A quick note on "#1". They have been, in one period or another, #1 in the Snapnames report in NET NEW NAMES. What this means is [new names-names not renewed]. Last year GoDaddy was not in this business, thus they had 0 names not renewed. The Snapnames data is one look at the data, but mileage may vary. It is important to understand what the number means.
Melbourne IT has used the Snapnames data to make claims like this, but they have always presented it appropriately (#1 in net new names). I would argue the way GoDaddy presents it is misleading and inappropriate. In new names, which is the relevant number for your businesses, they are #5 or 6 and MUCH smaller than us. Hope this helps. Elliot Noss Tucows inc. 416-538-5494 > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Spy OpenSRS Mail > Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 9:58 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Go Daddy analysis > > > They claim to be the number one registrar. If so, they are laughing at us > all the way to the bank. > > If history plays out with them like it has with vendors from other > industries, their business model will gain them dominance in market share > but thin margin 'should' kill them later. However unlike other industries > where value added services could not carry those now defunct vendors, Go > Daddy is pushing hosting, and that monthly recurring revenue may > just be all > they need. They are not selling domains below cost and being > Internet based > (web based) they have an automated system for establishing and fulfilling > accounts, that includes billing. Taking all this into account they only > need to keep churn to an acceptable percentage and they have nothing to > worry about. > > How does this affect Spy? Not much and a lot. Most all our speculator > market has gone to Go Daddy. No more major accounts placing bulk orders. > However our single users are not being tipped off so fast so we are still > ahead of the game in this arena. For those proponents of customer service > ...customer service can save you, but only with select customer types. My > advice is identify them, and work them for referrals to establish > more like > accounts. > > We don't spend a lot of time thinking about Go Daddy other than to keep an > eye on them. I for one don't keep my head in the sand. I believe knowing > and understanding how your competition operates is key to winning sales. > > Not a one of us should kid ourselves that Go Daddy is not a factor in our > lives. They will continue to grow and perhaps fix their customer service > issues as they see market share increase. Slow controlled growth > is key for > any business, perhaps the only thing wrong with Go Daddy is they > are growing > too fast to staff up fairly in terms of customer care. > > I look at their site and it looks ugly and disorganized. However > the price > is clear and that is where they have won customers from us 100 percent of > the time. Go Daddy has been soliciting us, but so has VeriSign > etc... Our > position is after 2 years of building a customer base and care > system around > OpenSRS, running numbers through any other registrar is > counter-productive. > Again customer service makes a difference, but is not a panacea when the > price point is so wide between ourselves and GoDaddy. If you are like us, > you know that there is no wide margin in domains (little profit). We use > domains as a source to draw in value added and other web services. > > But as I mentioned earlier, Go Daddy may care less about customer care and > long on-hold times. The numbers and profit say it all. If the numbers are > up, why make adjustments? They are laughing at us all the way to > the bank. > It's probably some kid genius c++ programmer with a hacked Oracle database > working out of his bedroom, automating everything. <laugh> > > This is just my opinion. > > Regards, > Lars Hindsley > > SpyProductions > Achieve Web Success > http://www.spyproductions.com > vox: 302.369.3060 fax: 302.369.6040 > ----------------------------------- > > >
