While the ".net," ".org" and ".gov" Internet domains are growing in popularity among those launching new websites, none has come close to threatening the decades-long reign of ".com."
But the ".co" domain may be the hottest new Web address, one that could be the first real.com competitor, according to some inside the domain-name industry.
Scottsdale-based Go Daddy was one of a few domain providers authorized to sell that domain suffix when it when it was launched in July.Now with about 250,000 .co registrations under its cap so far, the Internet-domain registrar will use its annual Super Bowl commercial next month to draw attention to it before television's biggest annual audience, the company said this week.
And the company will do it as only Go Daddy can.
The spot will unveil the new GoDaddy.co Girl who will join the ranks of other celebrity spokeswomen such as race-car driver Danica Patrick and celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels
The company did not share how much it spent this year on the Super Bowl ads, but reports estimated that 30 seconds of airtime cost about $2.5 million last year.
The company is keeping the new girl's identity under wraps until Super Bowl Sunday.
"Our new GoDaddy.co Girl is already a big name, but after this Super Bowl commercial, she's going to be in a whole new realm," CEO Bob Parsons said in a statement.
Unlike other.com alternatives, the .co domain, which gained about 600,000 registered names worldwide since its launch, should do well simply because it sounds so similar to.com, said Richard Merdinger, senior director of domain-registration service for Go Daddy.
"There's an international recognition of using .co to represent a company," he said. "We were exceptionally pleased with the volume of registrations we did do so far."
The .co suffix offers a whole new realm of opportunities for those searching to establish their Web presence, Merdinger said.
Industry insiders see a similar trend.
"We're seeing individuals registering them for themselves, their blog, their businesses," said Lori Anne Wardi, director of marketing for .CO Internet S.A.S., the official .co registry, which allows registrars such as Go Daddy to sell its domain names to the public. "We want to be where the next Facebook starts and the next Twitter starts."
Before its July launch, the .co domain was restricted for use by the Colombian government, much like the United States has the ".us" domain, Wardi said.
The decision to expand the domain name for public use last year follows the example of other country-code names that have become more popular in the mainstream, such as Tuvalu's ".tv" and Montenegro's ".me."
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers the non-profit in charge of assigning domains, also is in talks about expanding generic domains, such as.com, so that a corporation could become its own registry. For example, Ford could apply to obtain a ".ford" domain name.
"It's a way for corporations to brand themselves," said Brad White, an ICANN spokesman "It's a huge revolution in the Internet."
.CO Internet, a Colombia-based company, decided to only work with 10 registries, including Go Daddy, for the first year, Wardi said.
Its annual fee at Go Daddy are pricier - $29.99 compared with $11.99 for.com and other domains.
Wardi said the idea was to prevent devaluing of the domain. People will be less-willing to buy .co names in bulk and have them sit useless while waiting to be resold at a profit, which is another reason why.com names have become scarce, she said.
by Kristena Hansen The Arizona Republic Jan. 14, 2011 12:00 AM
Go Daddy ready to launch '.co' marketing blitz
Showing posts with label go daddy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label go daddy. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Go Daddy takes itself off auction block, report says
Race-car driver and brand representative Danica Patrick can breathe a sigh of relief.
A report in the Wall Street Journal this week says GoDaddy.com is off the auction block.
In early September the Web hummed with reports that the Scottsdale-based Internet domain registrar had hired San Francisco-based Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer. And while there were private equity firms interested, according to the report, Go Daddy had second thoughts and took itself off the market. There was enough interest to meet Go Daddy's asking price of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, according to the newspaper.
A spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company would not comment on rumors.
GoDaddy.com is the flagship company of Go Daddy Group Inc. Founded in 1997 by owner Bob Parsons, Go Daddy Group says it has more than 43 million domains under management.
by John Yantis The Arizona Republic Oct. 27, 2010 12:00 AM
Go Daddy takes itself off auction block, report says
A report in the Wall Street Journal this week says GoDaddy.com is off the auction block.
In early September the Web hummed with reports that the Scottsdale-based Internet domain registrar had hired San Francisco-based Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer. And while there were private equity firms interested, according to the report, Go Daddy had second thoughts and took itself off the market. There was enough interest to meet Go Daddy's asking price of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, according to the newspaper.
A spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company would not comment on rumors.
GoDaddy.com is the flagship company of Go Daddy Group Inc. Founded in 1997 by owner Bob Parsons, Go Daddy Group says it has more than 43 million domains under management.
by John Yantis The Arizona Republic Oct. 27, 2010 12:00 AM
Go Daddy takes itself off auction block, report says
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Go Daddy ends new sign-ups in China
Go Daddy ends new sign-ups in China
by Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Mar. 28, 2010 12:00 AM
The Scottsdale company known for its racy Super Bowl commercials has taken a tough stance on the heavy-handed surveillance practices of the Chinese government.
Internet domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com said it will no longer register new Web sites in China in response to new government rules that require it to provide additional personal information on its customers.
"The Chinese government is focused on using the Internet for monitoring and surveillance, and we are no longer comfortable with that," said Christine Jones, Go Daddy's executive vice president and corporate counsel.
It's a bold and possibly costly move for a company whose notoriety is tied to a string of sexy "Go Daddy Girls," including race-car driver Danica Patrick.
But, it's a move other companies may have to consider as oppressive governments step up Internet monitoring to censor content and keep tabs on users.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association in Washington, D.C., counts about a dozen countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Tunisia, with objectionable Internet-monitoring practices.
Catherine Sloan, the organization's vice president of government relations, said the number is expected to increase as Internet use grows in developing countries.
Go Daddy's move follows Google's recent announcement that it would no longer comply with the Chinese government's rules that it censor offensive search results. Google is sending Web searchers in mainland China to Hong Kong, where censored results are not legally required.
Sloan called the moves courageous and said they will hopefully result in governments softening their restrictive Internet-monitoring practices.
Go Daddy is the world's largest clearinghouse for Internet addresses, with more than 40 million domain names under management. Its biggest competitor, Network Solutions of Herndon, Va., also has stopped registering new .cn domain names in China.
Jones said that there are a number of Chinese companies registering names, but they are under even greater scrutiny and have no choice but to comply with the government rules.
Go Daddy has been registering domain names in China since 2005 and manages 27,000 names there for 1,200 customers.
Some customers have Web sites that the Chinese government could object to, said Jones, who told members of Congress on Wednesday that she was concerned for their security.
Jones was testifying before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which was meeting to discuss the ramifications of Google's decision earlier in the week.
Go Daddy's Chinese domain names are a fraction of those in a country with an estimated 350 million Internet users and represent a small portion of its annual revenue. But the Chinese market holds significant potential, and Go Daddy plans to continue to service its existing accounts there in hopes the government backtracks on its reporting requirements.
Initially, Go Daddy was required to obtain only the first and last names of the registrants, their physical addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
But in December, the Chinese government implemented new rules that also required applicants to provide a color photo ID, Chinese business-registration numbers and certain signed registration forms.
Then in February, it required Go Daddy to obtain the additional information from existing domain-name registrants and submit it to the China Internet Network Information Center, or CNNIC, for it to review before the Web site was activated.
Jones said that operators of existing Web sites that failed to submit the additional information could have their sites deactivated by the government.
She testified that the action will have a "chilling effect" on the free exchange of information over the Internet and asked Congress to put pressure on the Chinese to rescind the reporting rules and crack down on Internet abuses, such as spam and payment fraud.
Jones said Go Daddy is constantly repelling cyber attacks against its security systems in China, in addition to dealing with prolific spammers and payment-fraud schemes.
"China today is basically the only major market where spammers can do just about anything they want," Jones testified.
by Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Mar. 28, 2010 12:00 AM
The Scottsdale company known for its racy Super Bowl commercials has taken a tough stance on the heavy-handed surveillance practices of the Chinese government.
Internet domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com said it will no longer register new Web sites in China in response to new government rules that require it to provide additional personal information on its customers.
"The Chinese government is focused on using the Internet for monitoring and surveillance, and we are no longer comfortable with that," said Christine Jones, Go Daddy's executive vice president and corporate counsel.
It's a bold and possibly costly move for a company whose notoriety is tied to a string of sexy "Go Daddy Girls," including race-car driver Danica Patrick.
But, it's a move other companies may have to consider as oppressive governments step up Internet monitoring to censor content and keep tabs on users.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association in Washington, D.C., counts about a dozen countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Tunisia, with objectionable Internet-monitoring practices.
Catherine Sloan, the organization's vice president of government relations, said the number is expected to increase as Internet use grows in developing countries.
Go Daddy's move follows Google's recent announcement that it would no longer comply with the Chinese government's rules that it censor offensive search results. Google is sending Web searchers in mainland China to Hong Kong, where censored results are not legally required.
Sloan called the moves courageous and said they will hopefully result in governments softening their restrictive Internet-monitoring practices.
Go Daddy is the world's largest clearinghouse for Internet addresses, with more than 40 million domain names under management. Its biggest competitor, Network Solutions of Herndon, Va., also has stopped registering new .cn domain names in China.
Jones said that there are a number of Chinese companies registering names, but they are under even greater scrutiny and have no choice but to comply with the government rules.
Go Daddy has been registering domain names in China since 2005 and manages 27,000 names there for 1,200 customers.
Some customers have Web sites that the Chinese government could object to, said Jones, who told members of Congress on Wednesday that she was concerned for their security.
Jones was testifying before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which was meeting to discuss the ramifications of Google's decision earlier in the week.
Go Daddy's Chinese domain names are a fraction of those in a country with an estimated 350 million Internet users and represent a small portion of its annual revenue. But the Chinese market holds significant potential, and Go Daddy plans to continue to service its existing accounts there in hopes the government backtracks on its reporting requirements.
Initially, Go Daddy was required to obtain only the first and last names of the registrants, their physical addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
But in December, the Chinese government implemented new rules that also required applicants to provide a color photo ID, Chinese business-registration numbers and certain signed registration forms.
Then in February, it required Go Daddy to obtain the additional information from existing domain-name registrants and submit it to the China Internet Network Information Center, or CNNIC, for it to review before the Web site was activated.
Jones said that operators of existing Web sites that failed to submit the additional information could have their sites deactivated by the government.
She testified that the action will have a "chilling effect" on the free exchange of information over the Internet and asked Congress to put pressure on the Chinese to rescind the reporting rules and crack down on Internet abuses, such as spam and payment fraud.
Jones said Go Daddy is constantly repelling cyber attacks against its security systems in China, in addition to dealing with prolific spammers and payment-fraud schemes.
"China today is basically the only major market where spammers can do just about anything they want," Jones testified.
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