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Beware this PayPal invoice for GoDaddy domains

by — Domain Registrars 8 Comments

Scammer is sending PayPal invoices for domain renewals.

Fake domain name renewal emails are nothing new, but some aspects of one making the rounds are.

A Domain Name Wire reader received a fake renewal notice today. Instead of being sent from the scammer, the person sent it as a PayPal invoice. Here’s what it looks like:

A PayPal invoice with the GoDaddy logo on it

A message on the invoice states:

The paid registration period of the domain [domain] expired. It is necessary to pay for the prolongation of domain name within a day from the date of having notice. We would like to inform you that if payment is not made within the specified time frame, domain delegation will be terminated. The domain will be deleted from the registry and can be accessible for registration to other customers.

The link goes directly to PayPal to make the payment, and the invoice includes the GoDaddy logo:

PayPal invoice

Anyone can upload the logo of their choice when sending PayPal invoices. They’re supposed to use their own logo, though.

Clearly, the scammer is harvesting Whois to send these invoices.

The good news is that PayPal offers buyer protection, even for intangible goods. I suspect PayPal will be on to this quickly as it has systems in place to prevent scams.

Upgrading GoDaddy two-factor authentication to a physical key

by — Domain Registrars 4 Comments

It’s a lot faster to log in with a physical key.

Photo of a Yubi FIDO U2F key in a black laptop. The Key is blue with a gold key emblem on a wood grain backgrond

A physical security key, like this one from Yubi, is more secure and also faster to use.

At NamesCon in January, GoDaddy promoted the ability to use physical security keys that use the FIDO U2F standard for two-factor authentication.

I already use a key for Google, so this was interesting to me. Not only is this more secure, but it’s much faster to use than an app-based two-factor code.

Before switching to a physical key with GoDaddy, here’s what my login process looked like:

1. Access GoDaddy
2. Damn, I’ve timed out. Need to log in again
3. Locate my phone (I left it upstairs again!) and open authenticator app
4. Type code from app into my laptop browser window

Using a physical key is much easier. After entering my login credentials, all I have to do is touch the blue Yubi key inserted in my laptop (see picture above) rather than find my phone, opening the app, and typing the six-digit code. (You can also use Bluetooth keys.)

GoDaddy login screen asking to confirm physical hardware key

Until GoDaddy released its new iOS Investor app, you couldn’t use a physical security key to log in on GoDaddy.com and then use app-based login on the app. The new app fixes this problem. Just set up app-based as your backup two-factor login.

.Com winners and Losers: Dynadot stays hot

by — Domain Registrars 9 Comments

Dynadot remains in the top ten registrars for new .com registrations.

Image of man running up column chart with words "Top 10 Registrars"

ICANN has published the latest official data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) about the .com namespace. This registrar-by-registrar report covers April 2019.

Dynadot jumped into the top ten last month and it managed to stay there again this month. Dynadot has stopped its $6.99 promotional price on .com, so it will be interesting to see what happens when the Verisign/ICANN reports catch up to September.

NameSilo nudged its way back into the top 10 this month.

Also notable on the monthly chart is that Web.com (Network Solutions, Register.com) fell out of the top 10.

Here’s how registrars did in terms of new .com registrations:

1. GoDaddy.com* (NYSE: GDDY) 936,916 (970,751 in April)
2. Xin Net Technology Corporation 244,299 (324,617)
3. Tucows** (NASDAQ:TCX) 194,947 (191,620)
4. Chengdu West 157,668 (82,351)
5. NameCheap Inc. 154,281 (152,606)
6. Endurance+ (NASDAQ: EIGI) 127,762 (125,059)
7. Alibaba (HiChina) 127,090 (130,946)
8. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) 119,903 (119,976)
9. NameSilo (CSE:URL) 86,680
10. Dynadot 85,307 (104,837)

Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations as of the end of May 2019.

1. GoDaddy* 51,026,467 (50,940,640 in April)
2. Tucows** 12,410,988 (12,484,323)
3. Endurance+ 6,981,256 (7,026,808)
4. Web.com++ 6,677,492 (6,713,881)
5. Alibaba 6,308,304 (6,288,135)
6. United Internet^ 5,575,836 (5,609,664)
7. Namecheap 4,799,244(4,745,085)
8. Xin Net Technology Corporation 3,982,474 (3,814,331)
9. Google 2,506,924 (2,434,742)
10. GMO 2,062,451 (2,026,751)

Many domain companies have multiple accreditations and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.

* Includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains and 123 Reg
** Includes Tucows and Enom
+ Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain and Bigrock. There are other Endurance registrars, but these are the biggest.
++ Includes Network Solutions and Register.com
^ Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys and world4you

GoDaddy launches updated Investor iOS app

by — Domain Registrars 7 Comments

Update app is a complete rebuild that will lead to new features in the future.

Screenshots of the new GoDaddy Investor app for iOS - iPhone and iPad

GoDaddy has launched an updated GoDaddy Investor iOS app for bidding on domain name auctions. A new Android app should be released in the coming weeks.

The updated app has a new look. It also lets you sort your lists by end time, price, alpha and auction type.

While the features aren’t a big upgrade from the last version, a lot has been done behind the scenes that will lead to big updates in the future, including the ability to search for domains. (Right now you have to add domains through the web interface for them to show up in the app.)

Also, the app fixes an issue for people that use a physical security key for two-factor authentication. They can use app-based two-factor codes to log into the app now.

How to improve GoDaddy appraisals

by — Domain Registrars 4 Comments

Picture of a GoDaddy appraisal for the domain Improve.com showing a valuation of greater than 25,000

There was some debate on twitter this weekend about GoDaddy domain appraisals. This debate will never end but I have some suggestions for GoDaddy to improve its tool.

1. Change the language for domains greater than $25,000

Automated appraisals break down when domains are very valuable. GoDaddy displays the message “more than $25,000” for domains that are worth more than $25,000. People seem to focus on the $25,000 number anyway and complain about the value being “only $25,000”.

GoDaddy should consider changing this language to say something like “HIGH Value: this domain is a high value domain, and our systems aren’t currently able to appraise…” or something like that.

2. Change the threshold for high value domains

Based on what I’ve seen, domains that value for more than $10k might well fall into the $25k plus category. So it probably makes sense to apply this HIGH label to domains valued at over $10k or so.

3. Remove new TLD valuations

GoDaddy seems to have improved valuations of new TLDs but there’s still not enough data to back up the values. I’d remove any TLD for which there aren’t enough comps. Valuations shouldn’t be based on a percentage of value of another TLD.

4. Add a time-factor

A legitimate criticism is that you can plug valuable keywords into the appraisal system and get valuations over $1,000 even if the domain isn’t registered. I just entered MortgageCorn.com and the valuation tool says it’s worth $1,377. MortgageSeltzer.com appraises for slightly less.

One way to prevent this from happening is by adding a time factor into valuations of domains registered for less than one year. So domains registered less than one month appraise at registration fee, and then values slowly creep up over time.

I know it’s just a hack, but it will solve the problem.