GoDaddy Introduce Bidder IDs in Auctions

[Bob Hawkes]

Starting AFTER tomorrow (Apr 11) GoDaddy will introduce buyer IDs for auction bids.

"Each bidder will be given a unique bidder identification number, which will be different and unrelated to the customer account number to prevent social engineering. Bidder identification numbers will be automatically assigned sequentially, and they can not be changed by a bidder. The only way for a bidder to get a new or different bidder ID is to create or use another GoDaddy Auctions account."​

Full details in Elliot Silver's Domain Investing blog post at this link.

https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-to-introduce-bidder-ids-to-auctions/

 

[Keith]

Starting tomorrow (Apr 11) GoDaddy will introduce buyer IDs for auction bids.

"Each bidder will be given a unique bidder identification number, which will be different and unrelated to the customer account number to prevent social engineering. Bidder identification numbers will be automatically assigned sequentially, and they can not be changed by a bidder. The only way for a bidder to get a new or different bidder ID is to create or use another GoDaddy Auctions account."​

Full details in Elliot Silver's Domain Investing blog post at this link.

https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-to-introduce-bidder-ids-to-auctions/

A unique number is great but a username is memorable and something they clearly don’t want.

 

[Keith]

So now instead of bidder 1 or 2, you’re bidder 184346. Great way to clarify the bidding system

 

[maxtra]

Thanks for sharing @Bob Hawkes

Good step moving forward

 

[NameJi]

Thanks @Bob Hawkes. Indeed very useful change from godaddy. This provides just enough transparency and information about the bidder and bidder trading patterns.

 

[DN_Hunter]

So now instead of bidder 1 or 2, you’re bidder 184346. Great way to clarify the bidding system

But after a while you will get to know who bidder 184346 is based on where the name ends up. I'm assuming the unique number is assigned once, and that becomes your bidder id when using that GD Auctions Account.

But on the other hand, some buyers might open secondary accounts for bidding so their identity remains anonymous...

 

[Keith]

But on the other hand, some buyers might open secondary accounts for bidding so their identity remains anonymous...

That’s exactly what will happen. They need bidding handles like NJ which are more identifiable imo.

 

[Abdillahi Abdillahi]

Thanks for sharing Bob, I did not read the article admittedly, so I will ask here, how does this help? How can we identify someone from their bidder ID?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

How can we identify someone from their bidder ID?

First let me stress that my only information is from Elliot's blog post, which is based on a communication he got from GoDaddy.

I perhaps should have (sensitive to copyright limitations) also included the following - it is only AFTER the auction that people will be able to see the unique IDs.

"During the course of an auction, the individual bidders will continue be masked as they are now (“Bidder 1,” “Bidder 2,”…etc). At the conclusion of the auction, participants in the auction will be able to see the unique bidder ID number for all participants in the auction. This will allow third parties to track who was bidding on their auctions. "​

The bidder IDs will be unique so that one can see if the winner also won other auctions, or bid on many auctions. Also, since the number has been assigned sequentially, if it is a newly created account that should be obvious.

My personal view? Not as much as many justifiably desire in terms of transparency, but definitely a step forward.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It would be good if @Joe Styler or @Paul Nicks joined the thread to provide any additional insights and information. In particular, is it correct that only one GD account is allowed? If not what are the conditions under which a company or individual can have more than one account?

 

[equity78]

First let me stress that my only information is from Elliot's blog post, which is based on a communication he got from GoDaddy. I totally understand that it is not as much as many wanted.

I perhaps should have (sensitive to copyright limitations) also included the following - it is only AFTER the auction that people will be able to see the unique IDs.

"During the course of an auction, the individual bidders will continue be masked as they are now (“Bidder 1,” “Bidder 2,”…etc). At the conclusion of the auction, participants in the auction will be able to see the unique bidder ID number for all participants in the auction. This will allow third parties to track who was bidding on their auctions. "​

The bidder IDs will be unique so that one can see if the winner also won other auctions, or bid on many auctions. Also, since the number has been assigned sequentially, if it is a newly created account that should be obvious.

My personal view? Not as much as many justifiably desire in terms of transparency, but definitely a step forward.

Bob

In my opinion that's always what you get from GoDaddy just enough.

It reminds me of a quote from Eight Men Out, a story about the 1919 Black Sox scandal in Major League Baseball.

Sport Sullivan:
You know what you feed a dray horse in the morning if you want a day's work out of him?

Jimmy:
What?

Sport Sullivan:
Just enough so he knows he's hungry.

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/28049

Paul Nicks:

You know what you give a domain investor always busting our balls on transparency?

Joe Styler:

What?

Paul Nicks:

Just enough so they think they you are listening.

 

[garptrader]

A step in the right direction but is the bidder ID # constant across multiple auctions? Also, why would an investor need multiple auction accounts? For an auction of a non-expired domain, multiple accounts still open the risk of bidding on one's own auctions to drive up the price.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

but is the bidder ID # constant across multiple auctions?

my understanding is yes

 

[Joe Styler]

We do not have legal terms around how many accounts someones can have. We have various terms with language saying things like you need to provide real information on the accounts, you cannot shill bid, you cannot commit fraud, etc. I'm not a lawyer and I am not going to interpret our terms anyone with serious questions about it should contact our legal team or your own counsel.
Basically though we watch to make sure people are acting correctly behind the scenes, we always have and will continue to do this regardless of the bidder ids people can see or not see. We have manual and automated checks in place to make sure people are not creating multiple accounts in order to game the system or cheat in any way. If you have an SEO company from your home and you have an account for that to help clients, and you have an account for your personal websites or domain investing business and you treat them separately thats ok. If you're using them to bid on the same auctions, or you are banned in one account for failing to pay for a domain you won and try to start using the other to get around that, etc basically breaking the rules we have in our terms, then we will not look kindly on your multiple accounts.
I think at the end of the day it is really about how you use the accounts that matter and if you use your accounts for a legitimate reason and for legitimate participation in the auctions you should be fine. If you are trying to game the system in some way you're probably going to be blocked from the auctions no matter how many accounts you create.

 

[Joe Styler]

my understanding is yes

yes it will be the same id.

 

[Kate]

I perhaps should have (sensitive to copyright limitations) also included the following - it is only AFTER the auction that people will be able to see the unique IDs.

"During the course of an auction, the individual bidders will continue be masked as they are now (“Bidder 1,” “Bidder 2,”…etc). At the conclusion of the auction, participants in the auction will be able to see the unique bidder ID number for all participants in the auction. This will allow third parties to track who was bidding on their auctions. "​

That is unfortunate. I don't understand what they are afraid of.​

 

[Keith]

That is unfortunate. I don't understand what they are afraid of.​

They’re afraid of transparency which will lead to lower sales results.

 

[D Haynes]

First let me stress that my only information is from Elliot's blog post, which is based on a communication he got from GoDaddy.

I perhaps should have (sensitive to copyright limitations) also included the following - it is only AFTER the auction that people will be able to see the unique IDs.

"During the course of an auction, the individual bidders will continue be masked as they are now (“Bidder 1,” “Bidder 2,”…etc). At the conclusion of the auction, participants in the auction will be able to see the unique bidder ID number for all participants in the auction. This will allow third parties to track who was bidding on their auctions. "​

The bidder IDs will be unique so that one can see if the winner also won other auctions, or bid on many auctions. Also, since the number has been assigned sequentially, if it is a newly created account that should be obvious.

Bob

Essentially you can already do these things after the fact by running whois searches so by only revealing the ids after the auction has ended not much has changed.

 

[Corey]

I don't participate in Godaddy Auctions!

Cheers
Corey

 

[Jv1999]

But after a while you will get to know who bidder 184346 is based on where the name ends up. I'm assuming the unique number is assigned once, and that becomes your bidder id when using that GD Auctions Account.

But on the other hand, some buyers might open secondary accounts for bidding so their identity remains anonymous...

So when ppl on NP chat say "x is on GD auctions IM BIDDIGN!"... and then ppl screenshot that and do a trace analysis everyt ime they say they bought a new GD auction domain...

then you'll know who's who. So when u see someone like Mike Mann bidding it up, you'll know who he is.. wow.

Such a bad idea lol.