GoDaddy Acquires Name.com Domain Portfolio + Expiry Stream

Elliot Silver
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10

I detected a domain portfolio acquisition by GoDaddy’s NameFind, and the news was confirmed to me by the company yesterday afternoon. GoDaddy acquired an unknown number of domain names from the Name.com / Rightside domain name portfolio, which I believe was sold by Donuts. Up until earlier this year, Name.com was owned by Rightside, a company that was recently acquired by Donuts. GoDaddy also informed me that the Name.com expiry stream will now go to auction via GoDaddy Auctions.

Nick Fuller, who is Director of Public Relations at GoDaddy, sent me the following statement from VP and GM of the Aftermarket at GoDaddy, Paul Nicks:

“We can confirm that GoDaddy has acquired domain names from Name.com. These names will help anyone looking to make a statement online. The domain names are a mixture of .com domain names as well as new tlds and will be added to the NameFind portfolio. We have also worked out an agreement with Name.com to add their domain names to our expiry auctions.”

The company did not

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ICA Seeking Nominees for 2018 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award

Elliot Silver
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2

Last year, the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) honored the memory of Lonnie Borck by naming an industry award in his memory. The Lonnie Borck Memorial Award is given each year to recognize an individual or organization for extraordinary efforts in championing the rights of domain name owners. The inaugural recipient in 2017 was David Weslow of Wiley Rein.

This year, the ICA is opening up the nomination process to the entire domain name industry. Domain investors and others who are active in the business of domain investing are invited to submit a nomination.  The ICA Leadership team will create a committee to review the nominations and the committee will select 3 nominees. ICA members will be polled to select the winner of the award from the nominees.

If you know someone who you believe is deserving of the award, please submit a nomination. Submissions should

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Escrow.com Reduces Minimum Domain Escrow Fee

Elliot Silver
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3

The fee for an escrow service is generally a small percentage of a domain name sale. On lower value deals though, the escrow fee is a fixed minimum price. In the case of Escrow.com, the minimum fee has been $25. On particularly small deals, this minimum fee might be a substantial percentage of the deal.

Because of the minimum fee, domain name buyers and sellers have been forced to choose between doing a deal at Escrow.com and losing a large % of their deal or using a less secure method such as PayPal, Western Union, or check. With these less secure payment methods, the buyer could do a chargeback or bounce a check after receiving the domain name, and in the case of Western Union or similar service, the seller might not follow through with the deal after receiving funds.

Last night, Escrow.com General Manager Jackson Elsegood emailed me to let me know about a fee reduction at Escrow.com. The new minimum fee has been reduced from $25 to $10. This might not sound like a huge amount of money, but it will make

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Divyank Turakhia is Youngest Self-Made Billionaire in India

Elliot Silver
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2

I want to share something exciting I read on Facebook this morning. Divyank Turakhia, co-founder of Directi, was named by the Hurun Report as the youngest billionaire in its 2017 India Rich List as well as the youngest billionaire in India under the age of 40. The news was also reported in The Economic Times:

Youngest billionaire on the 2017 India Rich List @ US$1.81 billion and richest under 40 for the second year in a row….

Posted by Divyank Turakhia on Monday, September 25, 2017

Divyank and his brother Bhavin are the founders of Directi, a company that has (or had) several domain name and hosting industry companies in its holdings, including Skenzo, Big Rock, and Radix, among several others. Directi was acquired by Endurance International in a nine figure deal in 2014. The brothers also co-founded (and sold) Media.net last year.

I don’t see either of the Turakhia brothers on the Forbes billionaire list, but assuming they maintain their billionaire status, we should see them there soon.

This is a pretty awesome achievement for Div, especially considering how he and his brother got their start.

Buyers Can Now Start Transactions on Payoneer Escrow

Elliot Silver
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6

Since Payoneer launched its domain name escrow service, only domain name sellers have been permitted to set up transactions via Payoneer Escrow. As a buyer, this could be frustrating because I would have to rely on the domain owner to initiate a transaction, and I have found that the less friction there is, the less likely a domain owner will back out of a transaction. The sooner I can get a buyer to agree to a deal, sign the purchase agreement, and start escrow, the more likely a deal will close.

This afternoon, Payoneer Escrow announced a couple of platform updates. Domain name buyers now have the ability to initiate transactions at Payoneer. Since domain buyers may have more experience with Payoneer and/or domain name escrow services, this may make transactions easier to set up and quicker to transact.

In addition to this change, sellers can now communicate the domain name transfer or account change information to the buyer directly via the Payoneer Escrow platform. This is a minor change, but it can be helpful to have all of the information flow through the escrow service.

I have found that some buyers and sellers aren’t all that knowledgable about domain name purchases or sales when they agree to a deal. Escrow services can add some friction to transactions, so it is good to see improvements that help make transactions go more smoothly.

MarkMonitor to Host Domain Security Webinar

Elliot Silver
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0

Domain name security is critical aspect of domain name ownership. Domain owners rely on the security infrastructure at their registrar, and they are also obligated to ensure their registrar accounts are secure to prevent domain theft. With stolen domain names being a major issue over the past few years, domain name security is an important topic right now.

According to an article I saw on LinkedIn, MarkMonitor will be hosting a free domain name security webinar. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific). The three topics that will be covered during the webinar are:

  • Top security challenges faced by domain owners
  • Practical tips to mitigate risks
  • Proven strategies for protecting valuable domain names

My guess is that the webinar will be geared towards people who manage domain name portfolios at large companies, but I presume the webinar would benefit domain investors who manage their own portfolios. I assume it will go beyond telling people to have secure passwords and to add two factor authentication on their accounts.

It looks like registration is required to participate in the webinar, but there is no cost to attend.

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