After a legal challenge failed to stop ICANN from auctioning off the rights to run coveted new domain extension .WEB Wednesday, the competition among bidders went on as scheduled with the new gTLD going to Nu Dot Co LLC with a startling high bid of $135 million. That is more than triple the previous top dollar paid for a new gTLD (the $41.5 million that GMO Registry Inc. spent in an auction for .shop in January).

If the name Nu Dot Co LLC doesn't sound familiar to you it's because it is a new legal entity that, as Domain Name Wire noted Thursday, almost 

.WEB Sticker Shock!
(Image from Bigstock.com)

certainly represents the interests (and deep pockets) of domain industry giant Verisign, who already operates the .com and .net registries. That certainly makes sense (even if the price doesn't) as many considered .web to have the best chance of challenging .com's overwhelming dominance on the web. It is also a natural threat to their .net.

That will be little consolation to the bidders that didn't win .WEB (especially since all of the proceeds go to ICANN rather than being split up among other auction participants as has been the case in most previous new gTLD auctions), but  numbers like $135 million always draw attention, so it's another plank in the recognition bridge.

With new gTLDs pushing the number of domain extensions available worldwide well past the 1,000 mark, the sheer numbers are making it more difficult than ever to stand out in the crowd. When I saw a new report on 2Q-2016 results for the Netherlands' .NL ccTLD today it occurred to me that even some that rank among the world's ten most popular extensions don't always get the recognition their positions would warrant. 

The Dutch love their TLD. Even though the country has only the 64th largest population 

Image from Bigstock.com

among nations, its ccTLD is the 6th largest in the world - and 9th largest among all extensions, including gTLDs like .com, .net and .org (this according to Verisign's latest Domain Name Industry Brief).

The rights to .Web - a new gTLD that some think could become the most popular of the hundreds issued to date - are scheduled to be auctioned off by ICANN Wednesday (July 25). There are eight contenders for the TLD and some of them want the sale postponed, including the largest operator of new gTLDs, Donuts, who filed suit Friday in an attempt to stop the auction. 

DomainIncite.com detailed what is 

Internet auction image from BigStock.com

behind dispute in an article released over the weekend and DomainNameWire.com provided additional background today. You can also see some opinions on what is at stake in this piece at TheWhir.com. We are well past July 4th but there could be some more fireworks ahead in the next day or two while we wait to see what happens Wednesday.

You may nominate one person or company in each of the following categories:  

WEB DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR  

I nominate ___________________________________________

BLOGGER OF THE YEAR  

I nominate ___________________________________________

REGISTRY OF THE YEAR  

I nominate __________________________________________

REGISTRAR OF THE YEAR

I nominate ________________________________________

BROKER OF THE YEAR  

I nominate _______________________________________

INVESTOR (DOMAINER) OF THE YEAR  

I nominate _______________________________________

COMPANY OF THE YEAR  

I nominate ____________________________________

BANDIT BERKENS  GOODWILL AMBASSADOR-2016  

I nominate _____________________________________

DOMAIN INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME (two people are inducted each year, but only nominate one):  

I nominate _____________________________________

*(The following have already been inducted to the DOMAIN INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME: Rick Schwartz, Ron Jackson, Monte Cahn, Michael Berkens, Dr. Chris Hartnett, John Berryhill, David Castello, Michael Castello, Frank Schilling, Yun Yi, Scott Day, Sahar Sarid, Rick Latona, Howard Neu, Adam Dicker, Mike Mann, Chad Folkening, Jeff Gabriel, Igal Lichtman, Andrew Rosener, Michael Cyger, Richard Lau). 

On August 6 & 7 DomainInvesting.com Founder Elliot Silver will be riding a bike 163 miles over a two-day stretch to help raise funds for Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, America's #1 ranked pediatric cancer center. The ride, from Wellesley, Massachusetts to Provincetown, Massachusetts is part of the 2016 Pan-Mass Challenge that hopes to raise $46 million for Dana-Farber. 

The money will come from donations made in the name of each of the approximately 6,000 riders from over 40 states and many foreign countries. Each rider sets his or her own goal and maintains their own fundraising page. Elliot, who will ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge for the 3rd time, raised over $8,300 in his 2015 ride. This year he set his goal at $10,000 back in February and as of this writing his page shows him just shy of the $8,000 mark with two weeks to go.

On his page Elliot noted that he and his wife Karen have been members of the Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since moving to Massachusetts. He noted, "I think just about everyone knows someone who is battling or who has battled cancer. I have friends and family 

Elliot Silver
DomainInvesting.com

who have dealt with cancer, and I want to help support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a great organization that is helping people fight cancer and helping to find a cure for cancer."

Verisign, the administrator of the .com and .net registries, released their latest quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB) covering the first quarter of 2016 today. The 1Q-2016 DNIB, covering all domain extensions, revealed total domain registrations worldwide had reached 326.4 million at the end of the first quarter. That is 12 million more than the number at the end of the previous quarter, representing a 3.8% increase in 90 days. 

The year over year jump was 32.4 milion names - a  healthy double digit increase of 11%. Verisign said .com, the world's most popular extension by far, now has 126.6 million registrations with .net reaching 15.9 million. Between the two their 142.5 million total registration is 7.1% more than at this time last year.

The latest DNIB also revealed that 4.9% of all current registrations represent new gTLDs with 16.1 million of those now on the books. The total number of ccTLDs rose to 148.2 million - an 8.2% increase year over year (10.4% if you take out .tk which is an extension that is given away at no charge). You can download the full brief (with more interesting data) here. There is also an infographic version here.

THE Domain Conference (TDC), that returns to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for their 2016 show September 10-14, just announced conference week will include a separate "Startup Saturday" event for new businesses that will be held from 10am-5pm on September 10th. Startup Saturday will be 

staged at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel - the same venue where THE Domain Conference will conduct their second annual five-day domain industry summit.

THE Domain Conference (TDC) has landed two accomplished keynote speakers for their 2nd annual show coming up September 10-14, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As most of you know, TDC debuted last September under the direction of Howard, Barbara and Ray Neu, all well known throughout the industry after a decade of helping stage the pioneering T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference that Howard co-founded with Rick Schwartz in 2004 (T.R.A.F.F.I.C. held its final show in 2014 when Mr. Schwartz retired, with TDC then formed to fill what would have been a large Florida void on the conference calendar). 

After a successful debut in 2015, the stars also appear to be lining up for their return to Fort Lauderdale, especially with the two seasoned leaders they have lined up as headliners - Sedo CEO Tobias Flaitz and Neustar VP Lori Ann Wardi.  

Tobias Flaitz (Sedo CEO) and Lori Anne Wardi (Neustar VP Registry Services)
will be Keynote Speakers for the 2016 edition of THE Domain Conference

You can read the impressive bios of Tobias and Lori Anne on the TDC website's Speakers page where you will also find details on another 16 (and counting) industry experts that have already been added to the agenda. Despite their experience in the field many of them will be people taking time out to speak to a domain investors group for the first time, including Stacey King, the General Manager for Amazon Registry Services.  

There have been a lot of changes at Escrow.com since the company was acquired by Australia's Freelancer.com last year. After expanding their management team and giving the company's website a major makeover, Escrow.com has also just announced major change in their physical location. They are moving their U.S. office from its long time home in Southern California (in Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles) to downtown San Francisco where Vice President of Sales Danny Raja will head the office. 

Danny joined Escrow.com in April after serving as a Senior Sales Executive at both Box and Yammer. General Manager Jackson Elsegood and Keith Gettle, who has been promoted to Operations Manager, will be working closely with Danny on Escrow.com’s major partnerships. Their new San Francisco office at 180 Montgomery Street is one of four new Escrow.com offices with others located in Vancouver, Canada, Sydney, Australia and Manila, in the Philippines.

Danny Raja
Escrow.com VP of Sales

Escrow.com's new U.S. office at 180 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco.

India's 3rd annual DomainX conference will be held August 6-7 at Shangra-La's Eros Hotel in New Delhi, India. The event was launched to fuel growth in the domain business throughout India and toward that end it has been held in a different location each year, starting with Hyderabad in 2014 then Bangalore in 2015 and now the nation's capital in New Delhi.

With each outing, the goal of DomainX organizers Manmeet Pal-Singh Mahal and Gaurav Kohli is to have a bigger event than the last with more registrants, speakers and sponsors from around the world. With respect to putting industry leading experts on their stage, the 2016 agenda features a line up that any conference would be delighted to present. On the main business day Sunday, August 7, in the morning alone, attendees will see in succession, Chief Guest Samiran Gupta, the Head of India for ICANN, followed by two keynote addresses - one from legendary domain 

investor and Uniregistry Founder Frank Schilling and another from celebrated developer Bill Karamouzis (CEO at TeachMe.com). 

The main business day at DomainX 2016 wil get off to a fast start with successive addresses from (left to right) Samiran Gupta (ICANN India), Frank Schilling (Uniregistry) and Bill Karamouzis (TeachMe.com CEO).

In yet another interesting talk before the 1pm Lunch Break Sunday, Sedo's Global CSO Dima Bietzke will have a presentation called Premium Domain Names: The hidden champions for your success. With ace moderator Braden Pollock from LegalBrandMarketing.com on hand to elicit the most valuable information from panelists possible, four more business sessions will follow lunch before the day and conference closes with a 5pm Awards Ceremony.

While that sums up the Sunday schedule you may be saying, "wait a minute - didn't you forget something - what about opening day - Saturday, July 6!?" There will be plenty going on that day too but it will be devoted entirely to what just about every conference goer worldwide says is the most important reason they go to shows - the opportunity for face to face networking and relationship building. DomainX is going to facilitate that in a spectacular way by taking guests on a daytrip to the world famous Taj Mahal in Agra on Saturday.

Where else but DomainX can you do some casual networking while visiting one of 
the world's most famous icons - the Taj Mahal? (Taj Mahal image from Bigstock). 

After everyone is back from the Taj Mahal - a full evening of networking will still be ahead of them, starting with tea, coffee & cookies at 5:30pm. Saturday evening will also include a whisky tasting session and dinner (at 9:30pm) with festivities continuing until around midnight. 

DomainX is set up in a way that allows you to customize your conference experience by buying tickets only to the events you want to attend.  Just want to go to Saturday night networking? There's a ticket for that. Just Sunday's business sessions? There's one for that too, as well as other individual events and reduced price tickets that combine events. 

In addition to drawing in Indian and international Internet entrepreneurs with these unique networking opportunities, DomainX and BlogX are also attracting an impressive array of corporate sponsors who want to reach them (and will have representatives there to do so), including Sedo, Donuts Inc., OpenSRS, MicroHost, Mapta.gs, ThemeMarket, GetVOIP, Airfare.in and the Domain Name Owners Association of India.

Whether you come to New Delhi for a day, two, three (or even more, as we will do so we can explore the city), co-organizers Manmeet Pal Singh Mahal and Gaurav Kohli are looking forward to welcoming you to DomainX 2016 and giving you an inside look at the rapidly growing Indian and global domain name industry.

DomainX Co-organizers Manmeet Pal Singh Mahal (left) and Gaurav Kohli 
seen at the 2015 DomainX Awards Ceremony in Bangalore last August.

The 2016 World Domain Conference (WDC) ended today (Friday, July 8) in Wuzhen, China with a morning devoted to business sessions and an afternoon spent touring waterways of the scenic city of some 60,000 residents, located 67 miles southwest of Shanghai. WDC, sponsored by Yumi.com, is held just once every three years. The recent boom in China's domain market resulted in domain investors, brokers and company representatives from around the world coming in for the event. 

You will find photos and highlights from the Reception Day Wednesday here and the first day of business Thursday here. Today, thanks to George Hong (Guta.com), Deepak Daftari (eSiksha.com) and Dietmar Stefitz (DomainingEurope.com), who were all at the conference, we have some closing day photos and highlights for you.

Above & below: The final day of WDC began at 9:30 Friday morning when Mr. Yongdong Xie, the CEO of conference host Yumi.com, gave a presentation on how to use big data to gain an understanding of domain industry trends. (Photos courtesy of George Hong, as are others in this article unless noted otherwise).

Above: A view of the conference hall taken from the stage during a morning break.
(photo from  Dietmar Stefitz).

Below: The opening morning session continued with a panel discussion of current domain values and the direction the various experts think those may go in the future.

Above: WDC made sure there was plenty of time of informal networking with coffee breaks built into both the morning and afternoon schedules each business day. Here (left to right) Deepak Daftari (sSiksha.com), Frank Schilling (Uniregistry), Dhananjeyan Thangavelu and Anand Vora (Donuts Inc.) pose for a group selfie. (Photo from Deepak Daftari).

Below: The morning concluded with the conference's final business session - a discussion of Domain Security, Arbitration, Legal Issues and Traffic.

Above: While the business sessions were now done, the day was far from complete. Attendees enjoyed a 90-minute luncheon before heading out together for an afternoon of touring scenic Wuzhen. (Photo from Deepak Daftari)

Below: One of the boats carrying WDC guests heads out for a beautiful day on the city's waterways. (this and all remaining photos from George Hong)

Above: The view from a WDC boat floating through one of Wuzhen's many scenic waterways.

Below: As the sun heads down, this pastoral view of Wuzhen resembles a painted masterpiece.

Above: WDC attendees will be heading home Saturday morning with conference shuttles taking those who need to fly to their respective airports. But Friday night it was time for informal get togethers at local restaurants and bars. Industry veterans will recognize several of the faces in this photo from one of those final gatherings.

By all accounts we've heard, it was a very enjoyable and productive week in Wuzhen. We expect  to get some more feedback and commentary from a couple of attendees who helped us cover the show for you after they are back home and settled in. Congratulations to WDC and Yumi.com for running another world class event!

After getting guests from around the world settled in at the Waterside Resort in Wuzhen, China Wednesday (July 6), organizers of the  World Domain Conference, being staged there by Yumi.com, opened the two-day business portion of the show today (Thursday, July 7, 2016). Thanks to Anand Vora (Donuts Inc.), Deepak Daftari (eSiksha.com) and George Hong (Guta.com), who are all on site, we have some photos and highlights from the first day of business to share with you. 

Above: A shot of the WDC conference hall at Wuzhen's Waterside Resort, taken shortly before attendees began filing in for the first day of business this morning. 
(Photo from Anand Vora)

Below: Mr. Jason Lin, the Founder of conference host Yumi.com, kicked things off at 9:15am with a welcoming address to World Domain Conference attendees. 
(Photo from Deepak Daftari)

Above & below: The day's first of four panel discussions, covering the latest global domain name developments and trends, got underway at 9:30am with six industry experts on the dais. They included pioneering domain investor and Founder of Uniregistry.com Frank Schilling who is seen seated on the side video screens above (photo from Yumi.com) and standing at the podium below left (photo from Anand Vora).

Above: During a coffee break that followed the opening panel discussion, WDC participants, including speakers, sponsors and attendees, got together for this group portait. 
(Photo from George Hong)

Below: The morning session closed with nine more international experts taking the stage to discuss New gTLDs. The panelists included two who traveled from the U.S. - Anand Vora, Business Development Director at Donuts Inc. (the largest operator of new gTLDs) and Michele Van Tilborg, VP of Business Development at the .CLUB Registry. China has been the most receptive global market to new gTLDs.

Above: A two-and-a-half hour lunch break started at noon. George Hong of Guta.com (center) who has bases in both the U.S. and China, took advantage of some of his break time to catch up with two of the many Western visitors at WDC, GoDaddy Aftermarket Director Paul Nicks (left) and NameJet.com General Manager Jonathan Tenenbaum (right). 

Below: The afternoon session got underway at 2:3pm with another distinguished panel of nine experts discussing Registrar and Domain Aftermarket Developments.

China's World Domain Conference got underway today in Wuzhen with a day primarily devoted to the logistics of shuttling guests from three area airports to the show venue - the Waterside Resort - and getting them registered for the business sessions that will begin tomorrow morning (Thursday, July 7). There will also be a welcoming dinner tonight that is actually underway as I write 

this (there is a 12-hour time difference between the U.S. Eastern time zone and Wuzhen - when it is 10am here it is 10pm there).

Below: In a fortuitous coincidence, Deepak Daftari (eSiksha.com), at left, and Anand Vora (Donuts Inc.) bumped into each other at the airport and rode to the hotel together. Since I couldn't be there this week, Anand and Deepak agreed to be our "eyes on the ground" with Anand sending in daily photos and Deepak planning a post-show review of the event that will continue through Saturday morning when guests will begin their journeys back home. 

Above and below: Anand snapped these beautiful shots at the Wuzhen Waterside Resort where registration for the World Domain Conference, being presented by Yumi.com, got underway today. Wednesday was a day for getting settled in and doing some casual networking before the business sessions start Thursday morning.

Above: "Pillars of the community!" on the grounds of the Wuzhen Waterside Resort.

Below: Inside, approaching the Reception Desk for the World Domain Conference. 

Above (left to right): Donuts Inc. Director of Business Development Anand Vora, Bridge Song (Head of Registry Operations at Alibaba) and Bridge's Alibaba colleague Charles check out the view in the Grand Hall at the Wuzhen Waterside Resort. 

Due to the time difference with China, when we wake up Thursday morning the first business day will already be over there! Photos and highlights from how that went will be in our next look inside the World Domain Conference. 

Domain industry professionals from around the world have begun arriving in Wuzhen, China where the World Domain Conference (WDC) will get underway tomorrow (Wednesday, July 6) and continue through Saturday. The event, hosted by Yumi.com, is held just once every three years. It comes on the heels of another successful show in China - the Domain Name Industry Summit -  that drew approximately 1,000 guests to Hangzhou last month.

While most of the WDC attendees will, of course, be from China, our Facebook page is filled with posts from friends in the U.S., Europe, India and other regions who are going to Wuzhen too. Among them is Donuts Director of Business Development Anand Vora who has graciously offered to send us some photos and highlights from WDC  to share with you as the conference unfolds. For another viewpoint, veteran domain investor Deepak Daftari, who is making the trip from India, will be sending us his review of the event after it concludes.

In addition  to domain investors and brokers (like Guta.com's George Hong who was featured in a Lowdown post Sunday), various company representatives and  founders of other domain conferences are also going to WDC. The latter group will include Domaining Europe's Dietmar Stefitz and Manmeet Pal Singh from India's DomainX conference. 

WDC staff member greeting conference attendees at the airport and directing them to free shuttle buses to their hotel. (Photo courtesy of Anand Vora)

A boom in domain buying by Chinese investors was the biggest story in the domain business last year. Sales were being made at a blistering pace and ever increasing prices in the kind of feeding frenzy that always eventually exhausts itself. Now that the market has come back down to earth and more historical norms it feels to some like sales have stalled but the Chinese are still actively buying and selling - just putting more thought into what they are pulling the trigger on and how much they are willing to pay for it. 

George Hong, who founded domain brokerage company Guta.com, is a native of China who has lived in the United States for many years. Working from his base in Philadelphia, George, who is fluent in both Chinese and English, has been in the middle of China's emergence as a global domain industry power and has facilitated many major transactions  between buyers in the East and sellers in the West. 

As demand for his services grew, late last year Hong opened a new office in Xiamen, a regional economic center on the southeastern coast of China that many domain companies and key 

China flag image from Bigstock

Guta.com Founder George Hong in his original Xiamen office last year. He has just moved the expanding company to new offices in the Xiamen Software Park.

investors call home. He has already outgrown that space. After adding several new employees to his team George went back over to China in March to find and relocate Guta.com to new offices in the Xiamen Software Park - the information technology hub in that city of 2 million residents. He is still there putting the finishing touches on the project.

Above: The spacious reception area at the new Guta.com office in Xiamen.

Below: Hallway leading to more offices, a meeting room and balcony terrace in the suite.

Above: Members of the Guta.com sales team at work in their bright new environment.

Below: The conference room at the new Guta.com office suite in Xiamen.

George told us there were other key reasons for moving Guta.com to the Xiamen Software Park than additional space alone, giving us this list with his personal notes: 

• Attracting new talent - It is much easier to hire IT and Sales talent. Xiamen Software Park is the information technology hub of Xiamen.

• Nice Domain Atmosphere: Many domain companies and investors are located in the Software Park. The real estate broker who helped us find the office is also a new domain investor. 

• Closer to buyers: Many big buyers of premium domains (especially numeric domains) live in Xiamen or surrounding cities that are within a two-hour drive.

A view of Xiamen - China's "Capital City of Domains"

While market conditions will always continues to ebb and flow, George Hong has obviously made a major investment in (and significant bet on) the Chinese market continuing to be a key driver in the increasingly global domain industry.

Speaking of China and domains, the World Domain Conference hosted by Yumi.com will get underway Wednesday (July 6) in Wuzhen. This event (formerly known as Traffic China) is staged only once every three years. It will continue through Saturday, July 9 with domain industry representatives from around the world scheduled to take part.