|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Lowdown
February
2023 Archive |
|
Subscribe
to our RSS
Feed |
|
|
Welcome to the The
Lowdown from
DN Journal - your source for notable news
and information from all corners of the global
domain name
industry!
The Lowdown
is compiled by DN Journal
Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson. |
|
|
|
|
Sedo
Rings Big Sale Bell for 2nd Week in a Row with 2nd
Highest Domain Sale Reported Year to Date
|
Just
last week Sedo
posted what, at the time,
was the second highest domain sale reported year
to date with PFP.com at $353,000.
Today, Sedo pushed that one down a notch to #3 for
2023 by announcing an even bigger one - Giveaway.com
at $400,000. As of this writing, the buyer
is unknown as the domain is under WhoIs privacy
and does not resolve to an active website. We
will be charting the Giveaway.com and PFP.com sale
when our next bi-weekly domain
sales report comes out Wednesday
evening (March 1). Assuming nothing bigger is
reported before then, Sedo will have two of the
New Year's three biggest
publicly reported sales. Help.com
will retain a solid grip on the top spot after
selling for $3 million the first week of
January at Above.com. |
Image
from Bigstock
|
(Posted
February 28, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0228.htm
*****
|
GoDaddy
Introduces Payable Domains So Any Registrant Can
Accept Payments With No Website Required
|
GoDaddy
announced
a new "Payable
Domains" option today that allows
anyone who has a domain registered there to begin accepting
payments, whether or not they have a website.
The option (that can be enabled through the
registrant's GoDaddy
back-end dashboard) is available to both new
registrants and those with existing domains at
GoDaddy. The only cost involved in using Payable
Domains will be the transaction fees of 2.3%
of the payment amount + 30 cents for each
transaction. That compares very favorably to the
cost at most other payment processors. |
|
With
this move, GoDaddy stated in their press release
that they are "the
first company to seamlessly bundle payment
technology with the brand power of a professional
domain – at no additional cost – to help small
business owners start
growing from day one."
Payable Domains, powered by GoDaddy
Payments, use branded pay links
(incorporating the domain name) that the domain
owner can share, allowing the customer to access
their secure checkout page with one click.
For
example, if a person registers the domain of
their name or business, such as roohshad.co,
they will then receive the corresponding Payable
Domain, pay.roohshad.co,
to accept payments. Once that first payment is
received, domain owners can then link a bank account
to their GoDaddy Payments account, complete the
verification process, and receive payouts for
transactions just as they would with any other
payments service. Payments are securely processed
with funds deposited into users' bank accounts as
early as the next business day.
In
addition, small business owners can customize their
Payable Domain with a company logo, product images,
cost of their products or services, or other branded
content to create a seamless checkout experience and
maintain a personal and professional look.
Paul
Nicks
GoDaddy
President of Domains |
GoDaddy
President of Domains Paul Nicks noted,
"While there's been innovation around
add-on products for domain names, such as Domain
Privacy and Ownership Protection
services, not much has been done to enhance
the capability of domain names themselves.
Domains have largely been used as a digital
identity for businesses, but with this new
commerce capability we view the domain
name taking on a far more versatile role
for up-and-coming small businesses. The
Payable Domain ultimately serves as an
innovative and cost-effective tool for
entrepreneurs to accept online payments before
even setting up a website."
GoDaddy
President of Commerce Osama Bedier
added. "We're intensely focused on
building connected commerce solutions that
make growing a business easier, whether
you've just named your business or are in
the process of expanding its sales across
the country. With Payable Domains, it's
never been easier to start selling
online." |
|
|
|
(Posted
February 23, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0223.htm
*****
|
PFP.com
Sold for $353,000 in 2nd Largest Publicly Reported
Domain Sale of the New Year
|
We
are continuing to see some nice
aftermarket domain sales in these opening weeks of
2023. Today we learned that K-Ventures
has completed a $353,000 sale of PFP.com
via Sedo.
As of this writing, that is the second highest
publicly reported sale of the new year to date,
trailing only the $3 million sale of Help.com
at Above.com in early January (we will be charting
the PFP.com sale when our next bi-weekly
domain sales report comes out March 1. The
buyer of the domain appears to be 9GAG
as PFP.com now redirects to one of their
primary sites - Memeland.com.
Further evidence of that is 9GAG's purchase of
PFP.eth for 40eth on the same day. Congratulations
to the seller, buyer and sales venue! |
|
(Posted
February 21, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0221.htm
*****
|
Three
Partners Form Dot UK Group and Make Acquisitions
Aimed at Spurring Growth for UK Domains
|
The
Dot
UK Group is
a new entity on the domain scene but the
three partners who formed it have a wealth of
industry experience between them and they have
wasted no time making their presence known with a
series of acquisitions. The trio includes Ryan
Ewen, the CEO of well established domain and
website marketplace DigitalCandy.uk,
veteran entrepreneur and attorney Jeff Behrendt
and fellow domain specialist, Mo Zaffer. Ewen
told us the group was formed to build a foundation
designed to put UK domains back on a fast growth
track. Ewen said, "Since
2014 when Nominet (the governing body for
UK domain names) released the shorter .uk domain
extension with rights of registration ceasing in
2019, there has been confusion between the
traditional .co.uk and .uk
extensions causing prices to plummet.” Ewen
believes that the services the group has acquired,
combined with their experience, will reverse that
trend and establish the new group as
a major player in the UK domain market. Those
acquisitions include: |
Ryan
Ewen
Co-Founder, Dot UK Group
|
Brandable.co.uk,
a market platform positioned to be the place to buy
and sell premium UK domain names. Ewen noted,
"At present, existing platforms consider .uk
and .co.uk domains as an afterthought – it means
that when someone searches for a domain name, UK
domains appear way down the list after .xyz,
.io and several others, despite the UK market being
one of the top countries for online business. As a
UK company if you want to rank highly in Google
and reduce advertising costs then a premium .co.uk
or .uk domain gives credibility to your
business."
Flip.uk
– Currently Flip is one of the leading auction
platforms for UK domain names. Ewen said, "For
domain investors the ability to monetize domains and
sell them quickly is key to running and growing a
portfolio. Currently there are few outlets to
achieve this and as a result the overall market is
subdued. There will be some new features and a
refreshed look which will further enhance the
offering."
Another
acquisition involved the purchase of a
portfolio of domains rather than a domain
service. Co-Founder Jeff Behrendt
said, “Dot UK Group has acquired a
50-domain portfolio that includes
ultra-rare domains like h.co.uk and h.uk,
d.co.uk and d.uk, n.co.uk
and n.uk, h.co.uk and
h.uk, brain.co.uk and brain.uk
and vaccine.co.uk and Vaccine.uk.
These domains will be listed for sale on Brandable.co.uk and will encourage other premium domain holders to list their assets on the platform. Premium assets sell well when they are listed alongside other premium assets.”
Co-Founder
Mo Zaffer added: “It is time for
the UK market to get the exposure that it
deserves. We are excited to see how the
forthcoming months will play out. These
acquisitions demonstrate our commitment to
the UK market and we are excited for further
development within the UK space.”
In
a related note, Ewen's company,
DigitalCandy.uk has acquired the industry's
original domain forum
DNForum.com,
in a separate transaction not related |
Jeff
Behrendt
Co-Founder,
Dot UK Group |
to
Dot UK Group. As it has in the past, DNForum
will continue to feature discussions about
all TLDs. DigitalCandy is expected to
release more details on that acquisition
this week. |
(Posted
February 20, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0220.htm
|
*****
|
.ART
Painted a Rosy Picture in 2022 with 39% Jump in
Domains Under Management
|
Every
new year begins with a flood of reports
from businesses around the world, summing up how
they fared in the previous year. 2022 was
one of those years that was a mixed bag with
enterprises around the globe having to contend
with the negative consequences of a war in
Ukraine, inflation, a crypto crash and continuing
supply chain issues that created strong headwinds
for many. Despite those challenges other still managed
to thrive with the .ART domain
registry among those who were able to fill the 2022
review (.pdf file) on the registry's official
blog with good news. The
report noted, ".ART continues to show strong and steady progress and has remained among
the 15 fastest-growing domain name registries, according to data from
Hosterstats.com.
We ended the 2022 year with 232,307 .ART domains under management, a net domain
growth of 39% over 2021. .ART’s consistent and stable growth is evidenced by numerous high-quality registrations,
including some of the world’s best-known museums and art institutions, as well as a strong
1st-year renewal rate of 81% for premium names. Individual artists, art
enthusiasts, and others associating themselves with “art” continue to be strong supporters of .ART." |
Image
from Hilbrandbos.art
|
|
.ART
CMO Jeff Sass |
Regarding
their premium domain strategy, the
review noted, " There are nine .ART premium name
price tiers ranging from $70 to
$10,000 with all premium names renewing at a low price of
$30 per year. In 2022 we sold 5,734 premium
domains, representing 5% of .ART names registered and
69% of domain registration revenue -
increasing revenue for the .ART registry and its registrar partners." .ART
CMO Jeff Sass pointed out another plus,
telling us, ".ART domains also work
on ENS, so the same name can resolve
to a DNS website and also point to a wallet,
NFT, or any digital asset on
the Ethereum blockchain. Also, .ART
is the only registry to employ additional
Whois data fields to record art object
metadata. We also launched a charitable Art
Therapy Initiative supported by
our domain name sales." You
can get more information about .ART domains
names here: www.art.art. |
(Posted
February 13, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0213.htm
|
*****
|
One
of Europe's Biggest Industry Events - Domain Pulse
2023 - Concluded Today in Switzerland
|
The
biggest
domain conference in the DACH region (Germany,
Austria and Switzerland), Domain
Pulse, completed its 2023 two-day event in Winterthur,
Swtizerland today. This show, organized by
registry operators SWITCH (.ch), DENIC
eG (.de), and nic.at (.at), attracts
industry experts, registry and registrar
executives and a wide range of other stakeholders.
Domain Pulse brings them up to date on the latest
developments in the regional and global domain
space. The
Domain Pulse website (English
version, German
version) already has some photos from this year's
event posted, along with full details about the
agenda and the speakers who were |
|
on
hand
for the conference. Our friends at .it.com,
who were among the exhibitors at Domain Pulse, also
posted some photos on LinkedIn today, including an
opening day shot (below) taken when
moderator and highly regarded TV reporter Melinda
Crane was on stage to welcome attendees.
In the photo at
right are (left to right) Joanna Adler
(Key Account Manager, Tucows, Alessandro
Baruffi (it.com Director of
International Partnerships) and Francesco
Cetraro (Director of Business
Development, Acronis).
Alessandro,
who is also seen below with Sedo CMO
Christian Voss, noted that it.com's goal
at Domain Pulse was to "meet potential
registrars and promote awareness of it.com
as a new cool domains zone going into
General Availability. We aim to on-board
large reseller registrars and partners to
conquer the world of domains!"
As
for Christian, we've gotten used to seeing
the popular globe-trotting Sedo exec everywhere,
including at the Internet Commerce
Association annual
meeting in Las Vegas just
a couple of weeks ago. |
|
(Photos
courtesy of it.com)
|
(Posted
February 7, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0207.htm
*****
|
it.com
Concludes Sunrise, Opens Early Access with Price
List for 3,000 Premium Domains
|
it.com
domain registry officials were
pleased with their Sunrise registration
period that ended January 31. Sunrise gives
trademark holders an opportunity to secure domains
related to their brands before general
availability begins. The now open first
stage of general availability is an Early
Access land rush period, running until
February 19, that is spotlighting the short list
of domains the registry classified as premium
names (only about 3,000 it.com domain were priced
at premium levels). The
administrator of the it.com registry, UK
Intis Telecom, put together a priced
list (in the standard .csv spreadsheet
format) showing all of the premium level
domains so anyone can see the exact cost of
everything that is available (the prices range
from $590 to $7,590 and the renewal cost is at the
standard rate, not the |
Image
from Bigstock
|
premium
cost).
During this stage registrants can also get any of
the non-premium domains at standard registration
rates (those price are set by the individual
registrars).
Munir
Badr, Senior Advisor to it.com, said, "We
now want to encourage early adopters to choose from
a wide variety of available domain names, both
premium and general availability, while the going is
easy." Registrants can search for
available it.com domain names at wee-known
registrars including 101domain,
MarkMonitor, Marcaria, Nomeasy,
CSC Global, Encirca,
Key Systems, AEServer, Domgate,
and many others. A complete list of accredited
it.com registrars is available on the it.com
website.
UK
Intis Telecom is now embarking on a global
campaign to meet as many potential registrants
as possible, face to face, by sponsoring or
co-sponsoring key conferences and meetings throughout
2023. Those already include these (with others
likely to be added):
-
11/1/2022
- Contracted Parties Summit, Los Angeles,
CA, US.
-
2/6/2023
- Domain Pulse, Winterthur,
Switzerland
-
2/21/2023
- APTLD Meeting 83,
Vientiane, Laos
-
2/27/2023
- Mobile World Congress,
Barcelona, Spain
-
3/1/2023
- Affiliate World Dubai,
UAE
-
3/11/2023
- ICANN Community Forum,
Cancun, Mexico
-
3/20/2023
- CloudFest, Europa Park, Germany
-
5/8/2023
- Nordic Domain Days,
Stockholm, Sweden
-
5/9/2023
- Middle East DNS Forum,
Istanbul, Turkey
-
6/12/2023
- ICANN Policy Forum,
Washington DC.
-
10/21/2023
- ICANN General Meeting,
Hamburg, Germany
|
it.com
invites registrars and potential partners
to visit them at any of these events to
learn how they can profit by offering it.com
domain names and featuring them on their
websites through landing pages or in domain
search results.
Joe
Alagna, Advisor to it.com (seen at left),
said, "New gTLDs were a boon and a
windfall to domain name registrars, but they
are no longer new. And a second round of
TLDs are simply vaporware right now. The
it.com domain name is new and it's a real
opportunity for immediate sales, revenue,
and customer satisfaction. Registrars can
get accredited quickly and connect to
their systems via EPP or WHMCS at https://get.it.com/for-registrars."
|
(Posted
February 3, 2023) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2023/dailyposts/0203.htm
|
*****
|
|
|
|
|
|