- Lawsuit: Bird.com and Fish.com domain buyer failed to pay
- A counterparty wanting to use cryptocurrency for a domain is a red flag
- Registering NFT domains? Skip the trademarks
- After losing cybersquatting dispute, Qatar tries trademark infringement
- Lawsuit alleges CEOs.com, xus.com and other domains are stolen
News
Endurance to acquire Web.com, spin off Constant Contact
More consolidation in the domain name industry as Web.com to join with Endurance.
Endurance International Group plans to acquire Web.com and rename itself Endure Digital.
In September, Web.com owner Siris Capital opened a position in Endurance. In November, Clearlake Capital Group announced it was taking Endurance private in a $3 billion deal.
Last month, Clearlake announced that it was making an investment in Web.com. Later in the month, Moody’s rated the debt Clearlake is raising as part of the deal and disclosed significant details; namely that Endurance and Web.com will become one under the Endure Digital umbrella and that the company plans to spin off Constant Contact, its email marketing platform.
After acquiring Endurance, Clearlake will acquire Web.com from Siris at an enterprise value of $2.2 billion. That’s slightly more than what Siris paid to acquire Web.com in 2018.
Siris will then roll its existing equity in Web.com into the combined entity and become an equal share partner in Endure Digital. [Update 1:00 PM PST: The company announced the official name will be Newfold Digital. Newfold Digital will be led by Web CEO and President Sharon Rowlands and Web CFO Christina Clohecy.]
Endurance International Group is a roll-up of hosting and domain companies including BlueHost, HostGator, BuyDomains and Domain.com. Web.com owns Network Solutions, Register.com, NameJet, Snapnames, and a handful of other registrars.
Post link: Endurance to acquire Web.com, spin off Constant Contact
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Related posts:Categories: Domains
Tucows announces earnings, $40 million buyback
Domain name business continues to chug along.
Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) announced Q4 and full-year 2020 earnings after the market closed yesterday. It also announced that its board authorized the purchase of up to $40 million of its stock on the open market.
The earnings report requires some backstory to fully appreciate it.
Until late last year, Tucows had three main services:
- Mobile phone services sold under its Ting brand.
- Fiber-to-the home internet services sold under its Ting brand.
- Domain name services including Enom, OpenSRS, Hover, and a couple of other brands.
It sold its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business to DISH last year. The deal is an earn-out arrangement in which DISH pays based on the performance of the Ting subscribers it took over. Tucows will also provide a mobile services enabler (MSE) platform to help MVNOs with billing, provisioning, customer service, etc.
Q4 mobile service revenue plummeted due to exiting the business. But the Fiber and Domains businesses continued to chug along.
Domain Name Wire readers mostly care about the domain business, so let’s dig in a bit.
The wholesale arm of the business saw modest Q4 revenue growth from $51.4 million in 2019 to $52.8 million in 2020. Retail was essentially flat year over year. And aftermarket (portfolio) domain sales dropped to about $300,000 because Tucows sold the rest of its portfolio (save for surname domains) at the end of 2019. (The company still earns aftermarket revenue from its expired domain stream but does not break out this number.)
The net-net is that total Q4 domain revenue and profit was flat year over year.
Tucows has been shifting the focus to improving margins in the domain business. If you take out the bulk domain portfolio sale from Q4 of 2019, gross margin dollars from the domain business increased 8% in 2020 compared to 2019. The number is similar for Q4 2020 compared to Q4 2019.
The company also benefited from a surge in domain registrations as businesses moved online due to the pandemic. In its wholesale channel, new registrations in Q4 were up 17% year over year. This is down from 40% in Q2 and 30% in Q3, which were the biggest growth quarters across the industry.
So, going forward, you can look at Tucows as a tale of two businesses: the cash cow domain business and the internet service (and perhaps MSE) growth business.
Post link: Tucows announces earnings, $40 million buyback
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
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10 examples of how premium new top level domains are being used
These ten recently-created websites are paying annual premiums for their domain names.
Top level domain company Donuts releases a monthly list of premium domain name activity (like this) at Donuts.news. I wanted to dig deeper and see how domains that top their charts are being used. So I reviewed sales from recent months to check for active sites. There are many active sites on these domains, but I’ve selected ten below to show how they’re being used. You’ll see some common patterns: good left-right combos and short domains.
Based on transfer searches at registrars, I believe that the annual cost for these domains starts at about $500, with some $1,000 or more.
Golf.fitness – Golf Fitness Association of America launched in September to cater to golf facilities that offer fitness, health and wellness programming.
Football.coach – Sports video games have evolved from when I was a kid. Many games now include a career mode where you build a player and help them both on and off the field. Football Coach the Game 2022 will be one such game.
Print.market – Print.market is a printer and supplies retailer.
Kino.live – The .live extension definitely got a boost from people moving to virtual events and networking last year. Kino.live is one example.
Catch.live – This is another good example of a site built for the move to online. Catch lets artists livestream ticketed events.
X.wine – An online platform for investing in fine wine.
Vegan.family – A recipe site for vegan food.
African.business – IC Publications chose this domain for a news site about business in Africa.
Springfield.dentist – This dentist in Springfield, Virginia, opted to go with springfield.dentist instead of their last name, which is difficult to spell.
Mr.Mortgage – This Florida mortgage broker has branded himself as Mr. Mortgage. In this case, the dot in the domain is also part of his brand.
Post link: 10 examples of how premium new top level domains are being used
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
UDRP works
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that UDRP works correctly almost all of the time.
My short headline for this article is to make a point: most of the time, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) works as intended. It helps brand owners take down obvious cases of cybersquatting faster and cheaper than filing a lawsuit.
Consider some of these recent UDRP decisions in favor of the trademark holder:
AllstateGroup /.online and .xyz
StareFarmCU /.com
Lockheed-MartinUSA /.com
PfizerGenotropin /.com
IBMHP /.com
You probably don’t need to read these decisions to know that the Complainant won the case. And this is what the vast majority of UDRP decisions look like.
Last year at World Intellectual Property Organization, the largest forum for UDRP cases, fewer than 150 of about 3,000 decided cases ended in the Respondent’s favor. Many other cases were dropped after the domain owner handed over the domain. (Note that the WIPO data also ccTLD cases that are heard under unique rules, but the numbers should be fairly close.)
So 95%-100% of the time the case is found in the Complainant’s favor and, based on my review of many cases, I suspect that almost all of these cases are correctly decided.
I report about the edge cases. The cases where a dispute is denied or the panel finds reverse domain name hijacking.
These cases are a big issue and need to continue to be reported on. But I think it’s worth taking a step back from time to time and recognizing the role of UDRP in settling cybersquatting disputes. In the vast majority of cases that the panelists adhere to the purpose and rule of UDRP, the process saves both the trademark holder and the domain name owner from unwanted expenses.
I think the UDRP forums can improve the outcomes of incorrectly decided cases and make simple changes to reduce misguided filings. But, for the most part, UDRP works.
Post link: UDRP works
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
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Catching up with Frank Schilling – DNW Podcast #324
The legendary domain name investor reflects on new top level domains and talks about his upcoming sale of 23 strings.
Frank Schilling is exiting the top level domain business in a big way: he’s auctioning off his 23 top level domains on April 28 in what is sure to be an interesting event. On today’s show, Frank explains what’s behind the sale, what he got right (and what he didn’t) about new top level domains, and what his plans are for the future.
Also: GoDaddy closeouts, Super Bowl ad, and last month’s top stories
Sponsor: Sav
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)
Post link: Catching up with Frank Schilling – DNW Podcast #324
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
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CentralNic to issue €15 million debt for more acquisitions
Bondholders approved an increase last month.
Domain name industry rollup CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) plans to issue more bonds to pay for additional acquisitions.
Yesterday, the company announced plans to issue €15 million in bonds “for consideration for the acquisition of near-term identified targets.”
Last month, bondholders agreed to increase the maximum potential amount under the bond from €90 million to €150 million. The company explained:
It should be noted that the changes, if approved, merely increase the potential cap of the bond so as to provide the Group with enhanced potential flexibility for financing future acquisitions by tapping the bond in increments reflecting the size of specific acquisitions.
This suggests that an acquisition announcement might be imminent.
Post link: CentralNic to issue €15 million debt for more acquisitions
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
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10+ tools for domain name investing
Here’s a list of the tools we discussed in Clubhouse on Friday.
I hosted three events on Clubhouse last week. It was fun to interact with familiar faces and new people I haven’t connected with before. (If you’re new to Clubhouse, please follow me @andrewall.)
On Friday, Shane Cultra and Adam Strong joined me for “10+ tools for domain name investors.” It was packed with great domain investing tips. A few people in the room asked if we could provide links to the tools, and I promised to follow up with a blog post.
Below are the tools we mentioned in our Clubhouse room on Friday. The tools themselves are great, but I’m not going to divulge a couple of the other great tips from the room in this post. Next time, you’ll just have to be there
Categories: Domains
People are auctioning domains on Clubhouse. Here’s how to get in on it
Hal Yaffe has organized two auctions on Clubhouse that have totaled nearly $40,000 in sales.
It started small and organically. Domain name investor Hal Yaffe opened a room Tuesday on Clubhouse to auction domain names. People started showing up. Before you knew it, they were throwing their names up for auction. Bidders were buying. Over the next eight hours, over 600 people came to the room and over $20,000 of domains were auctioned off.
Not bad for a first run. Not bad at all.
It happened again last night. Yaffe, with the help of Bruce Breger, held another eight-hour auction with a similar audience. Around $40,000 in sales went under the hammer between the two auctions.
Yaffe, who goes by the moniker HalYes, is taking his learnings from the first two auctions and working on tweaks for future auctions.
For now, a domain is presented to the room with a starting bid. If someone agrees to the starting bid, then the seller is allowed to come on stage to pitch the domain. Then the bidding continues.
Both new and veteran domain name investors have bought and sold domains in the auctions so far. It seems like a fantastic way for newer domain investors to see if they’re on the right track. If they put one of their domains up for auction for a couple of hundred dollars and nobody bites, that’s a great valuation check. If it sells, it’s validation that they’re on to something.
The goal is to hold auctions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday each week. With the Super Bowl this Sunday, the next auction will be Tuesday at 4 PM CST. Sellers can add their domains to the auction by emailing chdomainauction@gmail.com.
It’s a fun idea and worth checking out.
By the way, if you’re on Clubhouse this afternoon, come join me, Adam Strong and Shane Cultra at 2:30 PST / 5:30 EST as we talk about 10+ tools we use for domain investing.
Post link: People are auctioning domains on Clubhouse. Here’s how to get in on it
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
Miss a NamesCon session? Videos are now online.
Ticketholders can go back and watch sessions they missed.
Miss my interview with Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic? You can now watch this and all other sessions from NamesCon.Online.
One of the silver linings to NamesCon being online (rather than in person) this January is that all of the sessions were recorded. That means you can go back and watch any of the sessions you missed or re-watch sessions and take notes.
Anyone who had a ticket to the event can watch the sessions by logging in to the event system. The videos will remain online until February 28.
I went back to watch a couple of sessions I missed, including Squadhelp’s breakout session with domain data and the fireside chat with Tucows CEO Elliot Noss.
Post link: Miss a NamesCon session? Videos are now online.
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
Man gets 90 days in jail for domain name investment scheme
Man induced someone to invest in a domain acquisition scheme in which the transactions were not arms-length.
An Ohio man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for his role in a domain name investment scheme, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The scheme worked like this: the perpetrator tricked the victim into investing in domain names, which he said he would buy based on his domain investing expertise. But it turns out the man had side deals related to the domain names. They were not arms-length domain name transactions like he led the investor to believe.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Aaron Pitman pleaded guilty in October to securities fraud, misrepresentation in the sale of securities, and money laundering.
More details about the scheme can be found in this appeals court case.
Post link: Man gets 90 days in jail for domain name investment scheme
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Categories: Domains
January’s top domain name stories: Parler, closeouts and more
Here’s a rundown of the top stories and podcasts from the past month.
Parler finding a new home (both for its domain and website) was the top story on DNW in January.
Domain name news sometimes follows national and global news, and that was the case in January. The top stories had to do with sites with controversial content having to find new domain name registrars.
Here’s a look back at the top stories on Domain Name Wire last month, as ranked by views:
1. Parler.com domain moves to Epik – The controversial site moved its domain name to registrar Epik shortly after Epik posted a letter sympathizing with its plight.
2. GoDaddy explains AR15 .com boot – GoDaddy kicked gun site AR15.com off the registrar after claiming that the site didn’t take down problematic forum content. The site owners disputed GoDaddy’s characterization. It ended up at Epik.
3. GoDaddy to change closeout auction pricing – GoDaddy’s Dutch auction format for closeout domains will start at $50 instead of $11 beginning in February.
4. Wix changes product name from virus to nicotine – Wix’s Corvid brand name didn’t play well during the pandemic. Its new choice has another problem.
5. Epik continues to bash GoDaddy. GoDaddy says this is why it dropped Epik – Epik penned a post blasting GoDaddy. This is the exact behavior that GoDaddy says caused it to dump Epik from its Afternic network.
Miss a podcast? Listen now:
#322 Digging into Squadhelp – Squadhelp’s founder Darpan Munjal and I dig into the data and how to leverage Squadhelp for domain sales.
#321 Newer domain investors find success – This is a truncated version of a talk hosted by ICA.
#320 Selling Gems – I interview Andrew Miller, seller and/or broker of many valuable domains.
#319 NielsenIQ and domain names – NielsenIQ Chief Marketing Officer Jacqueline Woods explains the company’s branding and acquisition of NIQ.com.
Post link: January’s top domain name stories: Parler, closeouts and more
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
Top .com domain name registrars
Welcoming CentralNic to the top 10
ICANN has published the latest official data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) about the .com namespace. This registrar-by-registrar report covers October 2020.
This is the first month that I’m aggregating CentralNic’s major registrars, which puts them in the top 10 on both lists.
Two of the anomalies from last month ended up being just that — anomalies. Hosting Concepts/OpenProvider still posted a strong month but didn’t make the top 10, and United Internet’s PSI brand came back to earth after a sudden surge in the prior month.
Here’s how registrars did in terms of new .com registrations in October:
1. GoDaddy.com* (NYSE: GDDY) 877,848 (914,038 in September)
2. Namecheap Inc. 286,290 (284,154)
3. Tucows** (NASDAQ:TCX) 231,248 (231,791)
4. Endurance+ (NASDAQ: EIGI) 181,262 (178,499)
5. Alibaba (HiChina) 163,555 (155,926)
6. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) 154,803 (157,453)
7. West 263 98,276
8. Wix (NASDAQ: WIX) 94,842 (97,021)
9. United Internet^ 79,506 (142,553)
10. CentralNic^^ (AIM: CNIC) 73,193
Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations under management as of the end of October 2020.
1. GoDaddy* 54,610,243 (54,450,745 in September)
2. Tucows** 12,977,614 (12,963,637)
3. Endurance+ 7,279,094 (7,232,301)
4. Web.com++ 7,074,344 (7,066,244)
5. Namecheap 6,689,036 (6,516,860)
6. Alibaba 6,086,689 (5,947,947)
7. United Internet^ 5,655,462 (5,639,402)
8. Google 3,994,114 (3,924,273)
9. GMO 2,174,353 (2,191,732)
10. CentralNic 2,145,282
Many domain companies have multiple accreditations and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.
* Includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains, Uniregistry and 123 Reg
** Includes Tucows, Enom, Ascio and EPAG
+ Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain and Bigrock. There are other Endurance registrars, but these are the biggest.
++ Includes Network Solutions, Register.com, and Crazy Domains/Dreamscape
^ Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys and world4you
^^ Includes Key-Systems, 1API and Moniker, Instra
Post link: Top .com domain name registrars
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
Web.com aftermarkets generated $500k in big sales last month
Another strong month at NameJet and SnapNames.
Web.com’s NameJet and SnapNames auction platforms generated nearly $500,000 in sales of domains $2,000 or more last month. 115 domains met the threshold. It was down from January’s $700k, but still a good month.
The top sale is a bit of a mystery to me. 31op.com sold for $29,500. The value appears to be from the previous usage of the domain or it means something to people in China.
Here are some domains that jumped out at me:
SanFranciscoHomes.com $9,751 – city home domains are rather valuable, and this is for one of the most expensive cities.
ChainData.com $9,500 – two good keywords in this one.
GreenwhichHomes.com $9,008 – another city homes domain.
AmericanDreams.com $6,002 – obviously would have sold for a lot more if it was singular.
CornStarch.com $4,500 – not sure what to make of this one. A food product, but probably not a good brandable.
Here’s a full list of sales $2,000 and higher:
Domain NameSiteTypeSales Amount 31op.comSnapNamesDeleting29500 shes.comNamejetExpiring22722 digitale.comNamejetDeleting14522 yh123.comSnapNamesDeleting12022 ictsd.orgNamejetExpiring10500 63388.comSnapNamesDeleting10240 digitalcard.comNamejetDeleting9840 sanfranciscohomes.comNamejetExpiring9751 vanco.comNamejetDeleting9750 chaindata.comNamejetExpiring9500 greenwichhomes.comNamejetExpiring9008 journeyforward.orgNamejetExpiring7750 greenlite.comSnapNamesDeleting7000 g-g.comNamejetExpiring6775 neptune.ioNamejetDeleting6362 americandreams.comNamejetExpiring6002 coopertools.comNamejetExpiring5873 espressoroyale.comNamejetExpiring5349 nutrasystem.comSnapNamesExpiring5272 greenpois0n.comNamejetExpiring5100 walco.comNamejetExpiring5039 credilife.comSnapNamesBuy Now4995 thetemple.comNamejetExpiring4926 trimed.comSnapNamesDeleting4835 seaton.comSnapNamesDeleting4718 catapult.ioSnapNamesDeleting4667 bacai.comSnapNamesDeleting4655 equusite.comNamejetExpiring4607 findmyip.comNamejetDeleting4600 cornstarch.comNamejetExpiring4500 woodpecker.ioSnapNamesDeleting4500 delph.comNamejetExpiring4360 haopengyou.comSnapNamesDeleting4204 fernand.comSnapNamesExpiring4125 mechanik.comSnapNamesDeleting4066 alibabas.comNamejetExpiring3999 reip.comNamejetExpiring3925 usup.comNamejetExpiring3800 moloco.comSnapNamesExpiring3734 suncheon.comSnapNamesDeleting3705 eveda.comSnapNamesExpiring3700 parentcoach.comSnapNamesDeleting3700 globalized.comNamejetDeleting3602 totalfinance.comNamejetExpiring3600 theclock.comNamejetDeleting3499 adaptech.comSnapNamesDeleting3475 mashpeewampanoagtribe.comNamejetExpiring3450 qrng.comSnapNamesExpiring3450 bridgelink.comSnapNamesExpiring3444 summersale.comSnapNamesExpiring3408 aireflow.comSnapNamesExpiring3395 primewest.comSnapNamesExpiring3350 custombottle.comSnapNamesExpiring3347 yourwish.comNamejetExpiring3310 redrain.comNamejetExpiring3300 lookuppage.comSnapNamesExpiring3299 yepnopejs.comNamejetExpiring3250 lendingservice.comNamejetBuyNow3225 edgedigital.comSnapNamesExpiring3138 earthnow.comSnapNamesDeleting3103 mjco.comNamejetExpiring3101 centurioncapital.comNamejetExpiring3001 publicitas.comNamejetExpiring3000 kinderland.comSnapNamesExpiring3000 huyen.comSnapNamesExpiring2990 tirp.comNamejetDeleting2988 fireworksafety.comNamejetExpiring2987 chakuriki.netSnapNamesDeleting2960 intelligentworld.comSnapNamesDeleting2923 brandtrack.comSnapNamesDeleting2906 dakon.comSnapNamesExpiring2850 asecure.comSnapNamesDeleting2800 mediasky.comSnapNamesDeleting2800 leafmask.comSnapNamesExpiring2795 premarket.netNamejetBuyNow2788 survie.comSnapNamesExpiring2746 rockstar69.comNamejetExpiring2730 docunet.comNamejetExpiring2714 aviatorfarms.comSnapNamesExpiring2695 healingfoods.comNamejetExpiring2625 3dcad.comSnapNamesExpiring2613 qyqy.comSnapNamesDeleting2601 flowfund.comSnapNamesDeleting2600 crosspoles.comSnapNamesExpiring2595 death-records.netNamejetExpiring2500 probert.comNamejetExpiring2477 girlcrew.comSnapNamesDeleting2468 wirelessdesign.comSnapNamesExpiring2460 tremplocounty.comNamejetExpiring2400 cupidscorner.comSnapNamesBuy Now2395 jianqiang.comSnapNamesDeleting2395 ezhi.comSnapNamesExpiring2319 hrsystems.comSnapNamesDeleting2300 transcendtherapeutics.comSnapNamesExpiring2295 biotimeinc.comNamejetExpiring2289 fountainofhealth.comSnapNamesExpiring2274 cashhere.comNamejetExpiring2257 tagsystems.comSnapNamesExpiring2250 ambitus.comNamejetDeleting2238 gallerydirect.comSnapNamesExpiring2211 ambienti.comNamejetDeleting2168 usarealestate.comSnapNamesExpiring2115 emotionalwellness.comNamejetExpiring2102 obsentinel.comNamejetExpiring2100 decisiontech.comSnapNamesExpiring2097 outdoorfirepit.comSnapNamesExpiring2092 waterfloss.comNamejetExpiring2051 coinworker.comSnapNamesDeleting2050 hongque.comSnapNamesExpiring2050 saintfranciscare.comSnapNamesExpiring2050 bisoo.comSnapNamesDeleting2029 bcoz.comNamejetDeleting2012 answ.comNamejetExpiring2010 timson.comNamejetExpiring2002Post link: Web.com aftermarkets generated $500k in big sales last month
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Related posts:Categories: Domains
Fortune China 100 and domain opportunities
Kassey Lee investigates which domains the top companies in China are using.
I believe domain investment based on real demand from end users is a solid investment. For this reason, I spend almost every day researching companies in China.
Fortune publishes a Fortune China 500 list annually in Chinese (an English version is apparently not available). Because of limited resources, I have chosen to focus on the top 100 only. These companies are worth studying because they are leaders of corporate China and, therefore, their domain preference will also influence others in the business world. Knowing what domains are sought after will help us sell domains to China.
Based on the 2019 list, I used Baidu to find the corporate websites of the top 100 companies, and then visited each site to determine their brand name and corporate domain. Below is the list of Fortune China 100 and their domains.
RankEnglishChineseDomainName 1Sinopec中国石化Sinopec.com 2PetroChina中国石油Petrochina.com.cn 3China State Construction中国建筑CSCEC.com 4Ping An中国平安Pingan.com 5SAIC Motor上汽集团SAICMotor.com 6ICBC工商银行ICBC.com.cn 7China Railway中国中铁CRECG.com 8China Mobile中国移动ChinaMobile.com 9China Railway Construction中国铁建CRCC.cn 10China Construction Bank中国建行CCB.com 11China Life中国人寿e-ChinaLife.com 12Agricultural Bank of China中国农行abchina.com 13Bank of China中国银行BankofChina.com 14People's Insurance Company of China中国人保PICC.com 15China Communications Construction中国交建ccccLtd.cn 16Evergrande恒大集团EverGrande.com 17JD.com, Inc京东JD.com 18CITIC中信_x000D_中国中信CITIC.com 19Country Garden碧桂园BGY.com.cn 20China Telecom中国电信ChinaTelecom-h.com 21Legend Holdings联想LegendHoldings.com.cn 22China Pacific Insurance Company太平洋保险CPIC.com.cn 23Greenland Group绿地Greenlandsc.com 24Alibaba阿里巴巴Alibaba.com 25Sinopharm国药SinoPharm.com 26HNA Group海航HNAgroup.com 27Tencent腾讯Tencent.com 28BaoSteel宝山钢铁BaoSteel.com 29Wuchan Zhongda Group物产中大zjmi.com 30Vanke万科Vanke.com 31Power China中国电建PowerChina.cn 32China Unicom中国联通ChinaUnicom.com 33MCC Group中冶MCC.com.cn 34C&D建发ChinaCnD.com 35China Shenhua Energy中国神华ShenhuaChina.com 36Midea美的Midea.com 37Postal Savings Bank of China中国邮政储蓄银行PSBC.com 38China Merchants Bank招商银行CMBchina.com 39Suning苏宁Suning.com 40Xiangyu象屿Xiangyu-Group.com 41CNOOC中海油CNOOC.com.cn 42China Energy Engineering Corporation中国能建ceec.net.cn 43CRRC中国中车CRRC.cc 44China National Building Material中国建材CNBMltd.com 45Jiang Xi Copper Corporation江铜JXCC.com 46Bank of Communications交通银行BankComm.com 47ITG Group国贸ITG.com.cn 48Gree格力Gree.com 49Poly保利Polycn.com 50Haier海尔Haier.com 51Taiping太平cnTaiping.com 52Chalco中国铝业Chalco.com.cn 53Xiao Mi小米Mi.com 54SPD Bank浦发SPDb.com.cn 55Shanghai Construction Group上海建工SCG.com.cn 56Huaneng Power International华能HPI.com.cn 57China Grand Auto广汇ChinaGrandAuto.com 58Yanzhou Coal Mining兖州煤业YanzhouCoal.com.cn 59China Resources Pharmaceutical Group华润crPharm.com 60Weichai潍柴Weichai.com 61Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding上海医药SPHchina.com 62Industrial Bank兴业银行CIB.com.cn 63China Minsheng Bank民生银行CMBC.com.cn 64New China Life Insurance新华保险NewChinaLife.com 65BAIC Motor北京汽车BaicMotor.com 66WH Group万洲国际WH-Group.com 67China Southern Airlines南航CSair.com 68Air China国航AirChina.com 69China Aviation Oil中国航油CAOSCO.com 70BYD比亚迪BYD.com 71Anhui Conch Group海螺ChinaConch.com 72Sunac融创Sunac.com.cn 73China Resources华润CRland.com.hk 74HBIS Group河钢Hbisco.com 75Cosco Shipping中远海运CoscoShipping.com 76China Re Group中再ChinaRe.com.cn 77Longfor龙湖Longfor.com 78China Eastern Airlines东航CEair.com 79TCLTCLTCL.com 80China Everbright Bank光大银行CEBbank.com 81Fosun复星Fosun.com 82Zhongsheng中升zs-group.com.cn 83Huarong华融chamc.com.cn 84Cinda信达Cindamc.com 85Geely吉利Geely.com 86China Comservice中国通信服务Chinaccs.com.cn 87Zijin Mining紫金ZijinMining.com 88Kunlun昆仑Kunlun.com.hk 89Ansteel鞍钢AnsteelGroup.com 90DFAC东风DFAC.com 91China Coal中煤ChinaCoal.com 92Baidu百度Baidu.com 93Shanghai Electric上海电气Shanghai-Electric.com 94GWM长城汽车GWM-global.com 95Boe Technology京东方Boe.com 96Mysteel Group上海钢联MySteel.cn 97China International Marine Containers中集CIMC.com 98Datang大唐国际DTpower.com 99China Agri中粮ChinaAgri.com 100Rongsheng荣盛CNRSPC.com
Let’s start by looking at the extensions used.
Extension 2019 com 72% cn 25% Others 3%.com is No. 1. China is somewhat unique in that .com is also used within the country for the domestic market. In other words, Chinese consumers accept both .com and .cn.
.cn active? 2019 Yes 37% No 63%The preference for .com is reflected in how the companies treat their matching .cn domain. A whopping 63% of them do not even have an active .cn site. For example, BankofChina .cn does not resolve and SAICMotor .cn is for sale.
Language 2019 English 44% Acronym 31% Pinyin 6% Numeric 0% Mixed 19%Surprisingly, English-based names are very popular. To tap into this opportunity, list your English-based domains at a marketplace that has retail partners in China. (I’m using the term “English” loosely. For example, Sinopec.com is considered English-based.)
Acronym 2019 2L 1% 3L 9% 4L 13% 5L 4% 6L 2% 7L 2%While acronym domains up to 7 letters are found, maybe it’s prudent to invest up to 4L. Look at the Chinese column of the list and you’ll find most brand names with two or four characters. That means 2L and 4L in terms of acronyms.
Length 2019 Medium 7Short is best. Chinese companies like short domains. The medium length of domains (excluding extension) is 7 characters only.
My biggest discovery in this exercise is the massive opportunity in selling domains to China as upgrades. 76 out of the 100 companies can benefit by upgrading to a better domain. Some examples are CSCEC .com (to CSC.com), SAICMotor .com (to SAIC.com), CRCC .cn (to CRC.com), and LegendHoldings .com.cn (to Legend.com). Granted, many of these domains are taken and used by other companies.
In short, you’ll be rewarded handsomely if you understand what domains are popular in China and then invest accordingly.
Post link: Fortune China 100 and domain opportunities
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18 more end user sales
A couple of financial advisory firms, a game developer, and a wrestling site bought domain names.
Sedo had some nice end user sales this past week, including to a company based on the island I live on. It’s always interesting to see local small businesses invest in a good domain name.
Here are the end user sales I found (you can view previous lists like this here).
Tourist.it €15,000 – A Croatian IT company called Business Solutions bought this domain for a new project.
WrestlingEdge.com $9,000 – WWE news site Wrestling Edge got a nice upgrade. It forwards this domain to its website at Wrestling-Edge.com.
E-Fleet.com $7,000 – It’s common to see Volkswagon Vanagons driving around with a PacWesty logo on them on the island I live on. The company that rents these is a local company called Pacific Mobility Group. It bought E-Fleet.com, ostensibly for electric vehicle services.
Pixagon.com $6,000 – MGL MY.COM (Cyprus) Limited is an app developer. This is likely for one of its games.
EuroParcs.eu €5,000 – Forwards to EuroParcs.nl, a website for information and booking of accommodations at a network of parks and resorts in the Netherlands.
Deimer.com $5,000 – Coolants Plus, Inc. bought this domain. It’s the surname of the company’s founder.
SSTech.net $4,000 – Seven Seas Computers bought this domain. It’s a systems integrator in the United Arab Emirates.
NHTechnologies.com $4,000 – New Horizon Technologies is a Spanish technology company focused on developing specialized artificial intelligence technologies.
WellnessRegistry.com $3,688 – SciMar Ltd, a Canadian biomedical company focused on Type 2 diabetes research, bought this domain.
PuntoZero.it $3,304 – PuntoZero is an Italian debt services analyzer and consolidator.
ALife.net $3,000 -Forwards to ALife.com, an online music and creative project studio.
Mantality.co.uk £2,750 – Mantality is a mental health program for men. It offers courses, a podcast, apparel, and a magazine.
Error.org £2,550 – German digital creative agency DGTL One GBR bought this domain. When you type it in, you get the message, “You produced a fatal error. Let me redirect you to some specialists who can help you with this…” This forwards to DGTL.one. The company is using the domain to market its services.
SSense.net €2,500 – Forwards to SSense.com, an online retailer of art and luxury fashion from independent designers.
GuideToRetirement.com $2,500 – Mainspring Wealth Advisors bought this domain. It’s a Seattle-based investment management firm.
OpenSustainability.com $2,499 – Open Rhodes Limited, a UK logistics firm, bought this domain.
SanLuis.com $2,450 – San Luis Wealth Advisors, or SLWA LLC, bought this domain. It’s a wealth management firm based in San Luis Obispo, California.
Euregio.info €2,400 – EURAC Research bought this domain name. It’s a private research center headquartered in Bolzano, South Tyrol, with 11 institutes and 5 satellite research centers.
Post link: 18 more end user sales
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Here come the $50 closeouts
GoDaddy Auction closeouts now start at $50.
The first day of closeouts is now $50.
It’s February, and that means GoDaddy has changed the pricing for closeout domain name auctions.
Expired domain names that don’t receive bids move to closeouts, where a Dutch auction begins. Previously, these auctions began at $11 and dropped by $1 a day until they hit $5.
Now, auctions begin at $50, then $40, $30, $11, and $5. Buyers also pay the domain renewal fee.
The new pricing should better capture the value of domains, as many buyers avoid bidding in the regular auctions because it attracts the attention of other bidders. In theory, it could also give those without API access and development resources a better chance of getting domains if bulk buyers wait until the price drops.
But that might not happen. On our Domain Name Wire Live Clubhouse chat yesterday, Shane Cultra said he doesn’t think it will change behavior. He thinks the same people who buy at $11 will now buy at $50.
Only time will tell.
Post link: Here come the $50 closeouts
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Miller Lite will pay you $8 to type in this 836-character URL
Miller Lite gets clever with domain names.
Miller Lite’s Super Bowl ad will make watchers think about URLs. Really, really, long URLs.
The company has published an 836-letter URL anchored on the 62-character second level domain thismillerlitemarketingstuntwilldistractyoufromultrasbiggamead.com. That’s 66 characters if you include .com.
Anyone who types in the 836-word URL on February 7 will get $8 in their Venmo account.
Miller Lite is publishing the URL in print and other ways people can’t easily copy and paste it. Of course, someone is likely to type it into a URL shortener and share it on social media.
Only the first 5,000 viewers will get the $8, which is enough for a six-pack of watered-down beer.
It will be interesting to see what other domain names make a splash this weekend.
Post link: Miller Lite will pay you $8 to type in this 836-character URL
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Planning for the future – DNW Podcast #323
How to make sure your domain business keeps sizzling.
This week we take an outside-in look at your domain business. My guest, Warren Coughlin came on the show last year when the economy ground to a halt due to the pandemic. Back then, we talked about how to save your business. The domain business had a good year in 2020, but that doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Today, Warren discusses planning for your business’s future. Our conversation got me fired up for this year.
Also: Frank Schilling’s domain biz, Buy Now landers, $237k court award for RDNH and more.
Sponsor: DAN.com
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)
Post link: Planning for the future – DNW Podcast #323
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Join us for Domain Name Wire live on Clubhouse today 2 pm PST
Let’s talk domains today!
Didn’t get enough domain talk last week at Clubhouse and on NamesCon?
Join my room Domain Name Wire live at 2 PM PST / 5 PM EST today (Monday, February 1) on Clubhouse. Shane Cultra of DSAD.com will join me to answer your domain name questions, and we might have another special guest or two.
Best practices for landing pages? How we’re using domain sales platforms? Questions about domain tools? Or want opinions on your domains? Well, the opinions are what you pay for them, but we hope you’ll come prepared with your questions.
If you have a question about a particular platform I might pull up a representative of that company to answer your question if they are in the room. Feel free to also ask questions in advance in this post.
I plan to tightly moderate this so it’s not a free-for-all, but we’ll figure this out as we go.
If you don’t have a Clubhouse invite and have an iPhone, post a tweet saying “I need a Clubhouse invite” and tag @domainnamewire and I’ll see if I can get a few invites.
Post link: Join us for Domain Name Wire live on Clubhouse today 2 pm PST
© DomainNameWire.com 2021. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
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Hidden opportunity behind Pinyin brands
Kassey Lee explores an opportunity for domain investors.
If you don’t invest in Pinyin domains, does it mean you’ll miss out on the chance to sell domains to China? Well, here is a secret you may not have known: Chinese companies behind a Pinyin brand may acquire an English-based domain as they go global. Here is an example I came across during my recent end user research.
Chang Hong (长虹=long rainbow, literally) is not a startup. The consumer electronics manufacturer was founded way back in 1958. According to Wikipedia, it was “part of the 156 key projects that were aided by the Soviet Union” back in the old days. So, you may think it is a company too old to be outward-looking.
Chang Hong is a public company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and ranked No. 113 on the 2019 Fortune China 500 list. It’s corporate domain in China is the brand-matching ChangHong.com.
In 2017, the company established CHiQ as its global brand and has been actively promoting it by sponsoring the Belgian national football team, German Borussia Dortmund football team, Australian Brisbane Lions team, Australian F1, and other events.
According to the Chang Hong site, the brand “CHiQ” is inspired by the French word “CHiC” which means fashion, beauty, and elegance. “CH” is the acronym for Chang Hong and “iQ” implies smartness. As a word, CHiQ means smart China, smart Changhong. It appears that the company acquired the brand-matching ChiQ.com in 2018 for its global site serving information in English.
Chang Hong shows us that a Chinese company with a Pinyin brand may also acquire an English-based brand and matching domain. In other words, there is demand for English-based domains in China. If you can find a well-funded Chinese company that can upgrade to your domain, bingo!
Be sure to read “Three steps to Chinese end user research” and then do your own end user research.
Post link: Hidden opportunity behind Pinyin brands
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