GoDaddy just made a major change to their bulk search feature… Huge change! This change might lead to increased sales for domain name investors who have names listed on GoDaddy & Afternic with Buy it Now prices.
“So, what have they done?” you may be asking. GoDaddy has changed the results algorithm on bulk searches. Previously, bulk searches would result in unavailable domain names being listed on the bottom of the page and domain names available to hand register listed at the top. Now, domains available for hand registration are listed alongside available aftermarket names. The aftermarket returns displayed are exact match results only… No alternate TLDs and no suggested close matches are listed. If you search words or phrases without indicating a TLD, the results will be strictly .Com. Nice!
The new bulk domain search function does not offer a filter to exclude aftermarket listings from search results. There is a “Price Low to High” filter which serves the same function, pretty much.
Will we be receiving a greater number of congratulatory emails from GoDaddy and Afternic in the coming months? I sure hope so! One key to this equation is the number of people actually doing bulk searches. It would be interesting to know what percentage of searches go through the bulk search gateway at GoDaddy.
It would stand to reason that the majority of those using bulk search are domain investors and professional marketers As domain name investors typically look for low wholesale pricing, this update may benefit holders of very smartly priced domain names the most.
It will be very interesting to see where this update takes us. Please do check it out at: https://www.godaddy.com/domains/bulk-domain-search and please do share your thoughts and feedback!
Claude Dauman
CEO
I don’t see it working on all names the same way Claude, I put in three domain names. That I own, on Afternic that individually show up in the registration path. Beeph.com shows unavailable while Interleap.com does offer the customer the option to buy the domain name.
Didn’t you read the very fine print…it is still in beta stage and still in process improvement till 2050.
Not working.
I just searched 99 of my domains and 67 showed up as available. All are listed on GD and Afternic. Sadly, names often show as “In Review” and “Compliance Check Failure” on GD and Afternic. None are priced obscenely high nor are any of adult nature. I’ve always been frustrated by this. Never had this problem at Sedo.
Are some of you still seeing the old interface? Perhaps I’m an unwitting test subject?
Hi Claude, nice article thanks for the heads up.
In regards to having lots of domains end up “In Review”, I normally delete these from my Afternic account and then re-submit them. I am normally able to get about 70% of the domains listed properly the first time through, and then most of the rest on the 2nd and finally third attempt at deleting and then re-listing. This seems to work faster/better than waiting for support to sort things out.
It would be nice if they bring their old algorithm back to their single search page.
My Afternic sales before their change of adding nGTLDs at the top were 50-100% higher. (I’d have to find my old email I sent to GoDaddy to double check.). It used to be if someone searched for classiccars.com, it would bring up very relevant premium names to suggest to the buyer. Once nGTLDs came out, the intelligent premium suggestions were wiped out and replaced with exact-match nGTLDs.
Back when this was first implemented, I remember it reduced my Afternic sales by about $40k or so. I tried to make the point to my account rep that, by making this change, GoDaddy isn’t just giving up the 30% commission they were charging at the time, but also the 70% that I received that would have gone straight back into their auction site.
I wish they had added some type of premium display network like this again, even if it came with a larger commission fee, or some type of membership fee. For me, it was a day/night difference in sales.
I agree Garett. Great comment. I saw a real decline in sales as well.
I wonder if the new gTLDs generate enough volume and revenue to earn such valuable space and all the targeted eyeballs they’re getting on these pages. Seems like premium aftermarket names could generate more volume.
I also wonder how much confusion all of these alternate gTLDs create for the prospective purchaser. I’m a big believer in the KISS principle. There might be a great many customers who put off their purchase, only because it’s so confusing with so many nGTLD options.
I received a call earlier from Juan Plouin at GoDaddy | Aftermarket Partner Sales. He read this article here at TLD Investors , thanked me for sharing and wanted to follow-up on open questions and concerns. Here’s what I discovered.
1: This is a beta test rollout so not everybody has the bulk search update just yet.
2: The names must be listed with a fixed price and must be enrolled in fast transfer promotion to appear in bulk search results. Fast promotion requires and opt-in. Generally, with GoDaddy, you receive an email which directs you to the opt-in page. Other registrars, eg. Dynadot, require you to go to your domain manager and opt-in or approve Afternic.
Juan was kind enough to start the process of having my names which were in pending review or compliance check failure moved to active. Haven’t checked Afternic yet, but none of my names are showing compliance check failure in my domain manager at GoDaddy anymore.
Juan was really nice and really helpful. I was so impressed by his speedy response, clarification on bulk search and swift resolution of my domain listing issues. Juan deserves a lot of credit.
I’m also really impressed by the power and influence Raymond’s TLDInvestors.com website has established over the years. I’ve been a loyal subscriber for quite some time.
Thanks again to Juan and Raymond!
Claude
Thank you Claude, makes sense on some of mine because to be honest I only care about GoDaddy not the other registrar’s some which mark prices up, though to be fair Afternic will let you opt out of those registrars.
So I just add to Afternic and they show in GoDaddy not the others.
Thank you Raymond.
Yes, the other registrars do mark it up. Usually it looks like they add around 20% or so. I have had sales through GoDaddy/Afternic partners. Imho, it’s nice to have extended reach and to get your names into organic search results at other registrars.