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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. |
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New
Domain Marketplace at SAV.com
Offers Buyers & Sellers a Full
Featured Economical Option
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Attractive
options
for
domain buyers and sellers continue
to expand with the arrival of a new
domain marketplace at SAV.com.
SAV was launched by veteran domain
investor Anthos Chrysnathou
last year as an ICANN accredited
registrar. Knowing cost is a key
factor for domain investors who
typically hold hundreds or even
thousands of domain names at a
time. So, he decided to compete on
price, even though margins
are already slim in the registration
space. With an eye-popping
introductory offer of $5.95 for
new .com registrations (that a
year later are still priced at
just $6.95), the strategy worked.
Anthos, who I've known since he
entered the business in 2004, told
me the company already has over
300,000 registrations on the
books and the number continues to
grow quickly.
With
that part of the business now well
established SAV had taken the next
step with the rollout of their new
domain marketplace - and again,
the company is banking on "an
offer you can't refuse" to
get the ball rolling. They are
charging a sales commission of
just 4%, a fee that will
barely cover their credit card
processing cost. That still makes
sense to Chrysanthou because he
continues to rely on the long
term view he employed to
become a successful domain investor
himself. Anthos said, "We
wanted to make it a compelling, easy decision for domain investors to use Sav.com’s
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Anthos
Chrysanthou
Founder & CEO, SAV.com
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domain marketplace.
Our goal is to build and maintain the largest inventory of quality domain names in order to attract the largest number of end-users
possible. Not only will this volume of end-users maximize retail priced sales for everyone, but it will give Sav.com the opportunity to convert end-user entrepreneurs and SMBs into customers
of our registrar and the disruptive website building service that we plan to launch in early 2021."
Chrysanthou
noted, "Still, We are not relying solely on pricing as the differentiator that drives domain investors to use our marketplace. For example, they will enjoy a variety of features and benefits such as automated fulfillment of domains through
Afternic and Sedo, instant ownership transfer of domains on Sav.com’s registrar, instant cash payment after reaching $100K in sales, free whois privacy, a growing list of bulk tools, buy now listings, no-reserve auctions, great customer service, and more."
"In addition, we are particularly excited about the initiatives we are rolling out to support higher domain sell-through rates. For starters, this includes the use of a
domain-for-sale lander that is the product of nine months’ worth of extensive testing. We started the testing process using typical lander designs in order to get a benchmark on conversion rates. Then we started testing a wide range of innovative lander designs. In the end, one of those innovative designs emerged as the clear winner. It converts at a rate that is
218% better than the typical landers."
You
can learn more about the SAV.com marketplace and request access to it here.
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(Posted
August 4, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200804.htm
*****
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Humble
Domain Industry Icon Nat Cohen
Goes Deep in Revealing New
Interview at GGRG.com
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Telepathy.com
Founder Nat Cohen is one of
the most successful investors in
domain industry history. He holds
the world's biggest collection of
3-letter .coms (over 1,000
of them!) as well as several
ultra-rare 2-letter .coms and many
top tier one-word dictionary
domains. Nat is also one of the
staunchest defenders of domain
owner's rights through his
tireless service on the board of
the Internet
Commerce Association.
The
only reason there are still some
people in this business who don't
know how much Nat has accomplished
is because the kind-hearted
Washington, D.C. resident would
rather talk about anything else
but himself. Thankfully, ICA
member Giuseppe Graziano of
GGRG.com
finally persuaded Nat to sit for
an in-depth
interview by
convincing him that he could help
a lot of other people find their
way in this field by sharing what
he has learned since he first
discovered domains back in the
1990s.
Nat's
story of how he built his
incredible portfolio, how the game
has changed over the years and how
he plays it today is one that
everyone in
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Nat
Cohen
Founder, Telepathy.com
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this business
would profit from reading. In addition to a great business story, it gives
you some rare insight into the life of one of the most genuine nice guys in
this or any other industry. It's an object lesson in the right way to
treat people - and we live in a time when we could all benefit
from getting better at that!
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By
the way, in addition to the interview
with Nat, GGRG.com (a popular domain
brokerage and consulting firm based in
Lisbon Portugal) has also released
their latest Liquid
Domains Market Report
covering 2Q-2020. GGRG's
reports break down aftermarket sales
results for short .com domains
comprised of 2-4 letters, 2-5 |
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numbers and a combination of 2-3
characters mixing letters and numbers. Collectively, GGRG refers to
domains that fit those parameters as liquid domains because
there are almost always buyers (at least at the wholesale level) for
them. |
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(Posted
July 29, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200729.htm
*****
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Guta.com
Breaks Down 2Q-2020 Premium Domain
Sales Trends in Their New
Quarterly Report
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International
domain brokerage firm Guta.com
has released their latest
free quarterly Premium
Domain Sales Observation Report
(.pdf file) covering the 2nd
quarter of 2020. With offices
in both the U.S. and China,
Guta, founded by CEO George
Hong, has a perfect vantage
point to see what is happening in
the domain aftermarket in both the
Eastern and Western hemispheres.
Their reports focus primarily on
.com domain sales in these
categories: 1-4 Numbers, 1-3
Letters, 2 Characters
and one-word English
dictionary domains.
The
report shows continuing soft
demand for short .com numeric
domains in the Chinese market
(where most buyers in that
category hail from), noting,
"In 2Q-2020 2020, the sales volumes of NN .com, NNN .com, two-character .com remained at
the lowest level since 2018. The sales count of NNNN .com was
down by 31.1% from the previous
quarter."
Short
acronym domains fared much
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better with the 3-letter .com sales count was
up 35.3%, though prices continue to be generally lower than at the
height of the China boom a few years ago. Guta reported that nearly half (11 out of 23) of the LLL.com sales
they saw came with publicly reported prices, all of which fell in the low
five-figure range. The scarcity of two-letter .com domains kept
prices for that category in line with the previous quarter, with Chinese buyers
acquiring all of those that were sold.
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Guta.com
Founder George Hong |
The
brightest spot, as has been reported from several other sources in
recent months, has been the popularity of one-word English language
.com domains. Guta reported, "In Q2-2020, the total sales count of one-word English .coms reached the highest amount since
2018. From among those whose prices were publicly reported, the top
four sales were low six figures with the remaining ones below $100,000. The number of end-user purchases was higher than in Q1 2020 but lower than in Q3 2019 and Q4 2019.
From that Guta surmised that domain investors jumped at opportunities to purchase premium
one-word .com domains at relatively lower prices.
You can read the entire
illuminating report here.
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*****
(Posted
July 27, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200727.htm |
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The
Year's First Online Domain
Conference is Underway at TheDomainShow.com
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Earlier
this month
we told
you about a new online
only domain conference called The
Domain Show that was
being put together by industry
veteran Page
Howe. That free
admission event got underway
Thursday (July 23) with a full
slate of sessions and will be
continuing through Saturday (July
25). The free
ticket, made possible
through the sponsorship of DAN.com,
lets you view all sessions live,
but also lets you replay
any sessions for 48 hours. So,
even if you haven't registered
yet, you can still see all of the
opening day sessions. A VIP Pass
is also available for
$199 that will give you unlimited year
around replays as well as
additional VIP content.
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The opening day
schedule featured sessions on Domain Development & SEO, Expanding
the Domain Market, Monetization, GeoDomains, Marketing
Tips and special interview sessions with Squadhelp CEO Darpan
Munjal and domain industry pioneers Michael Mann with Bill
Sweetman, and Monte Cahn.
Another busy day
is on tap today (Friday, July 24. You can see the full
schedule here. At 3:15pm (US Eastern time) I will be on to
conduct an interview with Castello
Brothers Co-Founder David Castello who will be talking
about The Future of .Com. David and his brother Michael got
started back in the 1990s and have had great success both selling and
developing top tier domains. That is a session you won't want to miss and
the same can be said for the entire Friday line-up that kicks off at 12:30pm
(US Eastern time).
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*****
(Posted
July 24, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200724.htm |
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Merger
of i2Coalition & The Domain
Name Association Creates Powerful
Internet Infrastructure Advocacy
Group
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The
Internet
Infrastructure Coalition
(i2Coalition) and
The
Domain Name Association
(The DNA) have joined forces
to create a powerful combination
that will amplify the voice
of the companies that build the Internet’s
foundational infrastructure. The
combined entity will operate under
the i2Coalition banner.
The
i2Coalition formed in 2012 and
quickly became the leading
voice for web hosting companies,
data centers, domain registrars
and registries, cloud
infrastructure providers, managed
services providers and related
tech. The DNA was established in
2014 as a nonprofit global
business association that
represents the interests of the
domain name industry. The newly
combined organization
becomes the largest Internet
infrastructure advocacy group in
North America. It will
maintain the i2Coalition’s
existing organizational and
management structure with The DNA
being represented by two members
on the Board of Directors. A
DNA-branded working group
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will
also be created to continue to advance the DNA’s mission to protect
and empower businesses and individuals with education and engagement that
underscores the importance, benefits and opportunities of domain names.
|
Christian
Dawson |
The strategic alliance that takes
effect on July 28, 2020 will enables access to an expanded
set of resources and economies of scale that will allow the
collective to mount more far-reaching and expansive campaigns to
ensure policy doesn’t impede growth, knowledge and access to the
Internet and its resources. Effective upon the close of the merger,
the new DNA working group within the i2Coalition’s existing
construct will be implemented with a formation meeting scheduled
within 30 days.
Christian
Dawson, Co-Founder of the i2Coalition, said “The
merger of our organizations underpins the mission of both the DNA
and the i2Coalition, combining our mutual dedication to Internet
industry best practices and policies to empower continued growth.
Combined, we represent over 100 organization members and
their online business interests." |
Statton Hammock, founding DNA Board
member and current Board Secretary noted, "The mission of the DNA has
always been to spread awareness, promote growth, offer resources and
facilitate communication about innovation and value in the Internet domain
name space. Our mission aligns well with that of the i2Coalition, and I look
forward to remaining part of the new organization and to creating an even
larger impact.”
Melinda
Clem, Chairwoman for the i2Coalition, added, “Domain
names are a key part of the growth of the Internet infrastructure, and the
i2Coalition is excited to become an enabler for the great work the DNA is
accomplishing in this sphere. We’re excited to collaboratively foster a
healthy domain environment with universal acceptance of non-traditional
domains and provide access to expertise and resources that help address
issues facing the domain name industry.”
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*****
(Posted
July 20, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200720.htm |
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SedoMLS
Brokerage Expands Its Reach with
Major European Registrar
united-domains Coming On Board
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The
SedoMLS
Brokerage
is a service that allows
participating domain registrars
to give their customers access to
professional brokers who will help
them acquire the domain they want,
whether or not it is
currently listed for sale. New
businesses (or established ones
looking to upgrade their name)
typically start their search for a
name by visiting a domain
registrar. Their first choice is
almost never available for
registration and odds are it won't
be listed in the registrar's
aftermarket listing either.
However,
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that's
not the end of the line if the registrar also offers access to the SedoMLS
Brokerage, as European giant united-domains
has just started doing, joining SAV.com, Fabulous.com, DirectNic.com and
several other popular registrars around the world.
Sedo.com
CEO Matthias Conrad noted, "We are convinced that our new
SedoMLS Brokerage Service is all around beneficial for registrars,
prospective buyers and also sellers within the ever-expanding domain market.
SedoMLS registrar partners can now literally provide their clients with a one-stop-shop,
giving them an extra layer that makes them stand out within their highly
competitive market”
Tobias
Sattler, CTO of united-domains, added, “The partnership with Sedo
enriches our domain name search results. Before SedoMLS Brokerage,
registered domain names were a dead end. Now we have a valuable
service for our customers – a shot at their first-choice domain
name."
You
can get complete information in the SedoMLS Brokerage offering and all of
Sedo's registrar
services here.
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*****
(Posted
July 15, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200715.htm |
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TheDomainShow.com
Announces Speakers and Opens Free Registration
for Upcoming Online Conference
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The
Covid-19 pandemic
has, for now, closed the door on
traditional domain conferences
where attendees travel to a
central location to meet face to
face. However, domain investors,
developers and service providers
will still have a couple of
opportunities to gather online for
virtual conferences this summer.
We previously told
you about the NamesCon
Online conference coming up in
September. Now domain industry
veteran Page
Howe has opened
registration for an earlier event,
The
Domain Show, that he
will be producing later this month.
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Howe today also
announced the first two dozen speakers he has lined up for the
three-day virtual conference that runs July 23-25. The all-star roster includes Andrew
Rosener, Braden Pollock, Jeff Gabriel, Michael & David Castello, Ari
Goldberger, Larry Fischer, Alan Hack and Shane Cultra, to name just a few.
Howe said the list of speakers and presenters will expand to more than 40 by
show time. The entire line-up (and new additions as they are confirmed) can
be seen on the show
website.
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Howe, who will serve a host, is a domain name marketer, investor and
educator who has sold over 5,000 domain names over his more than two
decades in the business, including two of the top all time sales at over $1
million each (Seniors.com and Guy.com). Page also heads up local marketing for the
.LA local domain namespace for Los Angeles, writes and make educational videos at
DN.BIZ and runs the wholesale marketplace
DomainOutlet.com.
In addition to two free registration
options for The Domain Show, there is a $99 premium option that
comes with some additional perks. Howe added, "There are also
sponsorship opportunities that will provide access to a global audience before and during our show,
as well as 24/7-365 access through repeats and replays. Contact page@pagehowe.com
for more information on that." |
Page
Howe |
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*****
(Posted
July 6, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200706.htm |
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NamesCon
Rechristens Their First Virtual
Event - NC 360° is Now NamesCon
Online
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A
couple of weeks ago,
we told
you about NamesCon's
decision to hold their first
online-only virtual conference September
9-11, 2020. The event was
originally named NamesCon 360°
but today show organizers
announced a new name - NamesCon
Online - and a new web address
that is a perfect match - NamesCon.online.
The
move comes in conjunction with the
news that Radix
has signed up to be the event's first
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Diamond Partner.
Radix operates several of the most popular new gTLDs on the Internet,
including .online, so the
tie-in between them and NamesCon is a natural.
The updated NamesCon Online
website notes, "This virtual conference will deliver the elements you know from our in-person events—and more—in a brand-new way. At NamesCon Online, you can expect a packed agenda with keynotes, live streams, expert round tables, and region-specific learning and prime networking opportunities.
NamesCon Online will be held in a custom online venue that offers the unique experience of NamesCon right at your fingertips from your home, office, or favorite local café. You’ll be able to access everything through your web browser and via a mobile app."
Registration
for the event is open now with Standard tickets priced at $59 each. If you
have never been to a NamesCon event before, they have an even better deal
for you. Newcomers can get free admission by filling out a quick survey
on the show website.
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*****
(Posted
July 1, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200701.htm |
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NamesCon
360° Addresses Covid-19 Crisis
With Online Conference Coming
September 9-11
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The
Covid-19 pandemic
has made it virtually impossible
for people in any business
to gather safely in significant
numbers. However, the biggest
conference in our industry, NamesCon,
has decided the solution to the
"virtually impossible"
is to go virtual - at least
in the near term. While they still
plan to hold the annual NamesCon
Global conference live at a
location still to be announced
next January, they are going to
fill in the gap with NamesCon
360° - a three-day
virtual conference to be presented
online September 9-11, 2020.
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The official
announcement of NamesCon 360° today said, "NamesCon 360° will feature
live and on-demand presentations, workshops, networking, and
deal-making opportunities on a scale not yet done in the domain industry.
Besides bringing elements you love from NamesCon straight to your home or
office, we're adding some new features that can only be done in a
virtual environment."
The notice
emphasized, "This is no Zoom meeting! You'll take part through your web browser
and mobile device for a wide range of interactions. From presentations for a global audience to regionally-relevant content, NamesCon 360° will have something for you, wherever you are.
While we all miss our face-to-face meet-ups, this is the right time to create a virtual event. You'll meet everyone who is serious about domaining: an easily-accessible virtual conference is a big step in bringing more
domainers - with all their experience, perspectives, and of course
portfolios - together."
With people around
the world living in different time zones, some are sleeping while others are
awake. NamesCon 360° organizers say you can forget the clock
and join in at whatever time best suits you schedule, noting, "A domain never sleeps, and neither does NamesCon 360°! During the run of the event, you'll have
all-day, all-night access to the event hubs, as well as on-demand content and networking with professionals in your region—and the other side of the world."
No pricing for the
event has been set yet and there are many details still to be filled in over
the couple of months but you can keep track of the latest developments by
periodically checking in on the NamesCon 360°
website.
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*****
(Posted
June 19, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200619.htm |
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Latest
Verisign Quarterly Report Says
Worldwide Domain Registrations
Increased By Nearly 15
Million In Past Year
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Verisign
(the administrator of the .com
and .net TLDs) has released
their latest quarterly Domain
Name Industry Brief (.pdf
file) covering the 1st quarter
of 2020. The report said total
domain name registrations across all
top-level domains (not just
those Verisign operates) rose to 366.8
million at the end of 1Q-2020.
That is a rise of approximately 14.9
million domain registrations
(or 4.2%) from the same
point one year earlier.
The
quarter ended with approximately 147.3
million .coms registered -
a jump of 6.3 million
(4.5%) year over year.
Meanwhile, the .net TLD,
that has been sliding for several
years, looks like it may finally
be stabilizing. Approximately 13.4
million .net domains were
registered at the end of 1Q-2020, down
2.9% from 13.8 million a year
earlier, but .net lost no
ground from the last quarter
(4Q-2019) when it also came in at
13. 4 million.
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The ccTLDs have finally
started seeing a slowdown after several years of high growth. 1Q-2020 ended
with 157.4 million country code domains registered worldwide, up just
0.4% (600,000 domains) from a year earlier and they actually
went down 200,000 domains from the previous quarter (4Q-2019).
The new gTLDs continue
to rebound sharply after some major losses in their first years of
operation. The new gTLDs ended 1Q-2020 with 32.3 million domains
registered, a 40.7% leap from the 23 million that were registered at
the end of the same quarter a year earlier. Of the 9.3 million domains added
in the past 12 months, 3 million came in 1Q-2020 indicating continued
acceleration.
That and much more valuable information in the
full report that you can read
here.
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*****
(Posted
June 3, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200603.htm |
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Pioneering
Domain Investor/Developers Michael
& David Castello Launch New
Site at CastelloBrothers.com
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Michael
& David Castello
are very distinct individuals
but in the domain world they've
been so successful together that
they have turned The Castello
Brothers into a third equally
prominent identity. We first wrote
about them back in 2006 in a Cover
Story that remains one
of the most popular ones we've
ever published. Since then we've
written about several of their
landmark sales, including a 2014
Cover Story that
provided an inside account of the $3.1
million sale of Whisky.com.
They are equally well-known for
their successfully developed
websites including PalmSprings.com,
Nashville.com
and, most recently, Kennel.com,
a site that was just launched in
March.
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The
Castello Brothers:
CEO Michael (left) & COO David
Co-Founders, Castello
Cities Internet Network |
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Still, the
brothers, with many similar category defining .com domains in their
portfolio, have much more to do. Today, they opened the next chapter of The
Castello Brothers story by announcing the launch of a new site at, where
else?, CastelloBrothers.com.
The site features many of their premium domain names for sale, biographies
about the brothers and a F.A.Q. section that contains their unique
perspective about what makes these names so valuable.
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Michael said, "We equate owning
premium domain names such as Cost.com, Sample.com and Traveler.com
to undeveloped beachfront property. Development takes vision,
but the monetary benefits are incredible. Regardless, as much as we
enjoy breathing life into these names, my brother and I began to
realize that it would be impossible to develop all of them."
The new site gives them a showcase to offer other entrepreneurs an
opportunity to acquire and develop a top tier online business of
their own.
At
left: Michael Castello, wife Sheri and daughter
Jessica with Diana Jackson at Marina del Rey in Los
Angeles. |
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Michael added, "COVID-19 forced a
lot of people to work from home and these premium names
are the perfect vehicle to build a
successful on-line business from the convenience of your home
office. David and I generated millions of dollars from the power of
these worldwide brands and we did it all from home."
With the launch of Kennel.com,
the brothers think they have another big winner on their hands.
David said, "We changed our minds about selling Kennel.com and
I'm glad we did. By the end of 2020, Kennel.com will be one of the
largest sites about dogs in the world."
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David
Castello and wife Bree on their way to visit
the Castello family's ancestral homeland in Italy. |
You can read more
about Michael and David here
and can also contact them through CastelloBrothers.com.
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*****
(Posted
May 29, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200529.htm |
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Domain
Investor/Developer/Blogger Morgan
Linton Goes Deep in New Interview
with GGRG's Giuseppe
Graziano
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Giuseppe
Graziano,
the founder of domain brokerage
& consulting firm GGRG.com
is continuing his new series of in-depth
domain industry interviews
with the release of his third
article, this one featuring
veteran domain
investor/developer/blogger Morgan
Linton (whose home
base online is at MorganLinton.com).
Among the many topics covered in
the wide-ranging interview are:
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The
most common mistake
domain investors make and
how to avoid it.
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How
domain investing will change
over the next 10 years.
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The
lessons Morgan learned by
working at Sonos and
a firm he co-founded, Bold
Metrics.
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Morgan's
favorite extensions and
domain categories to
invest in.
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His
favorite resources to
learn about domains and
startups.
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Morgan
Linton
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In
his introduction to the
article, Giuseppe noted, "Morgan Linton is the first face I saw in the domain industry, when watching his 5-part video series called
Domaining Power Course (published by a young Morgan 11 years
ago!). Yet, I only met Morgan in person last year in Lisbon in occasion of
NamesCon
Europe 2019. We hit it off right away, and it is easy to understand why – Morgan is personable, well-traveled and with a lot of great
stories!"
Giuseppe's started the series with
DNJournal's Ron
Jackson in March and veteran domain investor Yoni
Belousov in April.
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*****
(Posted
May 21, 2021) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200521.htm |
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The
Secret Is Out! After Making Millions for Others
Veteran Domain Broker Arif Sengoren Has Opened His
Own Shop
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With
very few exceptions,
domain people are entrepreneurs at
heart. Over the years I've lost
count of how many started out
working for someone else in this
field, then went on to open
their own shop. The latest to
do that is veteran domain broker
Arif Sengoren, whom I've known
ever since he entered the
domain world as a Domain Sales
& Acquisitions Specialist with
NoktaDomains
in 2010. Arif piled up millions
of dollars worth of sales in his
five years there, then millions
more after he moved on to Uniregistry's
DomainNameSales unit. Now, he
has decided it is time to fly
solo, so he just launched his new
firm at SecretBrokerage.com
(I guess it's not a secret
anymore)!
Arif
embodies something about domain
people that has always fascinated
me - the
incredibly diverse backgrounds they
came from before stumbling upon
this business. As a still
relatively new field, there aren't
many who started their business
careers in our world. Many were
doing something dramatically
different, with no connection
to domains or even the Internet
itself.
In
Arif's case, he went almost
directly into domains after
college but his degree was
in...drum roll please....agricultural
engineering! At first blush,
that might look as far away from
domains as you could get, but
there is a common thread - technology.
Agricultural engineering involves
the design, construction and
improvement of farming
equipment and machinery.
Agricultural engineers integrate technology with farming. |
Arif
Sengoren
Founder
SecretBrokerage.com |
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After joining Nokta, Sengoren kept
a foot in both camps for quite awhile. In addition to dealing in domains at
Nokta he started taking classes aimed at getting an advanced degree in
agricultural engineering. Arif explained how this tug of war came about and
eventually got resolved. "I
was into "selling" when I was a kid," Arif noted. " I
started selling some pastry summertimes, then game and music CDs when I was
at high school. I was organizing events and selling tickets when I was
studying at the University. While doing my Masters in
"wind-erosion", I was also looking for a job in sales and heard
that Nokta was looking for a Domain Sales Representative. I applied for the
position and got accepted. The domain part was actually quite random.
However, after I got into the domaining, I loved it and dropped out
of my master's degree program to fully focus on it.
Looking back at his
highlights over the past decade, Sengoren said, "I sold and/or acquired
thousands of domains for over $5 million on behalf of Nokta. We broke
the highest domain sale record for the Turkish Domain market by selling UcakBilet.com
for $250,000. Then, when I moved over to Uniregistry (formerly
DomainNameSales.com) for the next four years, I brokered around 700-750
domains for roughly $4 million USD. My highest sale was Kiwi.com for $800,000.
Plus, I set another record for sale made in Turkish currency (Turkish
lira) by selling MNG.com for the USD equivalent of $141,960.
In
this shot from the 2013 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West Conference in Las
Vegas, we caught up with
Arif Sengoren (left) and his then fellow Domain Specialist at
NoktaDomains, Merve Engin.
Now that Arif has decided to
realize every entrepreneur's dream and work for himself, Sengoren feels he
has a good grasp on what will make his company different in a very
competitive space. "There are definitely a lot of great marketplaces
and brokerages that are mainly focused on selling domains," Arif
said. "That's why I decided to focus on domain acquisitions,
appraisals, portfolio management, creating and maximization (with
subscription), and online brand protection. My motivation is to help
domain/brand owners understand their assets and manage them to maximize
their profit and protect them from online threats with very competitive
prices." Of
course, we had to ask - what's behind the name, Secret Brokerage?
"There
are two reasons," Arif said. "I believe every broker has their
own secret and I thought using this within the name would be a good idea
. Second, lots of buyers prefer staying anonymous on the acquisition
side so I thought the "secret" keyword would cover that as
well!" So,
now you know the reason for the name
but this may be the last time you see Arif "spill the beans!" |
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(Posted
May 16, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200516.htm |
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Escrow.com's
Latest Quarterly Domain Investment Index Report
Filled With Key Sales Data
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Escrow.com
has released their latest Domain
Investment Index (.pdf
file) report covering the 1st
quarter of 2020. The 17-page
data rich report revealed that
Escrow.com closed $85.5 million in
domain sales in the opening quarter
of this year, a significant jump
from the previous quarter when the
total was under $75 million.
Compared to the same quarter a year
ago, total sales stayed steady
with virtually the same dollar
amount booked in 1Q-2019.
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The
U.S. didn't start seeing the
full force of the global Covid-19
pandemic until 1Q-2020 was winding
down, so we will have to wait for
Escrow's 2Q report to see how that
calamity affects transactions on
their popular platform.
Some
of the highlights from the new
report include these observations:
*
Domain prices grew from last
quarter, with especially high growth for
5 character domain names, a
category that reached a record
quarterly high across 17 years
of Escrow data.
* The U.S. led Q1 2020 global domain sales at
$70 million, followed by the UK with
$10.1 million.
* Q1 2020 domain names with content tripled the volume of Q4 2019,
a double edged sword as that was partly due to a surge in transactions of lower-priced domains.
* Prices for Two to three number
.com domains increased surged in
Q1 2020, reaching the 2nd highest
quarterly level in Escrow.com history
with a median price of $193,500.
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New
Guta.com Domain Market Report Shows Covid-19
Impacting Sales But 1-Word Dictionary .Coms
Still Shine
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International
domain brokerage firm Guta.com
has released their latest quarterly Premium
Domain Sales Observation Report
(.pdf file) covering the first
quarter of 2020. With offices in
both the U.S. and China,
Guta, founded by CEO George Hong,
has a great vantage point to see
what is happening in the domain
aftermarket in both the Eastern and
Western hemispheres. Their reports
focus primarily on .com
domain sales in these categories: 1-4
Numbers, 1-3 Letters, 2
Characters and one-word English
dictionary domains.
As you
would expect with China battling the
coronavirus epidemic for the
entire quarter and the U.S. doing so
in the final month of it, sales
activity was negatively impacted.
The Guta report tells the story in
an extensive series of charts then,
in a final summary, notes
"relatively low sales
volumes across
all categories of premium domains.
Total sale counts of domains in LL
.com, NN .com, NNN .com, NL .com, LN
.com categories dived to
9-quarter lows. Total sale
counts of domains in NNNN .com and
one-word English .com categories
fell to the lowest level in 4
quarters."
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It
goes on to say, "The world is
experiencing uncertainty and
hardship due to the unprecedented
coronavirus pandemic. In Q1 2020,
cash was indeed king for many
investors, who were selling
everything from stocks to bonds to
gold to bitcoins aiming to raise
cash. Under the circumstance, many
premium domain owners were more
motivated to sell, however most
premium domain buyers suspended
their purchases or lowered their
budget substantially."
Still
the report found some bright spots,
adding "The end-user
purchase rate of one-word English
.com domains showed
year-over-year growth." The
Guta chart showed this category has
rocketed to a 41.67% market
share in Q1 2020 after holding just 25.8%
of it two years ago. Guta reported
that, "End users are still actively
buying domain names. Businesses
adapt to the pandemic by moving
online. There will be a higher
demand for premium domains from
end-users. The new online businesses
probably will start with hand
registered domains or low priced
aftermarket domains. Some of the
companies will choose to upgrade
their domain names to premium ones
when their online business flourish,
and they have money to spend. There
is hope ahead!"
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Liquid
Domain Market Platform LMXE Rebrands as LMX.com
with New Features Designed to Fast Track Trading
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Most
of our readers are
familiar with the quarterly liquid
domain sales reports
released by the Lisbon, Portugal
based firm LXME that was
launched a few years ago by
Giuseppe Graziano, the founder
of domain brokerage and consulting
company GGRG.com.
Giuseppe has just dialed things up
several notches with LXME,
rebranding the service as LMX.com, a
now full featured trading
platform for liquid
domains.
Graziano
defines "liquid domains"
as short .com domains
comprised of 2-4 letters, 2-5
numbers and a combination of 2-3
characters mixing letters and
numbers. He regards them as "
liquid" because there are
almost always buyers (at least at
the wholesale level) for them.
Giuseppe
said, "The purpose of LMX is to
create a safe environment in which
investors are able to trade liquid
domains quickly, efficiently and at
low fees. You can now list One
Word .com domains if they match
certain quality criteria, the most
important one being that the domain's
Estibot appraised value has to
be above $10,000. You can also now
list 3-character, 4-letter and
5-number .com domains, as long as
they have an appraised value of at
least $10,000."
Graziano
added, "Platform fees for a
transaction are 7.5% (with a
$1,000 minimum fee and Escrow.com
fees covered by the buyer). However,
to incentivize users to list
domains, we are offering a reduced
5% fee for each domain listed
and activated before the 7th of May
2020."
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Giuseppe
Graziano
LMX.com Founder
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The
LMX.com platform is invitation-only,
however, if you own a domain
supported by the platform, you can
use the self qualification process
to create
an account. Users are
able to create opportunity alerts,
so they can get instantly notified
when domains that match their
criteria are listed. The platform is
meant for investors only, so
LMX encourage users not to post
domains with end user pricing.
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Controversial
.ORG Registry Sale Stopped In Its Tracks as ICANN
Bows to Fierce Public Pressure
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ICANN
has a long history of ignoring
public sentiment. The
organization that oversees the
domain name system is famous (or I
should say infamous) for their
public comment periods that are
allegedly aimed at gauging
community support on various
issues. Infamous because time after
time, even when the public is overwhelmingly
opposed, they simply ignore the
comments and institute the unpopular
policy anyhow.
The
charade has played out so many times
over the years that few expected the
result to be any different when
ICANN queried the community on
allowing ISOC
to sell the Public
Interest Registry, the
administrator or .ORG, to a
private equity company, Ethos
Capital for $1.135 billion..and
in fact, despite a firestorm
of widespread public protest, ICANN
appeared to be on the verge of doing
just that.
The
wind suddenly shifted when
California's Attorney General
Xavier Becerra wrote ICANN a letter
April 15 advising them to reject
the deal. With ICANN
headquartered in California, Becerra
was in a position to hold ICANN's
feet to the fire and they
buckled late Thursday night (April
30), announcing
they would not approve the
sale to Ethos. Some think Ethos may
now sue, but the immediate threat
has been defused.
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ICANN
said many factors went into
their decision - not just the threat
from Becerra - but given how quickly
his entrance into the fray had them
doing a head-spinning 180 degree
turn, there is a lot of skepticism
about that. Opposition to the deal
has been voiced from countless
quarters for months now to what
seemed to be no avail. As just one
example, the Internet
Commerce Association
wrote a strong
letter condemning the deal
back in November 2019.
In
our own pages in March, domain
industry pioneer Michael Castello
(Castello
Cities Internet Network)
had this to say in an article
titled Foxes in the Henhouse
- "Many
non-profit organizations built their
charities over many years to
engender trust within the .org
sphere. How can ICANN,
a “non-profit organization”,
allow the .org universe to fall
under private control with no true
security for its protection into the
future? What made the legacy
extensions were the people.
Now, these people have no rights to
their virtual futures. This is akin
to allowing the House of
Representatives to fall under the
control of a company like Amazon.
What is next -- .net to Apple,
.com to Google? Once that
happens, our hope of individual
freedoms in the virtual world will
be all but gone."
I
have often stated a personal
fondness for the .org domain.
It has a truly unique
character and hard earned
level of trust that has allowed
it to stand out in a sea of
meaningless extensions. It took
months of hard fighting over rough
terrain for the community to
preserve that legacy (and this may
not be the last battle of the war)
but it was good to see community
wishes prevail for a change - if
that continues in other matters that
come before ICANN, it will be a
welcome change indeed.
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Coronavirus
Pandemic Claims Another Conference - No NamesCon
Europe This Year But Show to Return in
2021
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The
ongoing coronavirus pandemic
has claimed another conference. The 2020
edition of NamesCon
Europe was to have been
held August 6th-8th in Budapest,
Hungary but, like so many other
meetings across all industries, this
one has now officially been canceled.
With so many people confined mostly
to home around the world and no way
to know what conditions will
be like this summer, NamesCon
clearly had no choice.
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On the
plus side, after doing what has to
be done, NamesCon organizers immediately
set their sites on staging the show next
year in Budapest and have
already penned the dates in - July
15-17, 2021. They are also
continuing to plan for NamesCon
Global 2021 earlier in the new
year.
While
the 2020 live meeting is out, a different
version of NamesCon may take
place online this year
instead. A statement from show
organizers said, "We’re
evaluating a virtual replacement
event for this summer! Staying connected is important for individual business outcomes as well as boosting the profile of the industry as a whole. That's why we're planning NamesCon's first-ever virtual conference.
We want to deliver a summer event to bring everyone together, but the dates have not been
finalized. Don’t worry, though: travel and hotel won’t be an issue... This is where your experience and insight can shine—the
survey and call for submissions are now
open."
If
you are interested in an online
conference the NamesCon survey gives
you an opportunity to share your
opinions on the idea as well as any
suggestions you might have for
sessions, panels or presentations.
It
is remarkable how much the world has
changed since so many of us were
meeting in person at the 2020
NamesCon Global conference
in Austin, Texas in January.
We were back home for barely a month
before the coronavirus reared its
ugly head in our part of the world
and now, just two months later, we
have over 60,000 dead in the U.S.
alone from it. Wishing you all
safety and good health as we all
continue to navigate this new world.
Sooner or later, the coast will
clear and we will be so happy
to see you again in person when that
times comes!
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Internet
Commerce Association Introduces a More
Affordable Membership Option That Cuts Cost in
Half
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The
Internet
Commerce Assocation (ICA),
the non-profit
organization that protects the
rights of domain registrants, has
just taken a big step to make
membership in the rapidly growing
group more affordable. The
ICA did it by adding a new basic Membership
level that costs $25 a month.
Previously, the most affordable
level was the $50 a month
Individual Membership
level (that remains in place with
some additional perks that
distinguish it from the new basic
membership option).
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Kamila
Sekiewicz
Executive Director
Internet Commerce
Association |
In
addition to helping more
people join the ICA effort
to protect domain owner
rights, the new level could
provide some relief to
current Individual level
members who are suffering
from financial issues
created by the current
Covid-19 pandemic. ICA
Executive Director Kamila
Sekiewicz said, "We
are glad to make membership
in the ICA more affordable
to the thousands of domain investors
who are still establishing
themselves in the industry
and we're hopeful that this
will encourage continued
growth of the ICA's
membership. This membership
level is also available to
existing members who wish to
remain as ICA members but
whose businesses have been
disrupted by the pandemic."
The
new level gives the ICA a
total of six membership
tiers that have attracted
everyone from beginning
domain investors to industry
veterans, SMBs and large
corporations. You can get
details on all membership
levels, costs and benefits here. |
(Posted
April 25, 2020) 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/2020/dailyposts/20200425.htm
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Rare
Interview with Domain Investment Star Yoni
Belousov is Added to New Series at GGRG.com
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A
couple of weeks ago I told
you about Giuseppe
Graziano launching a new
series of interviews with
domain industry pros that he is
publishing on the GGRG.com
website (also the home of his domain
brokerage and consulting firm).
Giuseppe hopes the series will give
industry newcomers and veterans
alike more insight into the business
and how others have made their
living in it.
I was
honored to be the subject of
Giuseppe's first
interview published
March 26, 2020, and he is already
back with another in-depth
discussion featuring one of the most
successful investors in the
business, Yoni Belousov. This
is something of a coup for Giuseppe
because Yoni, who is based in Vancouver,
Canada, has always preferred to
keep a low public profile. A lot of
people would have loved to have the
opportunity to pick Belousov's brain
- now Giuseppe has done it
and shared all of the insight Yoni
gave him in the new
interview that came out
today.
Yoni
talks about what first attracted him
to domain investing 18 years ago
(when he was still a teenager!) and
goes on to lay out the key things
he has learned over the past two
decades. He also shares what he
believes are the
most common mistakes domain
investors make, so you can avoid
those pitfalls yourself.
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Yoni
Belousov
(photo from GGRG.com)
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Yoni
has seen a lot of changes over the
years, so you will also want to see
what he says he would do with
$10,000 if he was going to invest it
now. It is an excellent
interview across the board, so make
sure you check
it out at GGRG.com.
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GoDaddy's
Acquisition of Neustar Registry Operations Gives
Them .Biz, .CO, a Role in Running Over 200 TLDs
and a Chance to Jump Start .US
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Less
than two months after acquiring
Uniregistry's registrar &
market and Founder Frank
Schilling's massive domain
portfolio, industry giant GoDaddy
has made another monster
acquisition. Late Monday (April 6,
2020), the company announced
it has Neustar
Inc's Registry business,
including the Neustar owned .biz
registry, the rights to administer
several major ccTLDs,
including .CO
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and .US and
the contract
to provide backend
operations for over 200
hundred others, including
new TLDs like .club.
In all The Neustar registry
business includes
approximately 12 million
domains across some 215
TLDs. |
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Nicolai
Bezsonoff |
Financial
details of the transaction
were not disclosed and it will
still have to pass regulatory
muster, however the the deal
is expected to close in this
quarter (2Q-2020).
Under
GoDaddy, the previous Neustar
assets will be called GoDaddy
Registry and will be led
by Nicolai Bezsonoff,
currently Senior Vice
President and General Manager
of Neustar's Registry
business. Mr. Bezsonoff said,
"Our team is thrilled to
join the GoDaddy family. We
share a strong history of
partnership and collaboration
with GoDaddy that spans two
decades. Additionally, we have
the same values, a common
culture of innovation, and a
mutual vision for empowering
individuals, businesses and
brands to succeed
online." |
GoDaddy
Chief Operating Officer Andrew
Low Ah Kee added,
"GoDaddy is committed to
helping everyday entrepreneurs bring
their ideas online with the best
possible domain name choices.
Neustar's registry platform enables
us to accelerate that commitment and
provides enhanced scalability for
future growth. For more than two
decades, GoDaddy has used its
consumer insight to drive innovation
in the domain industry and we'll
continue to do so by creating more
choice and value for
consumers."
As
part of the transaction, GoDaddy,
the world's biggest domain
registrar, said it will strictly
adhere to a governance model that
maintains independence
between the GoDaddy registry and
registrar businesses.
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Personally,
I will be especially
interested in seeing how the
.US registry fares
when GoDaddy takes
control. Many in the .US
camp have felt America's
country code never got the
promotion it deserved from
Neustar who has administered
the TLD since 2001 under a
contract with the National
Telecommunications and
Information Administration
(NTIA) of the United
States Department of
Commerce. Back in 2007,
when the contract came up
for renewal, GoDaddy tried
to get it but the NTIA chose
to leave .US with
Neustar (and did so again in
2014). That
disappointed those .US fans
who felt GoDaddy's marketing
prowess could give the
TLD a new lease on life. |
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Now, if this deal is
approved, we will get to see
first hand whether or not
.US can blossom under new
management and flourish in the
way many other ccTLDs have
in recent years, including
repurposed extensions like .co,
.io and .ai and
long established favorites
like Germany's .de
and Great Britain's .uk. |
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Restructuring
of CentralNic Leadership Team Puts 5
Executives in New Roles as COO Exits
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CentralNic
Group PLC (AIM:
CNIC) has announced a restructuring
of their leadership team that
resulted in five executives
moving into new positions. They
will help oversee a workforce of
some 400 employees in one of
the industry's fastest growing
companies.
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Over
45 million domains are currently
using CentralNic platforms that are
customized for every domain customer
type (registry, reseller, corporate,
SMB and domain investor).
CentralNic
CEO Ben Crawford said, ”I
take great pleasure in welcoming our
new hires and appointees into their
new roles, and I am confident we
have the best team in place to
maintain our track record of growth.
In these difficult times, these new
hires and changes reflect our
confidence in the robustness of our
business."
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Two
of those appointees are Robbie
Birkner (top left) and
Tony Kim (top right) who
co-founded the popular
Vancouver, Canada based Hexonet.com
domain registrar that
CentralNic acquired last
year. Birkner, a 20-year
industry veteran, becomes
the Head of Reseller
Division, the largest of
the company's business
divisions in terms of
revenue. He will have
oversight of the strategic
direction, expansion and
operation of all CentralNic
wholesale channels and
platforms for domain names,
which encompasses the
leading reseller brands of RRPproxy
by Key-Systems, Hexonet,
PartnerGate, TPP
Wholesale and more.
Kim's new post is Head of
Product, responsible for
managing new product
development and onboarding
across Group companies. Tony
has over 18 years of
experience in the industry.
Before co-founding Hexonet
he was General Manager at Hostway
Canada and Director of
Product Development for Hostway
Corp USA. |
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Stuart
Fuller (top left) has been
appointed as the Head of
Brand Services Division,
overseeing BrandShelter
and CentralNic’s interest in
Thomsen Trampedach,
which delivers domain
portfolio management and brand
protection services to
Corporate clients. Stuart brings
over 14 years of experience in
the industry and joined
CentralNic three years ago as Group
Commercial Director, after
eleven years at corporate
domain name management and
brand protection firm NetNames
(now CSC).
Gavin
Brown (top right) has been
appointed Head of Registry
Solutions, providing
registry software and managed
services to country code
Top-Level Domain names globally.
CentralNic is also the
world’s leading distributor
of new Top-Level Domains,
with a global market share of
over 47% and those will
be under Brown's purview as
well. Brown, who has 20 years
of industry experience and is
CentralNic's longest-serving
employee, will also retain his
role as Chief Innovation
Officer for the Group.
Before taking that role in
2019, Gavin was CTO of
CentralNic for fourteen years. |
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The
talented quintet of
appointees also includes Oliver
Fries (at left), who has
been appointed Head of
Shared Services, and
will oversee technology and
other shared services for
the Reseller, Retail,
Registry Solutions and Brand
Services business divisions.
Oliver brings over 17 years
of experience in technical
and managerial roles and
will be focusing on key
activities around
infrastructure, systems,
development, support and
domain procurement.
Oliver
previously held the position
of CTO at CentralNic’s
subsidiary Key-Systems
where he played a key role
in shaping its core
technology as well as
helping the company grow and
evolve. He previously worked
in the Telecommunication
sector as a software
developer and project
manager. |
While
those five executives are taking on
new roles, another will be leaving.
CEO Crawford said, “I regret to
inform you that Alex Siffrin,
our COO for Centralnic Group,
and Founder/CEO of KeyDrive, has
decided it is time for a new
challenge and therefore is stepping
down from his role with CentralNic.
Alex’s legacy will live on in
CentralNic as we continue to develop
the great businesses he built, which
will now pass into the very capable
hands of the team of hugely talented
people that Alex hired and nurtured
over the past two decades. Alex
remains a valued stakeholder, and
his family remains one of the
largest shareholders of
CentralNic."
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