My .com renewal was $14, namecheap.
EDIT: I'd really like to know why I got down voted on this. My renewal this year was twice the price. Everything at GoDaddy seems to be double what every body else charges and it's fair to be unimpressed with still having legacy products stuck at their company even if I didn't notice/it's my fault.
I had a $55 charge from them on my credit card. The page that told me what it was was buried under six clicks. It's shady.
A few years ago my dad had mistakenly signed up for some dark pattern "premium" SEO/marketing service on GoDaddy for one of his domains. It was over $600 a year and was near useless.
Cancelling this "service" was behind multiple clicks. He gave up on cancelling mistakenly thinking that since his old card had expired he would have a chance to cancel at at a renewal.
Of course GoDaddy was able to charge another $629 on an expired credit card...
Moved all the domains in my family from GoDaddy to Namecheap with no regrets.
.io is still squatted, but much easier game. And it makes sense in our field.
As an example, I wanted a common English word name for my startup. The .com is owned by a squatting firm that balked at a $1M dollar offer. They want eight figures, no less. The .io, on the other hand, is listed at mid-five figures. Considerable delta between those two. Once you start doing business and begin to grow, you can potentially negotiate to lease the .com and redirect. Set up a lease to buy if you exit.
It would be foolish to do anything except redirect though.
Most people finding your site will do so through google or other links right?
As for myself I hardly consider the real URL these days (except in some cases to check it’s right before entering credentials).
Most people finding your site will do so through google or other links right?
As for myself I hardly consider the real URL these days (except in some cases to check it’s right before entering credentials).
My hope is that Cloudflare is small enough that it still has human beings in control of their AI. Unlike Google's AI which can’t be bargained with, can’t be reasoned with, which doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or sympathy. I have friends at Google, but I don't have any confidence that they will be able to help when their Terminator strikes.
I'm in the process of de-Googlifying my digital life as much as possible. Getting out of Google Domains into Cloudflare was the first step. Setting up backup accounts and workflows that will continue work after a catastrophic Google AI termination can be a bit tricky.
[0]: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=8+USD+to+...