GoDaddy Inc
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Feb 20, 2025.
View on SEC.govAbout this filing
A company's yearly report to the SEC, with audited financial statements. It is the fullest account a company gives of its business, its finances and the risks it sees.
FY2024 · Filed Feb 20, 2025
GDDY$114.38-4.8%Stored close · as of Nov 6, 2026
What changed in Risk Factors?
Read the current filingPrevious report: 10-K
Period ended 2023-12-31; filed 2024-02-29.
0001609711-24-000022
Item 1A. Risk FactorsCurrent report: 10-K
Period ended 2024-12-31; filed 2025-02-20.
0001609711-25-000023
Item 1A. Risk FactorsThe baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.
Compared 395 previous paragraphs and 348 current paragraphs.
177 unchanged; 123 reworded; 45 added; 83 removed; 12 previous and 3 current paragraphs rearranged.
Tables are not compared: 0 previous and 0 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.
A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.
Added paragraphs (45)
Current report
•Our pricing decisions may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers.
Current report
•We rely on information technology systems, including third-party cloud computing systems, and data centers to deliver many of our products and services. These information technology systems and data centers may experience outages, disruptions or degradations, and we may otherwise lose access to the services third-party service providers provide to us, any of which could impact our services, products and technology infrastructure.
Current report
•An actual or perceived cybersecurity incident could impair our ability to conduct business, provide our products or services, protect data, and comply with contractual or legal obligations, and may cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
Current report
•We are subject to local and international laws, rules, regulations and orders relating to the operation and security of our computer network and the processing of data, including personal data.
Current report
•failure to bring products to market on a timely or cost effective basis;
Current report
•scalability of products or product enhancements;
Current report
Legal and regulatory frameworks related to the use of AI are rapidly evolving, as regulation of the use of AI continues to be considered and adopted by various U.S. and international governmental and regulatory entities, including the E.U., the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Several jurisdictions have also passed, or are considering, new laws, rules and regulations relating to the use of AI or its outputs. For example, in 2024, the E.U. adopted the E.U. AI Act and U.S. states, including Colorado and California, have adopted laws, rules and regulations directly relating to the use of AI or extending the application of existing laws, rules and regulations to AI systems and outputs. Any failure by us to comply with any AI-related laws, rules and regulations could result in fines and negative publicity, which could result in reputational harm and damage to our business. In addition, the future impact of these or other new laws, rules or regulations on us is uncertain. We may not be able to adequately anticipate or respond to new laws, rules and regulations, and we may need to expend additional resources to adjust our offerings in certain jurisdictions if applicable legal frameworks are inconsistent across jurisdictions. The costs of complying with such laws, rules or regulations could be significant and would increase our operating expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Current report
Our reliance on the use of AI could also pose ethical concerns and lead to a lack of human oversight and control. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy, or these new offerings do not work as we describe them, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Further, generative AI may create content that appears correct but is factually inaccurate, incomplete, insufficient, biased or otherwise flawed or contains copyrighted or other protected material, which may not be easily detectable despite internal policies and diligence efforts we may have in place which are designed to mitigate such deficiencies. To the extent we or our customers rely on such results, we could incur operational inefficiencies, competitive harm, brand or reputational harm, or other adverse impacts on our business and results of operations. Additionally, if any of our employees, contractors, vendors or service providers use any third-party AI-powered software in connection with our business or the services they provide to us, it may lead to the inadvertent disclosure of our personal, sensitive, proprietary or confidential information into publicly available third-party training sets, which may impact our ability to realize the benefit of, or adequately maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property or our personal, sensitive, proprietary or confidential information, harming our competitive position and business. The rapid evolution of the use of AI requires and will continue to require resources to develop, test and maintain our products and services to help ensure that AI is implemented appropriately in order to minimize unintended and harmful impacts.
Current report
We and our competitors continue to invest in AI, including generative AI and integration of AI capabilities into products and services. AI technology and services are highly competitive, rapidly evolving, and at times require significant investment, including with respect to development and operational costs, to meet the changing needs and expectations of our existing and potential customers. Further, other companies may develop AI products and technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies or more cost-effective to deploy. Any failure to successfully develop, adopt, use and maintain AI products and services, or effectively manage the related operational risks, could harm our reputation. Refer to our risk factor "The use of new and evolving technologies, such as AI, in our offerings may result in reputational harm and liability" for further information concerning the legal and other risks arising from the development, adoption, use, deployment and maintenance of AI.
Current report
Our pricing decisions may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers.
Current report
From time to time, we have changed our overall pricing model or the various price points of our products and services and we expect to do so in the future. However, no assurance can be given that any new pricing model or price points will be optimal and changes in our price points or pricing model could result in a loss of customers or bookings. In addition, our competitors have in the past implemented, and may in the future implement, various pricing and bundling strategies, including discounts and reductions in price, which may be similar to or more attractive than our own. Individuals as well as small and medium sized businesses have been and could be sensitive to price increases or swayed by different price points offered by competitors. If changes in our pricing model or price points are unsuccessful, or the strategies of our competitors are more successful than our own, we may be unable to attract new customers or retain our existing customers and we may be required to reduce prices or make other changes to our pricing model to remain competitive. Any of these developments could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Current report
As part of our business strategy, we routinely evaluate opportunities that we believe could complement or supplement our business and address the needs of our customers, including possible acquisitions or investments in companies, talent, products, intangible assets or technologies, and for potential joint ventures, new lines of business, or other strategic investments. Such transactions could result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, and could involve a number of risks, such as:
Current report
•incurrence of substantial debt or requirements to issue equity securities;
Current report
•difficulty integrating and managing the acquired products, talent, technology and security infrastructures, new brands and acquired customers;
Current report
•exposure to litigation or other claims, including related to intellectual property, privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, AI, regulatory compliance practices or employment;
Current report
•retention and integration of employees from an acquired company, including potential risks and challenges to our company's culture, and ability to maintain and integrate systems and operations if such employees are geographically dispersed or choose not to work with us once acquired;
Current report
We rely on information technology systems, including third-party cloud computing systems, and data centers to deliver many of our products and services. These information technology systems and data centers may experience outages, disruptions or degradations, and we may otherwise lose access to the services third-party service providers provide to us, any of which could impact our services, products and technological infrastructure.
Current report
To deliver our products and services, we rely on data centers and third-party service providers, including providers of cloud computing services, to perform certain technology, processing, servicing and support functions on our behalf. We own one data center in Arizona and lease our remaining data center capacity from wholesale providers. The reliable performance of our products and services depends on the continuing operation and availability of our information technology systems, including our data centers, and those of our external service providers, including third-party “cloud” computing services. The reliable delivery and stability of our products and services could be adversely impacted by security incidents, outages, disruptions, failures, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, human error, or degradations of our network and related infrastructure, including in the online platforms or services of key business partners that offer, support or host our products and services, or by other events outside or within our control, such as the migration of data among data centers and to third-party hosted environments, the performance of upgrades and maintenance on our systems, and effectively scaling our technological infrastructure, which we have undertaken in the past.
Current report
If we or our external business partners were to experience an event that caused a system outage, disruption or degradation, or if a transition among data centers or service providers or an upgrade or maintenance session encountered unexpected interruptions, unforeseen complexity or unplanned disruptions, our products and services may not be available to consumers or may not be delivered reliably and stably. In addition, if our agreements for our data centers and with our service providers are terminated, if we are unable to renew such agreements on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or if the service providers close the facilities or cease providing the services on which we rely, we may be required to transfer to a new service provider, and our agreements may not provide us with adequate time to transfer operations to a new facility in the event of a termination. As a result, our reputation and brand may be harmed, consumer engagement with our products and services may be reduced, and our revenue and profitability could be negatively impacted. We do not have redundancy for all our systems, many of our critical applications reside in only one of our data centers, and our disaster recovery planning may not account for all eventualities. In addition, we may have limited remedies against these third parties in the event of service disruptions. If third parties are unable to perform these functions on our behalf because of service interruptions or extended outages, or because those services are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, our expenses could increase and our customers' use of our products could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could adversely affect our business.
Current report
An actual or perceived cybersecurity incident could impair our ability to conduct business, provide our products and services, protect data, and comply with contractual or legal obligations, and may cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
Current report
Our operations depend on our ability to protect our information systems against interruption, a breach of confidentiality, or other damage from cybersecurity threats and incidents. Our large size and global computer network expose us to a wide variety of cybersecurity threats that include cyber attacks from individuals, organized crime groups, nation-state sponsored organizations, and others (collectively, threat actors). These cyberattacks can take many different forms, including but not limited to deploying malicious software, exploiting hardware and software vulnerabilities, social engineering, or other actions to gain access to our systems and data or disrupt our operations. In addition, cyberattacks are constantly evolving as threat actors discover new vulnerabilities and leverage new techniques and technologies, including through the use of AI. For example, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, an increase in social engineering attacks to conduct sophisticated phishing campaigns. Although we have made investments in cybersecurity defenses, we cannot guarantee that our defenses (or those of our third-party service providers) will be sufficient to prevent disruption or unauthorized access to our systems.
Current report
In addition to threats from external threat actors, we face internal cybersecurity threats related to our own operations. These threats may include human error, intentional misconduct, or accidental failures. Although we have made investments in cybersecurity defenses designed to guard against insider threats, we cannot guarantee that our defenses (or those of our third-party service providers) will be sufficient to prevent an insider from causing unauthorized disruption or access to our systems or data.
Current report
If our cybersecurity defenses (or those of our third-party service providers) are insufficient to prevent a cybersecurity incident, we may experience significant disruption of our business, substantial costs, reputational harm, and liability. Any actual or suspected cybersecurity incident may disrupt our business by, among other things, making our network, systems and services partially or totally unavailable or by destroying, corrupting, exposing, or otherwise unlawfully processing data necessary for us or our customers to conduct business. An actual or suspected cybersecurity incident also may cause us to incur a wide range of costs, including but not limited to acquiring new hardware and software to repair our systems or remediate the effects of the incident, retaining external consultants, and providing notice to affected customers, individuals, and government authorities. A cybersecurity incident also may cause reputational harm if, for example, customers believe that we are unable to protect our systems or their data (including sensitive, confidential, proprietary, and personal data). Finally, we have been and in the future may be subject to litigation or governmental investigations relating to our failure to prevent a cybersecurity incident.
Current report
We have purchased cybersecurity insurance to cover the costs and potential liability arising from cybersecurity incidents. Our coverage, however, includes significant deductibles. We also cannot ensure that our existing cybersecurity insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover the successful assertion of one or more large claims against us, continue to be available on acceptable terms, or at all, or that the insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. Thus, we cannot guarantee that our insurance will provide coverage for a specific cybersecurity incident or will be sufficient to cover all the potential costs and liabilities of any specific cybersecurity incident.
Current report
•actual or perceived cyber attacks or other incidents;
Current report
•limiting our ability to obtain additional financing in the future; and
Current report
•ICANN, TLD operators, governments and governmental authorities may impose requirements for verification of domain name registrant information that are inconsistent with our current business practices or that result in inconsistency among industry participants, including but not limited to changes under the E.U. NIS2 Directive;
Current report
Program. This resulted in the delegation of new gTLDs in 2014. ICANN has introduced a new gTLD program, Next Round, which is expected to open in April 2026 upon completion of the policy implementation work.
Current report
We are subject to local and international laws, rules, regulations, and orders relating to the operation and security of our computer network and the processing of data, including privacy of personal data.
Current report
Our operations depend on the operation of our network and processing of data internationally, including the movement of data across national boundaries. The laws, rules, regulations and orders concerning cybersecurity and processing of data are evolving and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently, and may conflict with one another, with other regulatory requirements, or with our own internal policies and procedures. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with U.S. or international laws and regulations relating to cybersecurity and processing of data (or our failure or perceived failure to comply with our own internal policies and procedures) may result in litigation, government enforcement actions, or reputational harm.
Current report
We are subject to a variety of U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws, rules, regulations, and orders (such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act) that provide our customers and other individuals with certain rights relating to the processing of their personal data. In addition, a growing and evolving body of U.S. and international laws restrict how we may process personal data for various purposes, including online advertising and targeted marketing. These evolving laws may increase our costs and limit our ability to use personal data for new products, including but not limited to products that rely on AI-related technologies.
Current report
We have entered into an agreement to settle FTC charges relating to certain of our security practices, advertising, and other related matters. The settlement agreement and related order is still pending a public notice-and-comment period and final FTC approval. If the proposed order is finalized, we will be required to comply with its terms for a period of at least 20 years, which include specific requirements relating to security of our hosting services among other things. If we fail to comply with the final order’s terms, we could be subject to FTC investigation, litigation, or reputational harm. We have invested and continue to invest in our security systems and have undertaken to begin implementing the proposed requirements contained in the proposed order. See Note 13 to our financial statements.
Current report
Existing and new laws, rules, regulations and orders relating to the security of our networks and data processing may cause us to incur additional compliance costs or limit our ability to provide certain of our products or services in some jurisdictions. For example, we expect to incur additional costs relating to new cybersecurity requirements in the E.U. pursuant to the E.U. Network Information Security 2 Directive (NIS2), which is currently being transposed into E.U. law.
Current report
We also must comply with a growing body of laws, rules, regulations and orders governing the transfer of data, including personal data, across territorial boundaries. For example, the GDPR restricts the transfer of personal data from the E.U. to the U.S. and other countries that are not deemed to have implemented adequate data protection measures. We use a variety of legal transfer mechanisms to transfer personal data from the E.U. to the U.S., including standard contractual clauses (SCCs) and the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. However, the use of SCCs and the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework is subject to ongoing review and litigation in the E.U., and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to continue to rely on these or other transfer mechanisms to transfer personal data from the E.U. to the U.S.
Current report
We are subject to international laws, rules and regulations relating to content moderation.
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Removed paragraphs (83)
Previous report
•If we are unable to continue to attract a diverse customer base for which we have developed more customized solutions and applications, our business, growth prospects and operating results could be adversely affected.
Previous report
•Our business will suffer if the small business market for our solutions proves less lucrative than projected or if we fail to effectively acquire and service small business customers.
Previous report
•We may not successfully develop and market products that meet or anticipate our customers' needs, whether organically or inorganically, or may not develop such products on a timely basis.
Previous report
•Our brand is integral to our success. If we fail to protect or promote our brand, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Previous report
•Our restructuring activities may not adequately reduce our operating costs or improve our operating margins, may lead to additional workforce attrition and may cause operational disruptions.
Previous report
•We may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and services, which may subject us to additional risks.
Previous report
•We rely on third parties to perform certain key functions, and their failure to perform those functions could result in the interruption of our operations and systems and could result in significant costs and reputational damage to us.
Previous report
•If the security of the confidential information or personal information we or our vendors or partners maintain, including that of our customers and the visitors to our customers’ websites stored in our systems, is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, our reputation may be harmed, we may be required to expend substantial resources to mitigate and remediate such breach, and we may be exposed to substantial liability.
Previous report
•We maintain an enterprise-wide cybersecurity program. Our failure to properly maintain this program for the company as a whole, or any part of the company, could cause us to experience a cybersecurity incident that could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
Previous report
•We are subject to governmental regulation and other legal obligations, particularly related to privacy, data and information security and cybersecurity. Our failure to comply with these or any future laws, regulations or obligations could subject us to sanctions and damages and could harm our reputation and business.
Previous report
If we are unable to continue to attract a diverse customer base for which we have developed more customized solutions and applications, our business, growth prospects and operating results could be adversely affected.
Previous report
We aim to serve customers with new ventures and those with established small or medium-sized businesses that may need help growing and expanding their digital capabilities (Independents). We also serve and provide products for other customer populations, such as website designers and developers (WebPros), organizations with their own domain registration offerings (Domain Registrars), individuals or organizations that manage a portfolio of registered domains (Domain Investors) and third party registrars and corporate domain portfolio owners, including those that are more technically savvy. For these customers we aim to develop new features and applications that may be used to start or grow their businesses. For example, we offer tools for our technically sophisticated web designers, developers and customers, including high-performance, flexible hosting and security products that can be used with a variety of open source design tools such as WordPress. If we are unable to increase sales of our products to all customer segments we may target, our estimated total addressable market may be overstated and our business, growth prospects and operating results may be adversely affected.
Previous report
Our business will suffer if the small business market for our solutions proves less lucrative than projected or if we fail to effectively acquire and service small business customers.
Previous report
There is no assurance we will continue to successfully identify new opportunities, develop and bring new products to market on a timely basis, or that products or technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. If we fail to accurately predict customers' changing needs, such as the need for expanded online and offline commerce tools, or emerging technological trends, such as AI, or if we fail to achieve the benefits expected from our investments in technology, our business and operating results could be harmed. These product and technology investments include those we develop internally, such as our "do-it-yourself" website builder Websites + Marketing and our hosting platforms and security products, those we acquire and develop through acquisitions, such as Dan.com and Poynt, and those related to our partner programs, such as Microsoft.
Previous report
Further, AI technologies, including generative AI, may create content that appears correct but is factually inaccurate or flawed, or contains copyrighted or other protected material, and our customers or others may rely on or use this flawed content to their detriment. In addition, we face significant competition from other companies that are developing their own AI products and technologies. Our competitors may develop AI products and technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies or are more cost-effective to develop or deploy.
Previous report
Our brand is integral to our success. If we fail to protect or promote our brand, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Previous report
Protecting and maintaining awareness of our brand is important to our success, particularly as we seek to attract new customers globally and to increase customer awareness of our full portfolio of products. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, resources to increase our brand awareness, both generally and in specific geographies and to specific customer groups, such as individual entrepreneurs, WebPros (including designers, developers and agencies) and Domain Investors. If our efforts to protect and promote our brand are not successful, our operating results may be adversely affected.
Previous report
GoDaddy could become the target of organized activist groups seeking to bring attention to elements of our brand, products, business model, employment practices, advertising, spokespeople, locations or other matters of our business in order to gain support for their interests or deter us from continuing practices with which they disagree. In the past, we have been successful in striking a balance in our response to such groups, but we may not be as successful in the future, such that our brand, company culture or results of operations could be harmed.
Previous report
Historically, Internet users navigated to a website by directly typing its domain name into a web browser or navigation bar. The domain name serves as a branded, unique identifier not unlike a phone number or email address. However, over time, individuals' use of search engines to find and access a website rather than using the web browser navigation bar has increased. If search engines modify their algorithms, our websites may appear less prominently or not at all in search results, which could result in reduced traffic to such websites. Additionally, if the costs of search engine marketing services, such as Google Ads, increase, we may incur additional marketing expenses or may be required to allocate a larger portion of our marketing spend to this channel and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
Previous report
•With respect to our Core Platform products and services: Newfold Digital, Namecheap, Tucows, Dynadot, GMO, Cloudflare, Let's Encrypt, SEDO, Comodo, Hostinger and Identity Digital;
Previous report
•With respect to our A&C products and services: Shopify, Block, BigCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Liquid Web, SiteGround, WP Engine, Zoho, Mindbody, Toast, Yelp, OpenTable, TikTok, Meta and WeChat; and
Previous report
•With respect to both our Core Platform and A&C products and services: Wix, Squarespace, Automattic, Ionos, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba and Tencent.
Previous report
Our restructuring activities may not adequately reduce our operating costs or improve our operating margins, may lead to additional workforce attrition and may cause operational disruptions.
Previous report
In February 2023, we announced a restructuring plan to reduce future operating expenses and improve cash flows through a combination of a reduction in force and a commitment to sell certain assets. As part of this plan, we announced a reduction in our then workforce of approximately 550 employees, representing approximately 8% of our total employee base at the time of announcement. In conjunction with this restructuring, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded $35.1 million of pre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance, employee benefits and equity-based compensation. In addition, we recognized a pre-tax loss of $16.5 million upon the completion of the planned disposition of certain assets and liabilities of our hosting business within our Core segment, which occurred on June 30, 2023. In the third quarter of 2023, we implemented additional restructuring activities to further reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows through a reduction in force, which impacted approximately 250 employees. In conjunction with these restructuring efforts, we recognized $13.4 million of pre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance and employee benefits during 2023.
Previous report
The charges and expenditures that we expect to incur in connection with the restructuring activities, and timing thereof, are subject to a number of assumptions, including local law requirements in various jurisdictions, and we may incur costs that are greater than we currently expect in connection with the restructuring activities.
Previous report
The restructuring activities may yield unintended consequences and costs, such as the loss of institutional knowledge and expertise, employee attrition beyond our intended reductions in force, a reduction in morale among our remaining employees, greater-than-anticipated costs incurred in connection with implementing the restructuring activities and the risk that we may not achieve the benefits from the restructuring activities to the extent or as quickly as we anticipate, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. These restructuring initiatives could place substantial demands on our management and employees, which could lead to the diversion of our management’s and employees’ attention from other business priorities. In addition, while we eliminated certain positions in connection with the restructuring activities, certain functions necessary to our reduced operations remain, and we may be unsuccessful in distributing the duties and obligations of departed employees among our remaining employees or to external service providers, which could result in disruptions to our operations. We may also discover that the workforce reductions and other restructuring efforts will make it difficult for us to pursue new opportunities and initiatives and require us to hire qualified replacement personnel, which may require us to incur additional and unanticipated costs and expenses. We may further discover that, despite the implementation of our restructuring activities, we may require additional capital to continue expanding our business, and we may be unable to obtain such capital on acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to successfully accomplish any of the above activities and goals may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Previous report
We may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired company, including issues related to intellectual property, solution quality or architecture, privacy, data protection, information security practices, regulatory compliance practices, employment practices, customer or sales channels and integrations of prior acquisitions. We are also required to integrate, operate and manage an acquired company's security infrastructure, which may be particularly challenging when acquired businesses utilize heavily customized or outdated systems or if we face a loss of personnel of the acquired business. Challenges with acquired systems and/or the loss of personnel familiar with and responsible for such acquired systems could increase our vulnerability to network attacks, security incidents or similar events.
Previous report
We may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the companies, solutions, technologies, accounting systems, personnel or operations we acquire, particularly if the key personnel are geographically dispersed or choose not to work for us once they are acquired. For example, in the future we may enter into transition services agreements with a seller for the provision of support services to assist with the orderly integration of the business. We may never realize the benefits of these transition services agreements and we may be unable to manage and coordinate the performance of personnel providing services to us under these agreements. Leaders and personnel at acquired companies may focus on achieving performance earn-outs or contingent payments rather than integrating with us. Additionally, we may not integrate an acquired company into our systems as planned, requiring us to depend on their legacy systems or a transition services agreement for longer than anticipated.
Previous report
We may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and/or services, which may subject us to additional risks.
Previous report
From time to time, we may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and/or services. Our lack of experience with or knowledge of new lines of business we choose to enter, as well as external factors, such as competitive alternatives, potential conflicts of interest, either real or perceived, and shifting market preferences, may impact our implementation and operation of such new lines of business. Other risks of implementing new lines of business include:
Previous report
•any determination by governmental agencies that any acquisition we undertake is anticompetitive in any relevant market;
Previous report
Failure to successfully manage these risks in the implementation or acquisition of new lines of business or the offering of new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.
Previous report
In February 2023, we effected a workforce reduction impacting approximately 8% of our then employee count as part of a restructuring plan. In the third quarter of 2023, we implemented additional restructuring activities to further reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows through a reduction in force, which impacted approximately 250 employees. The effects of these workforce reductions may make it more difficult to preserve our company culture and may negatively impact employee morale. In addition, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial portion of our personnel, including our GoDaddy Guides, began working remotely. We anticipate working arrangements for most of our employees will continue to differ from the arrangements before the COVID-19 pandemic and the majority of our employees will continue to work from home on a full- or part-time basis. We continue to evaluate the effectiveness of these working arrangements on our employees and our business. The full or partial return to in-office work and the potential transition to permanent remote working arrangements for some employees may result in increased costs, decreased efficiency, deterioration of company culture and/or other unforeseen challenges. Any failure to preserve our culture could also negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, continue to perform at current levels or execute on our business strategy. The remote work environment has also increased our vulnerability to consumer privacy, data security and fraud risks as a result of our personnel working remotely, which may require us to invest in risk mitigation efforts that may not be successful.
Previous report
We rely on third parties to perform certain key functions, and their failure to perform those functions could result in the interruption of our operations and systems and could result in significant costs and reputational damage to us.
Previous report
We rely on third parties, and other parties with which those third parties contract, to perform certain technology, processing, servicing and support functions on our behalf, and may in the future choose to transition a function previously managed by us to such third parties. In particular, we are in the process of transitioning a portion of our workloads from company-owned and co-located data centers to third-party cloud computing and hosting providers, including AWS. When we choose to transition a function to a third party, we may spend significant time and effort, incur higher costs than originally expected and experience delays in completing such transition. We may never realize any of the anticipated benefits of relying on such third parties, including acquisition of new customers, improved product features and positive financial results. While we use various methods to manage the cybersecurity risk of using third parties to perform key functions, third parties we use are vulnerable to operational and technological disruptions, including from cybersecurity incidents, which may negatively impact our ability to provide services to our customers, operate our business and fulfill our financial reporting obligations. We may have limited remedies against these third parties in the event of service disruptions. If third parties are unable to perform these functions on our behalf because of service interruptions or extended outages, or because those services are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, our expenses could increase and our customers' use of our products could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could adversely affect our business.
Previous report
We maintain an enterprise-wide cybersecurity program to manage the risks to our information systems from cybersecurity threats and incidents. Our operations depend on our ability to protect our information systems against interruption, a breach of confidentiality, or other damage from unauthorized entry, computer viruses, denial of service attacks and other security threats both within and beyond our control. These cybersecurity threats may arise from human error, fraud, or malice on the part of our employees, insiders, or third parties, or they may result from accidental technological failure. Any of these parties may also attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, or other third-party users of our systems to disclose sensitive information, wittingly or unwittingly, to gain access to our data or that of our customers or third parties with whom we interact.
Previous report
As an operator of a large Internet infrastructure, the company is frequently targeted and experiences a high rate of attacks. These include the most sophisticated forms of attacks, such as advanced persistent threat attacks and zero-day threats. These forms of attacks include situations where the threat is not compiled or does not have detection signatures within our observation and threat indicators space until the moment it is launched. For example, we have experienced, and may experience in the future, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks aimed at disrupting service to our customers, attempts to place illegal or abusive content on our or our customers' websites, and other attacks on our systems by sophisticated threat actors. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of malicious software attacks in the technology industry generally, including newer strains of malware, ransomware and cryptocurrency mining software exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in open source and third-party software. Moreover, retaliatory acts by Russia in response to economic sanctions or other measures taken by the international community against Russia arising from the Russia-Ukraine military conflict could include an increased number or severity of cyber attacks from Russia or its allies. For example, we have seen an increasing number of cyber attacks from threat actor groups located in or leveraging systems, sites and infrastructure hosted in the Russian region to target attacks on our infrastructure. Our response to any such attacks may be insufficient to protect our network and systems, especially as attacks increase in size and nation-state actors use attacks against political and economic adversaries.
Previous report
Social engineering efforts may compromise our personnel or those of our third-party vendors, leading to unauthorized access to information systems we have a responsibility to protect, which could lead to the unauthorized acquisition of information, the unavailability of our information systems (or information contained on those systems) or the compromise of customer accounts. Despite efforts to promote security awareness and training for our personnel and vendors, malicious actors are increasingly sophisticated and successful in their use of social engineering techniques. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, social engineering attempts, some of which have been successful, including by a persistent threat actor group, which, among other things, has attempted to transfer customer domain names and has targeted customer domains related to cryptocurrency. Recent advances in AI may increase the sophistication of these types of attacks; for example, as attackers are able to create more personalized and targeted communications using information derived from people’s relationships, online behavior and preferences. We have taken steps and continue to work to enhance our cybersecurity and resilience against social engineering, requiring additional engineering efforts and modifications to our technology architecture as well as the expenditure of time and additional cost. We cannot guarantee that our efforts will be successful or that future social engineering incidents will not cause financial, operational and/or reputational harm.
Previous report
We cannot guarantee that our backup systems and regular data backups will be adequate to protect against loss of our information or information of our customers and third parties. In addition, we cannot guarantee that our cybersecurity program, including our related security protocols, network protection mechanisms, cybersecurity awareness training, insider threat protection program, access controls, and other procedures and measures currently in place, or that may be in place in the future, will be adequate to prevent or remedy network and service interruptions, system failure, third-party operating systems and software vulnerabilities, damage to one or more of our systems, data loss, cybersecurity breaches or other cybersecurity incidents. Also, our products are cloud-based and we store our customers' data on our servers. Despite the implementation of cybersecurity measures, our information systems may be vulnerable to computer viruses, worms, other malicious software programs, social engineering attacks, insider threats, credential theft and related abuse, illegal or abusive content or similar disruptive problems caused by our customers, employees, consultants or other Internet users who attempt to invade or disrupt public and private data networks or to improperly access, use or obtain data.
Showing the first 40 of 83 passages. Open the source sections for the rest.
Reworded paragraphs (123)
Previous wording
•We face significant competition for our Applications and Commerce and Core Platform products, which we expect will continue to intensify, and we may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
Current wording
•We face significant competition for our products, which we expect will continue to intensify, and we may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
Previous wording
•The future growth of our business depends in part on our international bookings. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
Current wording
•The future growth of our business depends in part on our international revenue. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
Previous wording
•We may acquire other businesses or talent, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
Current wording
•Acquisitions and other strategic transactions, including investments or entries into new businesses, joint ventures, divestitures or other transactions, could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
Previous wording
•We rely on our marketing efforts and channels to promote our brand and acquire new customers. These efforts may require significant expense and may not be successful or cost-effective.
Current wording
•We rely on our marketing efforts and channels to maintain awareness of our brand and acquire new customers. These efforts may require significant expense and may not be successful or cost-effective.
Previous wording
•Our failure to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names could subject us to additional expenses, claims of loss or negative publicity that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Current wording
•Our failure to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names or comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations relating to domain name registration and maintenance could subject us to additional liability, regulatory action, expenses, claims of loss or negative publicity that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Previous wording
•Governmental and regulatory policies or claims concerning the domain name registration system and the Internet in general, and industry reactions to those policies or claims, may cause instability in the industry and disrupt our business.
Current wording
•Laws, regulations, policies or claims concerning the domain name registration system and the Internet in general, and industry reactions to those policies or claims, may cause instability in the industry and disrupt our business.
Previous wording
•Our payments-related operations, including GoDaddy Payments, are subject to various laws, regulations, restrictions and risks. Our failure to comply with such rules, regulations, and restrictions regarding our payments-related operations could materially harm our business.
Current wording
•Our payments-related operations, including GoDaddy Payments, are subject to various laws, regulations, and restrictions. Our failure to comply with such rules, regulations, and restrictions regarding our payments-related operations or properly manage the risks inherent to such operations could materially harm our business.
Previous wording
Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain customers and increase sales to new and existing customers. Although our total customers and revenue have grown rapidly in the past, in recent periods our slower growth rates have reflected the larger size, scale and maturity of parts of our business. We cannot be assured that we will achieve similar growth rates in future periods as our total customers and revenue could decline or grow more slowly than we expect. The rate at which new and existing customers purchase and renew subscriptions to our products could fluctuate or decline as a result of a number of factors, such as lower demand for domain names, websites and related products, declines in our customers' level of satisfaction with our products and the support provided by our GoDaddy Guides, platform migration, divestitures, end of life related actions on previously acquired companies, the timeliness and success of product enhancements and introductions by us and those of our competitors, the pricing offered by us and our competitors and the frequency and severity of any system outages, breaches, or technological changes.
Current wording
Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain customers and increase sales to new and existing customers. Although our total customers and revenue have grown rapidly in the past, in recent periods our growth rates have slowed or declined, reflecting the larger size, scale and maturity of parts of our business. We cannot be assured that we will achieve increasing growth rates in future periods as our total customers and revenue could decline or grow slower than we expect as a result of a number of factors, such as lower demand or satisfaction with our solutions, the timeliness and success of new products or product enhancements, pricing of our solutions compared to our competitors, competitive conditions, customer spending levels, changes in the type and size of our customer base, the reliability and availability of our customer support, general economic and global market conditions, or other factors that are not known to us at this time.
Previous wording
Our revenue has grown historically due in large part to sustained customer growth rates and strong renewals of subscriptions. Our future success depends in part on maintaining strong renewals. Our costs associated with renewals are substantially lower than costs associated with acquiring new customers and selling additional products to existing customers. Therefore, a reduction in renewals, even if offset by an increase in other revenue, could reduce our operating margins in the near term. Any failure by us to continue to attract new customers or maintain strong renewals could have a material adverse effect on our business, growth prospects and operating results.
Current wording
We have experienced growth in recent years, due in large part to sustained subscription growth and strong levels of subscription renewals, including customers who expand their use of our integrated platform over time. Our costs associated with renewals are lower than costs associated with acquiring new customers and selling additional products to existing customers. Therefore, our inability to attract new customers, or a reduction in renewals, even if offset by an increase in other revenue could reduce our operating margins in the near term and could have a material adverse effect on our business, growth prospects and operating results.
Previous wording
We focus our operations on small businesses, which frequently have limited budgets and may choose to allocate resources to items other than our solutions, especially in times of economic uncertainty or recessions. We believe that the small business market is underserved, and we intend to continue to devote substantial resources to it. We aim to grow our revenues by adding new small business customers, selling additional business solutions to existing small business customers and encouraging existing small business customers to continue to use and purchase our products and services. If the small business market fails to be as lucrative as we project or we are unable to market and sell our services to small businesses effectively, our ability to grow our revenues and maintain profitability will be harmed.
Current wording
Moreover, we focus our operations on entrepreneurs, customers with new ventures and those with established small and medium-sized businesses. We aim to grow our revenues by adding new customers, selling additional business solutions to these customers and encouraging them to continue to use and purchase our products and services. However, these customers often have limited budgets and may choose not to allocate resources to our solutions, especially in times of economic uncertainty or recessions. In addition, varying economic conditions could result in decreases or increases in business formations or failures of businesses we serve. If this market fails to be as lucrative as we project or we are unable to market and sell our services to these businesses effectively, or we are unable to increase sales of our products to all customer segments we target, or may target in the future, our ability to grow our revenues and maintain profitability will be harmed.
Previous wording
The markets where we compete are characterized by constant change and innovation, frequent new product and service introductions and evolving industry standards, and we expect them to continue to evolve rapidly. Our historical success has been based on our ability to identify and anticipate customer needs and design products that provide our customers with the tools they need to grow their businesses. For example, in 2023 we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to save our customers time. We also expanded our commerce offerings through the years by enabling payments through GoDaddy Payments in all Websites + Marketing through 'Buy Buttons' and provided on-the-go solutions such as Tap-to-Pay capability in the GoDaddy Mobile App, Pay Links and Virtual Terminal. To the extent we are not able to continue to identify challenges faced by entrepreneurs, small businesses and ventures and provide products responding in a timely and effective manner to their evolving needs, our business, operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Current wording
The markets in which we compete are characterized by constant change and innovation, frequent new product and service introductions and evolving industry standards. We expect these markets to continue to rapidly evolve. Our historical success has been based on our ability to identify and anticipate customer needs and design products that provide our customers with the tools they need to grow their businesses. For example, in 2023 we launched Airo, an AI-powered, customizable experience designed to automatically build the interconnected pieces of what we call the "Entrepreneur's Wheel," to save our customers time and effort. We also continue to expand our commerce offerings, for example, by rolling out GoDaddy Payments in Canada, launching new SaaS plans offering premium commerce features and discounted fees, introducing a new point-of-sale device to our line of GoDaddy Smart Terminals and providing on-the-go solutions such as Tap-to-Pay in the GoDaddy Mobile App, Pay Links and Virtual Terminal.
Previous wording
We must continue to develop our technology to maintain our competitive position, doing so without knowing whether such investments will result in successful products for our customers. Our new products or product enhancements could fail to attain meaningful customer acceptance for many reasons, including:
Current wording
We must continue to identify our customers' needs and develop new and enhanced technology to maintain our competitive position. The process of developing new solutions and enhancements is complex, uncertain and can be costly. Our new products or product enhancements could fail to attain meaningful customer acceptance for many reasons, including:
Previous wording
If our new products or enhancements do not achieve adequate acceptance by our customers, or if our new products do not result in increased sales or subsequent renewals, our competitive position will be impaired, our anticipated revenue growth may not be achieved and the negative impact on our operating results may be particularly acute because of the upfront technology and development, marketing and advertising and other expenses we may incur in connection with new products or enhancements. In addition, we may migrate our customers from a product that we intend to retire to another, substantially similar product. We may experience technical or other complications during such migration, which could result in a poor customer experience and which could have an adverse impact on our operating results.
Current wording
If our new products or enhancements do not achieve adequate acceptance by our customers, or if our new products do not result in increased sales or subsequent renewals, our competitive position will be impaired, our anticipated revenue growth may not be achieved and the negative impact on our operating results may be particularly acute because of the upfront technology and development, marketing and advertising and other expenses we may incur in connection with new products or enhancements.
Previous wording
We are increasingly using new and evolving technologies, such as AI, to, among other things, develop new tools and products, and additional features in our existing products, including ongoing deployment and improvement of existing AI, and the development of new product technologies, such as generative AI. For example, in 2023 we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to save our customers time. There are significant risks involved in development and deploying AI, such as an increase in intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy, cybersecurity, operational and technological risks, harmful content, accuracy, bias and discrimination, any of which could affect our further development, adoption, and use of AI, and may cause us to incur additional research and development costs to resolve such issues. In addition, the introduction of AI technologies into new or existing products may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, privacy, confidentiality or security risks, ethical concerns or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results.
Current wording
We are increasingly using new and rapidly evolving technologies, such as AI, to, among other things, develop new tools and products, and additional features in our existing products, including ongoing deployment and improvement of existing AI, and the development of new product technologies, such as generative AI. For example, in 2023 we launched Airo, an AI-powered, customizable experience designed to automatically build the interconnected pieces of what we call the "Entrepreneur's Wheel," to save our customers time and effort. There are significant risks involved in the development, adoption, use, deployment and maintenance of AI, such as an increase in intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, confidentiality, operational and technological risks, as well as risks associated with harmful content, accuracy, bias and discrimination, any of which could affect our further development, adoption, use, deployment and maintenance of AI, and may cause us to incur additional research and development costs to resolve any issues arising from such risks. In addition to the foregoing risks, the introduction of AI technologies into new or existing products may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, ethical concerns or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results.
Previous wording
AI is the subject of evolving review by various governmental and regulatory agencies around the globe, including the SEC and the FTC, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing the use of AI are evolving rapidly. For example, on October 30, 2023, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order to, among other things, establish extensive new standards for AI safety and security, and other jurisdictions may decide to adopt similar or more restrictive legislation that may render the use of such technologies challenging. Similarly, the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyright, surrounding AI technologies has not been fully addressed by U.S. courts or other federal or state laws or regulations, and the use or adoption of AI technologies in our products and services may subject us to copyright infringement or other intellectual property misappropriation claims. We may not always be able to anticipate how to respond to these frameworks and we may have to expend resources to adjust our tools, products or other offerings in certain jurisdictions if the legal frameworks on AI are not consistent across jurisdictions. Any inability to appropriately respond to this evolving landscape could result in legal liability, regulatory action or brand and reputational harm. Our reliance on AI could also pose ethical concerns and lead to a lack of human oversight and control. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy, or these new offerings do not work as we describe them to our customers, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of resources to develop, test and maintain our products and services to help ensure that AI is implemented ethically in order to minimize unintended, harmful impacts.
Current wording
In addition, many existing laws, rules and regulations apply to certain aspects of AI, such as automated decision making affecting fundamental data subject rights. Similarly, the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including as related to copyright, surrounding AI technologies has not been fully addressed by international and U.S. courts or the laws, rules or regulations of the U.S., including U.S. states, and foreign jurisdictions. Any content created by us using generative AI tools may not be subject to intellectual property protection which may affect our ability to commercialize such content. The use or adoption of AI technologies in our products and services may subject us to copyright infringement or other intellectual property claims. If we, or third-party developers whose AI we rely on, do not have sufficient rights to use the data or other material used or processed by such AI technology, we also may incur liability through the actual or alleged violation of applicable laws, rules and regulations, third-party intellectual property, privacy, or other rights or contractual obligations. We may not always be able to anticipate how to comply with these legal and regulatory frameworks and we may have to expend resources to adjust our tools, products or other offerings to meet standards set by such frameworks, which may vary by jurisdiction if AI-related legal and regulatory frameworks are not consistent across jurisdictions. Any inability to appropriately comply with the evolving AI regulatory landscape could result in legal liability, regulatory action or brand and reputational harm.
Previous wording
It is not possible to predict all of the risks related to the use of AI, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing AI may adversely affect our ability to develop and use AI or subject us to legal liability.
Current wording
It is not possible to predict all of the risks related to the use of AI, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing AI may adversely affect our development, adoption, use, deployment and maintenance of AI or subject us to legal liability, regulatory action or brand and reputational harm.
Previous wording
In addition, businesses are increasingly relying solely on social media channels, such as Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X (f/k/a Twitter) and WeChat, to reach their customers, and consumers are accessing the Internet more frequently through applications on mobile devices. As reliance on these applications increases, domain names may become less prominent and their value may decline. We are dependent on the interoperability of our products with these applications and mobile devices. If we are unable to effectively integrate our products within these applications or on these devices, we may lose market share. These evolving technologies and changes in customer behavior may have an adverse effect on our business and growth prospects.
Current wording
In addition, businesses rely heavily on social media channels, such as Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X and WeChat, to reach their customers, and consumers are accessing the Internet more frequently through applications on mobile devices. As reliance on these applications increases, domain names may become less prominent and their value may decline. We are dependent on the interoperability of our products with these applications and mobile devices. If we are unable to effectively integrate our products within these applications or on these devices, we may lose market share. These evolving technologies and changes in customer behavior may have an adverse effect on our business and growth prospects.
Previous wording
We face significant competition for our Applications and Commerce and Core Platform products, which we expect will continue to intensify, and we may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
Current wording
We face significant competition for our products, which we expect will continue to intensify, and we may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
Previous wording
The market for our products and services is highly fragmented and competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future from our competitors. In addition, given our broad product portfolio, we compete with niche point-solution products and broader solution providers. These types of products and solutions continue to evolve, creating opportunity for new competitors to enter the market with point-solution products or address specific segments of the market. Our competitors include providers of domain registration services, web-hosting solutions, website creation and management solutions, e-commerce enablement providers, payment facilitation providers, cloud computing service and online security providers, alternative web presence and marketing solutions providers and providers of productivity tools such as business-class email. We consider the following to be a representative list of competitors we face in some of the major areas we operate in:
Current wording
The market for our products and services is highly competitive and we expect this competition to continue in the future as existing and new competitors introduce new solutions or enhance existing solutions. In addition, given our broad product portfolio, we compete with niche point-solution products as well as broader solution providers. These types of products and solutions continue to evolve, creating opportunities for new competitors to enter the market with point-solution products or address specific segments of the market. Our competitors include providers of domain registration services, web-hosting solutions, website creation and management solutions, e-commerce enablement providers, payment facilitation providers, cloud computing service and online security providers, alternative web presence and marketing solutions providers and providers of productivity tools such as business-class email.
Previous wording
Some of our current and potential competitors have greater resources, more brand recognition and consumer awareness, more diversified product offerings, greater international scope and larger customer bases than we do, and we may therefore not be able to effectively compete with them. In addition, some of our competitors seek to disrupt the market by offering their services and products at low or no cost; for example, Cloudflare offers domains at wholesale cost and Let's Encrypt offers security certificates at no cost. If these competitors and potential competitors decide to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of products in the markets in which we compete, or if the products offered by these companies are more attractive to or better meet the evolving needs of our customers, our market share, growth prospects and operating results may be adversely affected. In addition, the extension of the Cooperative Agreement between VeriSign Inc. (VeriSign), the registry for .com and .net, and the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2018 gave VeriSign the right to become an ICANN-accredited registrar for any gTLD other than .com. While VeriSign has not publicly announced whether it will become a registrar, if it were to do so, it would become one of our competitors in this space, which could have a negative impact on our business and industry.
Current wording
Some of our current and potential competitors could have greater resources, more brand recognition and consumer awareness, more diversified product offerings, greater international scope and larger customer bases than we do, and we may therefore not be able to effectively compete with them. In addition, some of our competitors may seek to disrupt the market by offering their services and products at low or no cost. If our competitors decide to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of products in the markets in which we compete, or if the products offered by these companies are more attractive to or better meet the evolving needs of our customers, our market share, growth prospects and operating results may be adversely affected.
Previous wording
Increased competition in our industry could result in lower sales, price reductions, reduced margins, loss of market share and increased marketing expenses. Furthermore, conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors or market consolidation. New or existing competitors, or groups of competitors working cooperatively, may invent similar or superior products and technologies competing with our products and technology. The continued entry of competitors into the domain name registration and web-hosting markets, and the rapid growth of some competitors already in each market, may make it difficult for us to maintain our market position. Our ability to compete will depend upon our ability to provide a better product than our competitors at a competitive price and supported by superior customer care. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in research, development, marketing and sales in order to respond to competition, and there can be no assurance that these investments will achieve any returns for us or that we will be able to compete successfully in the future.
Current wording
Increased competition in our industry could result in lower sales, price reductions, reduced margins, loss of market share and increased marketing expenses. Further, conditions in our market could rapidly and significantly change as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors, market consolidation, the invention of similar or superior products and technologies or solution enhancements, which compete with our products and technologies. Our ability to continue to compete will depend upon our ability to provide better solutions than our competitors at more competitive prices. For additional information regarding our competitors, see the section titled "Competition," contained in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report.
Previous wording
The future growth of our business depends in part on increasing our international bookings. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
Current wording
The future growth of our business depends in part on increasing our international revenue. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
Previous wording
Bookings outside of the U.S. represented approximately 33% of our total bookings for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. We continue to review and add systems as necessary to accept payments in forms common outside of the U.S., optimize our marketing efforts in numerous non-U.S. geographies, equip our customer care team with the knowledge to serve these markets and maintain or establish customer care operations in overseas locations. Conducting and expanding international business subjects us to risks we generally do not face in the U.S., including:
Current wording
International revenue represented approximately 32%, 32% and 33% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We continue to review and add systems as necessary to accept payments in forms common outside of the U.S., optimize our marketing efforts in numerous non-U.S. geographies, equip our customer care team with the knowledge to serve these markets and maintain or establish, as needed, customer care operations in overseas locations. Conducting and expanding international business subjects us to risks we generally do not face in the U.S., including:
Previous wording
•compliance with foreign laws, including laws regarding consumer protection, the Internet and e-commerce or mobile commerce, intellectual property, online disclaimers and advertising, liability of Internet service providers for activities of customers especially with respect to hosted content, competition, anti-bribery, and more stringent laws in foreign jurisdictions relating to consumer privacy and protection of data collected from individuals and other third parties;
Current wording
•compliance with international laws, rules and regulations, including laws, rules and regulations regarding consumer protection, the Internet and e-commerce or mobile commerce, intellectual property, online disclaimers and advertising, liability of Internet service providers for activities of customers especially with respect to hosted content, competition, anti-bribery, privacy, data protection and cybersecurity;
Previous wording
•the potential for political, social or economic unrest, terrorism, hostilities or war, including the current conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East; and
Current wording
•the potential for political, social or economic unrest, terrorism, hostilities or war; and
Previous wording
The expansion of our existing international business and entry into additional international markets has required and will continue to require significant management attention and financial resources. These additional costs may increase our cost of acquiring international customers, which may impair our ability to maintain profitability in the future. We may also face pressure to lower our prices in order to compete in emerging markets, which could adversely affect revenue derived from our international business.
Current wording
Maintaining business in international markets has required and will continue to require management attention and financial resources. These additional costs may increase our costs of acquiring international customers, which may impair our ability to maintain profitability in the future. We may also face pressure to lower our prices in order to compete in emerging markets, which could adversely affect revenue derived from our international business.
Previous wording
In addition, certain of our operations and business are in higher risk regions such as China, India and Ukraine. We do not have material operations in China or Ukraine but our operations have been, and we expect may continue, growing in India. As a result, unanticipated events, such as geopolitical changes associated with our international business could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, given the risks associated with our international business, we may decide to relocate international operations either to other foreign countries or domestically, which could require significant management attention and financial resources and may not prove to be successful and could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. For example, there is uncertainty as to the future of U.S. trade policy with respect to China; in February 2022, Russia launched a military assault in Ukraine which has expanded to a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops; and in October 2023, Hamas launched assaults against Israel and Israel responded with operations against Hamas. Although we have not seen a material impact, these and other factors associated with our international business could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In particular, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., UK and E.U. governments, among others, developed coordinated financial and economic sanctions targeting Russia that, in various ways, constrain transactions with numerous Russian entities, including major Russian banks, and individuals. We have no employees or facilities in Russia or Ukraine. We have a limited number of contractors in Ukraine and as a result, a prolonging of this conflict could cause delays in future product launches if such contractors are unable to work and/or it becomes necessary to locate and train new contractors to support these products. In addition, we opted to shut down our GoDaddy website in Russia and removed support for the Ruble. Our business has not been materially impacted to date by the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, however it is impossible to predict the extent to which our operations will be impacted or the ways in which the conflicts may impact our business in the long term. Furthermore, a widening of the conflict in the Middle East could lead to broader geopolitical destabilization and macro-economic impacts.
Current wording
Geopolitical changes could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition, such as geopolitical events involving China, Ukraine/Russia and the Middle East. Certain of our operations and business are in higher risk regions such as China, India and Ukraine. We do not have material operations in China or Ukraine but our operations have grown, and we may continue to grow in India. Although we have not seen a material impact, these and other factors associated with our international business could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., UK and E.U. governments, among others, developed coordinated financial and economic sanctions targeting Russia. As such, we opted to shut down our GoDaddy website in Russia and removed support for the Ruble. Our business has not been materially impacted to date by the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East. However, it is impossible to predict the extent to which our operations will be impacted or the ways in which geopolitical changes may impact our business in the long term.
Previous wording
We have incurred, and will continue to incur, expenses relating to our investments in international business and infrastructure, such as: (i) our offerings and marketing presence in India, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia; (ii) our marketing spend to attract new customers, such as WebPros and Independents in non-U.S. markets; and (iii) investments in software systems and additional data center resources to keep pace with the growth of our cloud infrastructure and cloud-based product offerings. We have made significant investments in product development, corporate infrastructure and technology and development, and intend to continue investing in the development of our products and infrastructure and our marketing and GoDaddy Guides.
Current wording
We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, expenses relating to our investments in international business and infrastructure, such as: (i) our offerings and marketing presence in India, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia; (ii) our marketing spend to attract new customers, such as WebPros and Independents in non-U.S. markets; and (iii) investments in software systems and additional data center resources to keep pace with the growth of our cloud infrastructure and cloud-based product offerings. We have made, and may make in the future, significant investments in product development, corporate infrastructure, technology and development, marketing and our GoDaddy Guides.
Previous wording
As we continue to grow, our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure may be strained. The scalability and flexibility of our infrastructure depends on the functionality and bandwidth of our data centers, peering sites and servers. The growth in our total customers over the years and the increase in the number of transactions we process have increased the amount of our stored customer data. Any loss of data or disruption in our ability to provide our product offerings due to disruptions in our infrastructure, services or third parties we rely on could result in harm to our brand or reputation. Moreover, as our customer base continues to grow and uses our platform for more complicated tasks, we will need to devote additional resources to improve our infrastructure and to enhance its scalability and security. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could harm our operating and business results.
Current wording
As we continue to grow, our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure may be strained. The scalability and flexibility of our infrastructure depends on the functionality and bandwidth of our data centers, peering sites and servers. The number of total customers over the years and the increase in the number of transactions we process have increased the amount of our stored customer data. Any loss of data or disruption in our ability to provide our product offerings due to disruptions in our infrastructure, services or third parties we rely on could result in harm to our brand or reputation. Moreover, as our customer base continues to grow and uses our integrated platform for more complicated tasks, we will need to devote additional resources to improve our infrastructure and to enhance its scalability and security. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could harm our operating and business results.
Previous wording
We may acquire other businesses or talent, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
Current wording
Acquisitions and other strategic transactions, including investments or entries into new businesses, joint ventures, divestitures or other transactions, could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
Previous wording
•potential diversion of management's attention, available cash and other resources from our existing business;
Current wording
•diversion of management’s attention, available cash and other resources from our existing business;
Previous wording
•compliance with new or increased regulatory burdens;
Current wording
•compliance with new or increased regulatory requirements;
Previous wording
•potential damage to existing customer relationships, lack of customer acceptance or inability to attract new customers; and
Current wording
•adverse effects to our existing business relationships, lack of customer acceptance, or inability to attract new customers; and
Previous wording
•the inability to compete effectively in the new line of business.
Current wording
•inability to compete effectively in a new line of business due to lack of experience or knowledge, or other external factors, such as competitive alternatives, potential conflicts of interest, or shifting market preferences.
Previous wording
We may have to pay cash, incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our Class A common stock. Equity issuances in connection with potential future acquisitions may also result in dilution to our stockholders. In addition, our future operating results may be impacted by performance earn-outs, contingent bonuses or other deferred payments. Furthermore, acquisitions may involve contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, additional equity-based compensation expense, the recording and subsequent amortization of amounts related to certain purchased intangible assets and, if unsuccessful, impairment charges resulting from the write-off of goodwill or other intangible assets associated with the acquisition, any of which could negatively impact our future results of business. We may also face competition for acquisitions from larger competitors that may have more extensive financial resources, which may increase the cost or limit the availability of acquisitions.
Current wording
In addition, we may have to pay cash, incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our Class A common stock. Equity issuances in connection with potential future acquisitions may also result in dilution to our stockholders.
Previous wording
As part of our business strategy, we have in the past made, and may in the future make, acquisitions or investments in companies, talent, products, domain portfolios and technologies that we believe will complement or supplement our business and address the needs of our customers, such as our acquisitions of Dan.com and GoDaddy Payments. We cannot ensure we will be able to successfully integrate the acquired products, talent and technology or achieve the revenue and expense synergies we expect as a result of these acquisitions. Even if we do successfully integrate acquired products, we may not successfully integrate the associated brands into our portfolio or may decide to modify, retire or change the direction of the associated brands, which could adversely affect our operating results. If we fail to properly evaluate, execute or integrate acquisitions or investments, the anticipated benefits may not be realized, we may be exposed to unknown or unanticipated liabilities and our business and growth prospects could be harmed. In addition, any future acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, investors or industry analysts.
Current wording
If we fail to properly evaluate, execute or integrate acquisitions or investments, or are unable to effectively compete in a new line of business, the anticipated benefits may not be realized, we may be exposed to unknown or unanticipated liabilities and our business and growth prospects could be harmed. In addition, any future acquisitions, investments or other strategic transactions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, investors or industry analysts. Any inability to integrate completed acquisitions in an efficient and timely manner could have an adverse impact on our results of operations.
Previous wording
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity, passion and teamwork that we believe contribute to our success and our business may be harmed.
Current wording
Our company's culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity, passion and teamwork that we believe contribute to our success and our business may be harmed.
Previous wording
We believe a critical contributor to our success has been our company culture, which we rely on to foster innovation, creativity, a customer-centric focus, passion, teamwork, collaboration and loyalty. We have invested substantial time and resources in building our team within this company culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel and to ensure employees effectively focus on and pursue our company objectives. Our corporate culture is central to our devoted GoDaddy Guides, which are a key component of the value we offer our customers. As we continue to evolve our business, expand our global footprint and product portfolio and rely more on remote and foreign workers, we may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. We believe we provide a workplace in which employees are best served by direct discussion with management regarding pay, benefits and other workplace practices. Currently none of our workforces in the U.S. are subject to collective bargaining agreements, however, if areas of our workforce were to organize, we may find it difficult to maintain our culture, cost structure and control over the delivery of our products, which could adversely impact our culture and results of operations. Certain of our employees in Germany are represented by employee works councils and elsewhere some international employees are represented by worker representatives in accordance with local regulations.
Current wording
We believe a critical contributor to our success has been our company's culture, which we rely on to foster innovation, creativity, a customer-centric focus, passion, teamwork, collaboration and loyalty. We have invested substantial time and resources to build and maintain this culture. Any failure to preserve these aspects of our company's culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel and to ensure employees effectively focus on and pursue our company objectives. Our company's culture is central to our devoted GoDaddy Guides, who are a key component of the value we offer our customers. As we continue to evolve our business, expand our global footprint and product portfolio and rely more on remote, foreign and third-party workers, we may need to expend additional efforts and focus to maintain these important aspects of our culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. If we are not successful in these efforts, our growth and operations could be adversely affected.
Previous wording
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, system failures and outages disrupting the operation of our websites or our products such as web-hosting and email, or the availability of our customer care operations. Our revenue depends in large part on the volume of traffic to our websites, the number of customers whose websites we host on our servers and the availability of our customer care operations. Accordingly, the performance, reliability and availability of our websites and servers for our corporate operations and infrastructure, as well as in the delivery of products to customers, are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain customers. Any such system failure or outage could generate negative publicity, which could negatively impact our reputation and financial results. As we continue to transition many of our services to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host our products, we have become, and will become, more dependent on third parties to accommodate the high volume of traffic to our websites and those of our customers.
Current wording
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, system failures and outages disrupting the operation of our websites or our products such as web-hosting and email, or the availability of our customer care operations. Our revenue depends in large part on the volume of traffic to our websites, the number of customers whose websites we host on our servers and the availability of our customer care operations. Accordingly, the performance, reliability and availability of our websites and servers for our corporate operations and infrastructure, as well as in the delivery of products to customers, are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain customers. Any such system failure or outage could generate negative publicity, which could negatively impact our reputation and financial results. As we continue to transition many of our services to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host our products, we have become, and may further become, more dependent on third-parties to accommodate the traffic to our websites and those of our customers.
Previous wording
We continually work to expand and enhance our website features, technology and network infrastructure and other technologies to accommodate substantial increases in (i) the volume of traffic on our godaddy.com and affiliated websites, (ii) the number of customer websites we host and (iii) our overall total customers. We may be unable to project accurately the rate or timing of these increases or to successfully allocate resources to address such increases, which could have a negative impact on customer experience and our financial results. In the future, we may be required to allocate additional resources, including spending substantial amounts to build, purchase or lease data centers and equipment and upgrade our technology and network infrastructure to handle increased customer traffic, as well as increased traffic to customer websites we host. We also expect to increasingly rely on third-party cloud computing and hosting providers such as AWS as we transition to the public cloud. We cannot predict whether we will be able to continue to add network capacity from third-party suppliers as we require it. In addition, our network or our suppliers' networks might be unable to achieve or maintain data transmission capacity high enough to process orders or download data effectively or in a timely manner. Our failure, or our suppliers' failure, to achieve or maintain high data transmission capacity could significantly reduce consumer demand for our products. The property and business interruption insurance coverage we carry may be subject to fact-dependent and incident-specific exclusions or may not be adequate to compensate us fully for losses that may occur.
Current wording
We continually work to expand and enhance our website features, technology and network infrastructure and other technologies to accommodate current levels of and potential increases in (i) the volume of traffic on our godaddy.com and affiliated websites, (ii) the number of customer websites we host and (iii) our total customers. We may be unable to project accurately the rate or timing of these increases or to successfully allocate resources to address such increases, which could have a negative impact on customer experience and our financial results. In the future, we may be required to allocate additional resources, including spending substantial amounts to build, purchase or lease data centers and equipment and upgrade our technology and network infrastructure to handle increased customer traffic, as well as increased traffic to customer websites we host. We also expect to increasingly rely on third-party cloud computing and hosting providers such as AWS as we transition to the public cloud. We cannot predict whether we will be able to continue to add network capacity from third-party suppliers as we require it. In addition, our network or our suppliers' networks might be unable to achieve or maintain data transmission capacity high enough to process orders or download data effectively or in a timely manner. Our failure, or our suppliers' failure, to achieve or maintain high data transmission capacity could significantly reduce consumer demand for our products. The property and business interruption insurance coverage we carry may be subject to fact-dependent and incident-specific exclusions or may not be adequate to compensate us fully for losses that may occur.
Showing the first 40 of 123 pairs. Open the source sections for the rest.
Rearranged current paragraphs (3)
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
If we do not successfully develop and market products that anticipate or respond timely to the needs of our customers, our business and operating results may suffer.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
Currently none of our employees in the U.S. are subject to collective bargaining agreements, however, if areas of our workforce were to organize, we may find it difficult to maintain our culture, cost structure and control over the delivery of our products, which could adversely impact our results of operations. Certain of our employees in Germany are represented by employee works councils and elsewhere some international employees are represented by worker representatives in accordance with local regulations.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
•changes to regulatory bodies, such as ICANN;
Rearranged previous paragraphs (12)
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Any of the above circumstances or events may harm our reputation, erode customer trust, cause customers to stop using our products, impair our ability to increase revenue from existing customers, impair our ability to grow our customer base, subject us to financial penalties and liabilities under our service level agreements and otherwise harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
A network attack, a security breach or other cybersecurity incident could delay or interrupt service to our customers, harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Our future performance depends in part on the services and performance of our senior management, as well as our experienced and capable employees. If we are unable to attract, motivate, and retain our employees, our business could suffer.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
We may incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. Although the agreements governing our indebtedness contain restrictions on our incurrence of additional indebtedness and entry into certain types of other transactions, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and we may amend such agreements with the consent of the requisite parties thereto. In addition, these restrictions also do not prevent us from incurring certain obligations, such as trade payables.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
•incur or guarantee additional debt or issue disqualified equity interests;
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
•prepay, redeem or repurchase certain junior debt;
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
•merge, consolidate or make certain other fundamental changes;
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
•enter into agreements restricting the ability of restricted subsidiaries to make certain intercompany dividends, distributions, payments or transfers; and
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
In addition, our Credit Facility requires us to comply with a specified leverage ratio under certain circumstances. Our ability to comply with these provisions may be affected by events beyond our control, and these provisions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions, meet capital needs or otherwise conduct our business.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Our business could be negatively impacted by shareholder activism.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
At our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, our stockholders approved certain amendments to our charter, including the recommendation of our board of directors to eliminate its classified structure.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weakness, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and the market price of our stock.