“Dump Go Daddy Day” Numbers Not Known Yet

December 29th was marked as the official “Dump Go Daddy Day,” a protest born of the backlash against the Internet giant’s initial support of the controversial SOPA legislation.  A grass-roots movement enouraged customers to show their displeasure by taking their business elsewhere — and it would appear that many did just that.  But how many?  On the day following the protest, that’s the question everyone is asking.

Go Daddy Issues a Statement

Go Daddy’s CEO, Warren Adelman, issued a statement late Thursday, in which he said, “We have observed a spike in domain name transfers, which are running above normal rates and which we attribute to Go Daddy’s prior support for SOPA, which was reversed.”  Adelman declined to reveal the actual number of transfers, however, so protesters will have to wait to see how large an effect their actions had.  It could be a significant figure — it is estimated that, prior to Christmas, the company had already lost more than 37000 domains as a result of the controversy.

If you’re a member of the angry mob wanting to punish Go Daddy for their initial support of the controversial SOPA legislation — today is the day to act! December 29th has been declared “Dump Go Daddy Day.” There have been many people too incensed to wait for the official protest — Go Daddy lost some 37000 domains in the days leading up to Christmas. It will be interesting to see how many more losses they suffer today.
This backlash — no matter now large it gets — is unlikely to take down the Internet giant. But there’s no doubt that the publicity fiasco has hurt them. Go Daddy has been attempting to reverse the damage caused by this blunder for days now. They initially countered by withdrawing their official support of SOPA and waffling on their position regarding the proposed act. And yesterday, in a blatant attempt to win the argument by changing the subject, the company ran a full-page ad in the New York Times, featuring a nearly-naked Danica Patrick. Perhaps they were hoping to initiate a new, more manageable controversy. When the numbers come in following “Dump Go Daddy Day,” we’ll know whether or not they were successful.