Parsons said Starfield Technologies purchased the Valicert Class 2 Policy Validation Authority last year. By purchasing an existing “trusted” certificate authority Go Daddy ensured that the Starfield certificates will be accepted by 99 percent of web browsers, including Internet Explorer 5.01 and higher, AOL 5 and higher, Netscape 4.7 and higher and Opera 7.5 and up.

Starfield’s validation process will verify that a business applicant is registered with state or local authorities, and owns the domain for which the certificate is being purchased.

Go Daddy entered the domain registration business in 1999, when domains were priced at $35 per year. The Scottsdale, Ariz. company currently sells .com domains for $7.95 per year and .biz names for as low as $4.95. That aggressive pricing has helped Go Daddy become the fastest-growing hosting provider in recent months, with more than 1.9 million hostnames.

The Netcraft Secure Server Survey examines the use of encrypted transactions on the Web through extensive automated exploration of the Internet. Each month it provides timely data about the number of companies doing encrypted transactions, the servers software they use, and the market share for certificate issuers.