Government unhappy with alcohol in commercial.

We’re used to the U.S. government “censoring” GoDaddy Super Bowl commercials.

And much of the time, the censoring is manufactured to get publicity.

But this time it’s Canada that doesn’t like the GoDaddy.co commercial that will air this weekend.

Seriously.

According to The Globe and Mail, the YourBigIdea.co ad slated to run in the first half of Sunday’s Super Bowl runs afoul of Canadian advertising laws that forbid showing people drinking alcohol.

So this time the problem isn’t sexual innuendo as it usually is — the problem is someone holding a glass of bubbly. And this time I bet Go Daddy didn’t see it coming.

Go Daddy is negotiating with Canadian regulators to get something workable before the commercial airs, according to the story.

Registrar renames Executive Accounts as Premier Services and makes program more exclusive.

Go Daddy’s Executive Accounts program is getting a makeover.

The department will be renamed Premier Services while setting new minimum guidelines and managing customers on a tiered system.

Previously, customers with about 300 domain names were part of the Executive Accounts program. These customers were assigned a dedicated account manager and given other benefits, such as added account security tools.

Premier Services sets a higher bar for inclusion and splits customers into Gold and Platinum status.

To qualify you must have at least 250 domain names registered at Go Daddy (not including .info domains). You also must spend at least $2,000 at Go Daddy on a rolling six month basis.

If you do the math, merely keeping 250 domains with Go Daddy won’t be enough to be part of the program on an ongoing basis. Additional purchases (such as auctions) or more domain registrations will be required to hit the $2,000 spend requirement per six months.

Meeting the 250 domains/$2,000 number makes you a Gold customer. You’ll be assigned an account executive, but that person will work with a team of about 17 people to manage your account. While you can always reach the account manager, you’ll have expanded service hours in which you can reach anyone on the team.

If you spend $18,000 or more a year then you’ll qualify for Platinum. Platinum teams are smaller and handle fewer accounts, giving more personalized attention.

Tyler Wirtjes, VP of Customer Care Operations for Go Daddy, told Domain Name Wire that the goal is to provide better service to key customers such as domainers and developers.

The old executive accounts team managed about 12,000 customers. The number that qualify for Premier Services will be lower and should result in more individualized attention.

For now, pricing for customers will remain what it was under the Executive Accounts program.

Notifications about the change are being sent to customers starting this afternoon.

Second “sunrise” auction features 135 .info domain names.

Afilias and Go Daddy are teaming up for a second .info auction consisting of domain names originally reserved in the .info sunrise period in 2001.

The auction includes 135 .info domain names that were claimed as trademarks in the sunrise period, but the sunrise applications were later deemed invalid.

The previous auction of over 100 domain names included cancer.info (which sold for $16,005 to an Arizona home care agency) and loans.info (which sold for $12,205).

Inventory for the auction has been posted but it doesn’t kick off until January 15. It will run through January 2625.

Top domains include:

Home.info
Autos.info
Boat.info
Stamps.info
Fashion.info
Beer.info
Social.info
Media.info

Starting bids are $100 with no reserve.

Minimum offer prices should reduce number of unqualified offers.

When GoDaddy.com started listing “make offer” domains from Sedo and Afternic, many domainers reported a flood of unqualified offers.

One domain investor even removed all of his listings from SedoMLS to stop the unqualified offers.

It looks like the message was received.

Afternic announced today that its unpriced syndicated listings on Go Daddy will now show your minimum offer price. The company is encouraging customers who have listed unpriced domains to update their minimum offer prices to reflect what they expect for the domain.

Here’s the full message:

We wanted to let you know of a recent change with one of our largest reseller partners, GoDaddy. Recently, GoDaddy began accepting offers on unpriced domains listed on Afternic. As you may know, this resulted in a large volume of unqualified buyers, with unrealistic expectations on sale price.

We are excited to announce that GoDaddy will now be displaying on their site the minimum offer amount on your domains as you have them set on Afternic. This represents a tremendous benefit to you, as you now have the opportunity to receive more qualified offers than in the past.

In order to benefit from this, we are requesting that you update your minimum offers on your domains listed on Afternic to reflect your true expectations on sales price for your unpriced domains. Setting an appropriate minimum offer (versus the default $250) will lead to more qualified inquiries, and potentially increase your sales velocity!

Israeli model is also a .me fan.

Israeli model Bar Refaeli will star alongside Danica Patrick in one of Go Daddy’s Super Bowl Commercials this year, the company announced today.

A press release from the company doesn’t mention a connection Refaeli has to Go Daddy: she’s a .me user. Go Daddy is a partner in the registry that runs .me.

In 2011 Refaeli teamed up with former model Dudi Balsar to launch under.me, a line of underwear sold online. (That’s where the photo on the right comes from.)

(Michael Berkens owns Underme.com, which forwards to Under.me. I’ll reach out to him and ask why.)

Refaeli took the top spot on the Maxim Hot 100 list for 2012.

The Super Bowl Commercial, titled “Perfect Match”, will be Rafaeli’s first Super Bowl ad appearance.

This will be Go Daddy’s ninth consecutive Super Bowl. Its controversial early Super Bowl commercials are largely credited with putting it on the mainstream map.

.Co will also return for a commercial with Go Daddy this year — its third consecutive appearance.