What is going on with GoDaddy Auctions!

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So, you don't usually see bids on names if they just hit the GD expired auction (unless they are premium or 4L names) with 9 days left. i was looking at expiring names today and these sh*t names have bids on them already, wtf am i missing???

So i did a general sample search of 500 names on GD exp auctions

There were 140 with initial bids (excluding 4L's) - that's almost 30% of the names with pre bids.

So even if no else bids on these names - that's over $3k in auction/renewal fee's (just on the sample i did - there are most likely 100's or 1,000's more)

Here are a few random sample names - Am i totally missing something?

vtmoon.com $12 * USD$ 9D 23H
lagocel.com $12 * USD$ 9D 23H
darubazz.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
dongwww.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
mbucd.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
wildgrfx.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
cmkmg.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H

 

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...and then they were all gone, all the pre bids have been removed????

 

[kostaki]

Yes it is back to normal now. ~2500 auctions with bids.

 

[ikehook]

...and then they were all gone, all the pre bids have been removed????

I haven't checked, but like I said previously I'm sure it was an API bidding based off the old numbers. Once they figured it out they had them removed.

 

[Joe Styler]

GoDaddy doesn't place bids on auctions. So we wouldn't place initial bids on the auction. I am and have been out of the office since last Thursday. I am in Europe at domaining Europe, if you are not here it is a great event. My responses are going to be pretty delayed until I am back in the office in about 7 or 8 days.

If you use a backorder on an auction, so you are the first person to place a backorder on the domain before the domain is listed in our expired auction then the bid will start at $10 instead of $12. This is because a backorder gives you a better deal if you buy them in bulk then just bidding without the backorder. So for example if you buy a 100 credits you can get them for $17.48 a credit. This credit covers your renewal for the domain and the first $10 of the bid. So if you place the backorder first and get the domain opening bid it shows $10 and no one else wins you only use the credit you do not pay anything additional.
If there is a bid for $400 and you have the backorder on the domain and you win, you would pay $390 and use one backorder credit instead of paying $400 and the $10 renewal for the domain for instance. So it is a bit cheaper to buy backorder credits in bulk and use them to help you bid and many big customers take advantage of this as it saves them money in bulk. Anyone can use this strategy. The flip side of this strategy is that the backorder will show a bid on the domain on the auction and it will tip others off to the fact that you have interest in the domain.
Hope that helps a bit. As I said I am super busy working at the conference and then trying to keep up with my other work so most likely you won't hear from me for another week

 

[Ategy]

@Joe Styler ... yeah .. I think most of us were pretty sure it wasn't GoDaddy faking bids ... however ... I think most of us would like to know officially what happened to those thousands of bids that disappeared .. as well as maybe a bit more details/metrics behind the "Valuations" (vs what they were in the past)?

Thanks

 

[wwwweb]

@Joe Styler ... yeah .. I think most of us were pretty sure it wasn't GoDaddy faking bids ... however ... I think most of us would like to know officially what happened to those thousands of bids that disappeared .. as well as maybe a bit more details/metrics behind the "Valuations" (vs what they were in the past)?

Thanks

I also thought once a bid is placed it is final, and cannot be retracted.

Looks like someones software got caught with their pants down, it has to be a very big player, and only one comes to mind.

 

[urlurl]

yes, one comes to mind for sure

 

[wwwweb]

yes, one comes to mind for sure

I actually purchased a 4L.com from this big player via TDNAM in Nov 2015, a few days before the chips shot up by like $600 in a day, they refused to transfer it over because they said their was a glitch in their price update, and it did not get updated correctly. My money was stuck in limbo for 10 days then returned $17XX. They faced no recourse for not honoring their sale from TDNAM.

I would love to know how all those bids got retracted, as this has been the holy grail, once you place a bid you have to honor it. If they want to play with automated tools, that is fine, but they should have to honor their bids like the rest of us. A few times, I have put an extra digit, and pay a few multiples higher, but I pay regardless because those are the rules, and they are serious about them.

But shouldn't everyone play by the same rules... Where did all those bids go?

 

[urlurl]

isn't that always the case, those with big volumes/cash get to do what they want while the smaller fish are eaten up.

 

[ValleyRock]

isn't that always the case, those with big volumes/cash get to do what they want while the smaller fish are eaten up.

Do you have API access ?

 

[campout]

it has to be a very big player, and only one comes to mind.

The only one that comes to my mind is Huge Domains, but I would be really surprised if that was Huge making all those early, automated (and dumb) bids.

But shouldn't everyone play by the same rules... Where did all those bids go?

I would normally agree, except in this case I kind of a feel like an exception was justified because GD itself played a key role in the trouble, having rolled out this radically different appraisal system (which BTW is horrifically off in its values) without giving any heads up.

 

[wwwweb]

The only one that comes to my mind is Huge Domains, but I would be really surprised if that was Huge making all those early, automated (and dumb) bids.



I would normally agree, except in this case I kind of a feel like an exception was justified because GD itself played a key role in the trouble, having rolled out this radically different appraisal system (which BTW is horrifically off in its values) without giving any heads up.

That is the risk and reward with automation.

Nobody should be holding anyone's hand, you place a bid, or set a computer to place a bid, you are agreeing to the same TOS, and rules we all bid by.

If your program goes insane, and bids on stuff you don't want, doesn't mean you get a mulligan.

 

[campout]

But presumably their program didn't go insane. You might say GoDaddy's valuations went insane.

BTW who was the big player who refused to honor that 4L sale?

 

[wwwweb]

But presumably their program didn't go insane. You might say GoDaddy's valuations went insane.

BTW who was the big player who refused to honor that 4L sale?

It was HD

 

[Ategy]

Honestly .. the bid retractions are not a big deal (IF DONE WITH CLEAR AND FAIR NOTICE TO EVERYONE WELL BEFORE THE AUCTION ENDING) .. in fact I'd agree that because it was changes instigated by GoDaddy that all bids where they were the only bidder get voided affects and hurts nobody but GoDaddy.

In the cases where others bid .. the 2nd bidders should be contacted and given the choice of:

A- Having their bid applied but $5 cheaper to remove all "phantom" bids effects.
or
B- Removing their own bid as well effectively resetting the auction
(or would further reduce the amount by another $5 if more people were in the auction that wanted to keep their bids)

I think the larger issues is the lack of accountability .. they really need to post something at the top of each auction page .. and send out an email .. clearly explaining everything and what happened .. and what exactly they did to fix it.

Also .. considering how deceptively horrendous those valuations are and completely useless to those of us with a little sanity .. I'd be the first in line to hope they add an option to remove them from our searches ...

More importantly .. they really do need to explain their metrics .. they can hide behind their fine print and disclaimers all they want .. but as the sellers, they do owe it to us to some basic transparency ...


At the end of the day however .. these horrible metrics actually help domainers who buy domains based on our own judgement as it focuses other domainers' capital, time and attention on domains we don't want. That being said .. it really feels wrong .. and you have to eventually wonder what other legal yet unethical practices they'd be willing to implement that eventually will hurt us?

I've already lost thousands of dollars because of incorrect and misleading expiration dates of expiring domains at GD auctions .. again .. just given the run-around.


the worst part about it is that everyone I've talked to at GoDaddy is so nice .. lol .. but their policies and website systems are not .. maybe that's why they needed such nice people in customer service and sales reps!? lol

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

My two cents.

I've seen GoDaddy expired auctions Being showcased on Namebio and domaining etc etc?

And other sites.

Could it be they are simply doing a full court press for the auctions as far as exposure?

 

[Joe Styler]

I am back in the office thanks for your patience. I looked into what happened. It was a customer using the API set up to bid automatically on certain things. Since we did not tell anyone in advance we were changing things on the auction no one knew to update their bidding strategy and we did cancel those bids. We did not think it was fair since the customers did not know. If anyone who thought they were outbid now wins the auction and does not want the domain please contact me directly and I will help you out. This is the first step in part of a larger test, thanks everyone for the feedback.

 

[ikehook]

I am back in the office thanks for your patience. I looked into what happened. It was a customer using the API set up to bid automatically on certain things. Since we did not tell anyone in advance we were changing things on the auction no one knew to update their bidding strategy and we did cancel those bids. We did not think it was fair since the customers did not know. If anyone who thought they were outbid now wins the auction and does not want the domain please contact me directly and I will help you out. This is the first step in part of a larger test, thanks everyone for the feedback.

Boom!!! It's like I'm inside the mind of Godaddy! Lol

 

[Ategy]

Boom!!! It's like I'm inside the mind of Godaddy! Lol

HEY! I said it first! lol .. BOOMBOOM

These bids are possibly the result of an automated bidding bot of one of the more equipped domainers out there who didn't see this coming. Doesn't make much sense with the early bids though .. probably just poorly programmed.

... Ategy is correct ...

Ok I'm 90% sure this is what is happening...
Someone has their Api set up to auto bid on names with a certain valuation, but it's the old traffic valuation numbers. lol. It could have been for tracking purposes only, but now there's lot's of bids on stupid names

 

[Ategy]

@Joe Styler ... I don't think the issue here is actually what happened and the subsequent actions by GoDaddy (Something for the most part I think was indeed actually done fairly from what little I know), as myself, @ikehook, @wwwweb, @Nat Hunt and possibly a couple of others pointed out that it was likely HugeDomain's (or other big player's) API that got taken by surprise unprepared.


I think the bigger problem is lack of transparency and communication. Wasn't really the brightest idea to roll something like this out when their #1 auctions guy (you) was away at a conference.

More importantly .. the moment GoDaddy tinkered with the retracting a significant number of bids there should have been both emails sent to auction users as well as a small notice put up at the top of every auction page (like is done when a service outage is scheduled).

There are already quite a few bugs, unclear instructions/communications, incorrect pricing, and just outright inefficiencies on GD auctions and non-auction platforms. The auction platform itself is serious business for both buyers and sellers .. and so if even the illusion of broken integrity is given then that has serious effects both directly in the short term where people can't figure out what is going on .. as well in the long term where people would be less inclined to use a competitive auction system where it seems certain players are favoured (as clearly many people could think is the case here with HugeDomains' API). Whether that is true or not is irrelevant .. that offer you posted above "If anyone who thought they were outbid now wins the auction and does not want the domain please contact me directly and I will help you out." should have been posted front and center and offered to everyone along with an explanation as to what actually happened.


Same holds true for the actual valuation metrics. GoDaddy may legally be protected by the fine print saying your evaluations shouldn't be used. But legalities aside, if you look at them ethically and morally it's a pretty big fail. They really are so bad in some cases that it calls into question the entire valuation system. Maybe it helps us domainers in the short term when an end users sees a completely junk domain valuated at $1008 as it makes even our worst domains look like they are worth $5000 by comparison .. but I fear that in the longer term it actually reinforces the "Cyber-Squatter" argument that the industry is trying to paint a picture that we expect end-users to pay thousands of dollars even for junk domains. Obviously this topic is much deeper and I could go on and explain it much better .. but I'm pretty sure you get my point .. clarity, transparency and communication need to be taken more seriously. It has always been a problem with GoDaddy .. those things certainly can't be easy within a huge monster with many departments like GoDaddy, but it needs to be taken more seriously in general. Back to the valuations specifically .. which I'm not expecting the exact formula (although it would certainly be nice and prove GoDaddy's commitment to transparency/disclosure) but I think at least the basic ingredients should be public information just as is the case in the food industry.


That being said .. at the end of the day .. if nothing is fixed then I guess it's better for me as a buyer .. lol .. but I'm just about to put a bunch of domains up for sale (coincidentally any day now), and it concerns me that end users will not understand the value of my domains when placed into context with many of the utterly horrible valuations that we have seen the past week or so.


OK .. rant over .. lol .. I'm only pointing these things out because I really want things to be better ... I'm far from being among the biggest clients .. but with x,xxx domains I feel I probably represent a good number of domainers large and small. GoDaddy dominated in the end because you have the largest pool of domains available .. but just imagine if you domainated not simply because you're the largest, but instead because you were the largest AND offered your users the best possible experience. With the size and resources at GD's disposal, there is no reason I don't see why that couldn't be a reality if GoDaddy really was serious about it.