Monday, June 16, 2014

Go Daddy’s Preparing For IPO As Their Customers Are Being Gouged

 
Go Daddy

Go Daddy became a name in domain registration and hosting, as they started off as a small company, offering the lowest prices. As a result, they gained many customers and the company gained billions in revenues. 

However, Hollywood stepped into the picture, nagging and harassing Go Daddy to support such items as SOPA and do their bidding in removing sites from the internet (canceling hosting) the entertainment industry took issue with (some for copyright infringement, other over free speech in conduct that is unconstitutional and fraudulent). As a result ,Go Daddy lost 40,000,000 in one month. Since joining forces with Hollywood, GO Daddy has been steadily loosing hundreds of millions of dollars per year, as attested by published company financial data revealing the significant losses. 

The ironic thing is Go Daddy is worth more than each studios in Hollywood, yet they‘ve allowed them to lead them down a bad business path. Hollywood and the music industry have been experiencing record revenue declines, several on the brink of financial collapse, yet this is who Go Daddy is listening to in the business world, to take them down with them.

Now in preparation for its IPO, Go Daddy has been gouging customers. People chose their service for the low prices. However, Go Daddy has raised the prices of domains. They’ve also cancel renewal coupons customers rely on to gain discounts on their domains. As it stands, Go Daddy is no longer the lowest price domain and hosting company. They’ve raised prices on products between 15-70%. That’s no way to do business. That’s how you lose customers.

Go Daddy has a lot of disgruntled customers due to these price hikes, who are online vowing on various sites, to take their business elsewhere. Go Daddy needs to get it together before they make this IPO, lest it turn into a disaster over customers who are headed for the door.

STORY SOURCE

GoDaddy Files for U.S. IPO of Internet Domain Name Marketplace

Jun 10, 2014 12:01 AM ET June 20 (Bloomberg) - Bloomberg’s Leslie Picker reports on GoDaddy’s IPO plans and looks into the company’s business history and how it may use cash gained from the offering. She speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” “It’s Go Time” for GoDaddy Inc.’s initial public offering. The tag line from the company’s advertisements also reflects the beginning of its official process to tap the public markets. GoDaddy, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, filed with a $100 million placeholder, without specifying the number or price range of shares it will sell, according to yesterday’s prospectus. Those details will be provided closer to the IPO. 

The company has raised its profile in recent years with advertising campaigns featuring celebrities like race-car driver Danica Patrick and Israeli model Bar Refaeli. Almost 13 percent of the $1.1 billion GoDaddy posted in revenue at the end of 2013 was spent on advertising and marketing. The company’s loss narrowed last year to about $200 million, from $279 million in 2012, according to the filing. At the end of last year, GoDaddy had 57 million domains under management, the filing shows. The company derives most of its revenue from selling the domains and Web-hosting products... 

http://www.bloomberg.com