Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#351

Post by weddpros » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:01 PM UTC

TobTobXX wrote: post #329

lordnacho wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Namecheap is so much better than godaddy. Interface : just give me the records. I don't want to buy more stuff. Somehow namecheap lets me but the same extras like email, without badgering me. Godaddy is just ads ads ads and interfaces to sell stuff to people who aren't tech savvy. Squatting: this definitely happens with godaddy, like the OP says. Never use them, it's a disgusting practice. I use namecheap for dozens…

> I only used godaddy once because I couldn't get the tld on namecheap. Interesting... I'd love to get a .as domain, but Namecheap don't offer that. Does GoDaddy have more TLDs or where would you suggest to look for obscure TLDs?

Can I recommend gandi.net as a way to check your domains? It's just what I'm using, and their whois interface is really nice imho

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#352

Post by nolok » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:02 PM UTC

timcederman wrote: post #252

ted0 wrote: post #226

Ted from Namecheap here. I cannot speak to GoDaddy's practices. However, I can say that for Namecheap, this is not something we would ever even consider doing. In my experience though, lookups are more complex than most think. We are querying so many different sources to give you availability status, some of which are less reliable than others. For example, with smaller TLDs like .ai or .is, lookups may be less relia…

Hi Ted - can you speak to Namecheap's stance on bulk spam domain registrations and the fact that Namecheap does nothing to stop it? There has been (at least in the Bay Area) a large increase in text spam. They all have a very similar format, e.g. pretending you missed a delivery, and try to get you to click on a link, usually a .info domain. They are all hosted on Alibaba Cloud, but they are registered in bulk via Na…

You really, really don't want registrars to enter that game.

A registrar is simple: request a domain, they check you match the requirement for said domain rules, take your money and register the domain for you. Very simple, very stupid, very non-opiniated.

If registrars start deciding who is worthy of domains, what arbitrary set of rules they want you to follow on top of the real ones, what set of laws they act as judge for ... Things would go wrong insanely quickly.

If the price of that is that they let abusers through too then fine, they're not the justice department either way and if they apply the judicial decision once those abusers are caught, that's all we should ask from them.

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#353

Post by erickf1 » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:03 PM UTC

I had the same experience with GoDaddy. I searched a domain name, which was available. The next morning I attempted to purchase the domain and it was owned by GoDaddy.com. I also had a domain with them for 9 years, which expired for a day and when we tried to renew, they owned it and were selling it for a much higher rate. BIG, BIG WARNING! Do not use GoDaddy to search for domain names. I would stay away from them period.

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#354

Post by bluedevil2k » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

I have a similar sorry about the scuzziness of GoDaddy. When Apple first announced the Swift programming language at their wWWDC i immediately went to GoDaddy to register every Swift related domain I could think of - learnswift.com, swift-tutorial.com type domains. I added several and in the process of checking out (which used to be like 7 steps as each step along they way they tried to trick you into buying something else), the price of the domains went from $14 each to $2000+ each. They had suddenly realized the value of the domains while they were in my shopping cart and raised the price.

Another GoDaddy sucks story, which happened to me several times before I dropped them. Good luck canceling an SSL certificate - they will still treat it as a valid SSL very that needs to get re-cert’ed every year and they’ll charge you full price, $79, up to 3 months ahead of its expiration! I’m 100% positive I canceled an SSL very and ensured it was removed from my Renewals and of course, they still charged for a renewal.

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#355

Post by renewiltord » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

ted0 wrote: post #339

renewiltord wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've loved Namecheap for as long as I've had it. I only switched to Google Domains because that gives me auto-verification in GCP.

How can we win you back?!

Well, when .dev came out, there was a scramble and Google Domains was being slow af and you guys weren't, so I have my .dev on a 10 year with you. So I guess the answer for what worked in the past is: you let me register when I could.

The reasons I transferred to Google Domains are:

* I found the interface easier to use: fewer clicks to DNS, email, etc.

* The features are easily visible

* Auto-verification in GCP

I understand, of course, if you can't deal with or prioritize any of these. Hope the feedback helps.

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#356

Post by gmays » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

GoDaddy responded to this thread in the article here: https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d...

> “GoDaddy never has and never will register domain names based on customer searches. This is an unethical and predatory practice that runs counter to our mission of helping people bring their ideas to life online with the best possible domain name.”

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#357

Post by bifrost » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

I'd recommend nobody use GoDaddy, ever.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070829115722/http://www.nodadd...

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#358

Post by PhilosAccnting » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:06 PM UTC

timcederman wrote: post #252

ted0 wrote: post #226

Ted from Namecheap here. I cannot speak to GoDaddy's practices. However, I can say that for Namecheap, this is not something we would ever even consider doing. In my experience though, lookups are more complex than most think. We are querying so many different sources to give you availability status, some of which are less reliable than others. For example, with smaller TLDs like .ai or .is, lookups may be less relia…

Hi Ted - can you speak to Namecheap's stance on bulk spam domain registrations and the fact that Namecheap does nothing to stop it? There has been (at least in the Bay Area) a large increase in text spam. They all have a very similar format, e.g. pretending you missed a delivery, and try to get you to click on a link, usually a .info domain. They are all hosted on Alibaba Cloud, but they are registered in bulk via Na…

The trouble with free speech is that it hurts people who get hit by it (e.g., scams, defamation/slander/libel, intrusive advertising).

The trouble with regulating speech is that the regulators have become a type of autocratic judge presiding over the decision.

The only cure to allow regulation AND autocracy would require some level of distribution of power. We've seen councils of industry leaders before, and this may be a good chance for an enterprising NPOer (NPOneur? NPOinator?).

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#359

Post by svdr » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:06 PM UTC

nhumrich wrote: post #342

svdr wrote: post #325

A very quick and safe way to check if a domain is in use is to query for NS records (e.g. $dig ycombinator.com NS). This will give some false positives though.

Sorry to sound pedantic, Im just trying to make sure I understand correctly. A false positive would be domain doesn't exist but it has NS records, and a false negative would be does exist but doesn't have MX records. Is that right? This would only create false negatives, correct?

Positive for me would be that a domain is free, so a false positive is a domain that seems to be free (no NS record) but is in fact taken (because it is registered but nothing has been added to the DNS). But you're right, my wording wasn't precise.

Re: Tell HN: Never search for domains on Godaddy.com

#360

Post by ted0 » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 8:06 PM UTC

ddingus wrote: post #340

danellis wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But can you please start handling .name domains? I have one last domain I want to transfer from Gandi. Your support agent spent five minutes trying to convince me that I didn't own a domain in xxx.yyy.name format, and that the reason it wasn't transfering is because I should be using yyy.name, before talking to a supervisor and finding out that you don't handle them anyway.

Why are people moving from Gandi? Just wondering if I should be aware of something... If I do move, Namecheap it will be, given this discussion.

We have always liked and respected the folks over at Gandi. They were recently acquired by private equity so not sure what their plans are. Regardless, we'd be happy to have you.