Reglikedomain industry desk

Takeaways from GoDaddy’s Investor Day

Takeaways from GoDaddy’s Investor Day

Fewer business segments and high-level aftermarket data.

GoDaddy held an investor day last Friday following its earnings notice on Thursday. The full presentation is here (pdf). Here are some notable things for domain industry observers.

GoDaddy will now note just two business segments

GoDaddy previously had three business segments for reporting: Hosting & Presence, Business Applications, and Domains. Going forward, it will have two segments called Applications & Commerce and Core Platform. Here’s a breakdown of the old and fresh segments:

Graphic showing GoDaddy switching to two business segments, Applications & Commerce and Core Platform

I think it’s a warning sign when a firm changes its reporting like this. It makes me think one part of the business is facing headwinds and this will be obfuscated by tucking it into another. I also don’t like how the domains business will now be lumped in with part of the hosting business, while another part of hosting (Managed WordPress) will be part of the other segment. Technically, WordPress is an application, but I think most people who choose it are just looking for a hosting provider. People have a choice to use the free WordPress CMS on a regular hosting plan or a so-called Managed WordPress plan.

The domain aftermarket is sizzling

GoDaddy noted some high-level numbers regarding the domain aftermarket.

First, it states everyday entrepreneurs purchase 80% of aftermarket “retail inventory.” This inventory excludes domain auctions, where domain investors scoop up most of the inventory. The firm also states that the 24-month lifetime value of a fresh aftermarket client is 15 times more than a fresh domain client. This makes sense since the cost of entry into this cohort is more, so they are primed to spend more money on their online presence. (The lifetime value does not include the initial domain purchase.)

The firm also shared that aftermarket growth in terms of units sold has grown by a 29% CAGR since 2019. It also breaks this out by size of transaction. GoDaddy’s presentation has very few y-axes, so it’s hard to get granularity here. But the average selling price is going up and GoDaddy is selling more domains:

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

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