Domain Name Journal - located at DNJournal.com - is the domain industry's premier trade publication. This award winning online magazine features industry news and information that is updated on a daily basis. http://www.dnjournal.com/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Wed, 8 Apr 2026 18:21:10 -0400 Wed, 8 Apr 2026 18:20:39 -0400 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.4.0) http://www.feedforall.com http://www.dnjournal.com/images/ronjackson-50x71.jpg http://www.dnjournal.com/ Domain industry news and information updated daily. 50 71 NamesCon Global has some very ambitious plans for their return to Miami for the 2026 conference that will be held November 11 & 12. The groundwork is being laid early to facilitate some big changes in the agenda, partnerships and floor plan - all designed to deliver the most productive NamesCon meeting to date. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0408.htm 296B3E64-CD46-4810-9BD3-7BE03C678498 Wed, 8 Apr 2026 18:20:39 -0400 Spring is here and flowers aren't the only things in bloom. High end domain sales have been blossoming all over the place since our last bi-weekly update. The seeds for the biggest one - a $500,000+ sale - were actually planted at this time last year with the start of a 12-month lease to own deal. The final payment has now been made and the transfer completed. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0415.htm 7EA03627-C8D3-44D5-87D5-F19A5D85032B Wed, 1 Apr 2026 18:29:31 -0400 One of the world's largest local social groups for industry professionals, South Florida Domainers, held a meetup Monday night (March 30, 2026) at Tarpon River Brewing in Fort Lauderdale. The gathering once again illustrated what an extraordinary concentration of industry star power resides along Florida's Gold Coast. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0331-2.htm 44053E4E-3B2C-4C73-BDD3-FDA5A28D6ADA Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:51:27 -0400 Every year since 2017, Escrow.com has been honoring the world's top domain brokers through their Master of Domains program. The annual awards go to the 10 highest-grossing domain name brokers based on the value of deals they closed on the Escrow.com platform in the previous year. The title went to ATM Holdings Founder Andrew Miller, breaking an incredible streak of 7 straight wins for Andrew Rosener. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0331.htm 48E61704-D408-4194-AF7E-19E0A4EDB319 Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:15:44 -0400 Dominion 2026, a two-day event being billed as "The Ultimate Liquidity Event for Domain Investors" is coming up April 29 & 30 at Resorts World in Las Vegas. The conference is being hosted by Doma, a trading platform for tokenized domains, developed by D3. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0325.htm 345BDDB8-FF40-4184-B83D-18C163612551 Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:35:42 -0400 Kate Buckley, the Founder & CEO at Defining.com, has closed a combined sale of Bar.com and Pub.com for $1 million. Kate brokered the deal on behalf of internet pioneer and domain investor Mike O'Connor. With the two domains valued at $500,000 each, they will rank as the 4th highest publicly reported domain sales so far in 2026. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0324.htm BCBA279C-0B85-4AAC-8603-1A244F4D5384 Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:34:44 -0400 Every year InterNetX and Sedo join forces to produce an extraordinarily comprehensive report of where things stand across all sectors of the domain industry. Their 2026 edition has just been released with insightful commentary from experts from around the world on everything from domain sales and trends to new gTLDs to AI to Web3 to DNS Abuse to..., well - you get the idea - it's all in there and it's all free of charge. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0323.htm A18A0B9B-43C2-4F04-91B6-90FC3293D746 Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:02:49 -0400 Pioneering members of the South Florida domain community staged the first major conference ever held for investors and service providers back in 2004. Many of the people at that first conference are still active in one of the world's largest local social groups for industry professionals, South Florida Domainers. The group will be holding an open to all meetup March 30 in Fort Lauderdale. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0320.htm 7F5BF765-A0D0-4A4D-9D76-93AAAEC39401 Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:08:19 -0400 When we were asked to give our domain market predictions for the new year, we said we expected the strength we saw in 2025 to continue as long as the general economy wasn't derailed by an unexpected blow. Just two months into 2026, the war with Iran broke out. Despite the graying skies there were some highlights worth talking about this week. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0401.htm A985D2C1-F37F-4A7C-AC09-B57381101697 Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:11:25 -0400 In April of last year we reported entrepreneur Kennan Davison's announcement that he had acquired the Icon.com domain in a $12 million deal to serve as a world class brand for a new AI advertising platform he had just launched. What appeared to be a bright future for the enterprise has suddenly turned dark with reports that the business has shut down with the original site no long resolving. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0306.htm CB2A5442-F457-4A9F-A0B2-7A3A645188D0 Fri, 6 Mar 2026 13:38:11 -0500 Escrow.com has released their Domain Investment Index reports for 3Q-2025 and 4Q-2025 and they shed a lot of light on just how powerful the surge in .AI domain sales has been over the past couple of years. In 2024 Escrow.com closed $9.4 million in .AI sales. In 2025 that number soared by 189% year over year! https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0305.htm CCAD3786-8180-42D1-BD77-375C391003F3 Thu, 5 Mar 2026 17:04:53 -0500 We are two months into the 2026 domain sales season and the hits just keep on coming. The big salvo since our last bi-weekly report was Sedo's stunning $1.2 million sale of Bot.ai. Two more newly reported sales join Bot.ai at the top of our latest all extension Top 20 Sales Chart and in the top 10 on our YTD Top Sales Chart. Those are .coms tha brought $205,000 and $125,000 respectively. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0318.htm 0F838B5D-5B96-4B58-90FB-9773579ACDA7 Wed, 4 Mar 2026 22:48:19 -0500 Africa's first major conference for domain investors, developers and service providers was held in Nairobi, Kenya February 23 & 24. As a new event ina new market, Domain Summit Africa looked like a gamble for Founder Helmuts Meskonis but the show didn't just run - it flourished - with a sold out crowd showing up in a remarkably big way for the landmark event. https://www.dnjournal.com/articles/2026/DSA/domain-summit-africa-2026.htm F9AC27D8-A091-4B3A-AA1B-053BF8BDBBED Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:30:07 -0500 Over the past 25 years we've seen prices paid for highly desirable domain names move steadily but incrementally upward. However, what we are seeing now - in the wake of the artificial intelligence boom - is something we've never witnessed before. Sedo announced today that they have closed the first publicly reported 7-figure .ai domain sale ever - one that pushed the 5-month old record up 60% in one fell swoop. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0224.htm 91273675-5848-4720-B579-5AFFFD25DEBA Tue, 24 Feb 2026 17:23:00 -0500 Africa's first major commerce-oriented domain conference, Domain Summit Africa 2026,will be held in Kenya Monday and Tuesday. The event will be held at the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi,For those who wondered if a first time event in a new market could draw a crowd, that question was answered earlier this week when conference Founder Helmuts Meskonis announced tickets had sold out!. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0220.htm 10E6589F-10A2-48E4-AB19-4AAE2BBE851C Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:25:23 -0500 The $70 million AI.com sale obliterated everything we have seen in the past and set a new standard for how highly prized top tier .com domains can be valued. This is our first bi-weekly report since the big reveal so it is our first opportunity to put AL.com at the top of our latest all-extension Top 20 Sales Chart (below), as well as our YTD Top Sales Chart and our All-Time Top 20 Sales Chart. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0304.htm 0F73BC68-D19D-48A2-B871-8E2D9EC9E1EA Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:20:56 -0500 Domain industry veteran Ryan Colby is incorporating the AI revolution into a new event format that keeps the social aspects we love about current conferences but also adds a website building competition complete with cash prizes. His first Domain2Demo hackathon is coming up this spring in San Francisco. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0216.htm D1902FFA-18A1-4B6F-8C96-48493B023921 Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:45:13 -0500 With ICANN about to open the door for hundreds of new TLDs there is a hunger among potential new domain registry operators, registrants and service providers for information on how they can best take advantage of the new opportunities this will present.. Some of the most insightful writing we've seen on this topic has been published by industry veteran Jeanette Eriksson at the prestigious World Trademark Review. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0213.htm BDCCF219-BBB7-4FA1-8BF5-0DF86CB7238E Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:57:28 -0500 VeriSign, (the administrator of the .com and .net TLDs) has released their latest quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB) covering the 4th quarter of 2025. This update showed the total number of domain registrations across all TLDs worldwide ended the year at 386.9 million. That is a surge of 22.7 million domains compared to the same point a year earlier - a very strong 6.2% jump year-over-year. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0211.htm 20AD1BD4-9CF5-4F36-A910-B3C09C1CFBB6 Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:37:21 -0500 For over 20 years, CEO Gary Millen at World Accelerator (World.com) has had a view from the top of the domain world. Now Gary is intrigued by how the artificial intelligence explosion will affect the future and value of domain names. The stunning $70 million sale of AI.com was certainly a good omen but what are the broader implications? What, if anything, does it mean for top tier domains in general? Gary authored an exclusive article on that topic for us that we are happy to share with you here. https://www.dnjournal.com/articles/2026/millin/ai-and-domains.htm 68FE9B2A-CAC1-446D-8DF8-6BFFE3FA000C Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:07:25 -0500 It was widely-known that the AI.com domain name was sold last spring to an unknown buyer for an undisclosed price. Most experts assumed it would have taken an all-time record price to get the name and we now know that was indeed the case. The buyer - the owners of Crypto.com - paid an eye-popping $70 million to acquire the domain. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0206-2.htm D9977D62-BF15-4EF9-8646-3BBB3D8643CD Fri, 6 Feb 2026 14:49:18 -0500 DNJournal Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson is usually the one asking questions but DomainSherpa turned the table on him in their latest episode. Sherpa Host & Producer Jonathan Tenenbaum (who is also the CEO as MediaOptions) teamed up with MediaOptions Founder & Chairman Andrew Rosener to nudge Ron out of his comfort zone. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0206.htm ED1262FE-EA51-4C6B-84A0-28A2125B115F Fri, 6 Feb 2026 11:47:56 -0500 We've now entered the second month of the new year and 2026 is still looking a lot like the old year in terms of domain sales. In our latest bi-weekly turn around the aftermarket track, the .coms piled up eight entries on our all extension Top 20 Sales Chart, including the two biggest sales and three of the top four. Meanwhile, .ai domains continued to play Robin to .com's Batman, with some dazzling moves of their own. They put five names on the Big Board with four of those landing in the Top 10 to match .com's haul on the upper half of the honor roll. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0218.htm 2EF71969-A0E2-4B84-B052-366F830B13AF Wed, 4 Feb 2026 21:04:03 -0500 As the CEO of Saw.com, Domain Brokerage and Marketplace, I have the opportunity to see trends from two different angles - that of what our domain investor customers are buying, selling, and adding to the marketplace, what buyers are predominantly inquiring about, and what buyers who have hired us to purchase domains on their behalf are wanting. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0202.htm EDAA7C66-B176-46E2-9ED4-4F859750A2A7 Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:55:08 -0500 We're delighted to have some pleasant unexpected surprises to share with you from our latest State of the Industry project devoted to the domain industry. Up first in a State of the Industry EXTRA! Team Internet AG CEO Michael Riedl looks back on a seismic 2025 and sizes up what is ahead in the new year. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0130.htm 45D23415-1469-4AF7-94A4-75CD9EA8BE27 Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:37:07 -0500 Our 22nd Annual State of the Industry Cover Story - our biggest story of every year - is here. DNJournal was launched on New Year's Day 2003. In January 2005 we started our annual State of the Industry series with experts from all corners of the industry commenting on what they saw as the most important trends of the past year, as well as what they are expecting to see in the year ahead.  https://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2026/soti/january.htm 125B71FD-9D1E-4E78-A80B-1D1878CF7705 Wed, 28 Jan 2026 21:27:00 -0500 Now that people are back at work after a long holiday break, domain sales data has started flooding in. Eight 6-figure sales and another big batch of high end .ai sales fueled a tsumani that got the 2026 domain sales season off on the right foot. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0204.htm 30D87BB0-B0B3-4D81-8A29-2BA5588187D9 Thu, 22 Jan 2026 22:42:56 -0500 The Internet Commerce Association - the non-profit organization that fights to protect domain owner's rights - continues to scale new heights. That trend was underscored by record attendance at the 2026 ICA Annual Member Meeting held January 15-17 in Las Vegas. Over 200 domain investors, developers and service providers from around the world were on hand to share their expertise and learn from others. That mutually beneficial environment gave attendees invaluable insight and connections that will help them take advantage of the many opportunities that will be opening up in the new year ahead. https://www.dnjournal.com/articles/2026/ICA/annual-member-meeting.htm D7B302EF-D4EE-4AD6-B603-374227322987 Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:36:42 -0500 The 2025 domain sales season has come to and end but the demand for top tier domain names hasn't skipped a beat with the arrival of the New Year. That became clear when we reported two big Sedo sales in our Lowdown section - Midnight.com at $1,150,000 and C4.com at $265,000.. Those sales rank #1 and #3 on our latest bi-weekly all extension Top 20 Sales Chart with a sale of GameFi.com at $300,000 sandwiched in between. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2026/0121.htm 85D65C00-104F-4BDA-8584-144ADC7AF315 Wed, 7 Jan 2026 23:56:23 -0500 "Mr. Premium" strikes again! Sedo's Mark Ghoriafi has kicked off the new year with an eve popping 7-figure sale of Midnight.com and a 6-figure deal for a 2-character .com that fetched a record price for one in the letter-number format. https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0105.htm 69C7069A-265A-4C0A-9D1D-23372C042DE5 Mon, 5 Jan 2026 08:26:37 -0500