Perhaps a better indicator of Go Daddy’s post-Super Bowl success is the growth of active sites – hostnames that contain content and thus are likely to be developed web sites generating hosting revenue each month. In the 12 months since the Super Bowl ad, Go Daddy has added 523,825 active sites, a growth rate of 136 percent.

While Go Daddy has experienced steady growth in hostnames, its active sites data has seen broader fluctuation, as have the hostname totals for 1&1 Internet. Any additional fluctuations could move 1&1 Internet back atop the hostname rankings. But Go Daddy’s new Super Bowl ads may give it additional momentum in the short term. Last year Go Daddy surpassed Network Solutions as the largest domain registrar.

Not all of Go Daddy’s growth is directly attributable to the Super Bowl ad. But the commercial and resulting publicity gave Go Daddy widespread name recognition, a significant factor in an industry that previously had few killer brands. The broadcast monitoring firm MultiVision estimated that the Super Bowl controversy supplied Go Daddy with the equivalent of $11.7 million in free publicity. Go Daddy continued TV advertising throughout 2005, and extended its Internet marketing with Parsons’ blog and the weekly Radio Go Daddy podcast.