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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."
In this service economy, consumers have chosen to vote with their wallet. No surprise there. Way back when in internet years, Joker.com was only ten euro's per year, which was about $6 US and they were the best. Joker didn't have the marketing clout that Godaddy had. Now GoDaddy has usurped the top spot.
Personally I'd much rather see GoDaddy surpass NetSol in profit than number of domains. It's not difficult to sell products cheaper than anyone else - remember all the free stuff during the
6.8 million domains times $8.95 - do the math - this is hardly a lot of annual revenue. GoDaddy is a privately held company, so no details on their financial standing are available. Their infrastructure and staff expenses have to be pretty significant (just the DNS infrastructure and not to mention the SB ads), and it's very difficult for me to see how you can do this for $8.95/year, even if it's multiplied by 7 mil. Either they have an alternative source of revenue, or (most likely) you'll see them being bough out by the likes of NetSol (which will promptly jack the prices up on all the customers) and that's their whole "business plan".
It's good to see Godaddy doing so well, I just hope they don't forget where they came from. One issue being the ease of which they take domains if you get spam complaints, I've known people who have lost hundreds from suspended domains when a business rival reported them to godaddy
If they got a bulletproof way of dealing with issues like this, I would definetley consider transferring a lot more of my domains to be managed with them. Congratulations Godaddy.
Business Voyeur
I gave GoDaddy a try after reading some slashdot posters sing the praises. Since my own domain name was going to expire in a month anyway, I thought I'd look into them.
For $9, I'm pretty damn impressed. Network Solutions gave me eternal run around when there was problems. When I moved and tried to change my DNS information a few years back, it was this horrific experience that gave me a bad taste in my mouth. Dealing with them on other issues such as when a former employer of mine bought a domain name from another party was just a nightmare.
Godaddy doesn't have the prettiest interface, but damn if it doesn't work. I signed in, it told me what I needed to give them, kept me updated on the progress transferring from Network Solutions, and when it was over someone gave me a phone call. The last time I tried to call Network Solutions for anything I felt like taking a bath afterwards. Sure, the guy wanted to ask me about hosting, but he basically said "Mr. Hummel, everything's done, need anything else? Great, call if you need something." Not pushy at all.
I have another domain name, and I know I'm going to use Godaddy. The price is nice, and I may even give their hosting services a try based on how well this experience has gone so far.
Now - one note on the ads. Stop it. I hate them, and almost didn't sign up just because the ad made me feel dumber after seeing them. Hell, change the name - Godaddy sounds more like a porn service than a domain name system.
Service: good. Support: Excellent. Name and marketing: Butt ugly awful.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
When it comes down to it, all humor is codified ridicule. The reason the commercial is funny is not because they had a proto-Hooters girl gyrating around (though it was fun to laugh at the apparent airhead too), but you got to laugh at the reactions of the old men on the "committee," not one of whom looked to be under 100, and one of whom was so shocked -- Shocked! -- that he needed an oxygen mask.
The commercial was not simply a jab at the "wardrobe malfunction as art," but also a not-so-subtle poke at the people who made it such a big deal of them.
For that reason alone, I'm thinking GoDaddy should get more of my business. The commercial stood well on its own, not necessarily for the product but as an attention-getter. The viral marketing campaign around it was just gilding.
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
"usurps" is completely clear, understandable, and proper usage in the context it was being used for.
:-)
"usurps" is incorrect, and the original poster is correct.
Go Daddy did not take over Netsol. It took over Netsol's position in the market which is an important distinction. What if the title was Go Daddy Absorbs Netsol? That's just as ambiguous.
What the title was missing is an object. Go Daddy Usurps position of top registrar from Netsol would've been correct. Go Daddy Usurps Netsol's Stranglehold is also correct (and possibly more descriptive
You can argue that it was implied and I'll accept that. You can even say that headlines are funny, because they are often intentionally skewed to be ambiguous. But basically the Ruski was right -- the headline was ambiguous and "usurps" was misused.