• Not a good day to be Danica Patrick. Spurred on by a Reddit thread earlier today (we mentioned it here), a snowballing boycott against the world’s largest domain registar has picked up such tech-industry luminaries as Cheezburger Inc.’s Ben Huh and Y Combinator’s Paul Graham. And Graham’s Hacker News is currently loaded with GoDaddy-related posts tonight, including this post about how to extricate yourself from GoDaddy’s service. But while the movement is certainly noble, it’s one that could face a lot of trouble going forward. Here’s a quick summary of the challenges boycotters may face going forward:

• Why they support SOPA GoDaddy has been one of the more vocal supporters of SOPA, as a statement they submitted to the House of Representatives makes clear: “As much as some would like to paint a bleak picture, this debate is not about Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley. This debate is about preserving, protecting, and creating American jobs and protecting American consumers from the dangers that they face on-line.”
• Prone to controversy GoDaddy doesn’t exactly have the most pristine reputation among tech companies (what with its scantily-clad commercials and elephant-hunting CEO), but it hasn’t hurt their service in the past. Why? Quick — name another company that sells domains off the top of your head. Most people probably can’t. That’s what might hurt this boycott amongst mainstream users.
• An uphill battle? GoDaddy users face a very similar situation to PayPal or Craigslist or Internet Explorer— no matter how controversial, user-unfriendly, or outdated the service may get, the market leader is seated pretty firmly due to years of market recognition and popularity, and it’ll take a lot to shake them. GoDaddy’s offered annoyed users a good reason to move elsewhere, however. But how many will there be? source

Posted by Ernie Smith • Permalink