They are known for selling domain searches to squatters. It goes something like this:
1. You search for a domain
2. Praise Jesus! It's available!
3. You come back in 24 hours.
4. :( sorry, a squatter has taken it because GoDaddy whored out your search to them.
I can't believe nobody else managed to get the "place where you buy domain names" brand. It's sad.
Disclaimer: I have 4 personal sites registered with godaddy. I was using a couple others, but I transferred them all to godaddy for simplicity's sake.
[1]http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/01/08/networksolutions-scandal-...
I do dislike some things about them (the cleavage in the ads is a cheap trick and their UI is terrible), but:
1. Great prices.
2. Amazing support(for the price).
3. I respect Bob Parsons and really enjoy reading his blog posts which always share hard data which is rare and helpful.
4. It works! (I have a number of servers with them and hundreds of domains and it's been 100% reliable for me in the past 5+ years)
If GoDaddy had an API so I could develop an alternative UI for their services, I would never consider leaving them (besides hosting--for big sites I use other providers).
Pleased to make your acquaintance. You now know at least one person who does not hate GoDaddy.
I buy domain names there. They are cheap and have never treated me poorly. I used to buy hosting there. They were cheap and never treated me poorly (and I'd still be there if I didn't catch Rails fever, which means $4 a month Linux hosting is a bit beneath my needs these days).
Of course, FYI, I was closing the account because their website couldn't keep me logged in and the navigation was terrible. Also, the way they bind your account to a single "master" domain name, and then other domains are served out of subdirectories of that main domain's directory is bassackward, which made it really hard to work with someone else who wasn't technically inclined in terms of putting files on the websites I had hosted there.
However, I'm still a customer for all of my .ca (Canada) sites and hosting for my girlfriend's business because:
1. Prices are very cheap
2. They are the most credible and inexpensive .ca domain registrar that I've found
3. Customer service is decent
For my own startup it's AWS all the way...
I admire Parsons because he built two successful tech startups from scratch a Silicon Valley outsider. When you think about it, all the GoDaddy girls and upsells are just a different flavor of the VC whoring that goes on in other parts of the industry.
1. My sample is not representative, and many people do feel great about Godaddy.
2. Bob Parsons knows that Godaddy sucks, but he's a salesman and he's selling the brand as he'd like it to be.
3. Bob Parsons actually thinks that Godaddy is an amazing company and a strong brand.
Which is it?