Low-cost domain registrar GoDaddy.com has opened an office in Toronto, its first location outside the US, and aims to be registering .CA domain names by August. GoDaddy.com is now certified by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and is in the final stages of developing their .CA registration process.
Thanks to their controversial and frequently banned Super Bowl television ads, Canadians are very familar with GoDaddy.com and the company already have a strong and loyal customer base North of the border for .COM domains. Low-cost Canadian registrars should start to worry.
GoDaddy.com will kick off its entry into the Canadian market by sponsoring the TSN television broadcast of the NASCAR Napa Auto Parts 200 on August 2nd in Montreal. Canadian driver Ron Fellows will race the #5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.
GoDaddy's Toronto office currently has one employee, Adam Dicker, and Canadian customer support will be handled through their US call centres. Those who follow the domain industry will recognize Dicker's name - he was recently called out for bidding against customers in GoDaddy.com domain auctions. I can't imagine CIRA will put up with that behaviour for long.
Rob Lewis
Rob is the President of Techvibes Media Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com.
His diverse background includes stints in International Trade Finance, Web Development, and Enterprise Software and he is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Simon Fraser University.
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