OnBuy boss Cas Paton slams GoDaddy as UK-based online marketplace kickstarts urgent domain transfer

Cas Paton, Founder and CEO at UK-based online marketplace, OnBuy, has taken to social media to hit out at internet domain registry, domain registrar and web hosting company GoDaddy.

In a LinkedIn post, Paton noted that his firm had started an urgent domain transfer, having received a message from GoDaddy claiming there had been complaints about content on OnBuy’s site.

The message added that Paton had just one business day to transfer OnBuy to an alternate provider, otherwise the site would be suspended.

Paton commented: “How can a company like this just close down the fastest growing e-commerce business in Europe, with no one to speak to, no explanation, no response to emails, no phone number? Customer service at GoDaddy have no idea how to help.”

“We are one of Google’s biggest UK advertisers, We spend millions with Google Cloud, we have 4,500 sellers across all sectors, and we serve millions of customers every year, and we make 10,000 sales per day...How can GoDaddy just do this with no communication and no explanation?”

Tagging in GoDaddy executives, he added: “Please help sort this out urgently. Do not suspend OnBuy! We will leave you (gladly) for the way you treat your customers, but we urge you not to suspend - the transfer of .com domains is not instant - we need time. Note: We only use GoDaddy for domain registrar not hosting! Google Cloud is our host!”

GoDaddy did not respond to our request for comment.

AI and generative AI tools

Earlier this week, OnBuy announced a new collaboration with Google Cloud.

This will enable it to leverage a range of Google Cloud products and services - including infrastructure, data storage, and managed services - with the aim of improving both seller and customer experiences, reducing costs and building new revenue streams. 

Some key products and services of the collaboration include Google Cloud’s Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), which allows OnBuy to deploy a virtual network that spans all regions, helping to secure and segregate its infrastructure.

In addition, Cloud Storage provides it with fast, low cost, and highly durable storage for its data, while Cloud SQL manages its databases, enabling the business to run without disruption.  

The migration to Google Cloud will also allow OnBuy to experiment with AI and generative AI tools for various applications across the business.

For example, the team is exploring how the AI platform, Vertex AI, can train a product auto-categorisation algorithm to look at new and unseen product titles to predict the category they should be in at scale. 

“We turned to Google Cloud because we were looking for a like-minded, fast moving tech company that could complement our rapidly growing business,” said Paton.

“Most importantly, we needed a platform that we could trust with our data, which is hugely important to us, both as a business and as part of our commitment to our customers. We are excited for Google Cloud to support us on our mission to change online retail for the better, with the power and flexibility to support the adoption of new tools and systems in the future.”

Adrian Poole, UKI Digital Natives, Google Cloud, commented: “The online retail market is undergoing significant modernisation, and it is great to see how our expertise in cloud management, data analytics, and AI is supporting important industry players like OnBuy to navigate this change. We believe we can be a critical innovation partner at this pivotal time in OnBuy’s growth journey.”