1.   Too Commercial.  GoDaddy often tricks people (many I know) into buying things they don’t really need.  For example, perhaps you just want to update a nameserver.  That s a pretty simple procedure, but on Godaddy’s site, you must carefully navigate a maze of advertisements and suggested products along the way.  Webmasters will have no problem. But the average person who doesn’t know what’s-what gets fool.  They don’t know what they really need and don’t and err on the side of caution and end up paying extra for uneeded items.  I dare say it’s how Godaddy makes a lot of their money.

2.  Too Gaudy.  In like manner, their control panel is not clean. It’s cluttered.  It’s one of the worse user interfaces (UI) that I’ve seen in a while.  But I think Godaddy does this intentionally to keep their site sales driven (see above).  At least Joker and Bluehost have very clean interfaces.

3.  Too Sexual.  Yep. I never dreamed I’d use “too sexual” to describe a registrar.  But it’s true.  GoDaddy uses sex to sell its product.  I still recall the super bowl ad that ran.  Remember that?  If not, click here to watch the ad on YouTube.  That was years ago.  And since then their website remains chalk full of scantily dressed females.  I mean, really?  What do domain names have to do with half-dressed women?  It’s inappropriate.

4.  Their CEO.  Ever read the CEO’s blog?  The owner and CEO of GoDaddy has a blog as scantilist as the inappropriate ads, the last time I read it years ago.  It’s just not the type of organization, or person, I’d like to support or give my business to, no matter how little a month they charge for domain names.

5.  Too Entrapping.  Once you’re in, they make it difficult to get out.  Most registrars require validation that the transfer is desired and that you are who you say you are, etc.  But Godaddy takes that to a whole other letter.  I was trying to transfer a client’s domain name to another registrar.  The number of “Are you sure”‘s and other distractions while trying desperately to make the transfer was like running a marathon.  I had to have true stamina.  I bet they get people to change their minds about leaving after going through all those hoops.  That’s dishonest. If people wanna leave, let ’em.

6.  Supports SOPA.  This is a huge one as of March 2012.  Yep.  Maybe I should have listed this one first.  But it’s huge.  People are leaving GoDaddy in droves due to this issue.  SOPA is The Stop Online Piracy Act.  Click here to read more on SOPA.  Also check out the below articles  Wikipedia and other major leaguers are candidly speaking out against Godaddy.

One positive thing that I do like about Godaddy is that they offer telephone support around the clock.  Nothing beats having a live person on the other end of the phone 24-hours a day.  Joker does not offer this.  Another reason I left Joker.  But Bluehost does  have this.  In fact, Bluehost offers 24-hour support by phone, e-mail, or chat.   I’ve used all three options successfully.

But unfortunately, that one positive I listed about Godaddy doesn’t outweigh the many reasons I do not like their company.  And to-date would not recommend or endorse their company to anyone I know.  Some webmasters I know are stuck like glue to Godaddy due to their affiliate program. They earn a lot of dollars by having their clients signup with them. They can even offer domain signing up on their own sites which is powered in the background by Godaddy.  But there are other companies, like Bluehost, who offer these same perks.  No offense to webmasters who recommend Godaddy, but I bet they don’t know all six of the reasons listed above, particularly the last item.  I have a choice to support a registrar that shares my values. For example, Bluehost will not permit any websites that host pornography.  Those type of values are important to me.