TECHNOLOGIES INC… have fun bouncing from one half/hour wait time to the next -from godaddy to starfield because there cheap webapps don’t communicate…. (oh yea, kiss anything you ever knew about customer service GOODBYE ) you finally get to argue with joey justgotoutofhighschool about your problem ON YOUR DIME ( and oh yes there is going to be a problem ) because you know for a fact just “deleting cookies” doesn’t solve the problem.The best thing about their resolution to my particular problem was to UPGRADE my certificate. That way, I could avoid the investigation process of the SSL validation and the domain certificate I renewed 3 weeks prior would work immediately. Apparently the certificate I used with them for a year was not validated correctly( the one they validated, investigated, approved and issued for a year ). I didn’t supply the company name or some jibberish to get me off the phone…. unbelievable.The FAX service has major probs.. I dropped that awhile ago. Oh and have fun with there DNS manager…ENJOY godaddy.com IT’S CHEAP ! should be your quote. I doubt it would sit well with anyone at godaddy. The truth usually hurts to much to even admit your wrong.Old wize man say….YOU GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAY FOR. ( buy a domain name, sure… worth it. Any other services and your rollin the dice my friend. Trust me )Godaddy sucks period.The thing is , I’ve been with them from the beginning. Godaddy.com used to be a good company. That’s why I did so much business with them through the years and recommended the service. Over the last 2 years the company has gone down the tubes …I never thought I’d live to say I miss the Network Solutions monopoly on domain names….1. They are selling web services like your ordering a big mac at mcdonalds. Running a web site and providing the services you say you can is a little more complicated Mr. Parsons. `Time to invest in your bunk software and stop blogging so much…2. They count on your “web ignorance” to make excuses for poorly written windows applications that are so buggy and unsupported it’s rediculous.3. One of various tech support kids I talked to today…. “didn’t know what a cookie was really” – “but that’s what we usually say and it seems to fix any problems” …. huh?4. The only industry that … you can buy a product, do everything to apply this product strictly by the directions provided(by the KILLER web app)… PAY FOR THE PRODUCT … and when it does not work as advertised or instructed they BLAME YOU … and this seems to be an okay business practice. The web is so new, people are so uneducated about how to use it and there is so much bull^&* involved… I think these mega-morons are getting away with too much ….
Bob Parsons at this point in time strikes me as that sad individual ( “Napoleon” comes to mind )…That sits on his laurels and success with a blind eye to what’s really going on while his business goes down the shitter.Take a look at his blog … his radio show … etc.cmon.. I want a DOMAIN REGISTRAR YOU ASSHOLE. NOT SOME MEGA MORON THAT PROMOTES HIS FAT FACE – IDIOTIC BLOGS – CRAPPY BUSINESS PRACTICES with radio shows ….While his CORE, loyal customers are ripped off.. screwed…Good job ASSHOLE
Just type godaddy sucks in google …enjoy your reading!
Just google ‘Wiley Sucks for hijacking Brand Autopsy’ and see what happens …
“2. Bob Parsons PERSONALLY created the Quicken software back in the early 80′s, developed and marketed that software, and then sold it to Intuit for a hefty chunk of change, then started GoDaddy, with his own money. And GoDaddy has grown from 7 to 700 employees in the last 5 years. We are doing well and proud of it. It’s really nobodys business how GoDaddy spends it’s money, we don’t have shareholders.”WOW !!!! He PERSONALLY DEVELOPED QUICKEN SOFTWARE IN THE 80′sAnd that means WHAT -? JACK SHIT! You look up to him, great. You brought a tear to my eye. I highly suspect you work for the guy in some form. Only a PR twit could give answers SO KISS ASS they are completely unbelievable…”4. All of these comments are solely my own, and in no way reflect GoDaddy company policy.”Way to go… we don’t want you to do anything illegal, please cover your arse. If you work for godaddy.com I have the feeling in the near future your going to need that…
Wiley … we’ve heard you — you hate Go Daddy! Thanks for expressing your thoughts. You are on record here so please move on. Thanks.johnmoore
Wiley is a little over the top, but I’ve been hearing a lot of impassioned complaining about GoDaddy among friends and colleagues. The main problem seems to be that when GoDaddy shows up on the list of approved company vendors, red flags go up. The concerns among the management are that we really don’t want to appear to be supporting a pornography company (!). The concern among the computer staff and management seems to be about the EXTREME unhappiness of the female and some male staff at the very mention of GoDaddy’s name. Women in information technology almost uniformly hate the GoDaddy commercials (though like everything you can find exceptions.) They don’t like being forced to use GoDaddy, they don’t like going to the GoDaddy site, they don’t like the very idea of GoDaddy. They are talking about “hostile workplace” rules.So, yes, GoDaddy raised it’s profile among the technically illiterate. Apparently they are hoping that people who are angered by the ads (especially the ones on the GoDaddy site) will just shut up or go away quietly. And possibly they will. But just the fact that business mangers now have to consider whether to align with the GoDaddy image means GoDaddy WILL lose business. GoDaddy may not care because the new business makes up for any loss.If I were GoDaddy’s competition, I would set about mining this vein. “Just because you registered your first domain name with GoDaddy, that doesn’t mean you’re married to them. Come on over to a domain name registration service that spends money on service, not tacky superbowl advertising.”
From: http://www.myDiscountDomains.comMansour Elseify,President/OwnerAs a competitor in the domain name business, I believe that any company that advertises in the Super Bowl is fantastic. It gives the public an awareness of our existence. Until today when you mention domain name in the conversation, most people do not know what those words mean, so I believe that having a company advertising in the Super Bowl benefits the domain industry as a whole.There are only two drawbacks.First, GoDaddy’s Super Bowl ad gives the appearance to the masses that domain name registration is for building sex-oriented websites, since last year and this year’s ads carry the same sexual message. There are kids and families who for sure wish to be on the Internet having a website that is pure and innocent and adhering to moral standards. The domain industry segregates themselves from the message given. The other problem is that GoDaddy has advertised in the ad telling you that you can register a domain name, transfer or renew for only $1.99. The $1.99 has an asterisk, and continues to say (with each and every new non-domain product you buy.) Ninety-nine percent of those who saw the ad or even read the ambiguous sentence would never know what it means. If you don’t know what it means, it means you will get the $1.99 if you buy hosting or other products which would make up for GoDaddy’s loss on the domain name registration, since the basic Network Solutions and ICANN fees come to $6.00 plus $.25. So, without the customer buying the domain name together with hosting or other services, GoDaddy would have a loss of approximately $4.01 per domain name, not counting their operating costs. Why doesn’t GoDaddy advertise the real cost of the domain name registration, which is $9.20 ($8.95 plus $.25 ICANN fees)? I have seen Google ads, and the prices GoDaddy has fluctuate from $1.99 to $3.99 to $6.99. I must confess that many other registrars have followed suit and the domain registration ads start from free up to $35.00, take your pick.After the ad ran, we have noticed more than normal requests for domain transfer to GoDaddy, and I am sure that many other registrars have faced the same situation, even more so with major respectable registrars like Network Solutions, Register.com and ItsYourDomain.com. The only way for us to remedy the situation was to contact the customers and let them know about the misleading advertisement. We are in shock that ABC did not bother to validate the content of the ad prior to airing it, rather than being more concerned of GoDaddy meeting the standard of public decency. I am hoping that Bob will not consider this as an attack on him personally, but rather a good reason to fire those advisors who led him to this predicament.Mansour ElseifyPresident, Ownerwww.myDiscountDomains.com
Attn: Bob ParsonsNews Flash: It is broken, fix it!Mr. Parson’s tries to argue the benefit of putting the money in ads and not his product. Certainly the way of American Marketing like GM, Gateway,MCI and Brannif. Unfortunately, GoDaddy has horrible customer service, is not able to have an intelligent response within weeks of a compliant and I am taking my business elsewhere–thank you very much.Good luck Bob, yet I do enjoy seeing that pretty model on your ads. So now I’ll be thinking of her while I’m using your competitor, Mark
In my opinion while godaddy’s advertisement does benefit the domain industry as a whole, still they can improve in other aspects, such as there domain name prices.Anyhow I am sure many people simply do not know that they can find a domain name registration cheaper than at godaddy.So ther advertisement is in my opinion good for godaddy and for the domain industry.
godaddy totally riped me off, there’s a hundred other places to register domain names and after having been a godady customer for about five years I’ve learned you get what you pay for.
I’ve been with a small host for years, they are poor sometimes, but compared to the blackhole that is GoDaddy, they are great. I made the mistake of registering one, important domain with them.If GD are so ace, how come do I keep getting messages from Yahoo lists about my emails being undeliverable? How come do GDs MX records keep meaning that although my website is up, the actual mail.godaddy.com site is unreachable, meaning my email bounces when I try to send out? And before you blame my set-up, I’ve got two IPs with completely different companies, and I’ve used at least three different DNS servers, yet I still can’t work out what’s going on at the GD end. Oh, and don’t bother emailing customer service, they don’t respond, or perhaps they send the email to the account address you are telling them doesn’t work?I had a phone support guy send a test message to my email address. He said there was no fault. I pointed out that obviously, his PC would resolve his server, it was the rest of the world that couldn’t see it that was the issue. He didn’t even know what I was talking about! Yet even my mom grasps this concept.So yes, you get a cheap name that is barely useable due to random downtime. And don’t get me started about the way they turn off your site without a warning until *after* they pointed the DNS to a holding page! A single email in the week’s grace period would have been fine, but no…