In response to Standard Tactics coverage, GoDaddy has changed starting bids on TDNAM auctions.
Last week I mentioned that GoDaddy was making a change to its TDNAM auctions based on some of my commentary on Standard Tactics. In my commentary I had suggested that, by setting minimum bid prices higher than the standard $10 bid price, GoDaddy was effectively bidding against its customers on TDNAM.
In response, GoDaddy has changed how it prices expired domains. All domains now start with a $10 bid and the auction information includes a “valuation” price. Although the site doesn’t describe what “valuation” is, it appears to be the price that the auction would have started at under the old system.
In the above example, dirtymovie.org has a starting bid of $10 and a valuation of $920. Instead of having to bid $920 to win the domain name under the old system, you can now bid as little as $10.
Go Daddy Group CEO Bob Parsons told me about the change during our phone conversation last week. He said he hadn’t thought of the minimum bids as “bidding against customers”. When he looked at it that way he decided it should be changed.
I’m looking forward to discussing GoDaddy with Parsons on his weekly radio show tomorrow. Given the change the company has already made to TDNAM, it shows that the company is open to criticism and willing to address issues: it now suspends domains with invalid whois rather than deleting them, and no longer allows employees to bid on TDNAM auctions.
Be sure to tune into RadioGoDaddy Wednesday at 4 PM EST to listen to the live broadcast.
So what happens to dirtymovie.org if it’s “worth $920” and nobody picks it up on tdnam ? How many domains that godaddy finds worth a certain amount aren’t put in to the system with their valuations, ie. hidden like a needle in the haystack ? This is a nice attempt to make folks feel that they are doing good but the real problem hasn’t been addressed.
Adam, I think it addresses the problem of the company “bidding against” its customers. Frankly, I’m surprised they are adding this valuation data at all. I assumed they would just include the traffic data and let people decide for themselves.
Wow. Hats off to GoDaddy. Doing this definitely makes me feel a bit better about them and the whole situation. Being screwed by eNom with a very similar event, I have no remorse for companies that participate in actions like this… but this is DEFINITELY something VERY GOOD on behalf of GoDaddy.
You mean Hats Off to Andrew. It was his investigative journalism that compelled these changes for the benefit of consumers. Great job Andrew, you set a real example for jouranlist-bloggers and have reason to be quite proud.
Great news Andrew…Hats off to you AND Godaddy. Now if they would make privacy a bit cheaper.
This is certainly a step in the right direction, but GoDaddy’s unethical ‘Standard Tactics,’ domain warehousing, practices remain. I look forward to hearing Bob Parsons’ argument about that tomorrow. After Andrew’s ‘grilling,’ that will hopefully stop as well.
Andrew,
Great job and thanks.
Thanks for shaking up GoDaddy’s auction system and helping the average customer save tons of money.
I think GoDaddy will actually see a more active bidding platform…hopefully benefiting everyone!
Thanks,
Paul Kapschock
Way to make a difference Andrew. Keep doing what you do.
Don’t be fooled by Go Daddy’s recent actions. If they were about ensuring domainers got a fair shake, there would be no need to list a “valuation price.” What’s the purpose . . . to create an atmosphere of greed and bring up the bidding amounts.
Please address how Go Daddy is going to continue to feed the Standard Tactics machine. There is no way they will let this cash cow go down without a fight.
Wow!! That will be a big money for Godaddy. They are the one whose gonna earn more from this.
Any clue about what parameters are used to calculate the “valuation” price?
@ Guillermo 12 – I think it’s one year of PPC earnings. But depending on how they calculate it, it probably over-estimates.
Thank you Andrew.
Guillermo 12 – The minimum bid that GoDaddy set in the past was 1 year of earnings from their perspective (100% revenue share).
Now the valuation is between 5-10 years of earnings. They have changed it completely.