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TheDomains.com

The HD bot and GoDaddy Auctions

November 8, 2019 by Raymond Hackney

GoDaddy and the HD Bot

It’s no secret to anyone active in the expired auction scene that Huge Domains and their bot are a big deal on GoDaddy auctions.

A thread titled, HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS got things going on Namepros. The thread has 21,000 views and 430 replies.

It’s a long read and an informative read, if you have not read it you should bookmark it.

Today Namepros member Dave put forth an interesting post that dealt with the HD bot piggybacking human research. It’s an interesting read that some have known about, to be honest I never tested the piggyback theory. Others are claiming that they play games with the bot to get Huge Domains to pay more for a domain then it’s worth. GoDaddy had a great earnings report this week and announced a $500 million share buyback.

Here is Dave’s post read the whole thread here.

I’ve been warned not to share such information publicly, but I feel I must so others know what they’re letting themselves in for when it comes to GD expired auctions and being up against the Huge Domains bot on GoDaddy, which is usually bidder id 913932.

For a while I thought the Huge Domains bot that runs rampant everyday worked against a predefined list of domains to go after. I assumed it had a set list every day and it would bid up to 9-12% of the GD valuation.

This assumption was wrong! As I discovered a while back.

The HD bot is actually working by piggybacking of the research and effort put in by us human investors and then simply placing bids based on that, using a typical 9-12% range of the GD valuation to do so.

I’ve known for a while now key ways to help me identify when it is the HD bot that I’m up against on a GD expired auction.

Today, I bid on two domains that had just 1 bid and less than 30 minutes remaining. I already knew due to it having 2 bidders the HD bot would love to come out and play!

upload_2019-11-8_18-52-49.png
upload_2019-11-8_18-53-8.png

In my opinion this is not a fair playing field at all.

You as an investor most likely spend a fair amount of time researching domain names before you place a bid. All your time and effort is now being put at risk, or causing you to overspend on your inventory, simply because a bot with seemingly endless funds can watch what is going on at the auctions at all times, and piggyback of the effort you’ve put in on a day to day basis to browse the lists and research.

I advise you to really think before placing a bid on a domain that currently has no bids. I think if there is a domain you’re really after, you actually have better luck of getting it for $11 or less at closeouts. If you wait for the auction to finish, and then keep checking very frequently until it appears again as a closeout.

Hypothetically speaking, with this knowledge at hand, I suppose it is possible for someone to lure the bot in on purpose and drive up prices to make it overpay on purpose. Hypothetically if this were to happen enough, this may make them reconsider what they’re doing.

Again, purely hypothetical.

If you think a bot and a company that profits from the work of others is a fair playing field then in my opinion you are wrong. It is wrong.

These sort of bots need banning from any and all types of auction places.

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Filed Under: Domain Auctions, Godaddy, HugeDomains, Namepros

About Raymond Hackney

Raymond is a writer, domain trader and consultant based in Pennsylvania. Raymond is the founder of 3Character.com and TLDInvestors.com.

« GoDaddy to do a share buyback of $500 million
A look at six figure sales over the last 3 years »

Comments

  1. DIE BOT DIE says

    November 8, 2019 at 4:15 pm

    Not fair at all, we have robots and not humans bidding. Can we hire a robot to go to the NamesCon auctions and bid for us? The answer is NO. That doesn’t make sense and isn’t a real person casting a bid. I’m surprised this isn’t a big security concern for goddady as they definitely have issues if bots can do human verification and bid for members.

    NOT FAIR – EVERYONE HATES THIS
    HD SHOULD BE PUNISHED AND AUCTIONS SHOULD BE BOT FREE!!

  2. page howe says

    November 8, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    fair, who promised us fair.

    Page

    • DIE BOT DIE says

      November 8, 2019 at 4:45 pm

      Dang, so true

    • Bryan says

      November 9, 2019 at 10:52 am

      Page is spot on. Anyone expecting a fair and level playing field in a business marketplace is setting themself up to fail. Assume the opposite.

      Anyone else that wants to create a bot to do the same, can. HD is just putting up the resources and taking the risk to do so. Those that take risks and scale walls others don’t/won’t get to reap the rewards. I can’t think of any other market where that is truer than domaining. 😉

  3. cicana says

    November 8, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    i not have idea about english domains
    but in spanish this bot cause me a lot of losses (overpriced auctions)
    the bot makes an automatic bid almost immediately after making my bid
    the last minutes of the closing time….

    based on certain criteria (godaddy estimate value, stibot) =
    although the domain It has little resale value or multiple drops

    garbage $12 domains are sold in $100-$200 thanks to hugedomains
    hardly godaddy can do something against this bad practice

    regards

  4. Mark Thorpe says

    November 8, 2019 at 6:23 pm

    And GoDaddy lets this happen because it makes them money.

  5. mike says

    November 8, 2019 at 6:36 pm

    All I ask what is in it for Huge Domains to do all of Godaddy’s bidding for hundreds of dollars for crap domains, what is their kickback, incentive, to upcharge all these righteous customers?

  6. Richard says

    November 8, 2019 at 8:17 pm

    The HD bot is just another sucker in domaining.
    Whenever I want a domain with no bids I just wait for the auction to end and in app. 80% of the time I can buy it directly for $11. Some I lose. But when I sense the HD bot l, I bid it up with no mercy even if I don’t really want the domain at that level. Bots are stupid, bots can’t read your mind 😉

    I must have made GoDaddy so much money at this point I truly feel I deserve an employee of the month award… Hit me up GD!

    • mike says

      November 8, 2019 at 9:40 pm

      Your not the only one doing it, so that is why I ask what is the incentive because they clearly don’t care to stop it.

      • Richard says

        November 9, 2019 at 6:26 am

        Let’s hope it stays that way. Let them be careless.
        The sooner they will be out of business.

  7. Data Glasses says

    November 8, 2019 at 11:09 pm

    LOL .. I regged BotHire/Com in 2006

  8. Page Howe says

    November 9, 2019 at 12:24 am

    so what if its not the bot “all” the time, what if its a person bidding you up. dont we all wait for $12 if we can get it, or $11…

    i put some more though into it here back in August

    dn.biz/blog/2019/08/28/712/

    Page

    • VR says

      November 9, 2019 at 1:30 am

      Page maybe you should have read the thread on namepros instead of trying to clear or make acceptable what godaddy and Huge Domains are doing. The posts on Namepros make it clear what huge domains is doing.

    • Dave says

      November 9, 2019 at 8:30 am

      The difference is that another human investor likely deserves to be involved if they’re bidding, because they would’ve taken the time to research the domain prior to doing so.

      Huge Domains is profiting of the time and effort put in by others.

      I wouldn’t mind the HD bot so much if it was only allowed to work against a set list of domains it was given, and if it didn’t have the ability to be watching all expired auctions all at once.

  9. Anunt says

    November 9, 2019 at 1:15 am

    What if GoDaddy secretly owns Huge Domains and they are using them to bid up domains

  10. Dave says

    November 9, 2019 at 8:17 am

    Thanks for sharing my post Raymond.

    In case anyone is confused by the “I’ve been warned” statement, I did intend to add additional information to my post, but changed my mind and forgot to edit that part out.

  11. Trent says

    November 9, 2019 at 10:38 am

    Traditional auction house laws are very strict in many states, these guys skirt in between such laws in their keyword definition of an auction, or if that exchange as they perceive it.

    Maybe Huge Names is a large shareholder of godaddy, who knows how many different scenarios or NDA’s could be in place regarding this relationship.

  12. Rich says

    November 9, 2019 at 11:02 am

    I was watching PayNow.co in the GD auctions.
    It went to closeouts and after two days it disappear.

    One week later it turn out at the expire GD section with seven days to go.
    Yesterday it closed at $810.What am i to think?

    Do you care to explain that GoDaddy ?

  13. John says

    November 9, 2019 at 8:46 pm

    We live in a wicked fallen world in which plutocracy and favoring the rich is the prevailing agenda. And those who become rich often seek to prevent others from having the same opportunities in life they had themselves. The many lose out for the benefit of the few. But this will not last indefinitely and there will come a definite end. In the meantime, it is still good to do what one can to expose darkness and promote light.

  14. John says

    November 9, 2019 at 8:49 pm

    And who on earth would warn you against sharing such information and why?

    • Dave says

      November 10, 2019 at 10:50 am

      I had intended on sharing additional information in the post but later changed my mind and forgot to edit that part out.

  15. Stevie says

    November 9, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    So many thoughts come to mind when I hear about Godaddy and especially Godaddy Auctions
    If Washington is a swamp then Godaddy is a toxic cesspool
    The skullduggery has been going on for many years on many forms from nodaddy to Adam Dicker and billions of Dollars in fake bids
    I voted years ago with my wallet
    They lost my domain business
    They lost my hosting business
    They lost my backorder and auction business
    And
    It hasn’t hurt them a dam bit lololololo
    But my frustration level is way lower and my productivity way higher without this albatross in my life
    I say all the more power HD
    If Godaddy is gonna let it happen
    If the authorities are gonna let it happen
    And most of all
    If the market is gonna let it happen
    Then who am I to stop em
    I gave up on GD long ago
    But because people can MAKE MONEY with em
    And because Godaddy is MAKING MONEY off them everything’s hunky dory
    Joe Styler and Paul Nicks would be a great ticket in 2020
    They could put a positive spin on a funeral

  16. Nophree Lunch says

    November 11, 2019 at 9:03 am

    Wait
    Let me see if understand what Joe Styler is saying
    Joe says that godaddy “closeouts” are very competitive
    Joe says Godaddy has limited the calls on their API to make bidding fair
    Yet in addition to their AUCTION BOT winnings
    HUGE DOMAINS also wins virtually every single closeout!

    Domainers have been lured into the Godaddy diner with the promise of a couple cent savings on their meal and by the time they sit down for lunch they realize their waiter has eaten theirs
    Public companies face strict reporting and operating rules and these are most certainly not actions
    Someone will call GROWDADDY out AGAIN either before dessert is served or when they do not get the meal they paid for after
    Absolute scammers for more than a decade
    Reminds me of an old saying

    If their is an elephant in the room
    Introduce it

    That say slogan hangs in the old
    CEOs office except it says

    If there is an elephant in the room
    KILL IT

    BUT GOLF UNLIKE DOMAINS IS A VERY CIVILIZED SPORT

  17. Mike says

    November 12, 2019 at 1:14 pm

    Yes, it’s true Godaddy has opened up the HDbot and allowed them to game, and cherry pick the closeouts, most likely a Thank You, for F’ing all of you into paying 10X more for crap domains! SUCKERS

  18. mike deesz says

    January 29, 2020 at 8:17 am

    lol namescon in austin. bring it back to vegas. texas is garbage

  19. Rich says

    April 5, 2020 at 2:19 pm

    I think this is some good advice as I was just hit by the same thing. It seems they put a $250 bid out there so you are forced to bid above that amount to get a name. If you see a name you want do not bid on it early as that invites the bot to place its $250 bid in the last minutes of the auction. If there is a name you want, wait until the last minute to bid on it as they place their bids in the last 5 minutes. Still not sure if that will even work because when you bid it adds an additional 5 minutes to the auction which might alert the bot to bid against you. It seems like a pretty shady deal that Go Daddy is allowing to happen but why wouldn’t they. I just had to pay $255 dollars for a domain I should have been able to buy for $12.


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