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Go Daddy Usurps Network Solutions
miller60 writes "Go Daddy has passed Network Solutions as the top domain registrar, and now manages more than 6.8 million domains. This marks the first time that any registrar other than Network Solutions has held the top spot. The change is no surprise, given the growth trends and pricing for the two providers ($8.95 for Go Daddy, $34.99 for Network Solutions), but its controversial Super Bowl ads no doubt helped put Go Daddy over the top."
but first, like any good Slashdotter, I must pick nits and point out that waaaaay back in the last century, SRI held the top spot too.
The ad is here. Be gentle.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
GoDaddy upsells all of their domains with options for SSL certs, privacy options, web hosting, email hosting, etc etc etc.
Their revenues are much more than just domain registrations.
Are you kidding? Wasn't the internet made for academics, funded by the military, the hijacked by porn? It's been a while since college, but that's how I remember it.
BDR Gear
Outdoor gear, MREs, and more!
I got on-board with GoDaddy before the SuperBowl ad. I had simply heard through the grapevine that they were cheap and offered good service. While I agree that all the hoops and stuff you have to dodge and click "NO" to to just checkout is a tad annoying, the price and service can't be beat. I've been very happy with them and have transferred all my domains there at this point.
Their other services such as webhosting don't offer anything special, but as a domain-name registrar I think they're great.
Have you ever bought a domain from GoDaddy? They try to upsell you on a lot of things like hosting, "search engine ranking increaser" programs, and privately-registered domains. A lot of them are marked "Yes" by default, so I'm sure some people buy things without realizing it. Their hosting business also seems to be quite lucrative, so I'm sure that contributes to their bottom line. They also have pretty cheap SSL certificates, as well as backordered domains at a premium price, so I could see them having a good amount of money made per year.
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If GoDaddy usurped NS, they'd control it. They merely surpassed the number of registered domains. Still an accomplishment, but not a usurpment.
My native tongue is Russian, but even I know that Usurps is not the correct verb to use in that sentence. According to m-w.com, to usurp is "to take possession of without legal claim" - not the same as to surpass a competitor in one away or another.
Learn your language!
Paul.
How does Powweb compare for hosting?
GoDaddy is extremely aggressive about pushing things people don't need, in my opinion. The company seems to me to take advantage of people with less technical understanding by exploiting their doubt. For example, there are sometimes as many as 30 ads on a GoDaddy screen at one time, so many it is difficult to navigate.
You can watch Godaddy's Super Bowl Spot here along with all the other superbowl spots on my site which strives to shamelessly rip-off what AdCritic was before they started charging.
Go ahead and slashdot it. I've got like 100 gigs of bandwidth to use before the end of the month.
Power to the Peaceful
Actually, I've registered about 5 domains recently at Go-Daddy (3 of which were transfers) and All options were defaulted off. All I had to do was find the "Continue" button and that was it.
It's true they try to upsell a lot of stuff but I'm not sure where you're getting the "marked 'Yes' by default"
NetSol will price match on request. It's not something they advertise, but they'll do it. I found this out when transferring my domains away.
FYI.
-- build a man a fire and he'll be warm all day. set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.