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The
Lowdown
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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Sedo's
Mark Ghoriafi Closes Law.ai Sale in One of the
Biggest .AI Transactions to Date |
|
In our
latest bi-weekly domain
sales report that came out last night
(August 13), the main takeaway was how thoroughly .com
and .ai were now dominating the high end of
the domain aftermarket. On our latest Top 20 Sales
Chart every entry except one was either a
.com or a .ai. So, it wasn't a big surprise to
learn less than 24 hours later that Law.ai
has just changed hands for $350,000 in the
3rd highest .ai sale ever reported, exceeded only
by You.ai at $700,000 in 2023 and Cloud.ai
at $600,000 last month. The
person who brokered the Law.ai sale - Sedo's
Mark "Mr. Premium" Ghoriafi, was not
a surprise either. Mark already held three of the
Top 20 publicly reported sales
year to date in |
Image
from Bigstock
|
|
Double.com
($980,000), Pack.com ($600,000) and Dollars.com
($500,000). Now he has four with Law.ai to be added
to our YTD Top 100 when we publish our next
bi-weekly update August 27.
|
Mark
represented the seller in the Law.ai
negotiations and, as is the case with many
high end transactions, it took considerable
time, effort and patience to get the
deal done. As just one example, Arch.com is #2 on
our latest chart after selling for $701,000. Mark
Daniel at Domain Holdings Group
brokered that sale and he told me he had started
working on it 7 years ago! That kind
of tenacity is what separates the top
brokers from the pack and Mark Ghoriai has
it as well.
Mr.
Premium told me, "I first
established communication with the
subsequent buyer of Law.ai in 2024 but
the initial talks didn't produce a final
outcome. Communication was re-established in
June of this year and after several more
weeks of talks the $350,000 agreement
was achieved."
Mark
added, "There will often be bumps in
the road with with domain sales. Being able
to find amicable and accommodating paths
to satisfy all parties is key for victory.
Follow-up, flexibility, and a polite flow of
conversation helped get this to the finish
line. Rather than wait for opportunity,
Mark's advice is to "go create
opportunity, and navigate to success!" |
Mark
"Mr. Premium" Ghoriafi
Sedo Outbound Premium Broker |
|
|
(Posted
August 14, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0814.htm
*****
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Titan
Teams Up With GoDaddy to Give Small Businesses in
Developing Markets Email Tools Designed to Spur
Growth |
It
was four years ago this month when we
first told you about an
ambitious new project launched by domain
industry pioneer and wildly successful
serial entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia
(the founder of
Radix,
Flock
and Zeta
among other well established companies).
That story was about Titan,
Bhavin's vision for a service designed to
revolutionize business email. Since
then, Titan has flourished, propelled by one
major partnership after another that has
helped Titan Email become a go to solution
for businesses around the world, especially
smaller enterprises that want tools
tailored to their needs. Today Titan
announced their biggest leap forward to
date, a new
strategic partnership with
industry giant GoDaddy.
The partnership will enable GoDaddy's Professional
Email offering in developing markets,
coupled with Titan's AI-enabled
business email platform, to empower millions
of entrepreneurs and small businesses with
tools to grow their brand and customer
engagement. Bhavin,
who serves as Titan's CEO as well as its
Founder, said, "Our
partnership with GoDaddy marks a pivotal
moment in making cutting-edge professional
email accessible to businesses of all sizes.
By combining Titan's innovative email
offering with GoDaddy's global reach and
trusted hosting and domain services,
we're helping entrepreneurs worldwide gain a
competitive edge with tools designed to
amplify customer engagement and drive
growth." GoDaddy
Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Oliver
Hoare added: “In today's digital |
Bhavin
Turakhia
TitanFounder & CEO
|
|
landscape,
small businesses need more
than basic email - they need intelligent
tools that make it easy to connect with
customers and stimulate growth. This
partnership with Titan enables GoDaddy to
offer small businesses in developing markets
advanced email that helps drive their
success." |
Shortly
after the initial press release came out his
morning, I got on a call with Bhavin, Ninad
Raval (Titan VP, Product & Design, who
Bhavin credits with building a world class product
in Titan) and Anuj Gupta (Titan Senior Director,
Strategic Partnerships) to get some more information
on the GoDaddy partnership as well as how much
Titan's service has grown since they first appeared
on our radar. Titan's growth has been fueled by a
unique suite of features designed to elevate
business communications, including: •
AI-powered
email composition and response capabilities •
Professional email design tools and branded
templates •
Advanced tracking for email opens, attachments, and
links •
Automated appointment scheduling •
Streamlined email campaign management •
Robust security features •
Industry-leading uptime and email deliverability
rates
In
the past a lot of those attributes were
available only in software designed for much
larger companies that could have 500,000 or
more employees. Bhavin's vision was to bring
that power to the much larger universe of
small businesses, typically solopreneurs
or those with less than a handful of
employees. You might be surprised to know
that 81% of small businesses have no
employees and of those that do, half have
less than 5 employees. Bhavin
noted, "Small businesses are the
foundation of the global economy, and
they deserve the same powerful tools that
large enterprises use to succeed. Our
partnership with GoDaddy will democratize
access to these advanced email
capabilities, empowering millions of
businesses worldwide to enhance their
communication and marketing
efforts." Bhavin
and his team recognized that the needs of
small businesses were much different
than that of major corporations. For big
companies email and communications tools are
designed for collaboration with far
flung employees. |
Image
from Bigstock |
|
What
small businesses need is tools that help
them acquire customers and grow.
Titan was designed with a focus on those
needs and it is paying off. The customer
base has grown to well over 2 million
mailboxes and the deal with GoDaddy is
expected help the company hit 10 million in
the next three or four years. |
While
you can point to the Titan feature set and say that
it is better and will improve numbers - nothing
speaks louder than data and Anuj Gupta
pointed out a treasure trove of it that was compiled
in a case
study of their 4-month pilot project
with GoDaddy in developing markets. It found that
Titan delivered a 76% increase in Average
Revenue Per User and a 65% uplift in customer Net
Promoter Score
(a metric
used to gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction
) compared to their legacy email
solution. Now the service will be rolled out to
GoDaddy customers across developing markets
globally, with initial deployment scheduled in the
current Q3-2025 quarter.
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(Posted
August 12, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0812.htm
*****
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The
Domain Industry Gets a Valuable New Resource with
Freename's Launch of The Domain Standard |
|
The
domain industry has enjoyed extraordinary
growth over the first quarter of this century
but judging from all of the new applications
sprouting from the foundation laid by .com
and the other original domain assets, it's
starting to look like we haven't seen anything
yet. At the same time that top tier legacy domains
are exploding in value, Web3 innovations
are opening the door to a new world of "Domain
Finance" where domains can be used in
additional ways that seek to make them even
more valuable and indispensable in our
professional and personal lives. This
metamorphosis is creating a landscape where it is
increasingly difficult to keep up with everything
going on around us. The good news is that the
number of resources needed to cover it all is
growing too. One of the best we've seen to date is
a free publication from Freename
dubbed The
Domain Standard. The first
quarterly issue
has just come out in print and digital form. The
glossy print edition will primarily be distributed
at events but anyone can download
the digital edition |
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that is so polished even it looks glossy online. The publication is
loaded with excellent articles, interviews with
industry leaders, charts and graphs that dissect
every aspect of the business (old and new) that make
it much easier to take in what is happening in a digital
financial universe that seems to be continually
expanding outward from the Big Bang ignited by
.com. Among those
featured in the inaugural issue are veteran domain
investors like Braden Pollock and Mike
Mann who share long list of example sales they
have made in recent years. There are top brokers
like Giuseppe Graziano (GGRG.com) and Jack
Dai (DN.com) and corporate leaders like
InterNetX CEO Elias Rendón Benger, Todd
Han, Founder of one of the world's fastest
growing registrars - Dynadot, and AEServer.com
Founder Munir Badr who also founded the Domain
Days Dubai conference. These are just a few of
the featured names most of you will already
know. Equally important are the Web3 leaders, like
Freename CEO Davide Vicini and his team, who
are playing an integral role in efforts to open up
new ways to monetize and utilize domains (fractional
ownership being one big example). You
will also find a variety of timely articles led by
the cover piece on The Rise of Domain Finance.
Then there is The Role of AI in Shaping the
Domain Industry by InterNetX's Simone
Catania, and other enlightening details on the
ongoing .ai boom. All of the bases are covered,
including .com, new TLD and ccTLD sales and trends.
|
For
me, it was especially refreshing to see one
particular thing The Domain Standard
got right that so many others got wrong over
the past 25 years. If you've been around
that long you've seen various new things
come along that proponents declared
would "make .com obsolete" only
to blow up on the launch pad. While
competition and choice is always a good
thing, they failed to realize that credibility
is even more important and you lose it with
outlandish claims backed by |
|
nothing but hot
air. Competing
successfully with a colossus like .com and
becoming a viable option requires
bringing something to the market that either
adds value to the .com foundation or
brings enough new value (and proves
it by winning market share) to stand on its
own (as .ai has done). The smartest
people in Web3 know that and are putting in
the intense work needed to build the
structure required to make their vision a
reality. They understand we are not in a
zero-sum game - there is room for many
winners in this arena and The Domain
Standard team has shown they get that by
illuminating and respecting the full
spectrum of possibilities that we are
fortunate to have in front of us now. |
Image
from Bigstock |
|
|
(Posted
August 6, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0806.htm
*****
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D3
Mission to Supercharge Domains With Web3 Fuel Gets
Major Boost from InterNetX Partnership |
|
At the
start of this year we published a profile of D3, a new company founded by
domain industry pioneers Paul Stahura and Fred
Hsu (the company's CEO), that set out with the
ambitious goal of merging the Web2 and Web
3 domain worlds. The reason that is such an
appealing prospect to so many is that it would let
legacy domains take advantage of some unique
features made possible by their Web3
counterparts. One
of the most enticing of those is the ability to tokenize
existing and future domains. That would make
them more like other financial assets that can
fractionalized, staked, or bundled into different
financial products, enhancing the financial
utility and accessibility of domain ownership.
Decentralized Web3 domains are also one-time
purchases with no renewal fees. |
D3
Co-Founders Fred Hsu and Paul Stahura
|
As
we noted in our previous article, to make
this all work D3 has to convince multiple
third parties to get on board, including domain
owners, registries and registrars.
Thanks to the track record of the founders
and the convincing case that Fred Hsu has laid
out, showing how all of those parties can
benefit from D3's DomainFi network
and Doma Protocol, D3 is
making significant progress on that front. A
prime example is a newly announced
partnership
between popular registrar and IONOS
Group member InterNetX
(with 22 million domains
under management) and D3. InterNetX
CEO Elias Rendón Benger said,
"We are excited to partner with D3 to embrace the Web3 era and
redefine domains as tokenized assets
with real-world value. This integration with
Doma Protocol opens up new investment
opportunities for our clients and
resellers, including domain trading,
fractional ownership, and DeFi utilities,
while creating valuable revenue streams.
By bridging traditional domains with
blockchain, InterNetX is empowering
businesses and partners to thrive in the
decentralized digital economy while
maintaining our commitment to innovation,
security, and trust.“ |
InterNetX
CEO Elias Rendón
Benger |
With
this partnership bringing Fred Hsu and his team a
big step closer to realizing their vision, Fed added
"InterNetX's massive scale and
commitment to innovation make them the ideal partner
to demonstrate the transformative potential of
DomainFi, Doma Protocol, and the ecosystem of
registrars, investors, and users around it.“
|
|
(Posted
August 4, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0804.htm
*****
|
|
Dave
Evanson Closes $1 Million Sale of ZH.com for Sedo
Giving Them 8 of Top 20 Sales Reported Year to
Date |
|
Sedo's
Senior Sales and Brokerage Consultant Dave
Evanson has been ringing up big money
domain sales for the past 20 years and he
is still hitting them out of the park. His latest
towering blast, just closed today, was a $1,000,000
sale of ZH.com on behalf of a U.S.
seller who has owned the domain since 1994. The
buyer was undisclosed but given the fact that ZH
is the ISO code for Chinese language, it looks
like a natural for any major investor/developer in
China. Dave
has brokered many two-letter .coms over the years
with most falling in a range between $1 million and
just under $5 million. He is representing
another one right now in QW.com. Even though
two-letter .coms are trophy assets it can take a lot
of work to close a sale at |
|
|
this level and
ZH.com was no exception. Dave told us,
"It took five months to
find the right buyer. I reached out
globally and extensively about ZH.com by email,
phone, X, LI and Meta. Then I heard from Jim
at DDD.com
who found the buyer." This
is the 7th publicly reported seven-figure or
higher sale reported year to date. We will be
adding ZH.com to our YTD
Top 100 Sales Chart when it is updated
August 13, the release date for our next bi-weekly domain
sales report. As of this writing, ZH.com
gives Sedo 8 of the top 20 positions, including
another in 7-figures in GX.com at
$1,200,000. Even without ZH, Sedo already has three in the top 10 right now.
|
|
(Posted
August 1, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0801.htm
*****
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Worldwide
Domain Registrations Pass the 371 Million Mark -
New Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief Breaks
Down the Latest Numbers |
|
VeriSign,
(the administrator of the .com and .net
TLDs) has released their latest quarterly Domain
Name Industry Brief (DNIB) covering
the 2nd quarter of 2025. This update showed
the total number of domain registrations across all
TLDs worldwide ended the most recent quarter
at 371.1 million. That is up 9.3 million
domains from a year earlier, representing a 2.6%
year-over-year increase.
.Com,
the dominant TLD on the Internet, reversed what
has been a recent slow decline in total
registrations by closing the quarter at 157.9
registrations. That was just slightly above the
year ago figure of 157.6 million but it put
.com back on its historically positive path. .Net
however went the opposite direction, slipping to 12.6
million registrations at the end of the most
recent quarter from 13.1 million at this
point last year, a 3.1% decline. |
|
|
The
ccTLDs ended 2Q-2025 with 143.5 million domains
registered. That is up 3.5 million from last
year, a growth rate of 2.5% that is right in
line with the rate reported for all domains
combined. The
new gTLDs, working from a smaller base,
continued to show the highest rate of growth in
percentage terms. They ended the last quarter with
39.5 million registrations, up 4.9 million
from a year ago, representing a healthy 14.2%
gain. There is much more interesting data you can
review in the full
brief.
|
|
(Posted
July 28, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0728.htm
*****
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With
NamesCon Global 2025 in Miami Drawing Near Now is
the Time to Beat a Ticket Price Increase Coming
August 1 |
|
Veteran
conference attendees know early birds get
the best ticket prices. The cost typically
increases in multiple stages right up to opening
day when the full fare is in effect. That will be
the case with the industry's biggest annual event,
NamesCon
Global, that will be staged in Florida
for the first time when a highly-anticipated show
will take place at the Ice Palace in Miami
on November 5 & 6, 2025. With the event
barely 3 months away, prices will be going up on August
1. If you act before then you can still get
tickets at the current price of $649 and NamesCon
is offering our readers 20% off that rate
if the you use the promo code DNJ20 when
you register. |
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|
As you
would expect, conference organizers have been busy
working on the Miami event ever since the 10th
anniversary edition of NamesCon Global
concluded in Austin, Texas last summer. In
fact they already have the Mainstage
Agenda completed for the upcoming show
in Miami. It is an outstanding line up of speakers,
fireside chats, panel discussions and special events
that are sure to make the Florida event stand out in
what has been more than a decade of consistently
productive meetings that have given attendees the
opportunity to meet directly with industry
leaders from around the world.
In
the weeks ahead, we'll keep you up to date on the
still expanding agenda (a second stage will be
running concurrently with the Main Stage), as well
as additions to the roster of speakers, range of
topics and array of social activities (some of which
we
touched on a few weeks ago, shortly
after Miami was announced as the 2025 conference
location). For now, we just wanted to alert you to
the impending price increase so you can save
some money on tickets if you plan to
join the festivities in Florida this fall. We hope
to see you there.
|
|
(Posted
July 27, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0727.htm
*****
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Six
Industry Experts Tackle Key Topics in Ionos
Podcast and .ART Announces a Webinar and Live Tour
of Their New Gallery in the Metaverse |
|
Earlier
this month we shared some photos and highlights
with you from the 2025
InterNetX Domain Summit that was held
in Frankfurt, Germany June 25-26. The event
attracted leading domain experts from across
Europe and beyond. Now, thanks to the wonderful
world of podcasting, you can listen to one
of this year's most interesting sessions. In
a special edition of the Inside
Ionos podcast
co-hosts Thilo Haertel and Simone Catania
drew insight into the latest industry trends
from guests Chris Mondini (ICANN), Polina
Malaja (CENTR), Stephen Nyhan (Sectigo)
and Abe Storey (Entri). |
|
|
Chris, who is the ICANN
VP for Stakeholder Engagement Europe, presented key
details you need to know about ICANN's next round
of new gTLDs that are headed our way in 2026. He
spoke about the goals of the program and what the
next big steps will be as the process continues to
unfold. Polina, the Policy Director at CENTR,
explained the intricacies of digital sovereignty and how evolving
European domain policies could impact businesses and users worldwide.
Stephen, Director of Global Sales Engineering at Sectigo,
unpacked current encryption trends and the long-term implications of quantum computing on
cybersecurity to help everyone take steps needed
not to ensure future readiness. Abe, the CEO at Entri,
laid out his groundbreaking approach to building domain API solutions
tailored for SaaS platforms with additional
tips on new ways of optimizing domain-related solutions for modern digital infrastructure. As
you would expect from this group, a remarkable about
of actionable information in packed into the concise
34-minute program and you can hear
it all here.
|
Another
special online event is coming up Thursday,
July 24 that will be of special interest
to art and new technology lovers. An
innovative company based in Florida, IMX3.ART,
has been wowing people with their ability to
scan and recreate art and other objects in the
metaverse. They just finished recreating
Fort Lauderdale's famed FATVillage
arts and technology neighborhood (since
demolished to make way for new development). |
|
You can walk
around the metaverse FATVillage streets and
into various structures, including a new
virtual gallery created by a .ART
domain registry team working in
tandem with IMX3. .ART is using the
gallery to showcase the work of their
official artist, Medina Kasimova.
For the official gallery opening Thursday
.ART will be hosting a webinar featuring some of the metaverse experts
from IMX3. During the webinar, you can also
joing them for a live tour of the
gallery featuring Medina's work. |
|
|
.ART
CMO Jeff Sass (a Fort Lauderdale
resident who spent a lot of time in the
original FATVillage) is excited about
the arrival of the metaverse version of the
neighborhood (and other recreated communities
like it). "A virtual art gallery in the
metaverse exposes an artist's work to the
world in an immersive and exciting
way," Jeff said. This press
release has additional
information about the upcoming virtual
exhibition and webinar. You can visit the gallery by going to
medina.imx3.art, and you can
register for the webinar at this
link. |
(Posted July
18, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0718.htm
*****
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Atom.com
Unveils New AI Semantic Search Path Designed to
Improve Domain Discovery |
|
No
matter how good your domain name is, if people
can't find it you're not going to be able to
sell it. With millions of domain names
available on the aftermarket, businesses have some
very deep water to wade through
in search
of the right name for their enterprise. Odds are
there are several domains out there that would be
great choices for them (including some they hadn't
even thought of) if they could just sift the
gems out of the ocean of names they have no use
for. Many
are expecting AI to come to the rescue in
that regard and rapidly growing aftermarket
platform Atom.com
just announced they are putting it to use
in a new
semantic search tool. Atom Founder and
CEO Darpan Munjal noted, "Many domain
names don’t sell |
|
|
because
no
one ever sees them. Not because they’re
bad. Not because they’re overpriced. Just because
the right buyer never finds them." Convinced
that Domain Search is broken, Darpan and his team
have spent the past several months working on an
"AI-powered search assistant that helps
you find a domain by talking through what you’re
building, the same way you’d explain it to a
friend, a co-founder, or a brand strategist."
Darpan
provided this example, "You can say
something like, “I am launching a food
delivery app for urban cities”. The
assistant doesn’t just pull up names with
the word “Delivery” or “Urban.” It
listens. It thinks. It returns curated,
on-tone names that actually fit the
direction. Then it might follow up with,
“Would you prefer a bold, modern name,
or something more playful”. That
back-and-forth completely changes the
experience. It helps buyers get clear on
what they’re looking for, even if they
didn’t know it when they started typing." "If
a name grabs your attention, just click on More
like this. The assistant will
instantly pull up 100 other names that
share a similar style and underlying meaning
– not just keyword matches, but real
semantic connections." Darpan added,
"If you’re a buyer, this means
you don’t have to guess what to search for
anymore. Just describe your idea in your
own words, and let the system help guide you.
If you’re a seller, it means your
domains finally have a chance to show up for
the people they were made for. Not just
because they hit a keyword, but because they
match the buyer’s actual intent." |
Darpan
Munjal
Founder & CEO, Atom.com |
|
For
more details, read Darpan's full
announcement here - and to check
the search tool out for yourself, try
out this beta
release that just went live
today. |
|
|
(Posted
July 17, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0717.htm
*****
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Sword.com
Sells for $1.5 Million in Another Big Win for ATM
Holdings/
Hilco Digital and Braden Pollock With a Key Assist
from Brannans.com |
|
Fireworks
weren't confined to the sky over America's 4th of
July holiday weekend. The domain aftermarket was
getting lit up too with the biggest blast coming
Sunday morning when we learned that ATM
Holdings/Hilco
Digital brokered a $1.5 million
sale of Sword.com for Braden Pollock
(LegalBrandMarketing.com).
Hilco Digital's Managing Director, super broker Andrew
Miller, included the news in his popular
weekly Random Sunday Thoughts post on
LinkedIn
(#170 in the must read series) this morning. Andrew didn't
mention the seller's name but I
wasn't surprised to get a note soon after from
Braden that ATM/HD had sold the domain for
him, with Brannans.com representing the buyer
(whose identity was not disclosed). |
Image from Bigstock
|
|
This is the second seven-figure sale that
Braden and Andrew have collaborated on in the past
60 days. In May
Hilco Digital sold Fuse.com for Braden at $2,129,509.
When we add Sword.com to our charts Wednesday
evening, July 9 (when our next b-weekly domain
sales report will be published), Braden
will have two of the year's five biggest
publicly reported domain sales (assuming
nothing bigger comes in over the next 48 hours). For
Andrew and Hilco Digital the spotlight is
even
|
Andrew
Miller and Braden Pollock |
brighter as it gives them three of the top four,
including #1 Icon.com, a $12
million sale they closed in conjunction with
buyer's representative Lumis.com in April.
As if the Sword.com sale wasn't enough, Braden
also let me know about two huge .org sales he
has closed - R.org at $375,000 and
Forward.org at $100,000. Those are the two
biggest .org sales reported year
to date and we will be charting them
Wednesday evening as well. Very impressive sales
from several other corners have come in too. I
remember when summer was a slow time for domain
sales but there no longer seems to be an off season
of any kind in this business, for which we can all
be thankful.
|
|
(Posted
July 6, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0706.htm
*****
|
|
A
Galaxy of Domain Industry Stars Turned Out for
InterNetX's 2025 Domain Summit in Frankfurt |
|
The fourth annual InterNetX
Domain Summit was held June 25th & 26th
at the Union Halle in Frankfurt, Germany.
As has been the case with each edition of this
popular conference, attendees came from across
Europe and beyond to catch up on the latest developments
in domain names and the broader digital ecosystem.
Equally important was the chance to participate in
two days of enlightening discussions and network
with some of the most widely-known and respected
players in the domain business. As
a trusted name in domain-related services for over
25 years now, InterNetX has the kind of
reputation and connections it takes to bring in
key partners, decision-makers and industry
experts, including those from the IONOS
Group, the parent company of some of
the most recognized brands on the web, including InterNetX,
Sedo and United Domains, to mention
just a few. After he
had a chance to recuperate from the whirlwind
Summit schedule, I asked Simone Catania,
the Global Content & Communications Manager at
InterNetX, to share his thoughts on what made
the 2025 InterNetX Summit stand out. We
are happy to provide his insight below.
|
The
2025 InterNetX Domain Summit
underway at the Frankfurt Union Halle
|
|
"The
Summit kicked off on Wednesday evening (June 25)
with a Welcome Night held at the
iconic PSD Arena in Frankfurt,
underscoring InterNetX’s partnership with the Frankfurt
Galaxy football team. Embracing the
motto "Let's Play with Champions," the
evening set the stage
for the summit with a welcome speech by Elias Rendón
Berger, CEO of InterNetX and Eric
Reutemann, CEO and co-founder of Frankfurt
Galaxy. Guests enjoyed an exclusive and relaxed
atmosphere, blending industry networking with
sportsmanship spirit."
InterNetX
is a sponsor of the Frankfurt Galaxy American football
team.
"Thursday
marked the main event day, featuring a
robust agenda packed with critical topics
shaping today’s domain market." Those
included:
|
●
Domain Security: Protecting domains and
mitigating risks in an ever-evolving digital
environment
●
New gTLD Program: Updates and analysis
of the next steps in global top-level domains
with a key speech note from ICANN
●
Digital Sovereignty: Navigating the
intersection of technology and national
independence
● Policy
Insights: Exploring the regulatory
landscape impacting the domain world
● Domain
Investments: Current trends,
opportunities, and predictions in domain
acquisitions |
|
"This
curated agenda gave attendees valuable educational
opportunities and a chance to gain new
perspectives, challenge existing
assumptions, and contribute to shaping the
future of the domain industry," Simone
noted. |
|
"The
event concluded with a vibrant Hawaiian-themed
party, where attendees gathered in a
relaxed setting to cap off an incredible
day. Surrounded by a festive atmosphere,
guests could enjoy food, refreshing drinks,
and carry on meaningful conversations in a
more informal and laid-back environment. The
night played out as the perfect opportunity
to strengthen connections and celebrate the
collective achievements of the domain
industry." |
|
"The InterNetX
Domain Summit 2025 was powered by the
support of industry-leading sponsors: Sectigo, Radix,
and Entri, who contributed to
the cutting-edge discussions within the
digital space. Additionally, D3 sponsored
a DomainFi House, providing
a relaxing venue for networking while
keeping attendees energized."
Simone
added, "The 2025 Summit epitomized the
essence of collaboration and innovation
in the domain sector. It highlighted
why InterNetX, with its legacy of 25
years, remains a cornerstone of the
industry. Serving a large pool of
international clients, InterNetX continues
to pave the way forward for brands,
businesses, and individuals relying on its
domain-related services."
"By
bringing together a diverse range of
professionals and driving critical
conversations, the Domain
Summit reinforced its reputation as
a must-attend event for anyone
shaping the future of the domain
market. We’re excited to see how this
year’s insightful discussions will stimulate
advancements across the domain
landscape." |
Simone
Catania
InterNetX Global Content
& Communications Manager |
|
|
(Posted
July 1, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0701.htm
*****
|
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Domain
Summit Founder Announces New Event for Africa to
Be Held in Nairobi Next February |
|
Domain
Summit Founder Helmuts
Meskonis will be staging his 4th
annual London conference September 2-3,
2025 with this year's event newly dubbed Domain
Summit Europe. The expanded name better
reflects the UK event's Euro-centric agenda as
well as the composition of its audience that has
come from across the continent ever since the show
began. Now
there is yet another reason for adding a
geo identifier to the Domain Summit name. Helmuts
has decided to take the show on the road with a
new Domain Summit Africa conference leading
he way. The event will be held February 23-24,
2026 at the Villa
Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi, Kenya,
with Kenic
(the administrator of Kenya's .ke ccTLD)
co-hosting the ground-breaking summit. |
|
Helmuts, who also has initial plans in the
works for a 2027 Domain Summit USA, credited
three global partners for helping him make
the Nairobi event a reality - Site.pro,
Freename
and it.com
Domains. With those parties
involved Helmuts said attendees can expect
"an exclusive, business-only convention
that will be Africa’s largest B2B gathering of domain name service providers, registrars, investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders." The early outline for Domain Summit Africa
includes a pre-event day February 22 that
will feature a private tour of Kenic
offices for all registered attendees and
an early networking get-together at the Villa
Rosa Kempinski. The two business days that
follow will be filled with keynotes, panel
discussions, technical sessions, workshops
and visits to an exhibition area. Helmuts
also aims to have approximately 90%
of the speakers coming from those based
on the African continent. For guests who
want to spend some extra time in Kenya,
Helmuts is also looking into organizing an
optional Safari Tour the day after the
summit ends (February 25). |
Helmuts
Meskonis
Domain Summit Founder |
While
many more details will be released in the months
ahead, registration
is already open with tickets priced at
just $50 per person (a hallmark of all of the
Domain Summit conferences has been ultra-low ticket
prices for attendees with the backing of sponsors
making that possible). Domain Summit Africa will
also have a discounted block of rooms at the Villa Rosa
Kempinski.
You can use the Contact
the Organizer link on the event website
to get a booking link.
|
|
(Posted
June 30, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0630.htm
*****
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ICA
Opens Early Bird Ticket Sales for 2026 Annual Las
Vegas Meeting to All Members (and Anyone Who Wants
to Join Now) |
|
The Internet
Commerce Association (ICA) Annual
Meeting in Las Vegas has become one of
the most important events on the global domain
industry calendar. I've always thought this
conference was destined to reach that status
because supporting it directly benefits
everyone in the domain investing and
development community. The
ICA is the non-profit organization that has
been successfully fighting to protect domain
registrant's rights |
|
|
for
years for almost 20 years now. They have been
able to do that thanks to generous contributions
from forward-thinking corporate sponsors and
reasonably priced individual memberships
at multiple levels. The latter are designed to
make it possible for every professional in
this business to have a hand in helping both the
industry and themselves continue to grow and prosper
in the years ahead. That
is what makes the ICA Annual Member Meeting
so unique. Every person there has skin in the
game and a vested interest in seeing their
fellow members succeed. That makes building
meaningful relationships infinitely easier and has
created a special bond among those who
understand and appreciate what this community can
accomplish when we work together. You can get a feel
for the ICA Meeting experience in our
review of the 2025 event held this past
January at Resorts World is Las Vegas. With
that background, you can understand why the opening
of early
bird ticket sales for the 2026
Annual Meeting (and the substantial savings
they represent) is always a highly anticipated event
among members, as well as those want to be (any
industry participant can join
right now on the ICA website). Early
bird pricing will be available until August 15,
2025. As we told you
about last month, the 2026 Meeting will
he held January 15-17 at a spacious new venue
- the Park
MGM Hotel, with discounted rooms
available both there and at the upscale Nomad
Hotel on the same property. The Park MGM
(located directly on the Las Vegas Strip) is shown
in the photo below. The Nomad Hotel occupies the top
four floors of the building, so you are just a
quick elevator ride down to the conference floor
from all rooms at both hotels.
|
ICA
Executive Director Kamila Sekiewicz
promised, "This will be our biggest and most
connected meeting yet. We’re building on the
momentum of past years to deliver three days of
engaging content, meaningful networking, member-led
sessions, and time to connect with friends and peers
from across the domain name industry. Whether
you’re returning or joining us for the first time,
this meeting is designed to bring together the best
of our community—and we’d love for you to be
part of it."
We
will be there of cours, both to see fellow members
and to cover the show for readers who can't make the
trip. We do hope that we will have the opportunity
to see you there!
|
ICA
Executive Director Kamila Sekiewicz |
|
|
(Posted
June 20, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0620.htm
*****
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Dollars.com
Sells for $500,000 and Provides Another Example of
Why Sedo's Mark Ghoriafi is Known as Mr.
Premium |
|
Sedo
Outbound Premum Broker Mark
Ghoriafi has made yet
another trip to the domain sales mountain top.
Mark started the year with a $600,000 sale
of Pack.com in January, followed it up with
a $980,000 sale of Double.com and
just struck gold again by selling Dollars.com at
$500,000. As a result he now has three
of the top ten publicly recorded sales of the year
to date (Dollars.com will be added to
the YTD Top 100 when we publish our next bi-weekly
domain sales report June 25). While
Sedo can't disclose who the buyer and seller was
in the Dollars.com deal, Mark was able to share
some background on how it all came together, as
well as how he seized the opportunity to add a
sale of Dolars.com to the mix, a purchase
that will help the Dollars.com buyer catch what
could be a significant amount of traffic that
might otherwise have been lost. As
he typically does on the first day of being
chosen to represent a premium domain, Mark
immediately went to work with social media
marketing, preliminary lead generation, and the
start of an email outreach campaign. After several
weeks of constantly beating the drum, he sent follow-up
correspondence to initial leads who had not
yet replied, an initiative that generated multiple
responses, including one from the party who wound
up buying the name. If you need a testament to the
importance of persistence and following up,
there it is. Mark
said, "We then entered an all-night Saturday
negotiation from 1:00AM to 8:00AM, with 19
emails exchanged during that time. Shortly
after sunrise we closed the successful negotiation
at $500,000.
Soon after I was also able offer the buyer Dolars.com
(a spelling variation of dollars in several
languages, as well as a common English typo) for
$25,000 and he was happy to acquire it as
well." |
Mark
"Mr. Premium" Ghoriafi
Sedo Outbound Premium Broker
|
|
Mark
credited the successful negotiations to all parties
seeing the inherent value of prompt and polite
communication, a mindset that created a positive
flow of conversation and resulted in a smart
investment for the buyer and a wheelbarrow full of
dollars for the seller.
The fact that Mark stayed up all night to make
the deal happen also underscores why the tagline you
see in a lot of his outbound marketing - "The
internet never stops, and neither does Mr.
Premium!" - is more than just talk.
|
|
(Posted
June 16, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0616.htm
*****
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Early
Birds Are Lining Up a Perch for Domain Days Dubai
2025 While the DDD Team Makes Plans to Wow the
Domain World |
|
After
establishing itself as one of the world's premier
domain conferences with outstanding events in 2023
and 2024,
the Domain
Days Dubai conference (DDD) is
returning for round 3 October 22-23, 2025
in the magnificent UAE metropolis. The show
will again be held at the picturesque Marriott
Resort Palm Jumeirah where industry leaders
from around the world will gather to explore the
latest developments and opportunities in the MEA
market (Middle East and Africa). The
conference was founded by Munir Badir who
is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary
of another enterprise he founded, AEserver.com,
the UAE's largest privately owned domain name
registrar & web/cloud hosting company where he
also serves as CEO. From the moment Munir
envisioned bringing a major domain conference to
this thriving market, he approached the task with
the same goal he had with AEserver - delivering a
world class product built to stand out now and
continually improve to ensure it will remain a
leader in its space for decades to
come. That's
why Badr and his team is committed to topping
themselves and doing it by a wide margin at
the 2025 conference. Munir told us, "This
year, we started much earlier due to the
many events happening and revolving around
similar subjects. There is a true competition for
attendees and we want to show everyone why DDD
should be circled on their calendar!" |
Domain
Days Dubai Founder Munir Badr
|
|
That
desire to get the momentum rolling right away is
also why
DDD launched a 50%
off
early bird ticket offer in May. That
offer is still available at this writing but it will
be ending at the end of June so now is the
time to take advantage of it of you want to enjoy
the full Dubai experience at a considerably lower
cost.
Regarding
the event itself, Munir noted that while it's still
early in the planning cycle, thoughtfully scaling up
the event is a central focus. "The
past two editions showed us there’s real demand
for a serious, regionally rooted event that brings
the global domain and hosting industry together in a
unique way," Munir said. "This year,
we’re aiming to go even bigger with more
curated content, deeper tech tracks, and stronger
B2B networking angles – all while keeping that
signature Dubai hospitality intact. Also, what I realized
after the first two editions is that this event is no
longer just about our region, the domain name
industry is global at its roots and our event
has turned into another important event for the
global domain name industry, presented in a luxury
environment with a who's who from the global
industry in attendance."
Munir
Badr with InterNetX CEO Elias Rendon Benger at
Domain Days Dubai 2024.
"Domain
Days Dubai has definitely helped shine a light on
the MEA region – not just in terms of market
potential, but as a serious contributor to the
global domain ecosystem," Munir continued.
"We’ve seen stronger cross-border
partnerships form, registrars expanding into the
region, and service providers looking to establish a
presence here. Several attendees from outside the
region have shared how eye-opening it was to
experience the energy and business appetite in this
part of the world."
While
it is a long way to Dubai for many to travel, Domain
Days Dubai has again picked dates that will make it
easier for attendees to take advantage of key events
back to back before heading home. "Yes,
we’ve once again managed to align with ICANN,
whose next general meeting will be held right after
us in Oman
and that’s been a huge boost," Munir said.
"It helps us bring in top-tier participants who
are already planning to travel, and it raises the
overall level of discussion and opportunity.
Last year’s back-to-back scheduling with ICANN in
Istanbul created a natural flow of attendees, and we
expect a similar effect this time with ICANN Oman.
It’s a win for everyone involved."
A
view from the audience of one the dozens of business
sessions at DDD 2024.
In
closing, Munir said,"On a personal note, I know
how busy people are and how important it is
to plan to make it convenient for everyone,
this shows respect to our attendees, we really care!
It also makes perfect sense for our corporate
partners and attendees for whom each day away is a a
huge investment. This is a testament of our true Middle
Eastern hospitality and respect to our
attendees. You also have to wonder when another
ICANN annual general meeting will be in our part of
the world, maybe in 5 or 10 years? So this
year, a perfect constellation is lined up that
will work in everyone's favor!
|
|
(Posted
June 13, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0613.htm
*****
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Team
Internet and Newly Formed Partner Wins 10-Year
Contract to Administer .CO Domain Names |
|
For the
past 10 years the popular .co
top level domain has been administered by
GoDaddy. However that contract recently
expired and the Colombian Ministerio de Tecnologias de la
Informacion y las Comunicaciones (MINTIC) decided
to put a new contract out for competitive bidding.
Today Team
Internet (TI) announced that Consórcio Equipo PuntoCo – a
partnership between TI and Central
Comercializadora de Internet (CCI) -
has been awarded a a 10-year license from
MINTIC to operate the .co TLD. As most of our readers know, .co is officially
the ccTLD for Colombia but years ago
it was successfully re-purposed to also serve a
broader market - companies and corporations
around the world for whom the CO letters were a
natural fit. That strategy has worked very
well, making the right to administer .co a prize
that several major industry players had hoped to
land. |
|
|
Team Internet
Group CEO Michael Riedl said, “This
win reinforces Team Internet’s leadership
in the domain infrastructure space and adds
one of the most dynamic and globally recognized
ccTLDs to our portfolio. We are humbled by
the opportunity to serve the people of
Colombia. This privilege is testament to our
trusted role in managing critical internet
infrastructure around the world."
The .co domain, with over 3 million
active registrations, enjoys a strong
international reputation and serves as a
vital platform for individuals and
businesses in Colombia and worldwide to
establish their digital presence. Consórcio
Equipo PuntoCo will operate the registry
and retain 8% of gross revenues from .co
registrations and renewals as compensation
for its services.
Gerardo Aristizabal, CEO of Colombian
company CCI, Team Internet’s partner in
the bid, added, “We couldn’t be happier
about the news and the opportunity to work
together with Team |
Michael
Riedl
CEO, Team Internet Group |
Internet in developing the .co domain, both locally
for entrepreneurs and internationally as
one of the most adopted web addresses in the
world. The teams working on this represent the best
opportunity for the namespace and will definitely be
taking the .co domain to a new level over the coming
years.”
|
|
(Posted
June 12, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0612.htm
*****
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Trustap
Adds Brandon Abbey to a Team Whose Transaction
Management Service Makes Secure Buying and Selling
a Breeze |
|
Brandon
Abbey has been a familiar figure to
domain industry veterans since 2004 when he
became the President at Escrow.com. Over
the next 12 years, Brandon played a central role
in helping close over two billion
dollars worth of domain sales there. We
continued to track Brandon's career when he moved
on to Payoneer, then founded his own consulting
firm. Most recently, when we heard about an
innovative, rapidly growing transaction management
firm, Trustap,
founded by Conor
Lyden, we weren't surprised to learn
they had enlisted Brandon to oversee Digital
and US Partnerships. Brandon
set up a call with Conor for me so I could learn
more about what makes Trustap different
from other services available to domain sales
platforms as well as individual buyers and
sellers. While I was thinking it would an escrow
centered offering, it turned out to be much more
that. Trustap is an end-to-end transaction
management service that covers everything from securing
payments made in a diverse range of options
(including cryptocurrency), to fulfillment to
support and even protecting sellers from chargebacks.
Today Trustap, with offices in the US, Ireland
(Cork & Dublin),the
UK and Europe (Croatia), is being used
by over 840,000 individuals and more
than 150 marketplaces.
I found
it particularly interesting that all of this
sprang from a personal problem that Conor
wanted to solve for himself. During his
college years, as an avid football fan, Lyden was
tired of wondering if he would actually get game
tickets he tried to buy on the resale market. You
had to pay up front but whether or not the
stranger on the other end of the transaction would
actually deliver them was always in question. That
led him to found Trustap in Cork, Ireland
in 2017 and the company has been growing and
expanding its services ever since (to see exactly
how Trustap solved this specific issue with
tickets check out this case
study (.pdf) of how StudentSeats.com
used Trustap to stamp out ticket scams).
Conor
told me, "I like to think about Trustap from
two perspectives. One, as a solution for an individual
wanting to complete a one-off transaction, and
two, as a service for a marketplace wanting
to offer transactional support to its users." "For
indviduals, the biggest
differentiator for Trustap (aside from our lower
fees) is our ability to offer a personalized
'White-Glove' offering for large value
transactions. Trustap appoints a dedicated
transaction manager who will liaise with
the buyer and seller to ensure that everything
runs as smoothly and securely as possible. On
top of this, we offer multiple payment methods,
including a wide range of cryptocurrencies
with a strong preference for stablecoins like USDC."
Brandon Abbey added, "We can also handle broker
transactions, including those involving
multiple brokers and, as Conor noted, multiple
currencies." |
Conor
Lyden
Trustap Founder & CEO
Brandon
Abbey
Digital & US Partnerships, Trustap
|
|
For marketplaces,
Lyden said, "The biggest differentiator between
Trustap and other solutions is Trustap's holistic
approach to end-to-end transactions management
as opposed to just handling payment. Trustap assumes
the role of the merchant of record for each
transaction, which insulates the marketplace from
any liability whatsoever, including chargebacks and
tax reporting. As the graphic below shows, we manage
the entire transaction from start to finish
which lets the marketplace focus on what they do
best - growing the supply and demand side of the
marketplace."
Click
image to see larger version
In
closing, Lyden noted, "Nobody starts a
marketplace to get bogged down in
transaction-related issues. Trustap can handle
all that messy stuff and let the marketplace run
the rest of their business as profitably as
possible." Trustap
is a Stripe Verified Partner, a partnership
that ensures Trustap users will get world-class
security and that all payments and data are fully
protected. You can get more information on their
partnership with Stripe as well as Lyden's personal
entrepreneurial journey with Trustap here.
|
|
(Posted
June 10, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0610.htm
*****
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Radix Releases
UA Readiness Study of E-Commerce Platforms to
Gauge Universal Acceptance for New TLDs |
|
ICANN
is preparing to open the door to another round of new
gTLDs next year and a lot of people are
getting ready to make a run at acquiring and
administering a new top level domain of their own
(as we told you last month, there is even a new
book out explaining how to do it). Of
course, the process of launching new TLDs now has
a fairly long history after hundreds hit the
Internet over a decade ago. A good thing about
that is you can better prepare by studying how
previous new TLDs have performed since joining
legacy TLDs like .com, .net and .org on the web.
On that front, Radix,
one of the most successful operators of multiple
new TLDs from the first wave, just released a
study detailing how new gTLDs have fared by one
critical measure - Universal
Acceptance (UA). |
Image
from Bigstock
|
|
If you
want to sell new TLD domain registrations your
customers are going to want know that any any
enterprise they build on your new extension will
work as flawlessly as possible on the web. To find
out how the original new TLDs have done in meeting
that objective Radix evaluated how well e-commerce platforms support
domain names and email addresses that use new
top-level domains.
Driven by Radix’s commitment to improving user
experience across modern domain formats, the study
highlights the progress made, as well as the gaps
that remain. The findings support the broader
industry goal championed by the Universal
Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), which
aims to make the internet more inclusive and
accessible for all users. Radix evaluated
145 e-commerce platforms across 16
categories, including website builders, payment
providers, email services, and social media
management tools. The study tested whether email
addresses using new short TLDs (three characters
or fewer, for example, .fun and .uno), new long TLDs
(four characters or more, for example, .online and
.website), and Internationalized
Domain Names were accepted during standard
sign-up processes.
Key
Findings:
1)
14 out of 16 e-commerce platform categories
showed full acceptance of new short and new
long TLDs during user sign-ups.
2)
New short and new long TLDs achieved a combined
acceptance rate of 98.6% across all platforms
tested, indicating strong overall support for these
domain types in sign-up workflows.
3)
IDN-based
email addresses had an average acceptance rate
of 39.31% across all platforms tested,
indicating significantly lower support compared to
new short and new long TLDs.
|
Neha Nair, Trust & Safety Director at Radix,
noted, “This study was driven by our intent to stay ahead of issues that users may face when adopting new top-level
domains. As a registry operator, we see it as
our responsibility to share insights that can support the advancement of Universal Acceptance. The findings highlight both the progress made and the work that still remains to ensure consistent acceptance of newer domain formats. We hope this research contributes to the collective industry effort to build a more inclusive and accessible internet.”
Radix has shared the findings of this study with
platform owners and developers to encourage
improvements in email validation and
domain acceptance. By identifying these
gaps, Radix aims to help technical teams
align their platforms with Universal
Acceptance best practices. |
Neha Nair |
(Posted
June 6, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0606.htm
*****
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