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If you look at this specific moment in time on Tuesday, no it hasn't effected their bottom line yet, but company perception is everything and GoDaddy's company

by rkalla 15y ago

If you look at this specific moment in time on Tuesday, no it hasn't effected their bottom line yet, but company perception is everything and GoDaddy's company perception has gone from "gray area that some hate and some don't care about" directly into the RED. Are any HN'er going to forget this for their next startup? Or their next contract? Or when their buddy asks them to register a domain for them? No, we are all going to remember that as long as we don't use GoDaddy we will be fine. That is going to cost GoDaddy a lot in the years to come. I don't think bankruptcy is around the corner, but I think we'll hear about some down sizing in a couple of years. FWIW, I am thrilled to see the karma fairy show up and pay GoDaddy in full for years of garbage.

rhizome 15y ago
"Always" and "never" are particularly strong marketing words when uttered by word of mouth. Non-technical people can easily remember never to use GoDaddy, much more than "use any of these X registrars depending on what you need."
- rkalla 15y ago
  Excellent point; I can even imagine some point in the distant future where a conversation along the lines of the following takes place: "Oh you never want to use GoDaddy." "Why?" "They suck, use Ghandi or NameCheap" "Right... but WHY... ?" "There was this thing a few years back... they just suck." "Oh ok." How many times do you think a conversation like that took place during the early years of the iPod before it was so mainstream? Or Ford vs Toyota... or McDonalds vs. In-and-Out... or DirecTV vs Cable back in the day. You forget the details of the conflict, but you file away the conclusion: "XYZ sucks!" and that is how people will remember GoDaddy until they make an active effort to redefine themselves as a customer-focused company. Which I doubt they will; they don't know how to run that company and it would be a very expensive transition. Instead they will just fade into the future until someone else steps in and redefines them and takes them to the next level (e.g. cloud hosting / SaaS offerings) or they dry up and die.
- epo 15y ago
  Nonsense, non-technical people will be swayed by some initial special offer, as always. This will all be forgotten about by February. GoDaddy will just price themselves to be attractive to the vast majority, i.e. cheapskates. The 'elite' will probably also pile in by rationalising that this must be costing GoDaddy money, so by registering a domain with them they are actually costing them money. Never underestimate the twin forces of "getting a good deal" and geeky self-deception.

by rkalla 15y ago

rhizome 15y ago

"Always" and "never" are particularly strong marketing words when uttered by word of mouth. Non-technical people can easily remember never to use GoDaddy, much more than "use any of these X registrars depending on what you need."

rkalla 15y ago
Excellent point; I can even imagine some point in the distant future where a conversation along the lines of the following takes place: "Oh you never want to use GoDaddy." "Why?" "They suck, use Ghandi or NameCheap" "Right... but WHY... ?" "There was this thing a few years back... they just suck." "Oh ok." How many times do you think a conversation like that took place during the early years of the iPod before it was so mainstream? Or Ford vs Toyota... or McDonalds vs. In-and-Out... or DirecTV vs Cable back in the day. You forget the details of the conflict, but you file away the conclusion: "XYZ sucks!" and that is how people will remember GoDaddy until they make an active effort to redefine themselves as a customer-focused company. Which I doubt they will; they don't know how to run that company and it would be a very expensive transition. Instead they will just fade into the future until someone else steps in and redefines them and takes them to the next level (e.g. cloud hosting / SaaS offerings) or they dry up and die.
epo 15y ago
Nonsense, non-technical people will be swayed by some initial special offer, as always. This will all be forgotten about by February. GoDaddy will just price themselves to be attractive to the vast majority, i.e. cheapskates. The 'elite' will probably also pile in by rationalising that this must be costing GoDaddy money, so by registering a domain with them they are actually costing them money. Never underestimate the twin forces of "getting a good deal" and geeky self-deception.