Domain Industry News

Received this email from Mike Mann this afternoon:

“First off I have never done domain tasting, nor did BuyDomains.com when I managed it, and our new domain trading and building platform, DomainMarket.com, doesn’t either. When we and others first began thinking about it around 5 years ago it was bad protocol at best, and really considered a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against the Netsol/Verisign registry system since robots slam the systems to buy thousands of name at once; so it was against NSI/VRSN rules and possibly illegal too.
However once Verisign realized how many domains would ultimately be registered to their benefit (eventhough I imagine 99% of the inventory is never paid for and is re-deleted back to the unregistered pool of potential new domains) they decided domain tasting for 5 days to measure the PPC traffic and value and buy the statistical gems was OK.
However domain tasting is indiscriminate and buyers end up having their robots purchase other peoples’ clear trademarks, as well as a lot of lewdly suggestive names, or names that once resolved to questionable content. So again its nothing Id want my team to take part in.
In the past I thought nobody should do it. Today I think it should actually be done by others carefully for one simple reason: It’s good for the economy. People are typing in and clicking on legacy domain links for expired domains, and if they get a 404 error it’s a waste of time, energy and bandwidth – and nobody gets paid, however if it lands on a tasting speculators PPC page or monetizable site then someone is getting paid, and they can pay their employees, taxes, and tips at the local restaurant, etc. So domain tasting while lame in most respects is still good for the economy.
I’ve rethought this subject and I think it’s good for others as long as they don’t buy trademarks or domains that they deem offensive. Outside of moral considerations they need to be concerned about being sued or harassed somehow, which could have negative financial consequences, balanced by the value of the trickle down economics accidentally applied to attorneys and their caddies.
Thats all, LMK what you think. Cheers“

The domain industry has made the news again this week, this time with an article appearing in Investors Business Daily (found on CNN). With the domain industry maintaining its strength, mainstream news outlets are taking notice and beginning to cover the industry. These positive articles discuss how the industry is becoming more mainstream, which will continue to make venture capital companies more comfortable when investing millions of dollars.
Here are a few other recent articles that have appeared in mainstream press:
Christian Science Monitor
The Telegraph (UK)
International Herald Tribune
While much of the world’s economic systems are going through tumultuous times, the domain industry appears to be strong. The continued success and growth of the industry is leading to greater focus as it’s becoming an alternative to traditional investing vehicles. As more venture capital firms invest in the domain space, I believe we will see similar articles in the mainstream press. With the domain industry becoming less secretive, the fruits the industry bears may become even more lucrative.