Go Daddy pulls in top honors in this year’s Domain Name Wire survey.
Getting buzz from Super Bowl commercials isn’t the only thing domain name registrar Go Daddy does well.
For the fifth year in a row, the registrar has been rated best registrar in Domain Name Wire’s annual survey. This year 41% of those survey said Go Daddy was the best domain name registrar.
Here are the top five vote-getters:
1. GoDaddy 41%
2. Moniker 16%
3. Fabulous 11%
4. eNom 5%
5. Name.com 4%
The rankings remain mostly unchanged from last year, with one major addition: Name.com. Making the top five is especially surprising given that it isn’t a top 20 registrar in terms of registrations. That means it wasn’t even an option on the survey, and all votes it received were write-ins. The registrar is popular amongst domainers and has a presence at most domain shows.
Just off the list is another write-in registrar: DynaDot.
Although the selection list is limited to top 20 registrars, next year we’ll add Name.com and DynaDot given their positive showing as write-in candidates.
When looking only at domain owners with 1,000 or more domains, GoDaddy still takes top honors. Moniker and Fabulous swap places.
To rate and review domain name registrars, visit RegistrarJudge.com.
seriously makes me wonder who is taking your survey andrew. you need to start tracking IPs . . .I’m betting a lot are from Arizona.
eh, “domaineer”, don’t you have a lot of domains with GoDaddy?
The survey would have to favor godaddy since they have the most domains regged by far. Not all taking the survey are pro domainers so it makes sense that godaddy would be #1.
Godaddy’s interface is pretty complex and they keep changing it. They must spend a lot of time (money) on the phone with newbies explaining how to do simple things.
A side note about godaddy; On differenet occasions I have moved large #’s of domains into godaddy (mostly junky stuff). They do not automatically give refunds for failed transfers. You have to call and specifically ask for a refund. I’m surprised you don’t hear more about that. It must lead to a lot of extra rev for them. I’ve noticed this over the course of 5 years, so there is nothing new about it. It’s not a glitch. It is the policy. It is the main reason I don’t even move junk into Godaddy anymore.
@ Lance, what was interesting this year is that even when I filtered for responses from people with 1,000 or more domains, GoDaddy still came out on top. In past years it hasn’t.
I agree with most of the other comments. GoDaddy is the #1 Marketeer to newbies that know very little about domains or hosting because if they did, they wouldn’t be using GoDaddy :). Besides, GoDaddy can circumvent ICANN regulations without a problem. They sorta make their own rules when it comes to domain industry regulations.
Name.com is a decent registrar and their price is better than GoDaddy too. I’m really surprised my favorite all time registrar didn’t make the list, Fabulous.com… Now that’s a great registrar for professionals.
I’m surprised as well, I can’t see how anybody could possibly like GoDaddy that owns more than a couple of domains. Their system is an absolute nightmare. I’d be interested in seeing the IP addresses as well, there’s got to be a good number from Arizona.
@ Jacob – no abnormalities in the voting. But keep in mind, of course, that this is an unscientific survey. Everyone self-selected.
Well the upside to godaddy for large domainers is the auction venue which seems to be atracting more of an audience.
Also if your domains are stolen at Godaddy, at least you have a very large target to sue ie Godaddy. On the flip side they’ve got the lawyers to keep you at bay.
Also, the account manager they provide for larger accounts is nice and helps smooth over problems when they occur. That said, they change your account manager almost every year, so there is not point in getting know them. Also t hey usually just give you canned answers. Like “No there is no way you can transfer out your domain if you have updated the whois info in the last 60 days.” hen infact they can
I’m probably down about $1200 in over charges over the last 7 years. Also they auto renew services without asking eg parking which I never signed up for in the first place and their reseller program which I was never able to figure out.
Despite all this I still have over 1000 junky domains there but I wouldn’t feel comfortable keeping good domains there.
I still use them because the pricing is OK and the bulk tools are OK and the interface is complicated but not buggy.
I don’t login that often and it seems I have to constantly re-learn how to use the interface becaus they change it so often.
Also the interface is too clumsy and slow for fast bulk hand regging.
All in all you get what you pay for at godaddy.
Some of the issues mentioned at nodaddy.com
are also important.
I assume Bob Parson made his staff vote for GoDaddy in your survey.
GoDaddy is awesome! I have thousands of domains and not a major hitch ever.
They also have the best interface and tools for domain owners.
How can anyone say any other registrar is better?
Moniker, eNom, etc. are all way more cumbersome to use, charge more, and don’t provide as many services.
You get great customer support with a GoDaddy Exective Account also. I think it is 500 domains or more and you can get one. Direct line, personal attention, intelligent and knowledgeable reps, etc…
GoDaddy is the best there is so far.
@andrew Yep, but there’s no way i’d vote them #1 at anything. Did/would you ?
hi, usually it depends on the quality of your domain name you want to sell. but, friendly, I prefer SEDO for selling/buying domain names.
I find Godaddy too much sofisticated and there is too much publicity.
Well, just an opinion…
Hi Belmassio, what department do you work for at GoDaddy? That couldn’t have sounded more like an advertisement. There are a few good things about GoDaddy, but saying they have the “best interface” is laughable as that is where most people have the problems with them.
I used to have all my domains at Fabulous and voted for it last year. I love Fabulous’ bulk tools. This year, Fab implemented free privacy which had a few glitches, also with tier pricing it was more expensive than godaddy (domain discount pricing). So I switched to Godaddy. What I like with Godaddy so far is that I can call and talk to a US based tech. You like it or not, so far I have been very happy with the customer service that Godaddy delivers. The bulk tools are not perfect but improved a lot over the years. I can manage 1500+ domains without any issues. If I can’t do sth in bulk easily, I give a call and they take care of it.
I use godaddy and I’ve been pleased with them.
Enom on the other hand suck.
I’d agree with most the comments about Godaddy. When I was a newbie I started off using them (purely because I bought a domain from someone who held it at Godaddy and so I needed an account for the push). But after hating their backend I quickly changed and have never used since. Does make you wonder how (more) successful they would be if they cleaned up their interface, kept it simple and stopped messing about with it.
The best registrar by far is Netfirms.com, and I’ve tried them all. Cheap + free privacy + ease of use and good support.