No GoDaddy No!

The latest issue of Brandweek is reporting FOX Television has sold 75% of its advertising inventory for the 2005 Super Bowl. Of the 58 thirty-second commercials FOX has to sell, 42 spots are confirmed sold with an asking price of $2.4 million per spot.

The usual suspects (Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, and Visa) have committed to airing commercials. And some not so usual suspects (CareerBuilder.com and MBNA) are also participating.

And then there is GoDaddy.com.

This fledging domain name registrar has committed to airing one spot during the Super Bowl commercial mayhem in hopes of scoring “huge exposure” for the GoDaddy.com brand.

No GoDaddy no!

I beg you to please put the $2.4 million outlay into building a better product and not waste your entire marketing budget on a thirty-second Super Bowl commercial.

No GoDaddy no! Don’t do it!

You are being blinded by the marketing mirage of creating brand awareness that comes with the possibility of reaching 95 million viewers watching the Super Bowl … not to mention the publicity you hope to gain by being mentioned in the media as an advertiser.

But awareness doesn’t build preference.

Computer.com, OurBeginning.com, netpliance.com, and onmoney.com all tried to build awareness by advertising during the 2000 Super Bowl. Look where it got them – absolutely nowhere. You can learn a lot from their failures.

But since you obviously haven’t learned from the failures of past dot-com failures in advertising, maybe you’ll listen to a dot-com ‘advertising’ success story in Amazon.com.

Amazon has stopped doing broad-scale television advertising in favor of spending marketing dollars to make the customer experience better … like free shipping for orders over $25. (And sales are still going strong at Amazon).

I beg of you GoDaddy … don’t spend $2.4 million on one lousy thirty-second Super Bowl television commercial.

Instead, spend it on areas that will improve your product and improve your customer’s experience. Why? Because products worth talking about get talked about and that will help you go from creating awareness to building preference.

Comments

[Don The Idea Guy]

Ugh.
I hadn't heard about GoDaddy's intentions until now.

I hope they listen to you John -- I've been turning people on to GoDaddy since another friend pointed me in their direction a couple years ago. I'll be truly disappointed in them if they buy into this type of "throw money at it and call it a branding spot" type of advertising.

I swear ta God, if I hear the words "Who's yer GoDaddy?" I'm immediately tranferring all my domains to Network Solutions!

[justin g mitchell]

So what else could GoDaddy do to distinguish itself from every other domain registar? I've heard them recommended a few times but only due to the fact they charge so little to register a domain.

[Bob G]

I almost pulled the trigger on a SuperBowl once as a brand manager. But two additional arguments stopped me:

1. SuperBowl ad success is about kicking off a CAMPAIGN, not just 1 ad. Note that the big, experienced advertisers keep airing their commercial in the months following the SuperBowl. "one-and-out" just doesn't happen. Do you have an extra $20MM for THAT campaign?

2. Don't forget that creating the "good" AD itself is a HUGE RISK/COST. First, there's the $500,000 to $1 million production cost. Second, there's the risk that the creative just plain sucks. Making winning advertising ain't easy. It takes an experienced CLIENT. I'm guessing this is GoDaddy's first ad - what's the odds of coming up with a winner on the 1st try?

[Stephen Macklin]

Another question that should be asked is whether or not the Super Bowl makes any sense for them as an outlet at any cost.

Even if the creative is outstanding is it likely to resonate with whatever percentage of viewers might have an interest in registering a domain, or finding a web host. I suspect this is a need that will not be top of mind to all but the geekiest of Super Bowl watchers - and they are probably already aware of the brand.

I think the 2.4 million would be better spent on print and online advertising where they can reach involved consumers. I would suggest they also approach a few influential sites and offer them a free deluxe package for 5 years. For the what it would cost them to host a site like Instapundit for instance, they could get a ton of far more relevant exposure.

Also, they should take whatever they were planning to spend on producing the ad and bring someone in to design their home page. Because damn its ugly.

[Bob Parsons]

Hi folks,

My name is Bob Parsons. I'm the President and Founder of GoDaddy.com.

Hope you don't mind if I chime on in here. After reading your comments I just couldn't resist the temptation.

First I appreciate everyone's concern about Go Daddy making a mistake by advertising on the SuperBowl.

Second, I want to assure everyone that being a SuperBowl advertiser is not a make or break deal for us.

There's probably a few things you might not know about Go Daddy and I thought maybe this might be a good time to point them out. Here they are:

1. GoDaddy is the world leader in domain registrations. We've been profitable since Oct 2001 and expect sales in 2005 (without the SuperBowl) of close to $200 million. The earlier dot coms that busted after advertising on the SuperBowl were never viable to begin with.

2. GoDaddy has no debt and I'm the only investor. After paying for the ad we have very significant cash balances. The lion's share of the cash Go Daddy generates always has been reinvested back into the company to develop new product, improve our systems, provide better support etc.

3. GoDaddy is the one of the very few companies that develops every bit of the technology that it sells. Presently we have 30 full time development teams (all here in the USA). So because we have no licensing fees to pay, our prices are lower than our competitors and our margins are good. Let's us provide good support(all based here in the USA) for our customers.

4. I promise that the ad will not say "who's your GoDaddy?"

5. GoDaddy registers a new domain name about every 7 seconds. Our market share is between 20 to 25%.

6. We believe we have the best value proposition in our industry but many prospective customers just don't know about us. We've decided to try reaching them using traditional media (radio, tv and print).

7. The SuperBowl ad will *not* be a one shot deal. It's just the beginning. It's going to be followed up by an extensive advertising campaign.

8. The money we're using for the SuperBowl Ad and the followup campaign will not in any way take away from what we spend on developing our products, improving our systems and supporting our customers.

9. Either way the SuperBowl ad works out, the company will be just fine. We're paying for the ad using cash surpluses generated this year (most companies would simply pay this money out to the owners --- not me --- I'd rather have a SuperBowl ad). Our product development will continue as it is, and our support will stay sharp.

10. I agree that our home page could be a little prettier, but it works. So you know the old saying about if it ain't broke....

Thanks,

Bob Parsons
President & Founder
GoDaddy.com

[Johnnie Moore]

I think it's cool that Bob dropped by and kudos to him for a ballsy contribution.

Sounds like Bob has money to burn, and has found an extremely efficient means to do so!

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

While I have been critical of GoDaddy.com's decision to advertise during the 2005 Super Bowl ... I too was impressed with Bob stopping by to give his 'ballsy' perspective.

(And I have augmented the 'C-E-O E-G-O' post to reflect that.)

[Tom Asacker]

Wow! Never once did Bob write: "And we are convinced that our investment of $2 million will return . . ."

If your truly NOT convinced Bob, either get convinced, or use the $2 million to feed some hungry people.

[Bob Parsons]

Hi Tom,

Just so you know, Go Daddy has a very active philanthropic effort in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area. We support things like outreach for homeless kids, orphanages, domestic violence centers, the food bank, things like that. To the best of my knowledge little Go Daddy does more for the community in this regard than most of the very large companies in the valley.

Regarding "needing to be convinced" that the SuperBowl ad will work, if "being convinced" was a requirement for all my business decisions I can pretty much tell you that Go Daddy wouldn't exist today.

When we entered the domain registrar business. I was told that it was a dead end business and that it wasn't possible to make much money in it. No doubt about it, it's a tough business, but contrary to all those warnings we've managed to do pretty well in it.

When I made the decision to enter the domain name business I wasn't convinced that it would work, but I thought it stood a reasonable chance of working. My thoughts were that if it didn't I'd simply do something else.

Here's how I feel about the SuperBowl ad. It stands a chance of really working out well. Also stands a chance of not doing much. As we all know there's no guarantees. Business is an imprecise art.

The one thing I do know for sure is that either way it will be our introduction into the traditional advertising media channels.

Thanks,

Bob Parsons
GoDaddy.com

[Jason Metter]

Bob, I'll make your homepage look (and function) a lot better for only half of what you'll spend on a SuperBowl ad. But seriously, I for one congratulate you on your decision. Why is everyone so concerned about what you and your company does with its money anyway?

[sirshannon]

I have a dozen or so domain names registered at godaddy, have finally moved them all there. I think that we are forgetting that GoDaddy wants customers for hosting, email, etc (something you can't forget if you use godaddy, they force you to click through a ridiculous number of ads between "checkout" and the actual checkout process, something that has probably cost them more customers than anything else).
As far as domains go, with 20% of the market, I think anyone who needs to know about GoDaddy already knows. They must be pushing for the 'user' market now.

And I have to call Bob out on his statement "3. GoDaddy is the one of the very few companies that develops every bit of the technology that it sells. Presently we have 30 full time development teams (all here in the USA). So because we have no licensing fees to pay,".

I just logged in to my email account at GoDaddy and at the very top of the page of my mailbox, I see "Licensed to Go Daddy Software" (and "Licensed" is underlined, reinforcing Bob's mistake).

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Jason ... we're concerned because we are DEEPLY PASSIONATE about marketing and we want as many companies as possible to engage in meaningful marketing and not in meaningless marketing.

[Shannon J Hager]

Bob Parsons says "if it ain't broke..." but it is.

I recommended Go Daddy to a fellow developer once. He wasn't very happy with me afterwards:

http://www.tallent.us/blog/commentview.aspx?guid=d1e21f44-bb12-4f81-8c69-2326c2aa9883

John, I can appreciate your passion and, if I didn't share it I wouldn't be reading and commenting on this blog. I guess my comment was a little too flippant. To clarify: What makes everyone who is critical of this decision so sure that it is a good one, not meaningful marketing? Especially without having seen the creative or the marketing plan of which it is a part? I certainly don't have the answers. Sounds like Bob is aware that the choice could end up being courageous or foolish.

[Nick Fuller]

SirShannon,

Let me clear up the “Licensed to” confusion. This text was on the site because of an internal agreement that GoDaddy.com had with its sister company Starfield Technologies. Both of these companies always have been, and are currently, under the umbrella of The Go Daddy Group. Starfield Technologies is the research and development arm of the GoDaddy Group and has created numerous products for GoDaddy.com as well as the reseller division of The Go Daddy Group, Wild West Domains. All of our development efforts are done in house and we do not license products from 3rd parties for sale to our customer base. While I can understand the confusion, I can assure you these products were created in house.

Kindest Regards,

Nick Fuller
GoDaddy Guy
GoDaddy.com

[Rick]

Bob,

Excellent responses, and very well put. I have had one of my domains on GoDaddy for years now, and just recently consolidated the rest of them as well.

To everyone else. Would you all like a tissue?

I fail to see any fuel to this fire you are trying to stoke regarding GoDaddy and the Superbowl.

I, for one, will be watching the Superbowl with one goal this year, to see GoDaddy's ad.

Unfortunately, the only thing that would upset me is if the ad turns out to be a turd.

Good luck Bob!

[sirshannon]

Thanks for the reply, Nick. I notice you've changed that wording. :)

If anyone from GoDaddy is still reading this, I'd like to ask for some sort of easy way to add a tiny GoDaddy banner to my sites. I've looked all over my account page and I see no easy way to spread the word.

I'm a very happy customer, help me spread the word.

[Firas]

I'm a GoDaddy customer too, and I can't believe that they don't realize that their home page looks horrible. I don't care whether they advertise on the superbowl or not, but please hire some usability/web design experts for that amount of money. Frankly, the terrible, cliched design was the one reason I thought it might be a fishy, fly-by-night operation when I first signed up.

[Jason]

It is amazing how many people are talking about this. Each time a blog runs this story, or a person comments on this company, it reduces the cost the company paid for their super bowl commercial.

This is why I love marketing. A few days ago GoDaddy had a Super Bowl campaign, now they have a PR campaign. How many of us went to their site? The Super Bowl is two months away and the commercial is already airing.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

While any PR is ‘good’ PR … this GoDaddy.com conversation is more about questioning their actions rather than applauding their actions.

If I was a GoDaddy.com marketer, I’d prefer the conversation to be about applauding their marketing actions. Dig?

[Jim Ewing]

Dear Bob Parsons:

I was going to make a hasty remark about your service being too autonomous.

Heigh ho - I check my mail box and Presto the response was there and it was dated some time before my decision to write here. But, I had to write direct to you ([email protected]) to get the correct instructions to rectify my fault.

Thanks Bob

Good job at deleting my last post. I guess you only support feedback calling GoDaddy stupid for doing this? Well, I think it's pure genius - that is, if their ad comes out good. Otherwise, it could be a total bust. But, this is the beginning of their ad campaign and I think that this will bring GoDaddy to new heights. I think this is a great move, good job, GoDaddy.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

While deleting spam comments I inadvertently deleted ‘real’ comments. I think it was nine ‘real’ comments (and 50+ spam comments) in total that were deleted.

So sorry.

To the comment, we welcome all perspectives on this blog. Sorry for inadvertently deleting your comment in support of Go Daddy.

johnmoore
BRAND AUTOPSY

[GoDaddy Sux]

"No, GoDaddy No" is absolutely right! The truth about GoDaddy is here:

http://www.GoDaddySux.com/

[Deb]

Dear Bob,

I appreciate what your marketing folks said. I am sure you came to them with the question, how can we obtain the rest of the market share, another words... how can we take as many domains away from Network Solutions as possible? Why do people still spend $35 when they only need to spend $7.95?

Bob.. GoDaddy is not Network Solutions. (and I'm glad) And as much as you spend the big bucks and advertise in an attempt to get big name recognition, or your recent homepage color change (the green used on Network Solutions home page) there are still many, who, like it or not, still consider Network Solutions the trusted choice.

Think of it this way ... there are Walmarts and then there is Neiman Marcus .. sometimes they both carry the same exact products :-)

[Joel McLaughlin]

I have used Godaddy for years. I am a reseller (via my site http://www.dataflurry.com ) of their services because I believe in the company. Their support and product pricing is excellent. The company has helped to bring down the market price for internet services (like domain names) which has lead to opportunities for many small businesses (such as mine)

[David Hauslaib]

I've been using GoDaddy for years (domain registration/management only). I now manage at least a half dozen domains through them and always refer friends and colleagues looking to purchase a domain name to GoDaddy. Sure, the "add-on" pages between purchase and checkout are annoying, but it's a part of their revenue stream - and a reason why they have so much cash they can even think about a Super Bowl ad, let alone run one.

And while the homepage might leave something to be desired, their domain management system is quite easy to navigate. For all the problems a domain registrar COULD cause you, I'm thankful I only had to deal with Network Solutions once before I found GoDaddy.

[[no author]]

For those who would question where GoDaddy spends its money, where do you spend yours? When was the last time YOU funded a childrens home or sent $25,000 to help victims of a tsunami?

[[no author]]

GoDaddy has now put up $250,000 to help the victims of the tsunami.

[Yorkali]

A couple of quick fire points.

1. Aside from the barrage of ads before checkout Go Daddy offers a a pretty good user-experience. Of course a site redesign maybe in order but that's not urgent. Plus for $8.50 per .com I'll put up with the barrage any day. A 20% market share proves I am not alone.

2. Let the man spend his money as he pleases. Wether or ot he gave money to the tsunami relief effort or to some poor kid in Compton does not mean he then has the permission to spend on the Super Bowl.

3. I can understand that some people would like to the image of Go Daddy to remain as one of a little cottage business being run from a garage, well I bet this is eaxctly why Mr. Parsons wants to run this ad. Not everyone wants to stay small. And Go Daddy is by far beyond their humble beginnings.

So bring on the glitz and the glamour or whatever you have planned Bob. Because after the free PR you are getting here, who cares who plays, IT'LL BE GO-DADDY PRIMETIME!

1 satisfied customer,
Yorkali

[Scott Palmer]

I'm based in Perth, Western Australia and I have been a Go Daddy customer for a few years now (originally for my site http://www.clikdate.com). I stumbled across Go Daddy by accident. When I first looked at the site I too thought it might be a bit risky but for $7.95 well... I gave it a try? Needless to say I have never looked back and I have registered with Go Daddy ever since.

I agree with David Hauslaib's comment about the annoying "add-on" pages between purchase and checkout but that's because I have no need for them. For people starting a new online business or just purchasing a personal domain name these products would be quite useful (and obviously that’s the case based on the profits).

I just wish I could find a hosting provider that offered comparable quality and value. The only problems I have ever had with my domains have been due to bad hosts with extremely poor customer service.

Well done Bob.
Go Daddy Go!

[Blake Smith]

I think Bob is correct in his statements and should have a super bowl ad. Even if it doesnt bring any business, he is the sole investor and its his money to spend. He will be satisfied with sitting in front of a TV with all his friends when the ad comes on, as well as the employees at the company. I provide bandwidth to some of the largest dedicated server companies in the world and I could get free hosting and servers if I wanted yet I still use Godaddy because it works and never fails, and for that its worth paying the couple dollars a month.

[Hmmm]

I read this as ALL my GoDaddy domains are unaccessable, even GoDaddy.com is down.
The money would definately be better spent on improvements.

[J. S. Longwell]

Mr. Parsons,
Looking forward to a great commercial. I hope it works out well for GoDaddy.

Nay-sayers,
Where exactly did you guys gain all this grand knowledge of exactly how to handle a company capable of shelling out the 2.4 million for a Super Bowl ad? Do you honestly think you know better as to how to handle GoDaddy's finances than the man who built the company from the ground up. Step off. Actually.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

J.S. ... my knowledge comes from my many years experience developing and implementing in-store marketing, out-of-store advertising, and grassroots marketing programming for Starbucks Coffee. Plus, as the Director of National Marketing for Whole Foods Market, I engaged the company in marketing activities which were less about using traditional advertising tactics and more about using the influential power of customers as the advertising vehicle. I also have solid experience as a media planner in the ad agency game.

Now, I wouldn't call it 'grand knowledge' that I picked up from my ten years in the marketing trenches. Just a whole lot a tribal knowledge lessons learned.

[m00ndog]

johnmoore wrote:
"… this GoDaddy.com conversation is more about questioning their actions rather than applauding their actions."

Eh? Isn't applauding their actions just the other side of the discussion?

I've been a customer of GoDaddy's for years and had nothing but great service.

Go, Daddy, Go!

m00ndog

[Tommy Brown]

I say go for it Bob. I own over 300 domain names with Godaddy.com so, I am a favorite of you already. Best place to buy domain names should say a few words at the greatest event in the world. "Superbowl" where else to make a statement. Godaddy! Where else?

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Bob Parsons … as evidence by many comments here and on your blog, Go Daddy has a very loyal and extremely supportive customer base. So loyal and so supportive that I can’t help but think you need to have your current customers serve as the Go Daddy marketing department. Yes … your customers as YOUR marketing department.

If your goal is to gain new customers then you need to remember that new customers are going to look like and behave like your current customers. With that said, give your current customers all the tools to evangelize Go Daddy to grow the Go Daddy business. Before turning to mass advertising, maximize the micro marketing opportunity. Dig?

I highly suggest you read Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force. Better yet, connect with the authors, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, to begin learning more about the power of customer evangelism. You can reach Ben and Jackie through their Creating Customer Evangelists website.

[Steve]

I work for Bob Parsons in the GoDaddy tech support department. One of the greatest things about working at GoDaddy is the very large percentage of customers who call in and rave about the quality of our service and the very "rightness" of our prices.

I believe the reason that our customers are so happy about our service is that we go that extra step for everyone. They are not just numbers to us, we take an interest in them and what they are trying to achieve.

That is also the reason for all the ads that come up on the website when someone tries to place an order. Many people come to us who have never done anything like setting up a website and they feel a little silly because they don't even know the right questions to ask. These people are so happy to have all the helpful guidance that the website provides and if they choose to call us they find even more helpful advice. We go out of our way to make the awkward feel comfortable and even confident.

When I listen to all the good things our customers have to say about us, it makes me feel very good about working for Bob Parsons. The other side of the coin is listening to all the complaints about "the other guys" from people who are trying to transfer their service to us. Nightmare stories about terrible service and outrageous prices that I don't want to believe are true but can validate from my own experience.

I feel for these people and although I have never spoken to Mr. Parsons about it, I am pretty sure he feels the same. I am delighted that he has decided to mount this ad campaign to let people know that they have an alternative. Every time I hear "the other guys" ads I think of all the complaints I have heard about them from people who have just transferred their business to us from them. I hope and believe that part of Bob Parsons' reason for this new ad campaign is because of his heartfelt desire to spare people from a bad experience.

On the other hand, some of our most loyal and extremely supportive customers have come to GoDaddy from other registrars and hosting companies. And even after several years are still complimenting us on our service and pricing and comparing it to their previous registrar or hosting provider. Their bad experience with "the other guys" has made them all the more appreciative of GoDaddy.

It doesn't have to be that way. GoDaddy truly does try to provide everyone, whether they start with GoDaddy or transfer to us from elsewhere, with the very best service at the most reasonable prices. I think that is a message worth getting out, don't you?

[Not Buying It]

Sorry Steve,

I think there are way too many of us out here with IQs higher than yours that can recognize when PR damage control is being spun at us.

I have used GoDaddy for domain name registration. I have used them for web hosting. I will NEVER use them for either again.

GoDaddy sucks, Stevie, and I bet you know it.

[Robert G]

Since when has it been anyone else's business to decide what a company should do? Why is it that folks bash Bob Parsons' decision to invest money in marketing. Yes, marketing. Have you ever complained that he advertises on the Internet? Or in emails? So why now. It's his money. How come no one here is bagging on Coke or Budweiser or GMC or Snickers?

Bob Parsons has guts to put that much of his PRIVATELY held company's money up just to start an ad campaign. He should be applauded. If my company were as successful as his, I would invest it similarly.

And on another note, Go Daddy Domain services are the best services I (personally) have ever used. I recommend them to all of my clients (who are also extremely pleased with the service). I have tried others and will never go back (especially to Network Solutions). So I am sure that the Go Daddy business itself will not suffer much if the ad spot they run does nothing. But I suspect they will reap some benefit by it.

[Not Buying It]

And how long have you lived in Arizona, Bobbie?

I have used GoDaddy for domain name registration. I have used them for web hosting. I will NEVER use them for either again.

GoDaddy sucks, Boberino, and I bet you know it.

[duey]

Hey buddy, just because you had a bad experience and it might have sucked for you, it doesn't mean the company sucks. Understand that, accept it, and let it go--whatever it was. GoDaddy's service and support is nothing short of superb, as many other people will attest to.

[John Dowd]

It is not surprising that this debate should rage. No one has provided even a scintilla of evidence for their positive and negative claims. The only data I saw was some shared by Parsons on market share and some financials. Yet phrases like "loyal customer base", "all the good things our customes say about us", etc. abound. I'm not doubting the veracity of the comments (although some are suspect), but it's impossible to use them as evidence as they have no valence. Without weights we must weight all such claims equally as interesting but not useful.

Moreover whether or not Godaddy spends the money or not is essentially a strategic choice that can only be evaluated over time. It cannot be known at this time whether or not this is a good decision. There is scant basis, statistical or otherwise on which to make such a prediction. If the money is spent, it will be a relatively hi risk decision, the wisdom of which won't be known for a while.

Parsons seems to be saying the $2 million is not a big deal. His statement that the money is available independently of application development would be laughable if it were not so indicative of how this species thinks. Because they are separated for accounting purposes, he slips into the fiction that they are really separate. Ever hear of 'lost opportunity cost' Bob?

Your company Mr. Parsons is a system and all expenditures affect every part of the company. You can invent an accounting artiface to ignore that reality if you want, but that doesn't change it.

I'd have hoped for a more informed discourse. Informed of mehods, of course. Methods of thought.

[Blake Smith]

John-

Godaddy creates the software thus not having to pay licensing fees (most are monthly) saving a lot of money. Many other hosting companies have to pay control panel fees etc. The more you grow the more the control panel companies are going to charge.

[Internet Developer]

Should Go Daddy advertise during the Super Bowl? I say no. Why? What do companies do after dumping millions into advertising campaigns? Raise prices.

As a professional Web developer, I'll have to say that I was so impressed with GoDaddy at first that we moved all of our clients' domains over. It seemed like a smooth transition at first. Then came the problems. We've spent the last year moving them all away.

Any other developers out there who would like REAL domain registration service, look into Tucows reseller program. Though the domain names cost us a whopping $.80 more than Go Daddy, it's worth every penny! And, they don't waste their money on useless advertising campaigns that satisfy a CEO's huge EGO.

[Another Poster]

I will admit that I am no guru when it comes to marketing or business practices, and how to make a company bigger and better than it was. I just try to use a little sense when coming up with my opinions on whatever is going on at the time.

I know this blog was supposed to be on weather it is a good idea for this commercial or not, but it seems to have evolved into "let's try and change Bob's mind on doing this" because I noticed another blog started with better ideas for the 2.4 million. First, it's his money, saying that you don't like the idea is one thing, but making a blog on other ideas will not change his mind all of a sudden. I honestly think it should of ended on this article. Second, the C-E-O E-G-O blog is the next worst thing you can do. You take a small part of a whole statement and turn it into something else. People will usually do this when they need to prove a point that does not exsist.

I also noticed that a current Godaddy employee posted on this blog, probably not the best thing to go and do. As a current employee, trying to score brownie points this way isn't always a smart way, where people on the outside can see what your up to. But some of things you say are true ( I used to actually work for that company also, but some short comings on my end prevented it after a while), you cannot just say that everyone who calls in just loves the company adn thinks they are the greatest. That company also does some not so smart things (examples being Turbo SSL and, getting specific from when I was there, the hosting did not work with verisign merchant accounts) some customers have vaild complaints that never get solved in a timely fashion. And then you have the programers who don't know what a CGI-bin is, so it's double sided.

Anyway a little off topic there, but Parsons is a smart man, who has raised 2 very successful companies ( Godaddy and Parsons Technology), and knows what he is doing, this I'm sure of. That amount of money isn't going to stop the company, or I seriously doubt raise the prices on much of anything. I figure if he has done this well, he'll keep on going. And for the arguments that say " well, this plan I have is a sure thing", maybe it is, and maybe all this is a huge mistake. But then again, maybe this will double profits for the company. Can it do that? I believe so. Will it? I'm just going to wait and see. I hope it does well, I think that company has a lot of potential to be quite good.

I would just say try to be more open-minded about this, I realize there are "business models" that can determine how things will go, but they are not always right. Just wait and see what happens, then speak. Then shout out your idea's and let them decide what to do

That's my two cents, sorry for wasting your time if I did.

[robert]

I have been using godaddy for years, and love em, once i was setting up hosting and (I messed it up). called on the phone, got a real person (who spoke english) and the whole thing was resolved in less than 5 minutes. Very friendly, prompt, never put on hold the international call ended up only costing me 50c AUD, very well done.

[Mark Edwards]

Bob,

Great comments and I back your Superbowl add 100%. I have over 60 domains at enom.com and would move them to GoDaddy in a second if you got rid of all the "adds" mentioned above.

cheers,

Mark Edwards
TorontoHosting.com

[Not Buying It]

We used to have several websites hosted with GoDaddy, and as competent web professionals, we rarely required "assistance" from GoDaddy Tech Support. Unfortunately when we did, we learned that all those programmers who don't know diddly about CGI (reference above) apparently work for Bob Parsons! We were a bit offended, in fact, that they even called themselves "programmers".

GoDaddy sucks.