Dear Bob,
Just as I do whenever I meet a person who served in Vietnam, I salute you. I owe you a debt that I can't begin to repay.
I've been reading your blog quite a lot and I recently noticed this quote from your biography... "Since 1997 when I started Go Daddy, there was only one principle that I used to build the company. It's a simple one. Do the right thing for the customers and provide them with as good a deal as possible. No smoke and mirrors -- ever. The whole idea back then, and it continues today, is to make a little money from a lot of people. This differs from many companies who have just the opposite philosophy."
I truly believe you follow this philosophy and that GoDaddy's success hinges on it. This quote inspired me to write this letter about several companies who indeed, have the exact opposite philosophy, "Make as much money as you possibly can on a product that you've stolen". I know you have (or will have) an interest in the topic of this letter.
I'll try to keep it short, but no promises. In January, I began to buy domain names. I had no interest in buying to resell... at first. I wanted to buy a few domains as investments for my daughter's future (you know the term, "squatting"). I quickly learned the simple rules of domain buying and reselling. Buy key words, fewer letters, dotcoms or dotnets (if possible), brandable names, and temporary parking for profit. To make a long story short, I've got the bug. I have registered or transferred over 60 domains with GoDaddy (so far) and bought a few existing names parked at other registrars, which I generally hate to do because GoDaddy's interface is so damn fine!
The only thing that bothers me about GoDaddy is your current backordering system. It has, for the most part, been non-effective for me and others I've spoken to on the subject. I've recently found out why this is not completely your fault.
I'm sure you're aware of the fact that most premium expired domains are being prematurely annexed by big companies/registrars to auction off at exorbitant prices. Sometimes they are even put up before the entire expiration process is complete. They do this by partnering with (pimping) major (or not so major) registrars to ensure that they get the names before they drop. Enom and Snapnames, among others, also run advanced scripts that check expiring domains over 1000 times per second ensuring that a normal human being can't even approach acquiring the names they really want (or need)! Even if some of us use our own scripts, it's highly unlikely that we will get a name they've set their feelers to.
I really don't see how it's fair, especially the partnering.
Sure, I understand that they've spent time and money to write these high-end scripts, build systems to capture domain names and partner with registrars, but in my opinion they are making money on thousands of high profile names that really don't belong to them or anyone for that matter. One major foul I see them throwing is the way they limit and shorten access time to their who-is databases for everyone but themselves. I know who-is spamming is an issue for registrars, but their reason for limiting access time to one-second per IP address (Enom) is designed for one purpose... to give themselves the edge over the little guy trying to acquire the same names they feel are rightfully theirs to auction for whatever the wealthiest among us will pay. The partnering though, that's just downright dirty thievery.
I don't quite understand the reasoning behind ICANN creating more and more odd and useless extensions while turning a blind eye to this blatant domain "sniping", embezzlement and extortion, especially when there are more than enough names to go around with com/net/org/info/biz/name/cc/ws/tv and others.
The only way a normal person can get a really good domain since these companies came around is to do research and try to find the actual owner after the domain goes into the renewal/pending delete phase. It's incredibly time consuming, risky and mostly non-effective. I've recently been talking to many different Ameritrade employees because I believed their company owned WRD.com which was deleting soon. It was like pulling teeth trying to even find out if they really owned the name, much less knew their ID/password for managing it! I spent many hours on this one. Well, I looked at the who-is a few days ago and they've magically renewed it (days before the drop). Why... because I let them know it was expiring! Do they need the name? Noooo. Do I even get a thank you from their legal dept? Noooo! Every expiring domain tells a story and that is the only benefit of this process beside the fact that you might actually get a good name someday.
This domain was much needed by me, but I knew if it expired I wouldn't get it. It would have ended up on the virtual auction block at Snapnames, and only because it happened to be registered for the past several years with Network Solutions. Who actually owns it when it expires? It's supposed to be John Q. Nobody, but in Network Solution's opinion, they do.
This is why we (the little guys) need a registrar (you) that refuses to let GoDaddy domains go through this process and let them drop the way they were intended!
You also have the capability to provide a newer, more fair service that will monitor and capture names for a set fee after the drop, with no auction process involved. I'm not sure how this system would operate, but asking some forum communities for ideas wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if you charged more than the registration fee and offered only GoDaddy registered domains, this kind of service would kick-ass and take names! (LOL, that was an accidental pun!) Plus, you would win scores of new customers like me based on the fact that you stand for fairness. Believe me, people who buy and resell domain names care. We discuss these types of issues constantly in our forums.
Please let me know how you feel about these issues. I will continue to use GoDaddy as my main registrar for as long as I feel you will back me up if I ever get into it with "da man". I respect the way you handled the .US privacy issue with the NTIA and I have corresponded with my representatives over the matter. Keep up the good work!
In sincere thanks for everything,
Brian
-------------Here is the reply from Bob Parsons-------------
Dear Brian,
Your comments are very timely. Sometime next week we expect to launch a major new product area we are calling The Domain Name After Market. You will be able to get to it through the GoDaddy.com website or by typing www.tdnam.com into your browser.
Appreciate your post,
Bob
-------------------------------------------------------------
Just as I do whenever I meet a person who served in Vietnam, I salute you. I owe you a debt that I can't begin to repay.
I've been reading your blog quite a lot and I recently noticed this quote from your biography... "Since 1997 when I started Go Daddy, there was only one principle that I used to build the company. It's a simple one. Do the right thing for the customers and provide them with as good a deal as possible. No smoke and mirrors -- ever. The whole idea back then, and it continues today, is to make a little money from a lot of people. This differs from many companies who have just the opposite philosophy."
I truly believe you follow this philosophy and that GoDaddy's success hinges on it. This quote inspired me to write this letter about several companies who indeed, have the exact opposite philosophy, "Make as much money as you possibly can on a product that you've stolen". I know you have (or will have) an interest in the topic of this letter.
I'll try to keep it short, but no promises. In January, I began to buy domain names. I had no interest in buying to resell... at first. I wanted to buy a few domains as investments for my daughter's future (you know the term, "squatting"). I quickly learned the simple rules of domain buying and reselling. Buy key words, fewer letters, dotcoms or dotnets (if possible), brandable names, and temporary parking for profit. To make a long story short, I've got the bug. I have registered or transferred over 60 domains with GoDaddy (so far) and bought a few existing names parked at other registrars, which I generally hate to do because GoDaddy's interface is so damn fine!
The only thing that bothers me about GoDaddy is your current backordering system. It has, for the most part, been non-effective for me and others I've spoken to on the subject. I've recently found out why this is not completely your fault.
I'm sure you're aware of the fact that most premium expired domains are being prematurely annexed by big companies/registrars to auction off at exorbitant prices. Sometimes they are even put up before the entire expiration process is complete. They do this by partnering with (pimping) major (or not so major) registrars to ensure that they get the names before they drop. Enom and Snapnames, among others, also run advanced scripts that check expiring domains over 1000 times per second ensuring that a normal human being can't even approach acquiring the names they really want (or need)! Even if some of us use our own scripts, it's highly unlikely that we will get a name they've set their feelers to.
I really don't see how it's fair, especially the partnering.
Sure, I understand that they've spent time and money to write these high-end scripts, build systems to capture domain names and partner with registrars, but in my opinion they are making money on thousands of high profile names that really don't belong to them or anyone for that matter. One major foul I see them throwing is the way they limit and shorten access time to their who-is databases for everyone but themselves. I know who-is spamming is an issue for registrars, but their reason for limiting access time to one-second per IP address (Enom) is designed for one purpose... to give themselves the edge over the little guy trying to acquire the same names they feel are rightfully theirs to auction for whatever the wealthiest among us will pay. The partnering though, that's just downright dirty thievery.
I don't quite understand the reasoning behind ICANN creating more and more odd and useless extensions while turning a blind eye to this blatant domain "sniping", embezzlement and extortion, especially when there are more than enough names to go around with com/net/org/info/biz/name/cc/ws/tv and others.
The only way a normal person can get a really good domain since these companies came around is to do research and try to find the actual owner after the domain goes into the renewal/pending delete phase. It's incredibly time consuming, risky and mostly non-effective. I've recently been talking to many different Ameritrade employees because I believed their company owned WRD.com which was deleting soon. It was like pulling teeth trying to even find out if they really owned the name, much less knew their ID/password for managing it! I spent many hours on this one. Well, I looked at the who-is a few days ago and they've magically renewed it (days before the drop). Why... because I let them know it was expiring! Do they need the name? Noooo. Do I even get a thank you from their legal dept? Noooo! Every expiring domain tells a story and that is the only benefit of this process beside the fact that you might actually get a good name someday.
This domain was much needed by me, but I knew if it expired I wouldn't get it. It would have ended up on the virtual auction block at Snapnames, and only because it happened to be registered for the past several years with Network Solutions. Who actually owns it when it expires? It's supposed to be John Q. Nobody, but in Network Solution's opinion, they do.
This is why we (the little guys) need a registrar (you) that refuses to let GoDaddy domains go through this process and let them drop the way they were intended!
You also have the capability to provide a newer, more fair service that will monitor and capture names for a set fee after the drop, with no auction process involved. I'm not sure how this system would operate, but asking some forum communities for ideas wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if you charged more than the registration fee and offered only GoDaddy registered domains, this kind of service would kick-ass and take names! (LOL, that was an accidental pun!) Plus, you would win scores of new customers like me based on the fact that you stand for fairness. Believe me, people who buy and resell domain names care. We discuss these types of issues constantly in our forums.
Please let me know how you feel about these issues. I will continue to use GoDaddy as my main registrar for as long as I feel you will back me up if I ever get into it with "da man". I respect the way you handled the .US privacy issue with the NTIA and I have corresponded with my representatives over the matter. Keep up the good work!
In sincere thanks for everything,
Brian
-------------Here is the reply from Bob Parsons-------------