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This is just part of a long line of scummy practices by GoDaddy in its history. Bad PR for GoDaddy constantly popped up in tech news sites ~15 years ago, but i

This is just part of a long line of scummy practices by GoDaddy in its history. Bad PR for GoDaddy constantly popped up in tech news sites ~15 years ago, but it was never enough to stop their aggressive marketing. Still, I always wondered why anyone in tech would use them. Y'all know what they're capable of and what they do. Don't support that.

nerdponx 6y ago
I don't think people in the tech world use them. People in the non-tech world trying to do tech (e.g. small business owners) use them because they are the only hosting company and domain registrar with name brand recognition.
- snapetom 6y ago
  In general you're right. Their marketing is targeted to the small business owner. However, I've met my fair share of tech people that did use them. In one company I was at, we needed an offsite FTP server. The admin set one up on GoDaddy. I asked him wtf he was doing, and he just shrugged and said, "eh, they're easy." Shortly after joining another company, my boss, the CTO, was complaining about some huge problem he had with GoDaddy on a legacy platform. I asked why in the world did he ever use them in the first place, and he just said, "I know, I know."
wegs 6y ago
As far as I can tell, the general business model in domains is: * Be the good guy, and establish a customer base. Provide low prices, good customer service, etc. Lose money on the razor-thin margins. * Once you've got a ton of customers, turn evil, and milk your customer-base for all they've got. Engage in every nasty sleazeball tactic. I've seen this cycle many times, starting with Network Solutions. People use GoDaddy because they were the good alternative for a while.
- hobofan 6y ago
  That must have been a long time ago, as I've only heard about them as a bad business for the past ~10 years (= how long I've been loosely involved in tech). I think their business plan is rather: Lure in general population customers via mainstream media advertising, and don't really care about anything else (including their reputation with tech people). No one in tech that I know would touch them with a ten-foot pool. Most of the non-tech people I know are running to GoDaddy when they have to register a domain for their business/project, because they are almost the only ones doing widespread advertising.
  - wegs 6y ago
    Yes. It was a long time ago. GoDaddy was where all the tech crowd went after Network Solutions circa the year 2000. They were great! Until they weren't. Since then, I've gone through 2 more registrars which went down the same path. I'm gradually migrating to AWS since I'm hoping they have the same incentive structure to f- me over in a few years. The way I figure, if my DNS provider is also providing cloud servers, etc. they'll have more incentive to keep me as a customer.
dkersten 6y ago
In the comments of every such cautionary tale are typically a load of proper saying “I’ve never had any problems” and thinking it could never happen to them. Until it does.
cnst 6y ago
The amount of upselling GoDaddy does is kind of crazy; I don't know why anyone would register domains there. They've also been implicated with a few stories around blocking DNS services for certain whole countries, voiding domains without any proper court order, etc.

nerdponx 6y ago

I don't think people in the tech world use them. People in the non-tech world trying to do tech (e.g. small business owners) use them because they are the only hosting company and domain registrar with name brand recognition.

snapetom 6y ago
In general you're right. Their marketing is targeted to the small business owner. However, I've met my fair share of tech people that did use them. In one company I was at, we needed an offsite FTP server. The admin set one up on GoDaddy. I asked him wtf he was doing, and he just shrugged and said, "eh, they're easy." Shortly after joining another company, my boss, the CTO, was complaining about some huge problem he had with GoDaddy on a legacy platform. I asked why in the world did he ever use them in the first place, and he just said, "I know, I know."

wegs 6y ago

As far as I can tell, the general business model in domains is: * Be the good guy, and establish a customer base. Provide low prices, good customer service, etc. Lose money on the razor-thin margins. * Once you've got a ton of customers, turn evil, and milk your customer-base for all they've got. Engage in every nasty sleazeball tactic. I've seen this cycle many times, starting with Network Solutions. People use GoDaddy because they were the good alternative for a while.

hobofan 6y ago
That must have been a long time ago, as I've only heard about them as a bad business for the past ~10 years (= how long I've been loosely involved in tech). I think their business plan is rather: Lure in general population customers via mainstream media advertising, and don't really care about anything else (including their reputation with tech people). No one in tech that I know would touch them with a ten-foot pool. Most of the non-tech people I know are running to GoDaddy when they have to register a domain for their business/project, because they are almost the only ones doing widespread advertising.
- wegs 6y ago
  Yes. It was a long time ago. GoDaddy was where all the tech crowd went after Network Solutions circa the year 2000. They were great! Until they weren't. Since then, I've gone through 2 more registrars which went down the same path. I'm gradually migrating to AWS since I'm hoping they have the same incentive structure to f- me over in a few years. The way I figure, if my DNS provider is also providing cloud servers, etc. they'll have more incentive to keep me as a customer.

dkersten 6y ago

In the comments of every such cautionary tale are typically a load of proper saying “I’ve never had any problems” and thinking it could never happen to them. Until it does.

cnst 6y ago

The amount of upselling GoDaddy does is kind of crazy; I don't know why anyone would register domains there. They've also been implicated with a few stories around blocking DNS services for certain whole countries, voiding domains without any proper court order, etc.