According to Wikipedia Godaddy manages 30 million domain names. They are three times as big as their closest competitor. To me this seems like they are establishing a monopoly here. I wonder: What is their actual market share when it comes to webhosting ? Do they already hold like half the hosting market ?

In 2000 I remember being at a friend's birthday party and somehow we started talking about web browsers. Back then Netscape had 60% and all my friends said: Netscape is never going to be beaten by Microsoft. The only one who didn't agree with that was me. I said...wait 2 years and nobody will even remember Netscape and I was laughed at... And 2 years later Netscape's market share had dropped to like 2%.

What I want to tell you with this story is that the hosting market may develop just like that. Figure Godaddy offering various different control panels and fixing some of their problems. They might quickly kick all of our asses. These guys have grown to big and it concerns me. I would like it a lot more if there were 20 equally big players and then us small guys but right now Godaddy could take the whole thing over real quick. What do you think ?

I am not sure how they are establishing a monopoly. Domain pricing is regulated, and they are not forcing people to buy domain names from them (nor are they forcing people to buy hosting from them, having bought a domain name). A big market share != a monopoly.

I am not sure how they are establishing a monopoly. Domain pricing is regulated, and they are not forcing people to buy domain names from them (nor are they forcing people to buy hosting from them, having bought a domain name). A big market share != a monopoly.

I am not saying they have one. I am saying they are working towards one. That's my impression. I mean 30 million domains is not like a "big" marketshare. It's more like a "FILTHY ****ING HUGE marketshare."

I am not saying they have one. I am saying they are working towards one. That's my impression. I mean 30 million domains is not like a "big" marketshare. It's more like a "FILTHY ****ING HUGE marketshare."
But how are they working towards one? I guess if they offered free hosting with all their domain names, then arguably that would be Go Daddy trying to monopolize hosting. Having said that, the webhosting market is much freer by nature, I can't see anyone being able to monopolize it. Even Go Daddy, with 30m domain name registrations.

But how are they working towards one? I guess if they offered free hosting with all their domain names, then arguably that would be Go Daddy trying to monopolize hosting. Having said that, the webhosting market is much freer by nature, I can't see anyone being able to monopolize it. Even Go Daddy, with 30m domain name registrations.

Well...they are just getting too big ;)

In 2005 there were over 19 billion websites indexed by Yahoo!. 30 million is in no way shape or form, working towards a monopoly....

In 2005 there were over 19 billion websites indexed by Yahoo!. 30 million is in no way shape or form, working towards a monopoly....

I think 19 billion refers to individual html pages. I remember in 2006 there were about 40 million registered com/net/org names. 30 million is quite a big marketshare if these numbers are still true.

Their market share? Too high.

Sorry, just thought I'd chuck that in the mix :P Much better, more secure (and cheaper) registrars than GoDaddy.

(and cheaper) registrars than GoDaddy.

Out of curiosity, who?

I've been looking to ditch Godaddy for ages, their DCC is frequently dodgy and I have numerous other grievances with them.. but when I make sure auto-renew is off, I never pay more than $10/year for domains, more often than not it's more to the tune of about $7 and if you buy an SSL or something similar on some promotions I've gotten SSL + .com for $12/year.

I've searched quite a bit on a few different occasions for someone who can match/beat Godaddy's messed up price point, and so far came up empty. :(

BTW, "monopoly" implies that they destroy the competition and then later they can bend you over some how - that's not going to happen with domain names, so the fact they have a huge market share isn't threatening in any way.

Out of curiosity, who?

I've been looking to ditch Godaddy for ages, their DCC is frequently dodgy and I have numerous other grievances with them.. but when I make sure auto-renew is off, I never pay more than $10/year for domains, more often than not it's more to the tune of about $7 and if you buy an SSL or something similar on some promotions I've gotten SSL + .com for $12/year.

I've searched quite a bit on a few different occasions for someone who can match/beat Godaddy's messed up price point, and so far came up empty. :(

BTW, "monopoly" implies that they destroy the competition and then later they can bend you over some how - that's not going to happen with domain names, so the fact they have a huge market share isn't threatening in any way.
If you can get a subreseller (or whatever it's called) account from an eNom reseller, you can get domains for (on average) cheaper than with GoDaddy.

I personally use Moniker.com - their listed prices seem high, although I get lower pricing for being a member of a couple of domaining forums (not sure if they have that offer on anymore), plus they offer cheaper domain prices if you deposit/fund your account with various amounts. With Moniker I get $8 per .com, $6.60 per .net etc - which is pretty good. There can be cheaper, although I like Moniker plus their security is pretty good.

I am a bit harsh on GoDaddy - using coupon codes they can be cheap, although I just don't like various aspects of their services :) Plus I like being able to buy a domain straight, without having to hunt for coupon codes to get the price down to a decent level.

Thanks for your answer, I'll check them out. :)

Thanks for your answer, I'll check them out. :)
Anytime :)

In 2005 there were over 19 billion websites indexed by Yahoo!. 30 million is in no way shape or form, working towards a monopoly....

those are not all domains just websites

According to the VeriSign’s Domain Name Industry Brief (http://www.verisign.com/static/044518.pdf) [February 2009]

The year 2008 ended with a total base of 177 million domain name registrations across
all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs).

But I can't figure out what exactly is meant by "base" and "registrations". I don't think it's new domains registered this year.

Here is another source:
http://www.domaintools.com/internet-statistics/
Active:109,052,515
Deleted:363,466,884

according to webhosting info (http://www.webhosting.info/registrars/reports/total_domains/GODADDY.COM)

their global market share is 27.493% as on 04/13/2009 their total domains 28,695,061