Their use of algorithmic prices means that you can sometimes get domains on GoDaddy for cheaper than other registrars. Price is something that is hard to argue against.

Unless it's changed in the last few years, GoDaddy's administration panel is so atrocious that even MySpace would be embarrassed to release it. If you're as frugal with your time and sanity as you are with your money, GoDaddy is far from an obvious choice.

It's honestly the biggest reason I changed. It's so hard to do anything. Half the time I ended up just calling their tech support, which is not toll free, last time I experienced it.

Wow people still use land lines with long distance charges these days? I can't remember the last time I paid for "long distance". I use ObiTalk with Google Voice for free home phone.

Just try to make your contact info private on GoDaddy and then come back and tell us how does it (the total domain price) compare with the straight all-included-no-upsells $15 per domain at hover.com

Namecheap includes private registration for free as well, and their pricing is always cheaper than hover.com even before coupons.

Given the (relatively) low cost of domains, I hardly follow that logic.

Between their customer service, their ethics, their past poor behavior, their shitty admin, etc I would happily spend a much greater margin for !(GoDaddy) than I've ever seen in .com/,net/.org type domains. (And the ones that vary more between registrars aren't even available on GoDaddy anyway.)

I agree, but a few bucks a domain really ads up if you're a startup with a lot of domains.

Sincere question, is it common for young startups to gobble up that many domains?

I don't know how common it is, but it's certainly plausible. My startup has over 50 domains and we're actively using 10 or 12 of them. Buying domains was one of the largest early expenses. It's important for each of our products to stand on its own; using subdomains is not an option from a marketing perspective.