The name of the game is radically changing (excellent read below – promise!) June 28, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Domains, Investing, internet, marketing, trends.Tags: domaining, Domains, icann, internet, registration, tld
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The most recent cataclysmic event that shook up the domain industry is too important to go unmentioned in this blog, so here I am, making yet another attempt to write a FINAL post for this blog before I start my new one. ICANN’s decision to allow unlimited number of top level domains (TLD / web address extensions) will have a profound impact on the industry over the coming decades. What surprises me most is that authors and commenters on the top industry blogs seem to be dancing around the most important consequence of this. All I hear is “WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE DOT COM?” when they should already be thinking outside of their DOT COM box. The point is that soon enough, the name of the game will change from DOT COM, to *gasp* HOW DO I OWN AND PROMOTE MY OWN TLD?…especially as far as the biggest players are concerned. The dot com? Well, it will not disappear. Most likely, the “marginal” domains bearing this extension will lose much value as registrants begin opting for other extensions in order to have a more meaningful web address instead of going with this “status quo” TLD as a safe haven. Don’t get me wrong, the dot com will never become a dinosaur, nor will there be an extinction. The top dot coms will probably remain most valuable. There are too many financially powerful entities heavily invested in this one extension to let it fade away – this will not happen, or at least it will not happen fast.
So yes, my own goal over the next couple of years will be to control my own TLD… maybe even two or three. There will probably be a few hundred, maybe a thousand or so possible extensions that would be worth applying for with ICANN. I am still not 100% sure about how the process will work, and probably neither is ICANN at this moment, but visit their website for details and updates. These marketable TLDs will be, of course, short, generic, and highly commercial terms that other people would WANT to register their domains under!!! The two best thing to come out of all of this, I think, are (1) that it will probably make domaining much more popular and accessible, and (2) make the URLs of the future more meaningful, and hence memorable and brandable. Sooner or later, dot com will no longer be the “default” extension that pops into people’s minds when they go online and search for information. People will begin asking… “so what does COM stand for anyway??” My money’s on later though. This is indeed the dawning of a new era… though we might have to wait a while to see its day.
P.S. I can’t wait for Kesmodel to update his book to Domain Game 2.0 with commentary on how the industry will be affected by ICANN’s decision.
Most recent domain name registrations. June 19, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Domains, Investing, curious finds, technology, trends.Tags: domain registration, Domains, dotcom, health care, nanotech
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I keep proving to myself that there are great dot-com domains still waiting to be registered. Today, I scooped up CloseMonitoring.com, which would make a great brand for anything from a surveillance equipment business, to a health care services website. Another domain I picked up this week is Ormosil.com Ormosil is a nanomaterial with several applications in industry. Yet another one-word domain registered by me this week is Repoxygen.com, a type of gene therapy that is currently being tested, with potential to become a cure for anemia. Opportunities in this business are endless, if you only choose to open your eyes, and maybe read a little.
Why generic domain names are even more (WAY MORE) valuable than gold and oil. April 1, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Business, Domains, Investing, Life, curious finds, real estate.5 comments
1) Domains are land. Because the name of the thing conjures up the thing itself (think about your browser’s address bar and its function), domain names ARE the landscape that they represent. The internet is truly an elegant system. As many early adopters have realized more than a decade ago, domain names are the “lots” on which “skyscrapers” (websites) can be built. This is a concept I first discovered at eRealEstate.com, I believe (one of Rick Schwartz’ hideouts…). The shorter, more generic, the more universally recognized AND understood AND commercial a name is, the higher the value of this virtual property. These parameters play the same role as location value does for land. Even better, the relative valuations of these parameters are likely to change MORE SLOWLY than the relative values of PHYSICAL LAND. For example, think about how long it would take for a name such as “Property.com” to lose its meaning and value vs. how long it took for Detroit to go from being known as “The Paris of America” to other, less dignified monikers. Think about the many run-down neighborhoods in big cities that used to be prime, ritzy, high-value, and sharp. Even if a bad website tarnishes a certain domain name’s reputation for a period of time, if the name is generic, it can be resuscitated and redeveloped much more quickly and easily… at least it would take a great deal more effort to bring some Detroit neighborhoods back to their former glory. Think about it.
2) Domains are the PIPES through which two of the most valuable commodities today flow: TRAFFIC (eyeballs) and INFORMATION. You can use domains to attract, direct, and manage traffic. Traffic and information are currently inextricably linked to the Domain Name System, and both can be very valuable when used wisely.
3) Domains are priceless possessions that can be given as gifts and retain sentimental value. This idea evolved as a result of a recent discovery I made… Both “CyranoDeBergerac.com” (17th century Frenchman and the Rostand play based on the former) and “LoveLetters.com” point to the same MySpace page. Keep in mind, these are two VERY generic and potentially highly commercial names. Another twist, the names do not seem to be registered to the owner of the MySpace page. The registrant, according to DomainTools, is one “Dave Lizmi” , a former rock guitarist turned internet entrepreneur, who appears to have at least another 700+ domains to his name. I have no idea who this is, nor do I presume to have any clue to the nature of the relationship between the domain registrant and the owner/author of the MySpace page, but this discovery got me thinking about the following…
People name stars after their loved ones… stars they will never touch or see up close… for all practical purposes, these things are as “virtual” to us as dreams and fairy tales are. Now, why not dedicate a unique domain name to your significant other instead? Could that not be just as meaningful, if not more meaningful to whoever receives such a gift? Should not the fact that you can actually make something of this domain increase its value? Cool stuff, eh?
I still maintain that everyone with a blog or a MySpace page should have a domain name linked to it. Everyone should have their own domain name on their business card, right above their email address. I believe that this may become the case soon enough in the future. This is just ONE of the many potential sources of demand for the priceless assets that our community keeps.
Thoughts? Reactions? Refutations? All I seek to do is promote a healthy and meaningful discussion. This is all.
WE’RE ALL DONE! The latest Krugman editorial… March 22, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Business, Domains, Investing, economy.add a comment
Brilliant economist and op/ed. columnist for the New York Times Paul Krugman has a way of dumbing down comlex, overarching economic issues into brief and elegant commentaries so that even intellectually challenged, ADD people like myself can get a whif of what the hell is going on and which way the financial winds are blowing. The latest article is a short and insightful discussion on where we currently stand economically, and where we may end up a few months from now, unless serious economic policy shortfalls and banking trust issues are dealt with: Partying Like It’s 1929.
What Krugman is basically saying, is that the economic failsafes implemented by Congress after the Great Depression have either been legislated away, or circumvented by clever financial engineering. What Krugman fears, and what we should all indeed fear, is that the current credit (i.e. confidence) crisis continues (it already started with last week’s BSC fiasco) as we enter a catastrophic period of failing trust (the worldwide economy at this point is just one big system of trust, of course), and potential bank runs. Neither is Krugman very supportive of the measures currently being taken by Paulson and major banks to avert the looming economic disaster as the lessons of the past have been forgotten or ignored.
More on the same: A Demon of Our Own Design (on the perils of financial innovation)
Another great Krugman editorial about the subprime crisis from October 2007. (Gone Baby, Gone)
This is afterall, supposed to be a blog dedicated to the domain name industry, no? So, what do you think this means for us fellow domainers? It certainly seems like the worldwide economic situation will get worse before it gets better, but when the storm does blow over (sooner or later everything blows over…), will we come out on top with our potentially priceless yet currently undervalued (and UNDERDEVELOPED) assets, or will our industry backed by nothing but computer code, virtual realities, and ambitious dreams fall and crumble once more, and maybe this time for good?
Domain names as status symbols? March 18, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Business, Comedy, Domains, Inspirational, Investing, Life, Society.add a comment
The idea of domain names having purely collectible value (that is, in addition to the obvious commercial potential) has been raised by many individuals. What I want to touch upon today though, is a possible emerging trend that will have people pursuing domain names purely to say that they own a catchy name (we all agree that meaningful word combination DOT COMs are quickly becoming an increasingly scarce resource, correct?)
I mean, if everyone has a facebook or myspace page, why do we not all have our own domain name to go with it (think of the potential market here… think of this niche!!!)?
For example, the next time a girl tells me that I’m crazy or unreliable or whatever, I can quickly retort with: “Baby, I *OWN* EMOTIONALLYSTABLE.COM” – come on now, who’s with me? heh. I could use a similar trick to bring up my domain name FairyTaleLove.com , which I am about to begin developing by the way 
What do ya’ll think???
Domain industry giants March 16, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Business, Domains, Investing.add a comment
I wanted to compile a list of companies that deal in managing internet real estate. A few names immediately come to mind (see below), but I wanted to see if someone could help me add to this list to make it more complete before I begin searching for comprehensive company stats and data. It would be nice to have a domain and domain services company comparison chart sometime in the future (which I could put on my CompanyRoll.com site – Heh…) Many of these firms seem to be publicly traded… investment opportunities abound!
To my best knowledge, these ten or so companies control the majority of “prime” digital real estate… that is, domain names with strong product or service related associations with high type-in traffic, some of which is already developed. Most of it, however, is still underdeveloped, waiting for its full potential to be unlocked. There is indeed a lot to look forward to in this industry. It seems that we are nearing the dawn of a new age, when domaining goes mainstream…
Aspirational domain names. March 13, 2008
Posted by unemployedalcoholic in Business, Domains, Investing, Society.add a comment
Instead of focusing on product-related names (i.e. busadapters.com , operationalsystem.com), I have recently gotten into the habit of acquiring “aspirational” and idea or concept-related names, such as FairyTaleLove.com , WealthySocialite.com , and YoungDebutante.com just to name a few. The target audience and traffic sources are not immediately clear, so the value of these and similar names is not easy to estimate, but because of the strong emotional associations evoked in different segments of the population, there is indeed inherent brandability and memorability value stored in each of these.
Also, unlike “generic” product names, the aspirational domain name category is attractive in that names such as YoungDebutante.com are FAR less restrictive in what they could be used for (though definitely memorable), as long as the word combinations are meaningful and trigger strong intellectual and emotional associations in the mind of the audience. “YoungDebutante.com” could be used for someone’s personal blog, a professional services website, or even a clothing catalog… and these are just the first few ideas that popped into my mind as I was writing this… the possibilities are truly endless. Morever, just think of how many successful women may want to own this particular name this just to say that they do!
Of course, the biggest drawback of the aspirational domain strategy, is that there may be many ways to express an idea since the subject matter is so inconcrete and nebulous. Hence, your job is to find the expression that is most compelling in capturing, sybolizing, and representing the idea that you are trying to brand and communicate. Best of luck to us all in this endeavor.
