Snapnames

SnapNames Hosting Numeric Domain Auction

I just learned that SnapNames is hosting a numeric domain auction. SnapNames has internally dubbed the auction “Notable Numbers,” as it presently contains all 6 number .com (6N.com)  domain names. There are no reserves on any of the names that are currently listed in auction. A few of the domain names have patterns such as 131717.com. The auction closes on February 25th at 3:15pm ET.

The timing of the auction is interesting. Chinese domain name investors seem to be the biggest buyers of numeric domain names. From what I have been observing, the market for Chinese-focused domain names has been

SnapNames & NameJet Team Up for LTD.com Auction

LTD.com NameJet Auction

SnapNames and NameJet are essentially sister companies as well as competing domain name auction platforms. SnapNames is wholly owned by publicly traded Web.com, and NameJet is co-owned by Web.com and publicly traded Rightside. Both companies provide an auction venue for domain names.

I received a press release this afternoon announcing that the two companies are working together to sell LTD.com. The domain name is going to be auctioned on NameJet, and the reserve price is between $25,001 and $50,000. The domain name went on the platform today, and the final day for bidding on LTD.com will be Wednesday, December 2. At the time of publication, there are 34 bidders.

If you visit SnapNames and NameJet, you can see there is an advertising banner on both websites announcing the auction.

Because the domain name is currently registered under Whois privacy, I am not sure who owns this domain name.

The full press release is below:

What Does SnapNames Acquisition Mean for Domain Investors?

On Friday evening, I reported that two Web.com employees tweeted that Web.com had acquired SnapNames, a once thriving domain auction platform. SnapNames may still be thriving, but truthfully, I have not participated or followed very many auctions on the platform in a few years. This morning, Web.com officially announced the acquisition in a press release, although terms of the deal were not disclosed.

From my perspective, in the last few years, SnapNames became more well known for its private domain auctions rather than its expiring domain auctions. I remember when SnapNames reported “bonkers” sales numbers for expiring domain names. The numbers may say otherwise, but that’s what it seems like to me anyway. When thinking about expiring domain auction houses though, I still consider NameJet, SnapNames, and GoDaddy to be the “big three,” again keeping in mind that I almost exclusively use NameJet these days.

For a while now, SnapNames has maintained one of the

Breaking Reports: Snapnames Acquired by Web.com

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According to tweets from two employees of Web.com this evening, Snapnames was acquired by the publicly traded company. I don’t have details about the reported deal, and I can’t find a press release announcing the news, but I understand that Web.com CEO David Brown informed employees of the deal earlier today.

Snapnames and NameJet are two of the main auction houses for expiring domain names. NameJet is a joint venture between Demand Media and Web.com, and it remains to be seen what will happen now that these two companies reportedly share the same owner.

I assume more details about the reported deal will be made public soon, especially given the fact that Web.com is a publicly traded company and will likely have to disclose details about a transaction. Once I hear more and receive an official confirmation of this deal, I will pass it along.

Domain Auction Prediction Algorithm

Every once in a while, I think of a tool I think would be helpful to my business. I don’t have any type of computer programming background, so instead of spinning my wheels and throwing money at something I wouldn’t be able to adequately tackle, I figured I’d write a blog post about it and maybe someone will create it.

Every domain name that goes to auction, whether expiring auction at NameJet or private auction at TRAFFIC, has many unique attributes. There is extension, keywords, length, inbound links, Google results, keyword search numbers, pagerank, number of other extensions registered, how the domain name was used previously…etc.

All domain names probably have dozens of unique attributes that can be identified, and each attribute plays an important role in the domain name’s valuation.

I would love to have a tool that uses an algorithm to predict the closing price of a domain auction before the auction begins. With thousands of auctions occurring daily across many platforms, there is plenty of data that can be used to predict the sale price. I think it would be a great add on to a tool like FreshDrop, and it could even be a Firefox or  Chrome extension that could be enabled on the auction platforms, allowing me to sort by predicted closing price.

This tool is different than automated appraisal tools like Estibot because it would actually predict closing prices rather than value. In addition to a domain name’s attributes, the tool would also take the auction conditions into account as best as possible. For instance, it would be able to use the auction’s start time, venue, number of backorders, high bid prior to auction, and other factors into account when predicting the closing price. With each auction that the algorithm records, it would be able to self adjust for more accuracy.

Do you think a tool like this would be helpful, and would you pay for something like this? How would you go about getting something like this built?

Is There Something Wrong With Contacting Owners of Expired Domain Names?

I know that Go Daddy, NameJet, and Snapnames are well aware of domain investors who reach out to the owners of expired domain names in an effort to purchase them before they go to auction. This probably annoys the auction houses and it has spurred a debate about this practice on forums and in private discussions.

The rationale for domain investors doing this is simple. The domain owner may not have realized the domain name was worth anything, so a lowish offer could get the owner to renew the domain name and then re-sell it to the person who inquired about it. The buyer would then get to purchase a domain name in private before others had the opportunity to bid on it. If others pre-bid on the domain name, the buyer would know that there is interest from other parties.

There are a few downsides to this practice. For instance,

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