It doesn’t require rocket scientist-like brains to do a “go figure” with the recent advertising aired at the Super Bowl by GoDaddy.com.
They were racy and “offensive” to many, including the evangelical community at large. As reported by Wired:
During Sunday’s Super Bowl telecast, the domain registrar and hosting company ran two sexually suggestive ads featuring auto racer Danica Patrick — one featuring Patrick and a few busty models tossing around double-entendres about their breast size, and another featuring Patrick stripping down and stepping into a shower.
In the hours after the game ended, Harrell says he began receiving complaints from his Christian clients, who demanded their hosting and e-mail services be moved to a different provider.
And the calls kept coming. By Tuesday, Harrell says he has orders to move 20 of his clients’ domains off of GoDaddy’s hosting service and another 40 off of its web-based e-mail service. He anticipates more calls as word spreads across the Christian community.
From one perspective, GoDaddy’s marketing team are a bunch of geniuses: There advertisements are (unfortunately) close to unforgettable and their brand is well “situated” in the mind of many. They are memorable which means that people use them for their services.
And apparently Harrell is going to continue campaigning against GoDaddy. Is this the “right” response?
So, do you host with GoDaddy.com? Are you thinking about leaving? Love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks to @jonese for the tip!
I had just purchased 2 domain names with GoDaddy for missionaries about a month ago. Now I feel like dirt. I don't think we want mission websites registered with GoDaddy. Who do you suggest I move registration to?
I think 1and1.com is an excellent domain name registrar. Competitive prices for the service you get.
what do you think about having your domains registered with your hosting provider?
No, I don't host with godaddy but my domains are there. They will be moved over the course of this year. I would move all of them right now if it wasn't such a large number.
and where are you moving them to?
I thought the ads were dumb. It was clear what their intent was, but I didn't even consider it effective. If I WERE using godaddy I probably wouldn't leave, on my own accord anyway, not worth the trouble to me and I think it wouldn't really accomplish anything. BUT, if enough do leave, maybe it will send an effective message, I'd be on board with that.
As for hosting, we use Media Temple. I like MT because they seem to care about their customers and respond to our requests.
word up. i like MT too. they are my homeboys.
I'm also a race fan, so this stuff really hit me between the eyes, lol.
They've been risque with their motorcycle models in commercials and all over their site the last 5 years or so, and will definitely not be getting any business of mine. I think Danica's going to take a hit for this one for sure, although she's been in the negative spotlight the last year already. I'm just hoping she really doesn't make the leap over to the Nascar circuit, and that this company's other model (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) hasn't had to go the "shower scene" route. I think this was a decision by Danica as much as GoDaddy, but they'll feel the impact soon enough.
I host everything with hostgator.com. Props to Christians actually taking a stand and guarding morals.
hostgator, eh? how's your experience been?
Thought I'd return and make a second comment after seeing a blogger I respect tweet (link below) that they they won't be renewing with GoDaddy. Looks like this hit will definitely be noticeable!
http://twitter.com/boomama/status/1170523975
We hosted with GoDaddy for a long time then their ads and marketing started getting really sexual online. We made the decision a few months ago to ditch them and made the switch to bluehost.com and I have to say that the SuperBowl ads only heightened the conviction that we did the right thing. Besides, Blue Host is so awesome, we've ditched a morally questionable company for a more professional looking service that has worked flawlessly.
how's your experience been overall?
I'm new to the domain scene, so I went with GoDaddy for a new blog (not yet launched) literally the day before these ads aired. I'm definitely bothered by the ads, especially since my blog will have a spiritual focus. However, the whole setting up the website was piece-o-cake easy, and their support documentation is some of the best I've seen for ANY company, let alone a webhosting service.
I'd like to take the "moral high ground" but considering that I've never been a big fan of boycotting a company based on ethics, and (like a previous commenter said) if I want to do that for GoDaddy I'll have to be consistent and do that for everything I consume, and I honestly just don't have time for that.
Bryan Cook
@BryanCook on Twitter
well said here bro. well said.
I think it's a legit point. I do hover thing we must take this principle across the board if we're going to scrutinize every advertisement. There are plenty of other companies 'we' use that have 'immoral' advertisements. Immoral doesn't always include sexual innuendo. Just a thought. If you apply it for one, you should apply it for all areas of your life.
good point.
GoDaddy has been doing this every year as far back as I remember and every year they talk about how they were banned from airing ads at the superbowl or ads that were rejected.
For some reason this year they were not.
Is that due to our threshold for what is unacceptable behavior has changed or the fact that the economy has made it harder for networks to reject advertisers?
perhaps. money money money.
I would reccomend Media Temple, it's the best quality on the web. Their most affordable package is about $20 a month but they have the best quality and they've served clients ranging from small businesses to Sony, NBC, Starbuckss etc..
i heart MT.
um, my wife made me close my eyes…what happened?
haha.
This is not new. GoDaddy has had racy ads for years. Mostly on their website. I used to have 50 domains with GoDaddy and I have been transferring them away after their first Super Bowl ad a few years back.
where are you placing them instead?
I moved my domains to 1and1 but now I am considering moving them to NameCheap.com since 1and1 only allows for one year at a time registrations which are bad for SEO.
doh!
well, you could actually move them to dreamhost…! and manage them all from there if you wanted!
I am looking into this with Hostgator.com, but 1and1.com has a referral domain purchase setup as well, so I might check them out this week.
Hostgator's been great so far. Been using them for 3 months now, no isses and live support is great. One-click installs a breeze.
Hostgator is great for shared hosting services. For dedicated, I'd go elsewhere. HostGator did update their servers recently and replaced the php.ini files that caused some unnecessary headaches!
sweet. i'll hvae to check them out.
how about the simple point that GoDaddy now charges more than most for domains? Many other companies still charge $8.95 for just about all the domains…and I know some people (like human3rror) has a million domains and every dollar counts!
2 million.
;0
hmm. nice.
As Thomas said, this isn't new for GoDaddy. I decided a few years ago that I couldn't in good conscience host a site with them no matter what their pricing was. I've been using LunarPages.com instead for my projects. So far I haven't had any problems or concerns.
Thanks! let me check them out
I thought it was hysterical that you linked the videos given the relative controversy.
I don't host with GoDaddy but this discussion raised some valid points. So if you move your blog to a new hosting company and they pull the same stunt — how many jumps do you make before you just give up? (Moving a domain isn't exactly a walk in the park.)
yeah. it isn't easy… well… it can be, but, you've gotta know the “what” and “how”… do it once, adn you're good to go!
P.S.
I just noticed the Google Friend Connect at the bottom of your page. That's hawt.
pretty cool huh?
We just left GoDaddy and switched to Hostgator.com. I have been contemplating this for some time with Covenant Eyes leaving them too (http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2009/09/01/covenanteyescom-no-longer-registered-with-go-daddy/). Finally made the labourous switch even when it cost me.
I have 100 domains on Godaddy and i can say that this company is very reputable.*~,
ah. thanks.