news GoDaddy's NameFind uses expired SSL certificate; should white-label

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• NameFind.com is operating on an expired SSL certificate issued by GoDaddy
• SSL certificate was valid from 11/30/2017 to 11/30/2020
• NameFind is running on WordPress
• The website should white-label or drop its insecure WordPress installation for its own platform

NameFind, a subsidiary of GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), can be used for domain name arbitrage in which a developer can secure a perfect name and pack it along with their full services.

The website has been operating on an expired SSL certificate that was issued by GoDaddy to be valid between the dates of 11/30/2017 and 11/30/2020. It remains that way as of December 2, 2020.



One thing that can be observed is WordPress' logo as their favicon. This is the icon that is used for a browser's tab to its favorite bar and even as a desktop shortcut.



The favicon shows that the website isn't white-labeled, a practice that many companies—from small to large—do. It's even more apparent when /wp-admin/ is accessed to see the full WordPress logo on the administrative login page.

While NameFind works great as it only serves up names that are for sale outside of the site on Afternic, they need to still update the SSL certificate to ensure privacy is kept for those customers that still use their contact form. Furthermore, having a valid SSL certificate is used as a ranking signal. Therefore, NameFind, and potentially the parent company, GoDaddy, could begin to hurt with reduced sales if this is not addressed.

NameFind should also brand to either GoDaddy or NameFind and also secure its WordPress installation if hardening measures aren't already in place. Alternatively, they could even use their own lightweight platform.

 

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Amateur hour...

 

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Amateur hour...

I've reported it to GoDaddy.

This isn't acceptable for a publically traded company that had nearly $3BN in revenue in 2019. I would assume that they would spend a couple of hours on a lightweight system that merely displays their portfolio and redirects to Afternic while creating a simple contact form. Though, they should definitely be renewing their SSL certificates.

As GoDaddy's portfolio consists of around 750,000 domains according to their 2019 annual report, with 200,000 of which acquired for $28.1 million from Marchex and 70,000 from Michael Berkens' Worldwide Media Inc., it would be interesting to see how much revenue the aftermarket sales are making.

This would compute to a minuscule $18.8 million (less at cost renewals) in the bigger picture of GoDaddy Inc., though paying for nearly the entire Marchex portfolio to break even assuming a churn of 1% or 7500 domains sold at an average of $2500.

However, domain name investors could extrapolate data from this and have a takeaway that quantity and quality do pay off. Obviously, one wouldn't come close to GoDaddy's overall earnings as they do offer a ton of other services other than aftermarket end-user domain name sales.