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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Dan.com is holding up payouts on LTO deals. The payout change was vaguely alluded to in bullet point 9 on a product update posted the day the Afternic LTO was announced. No reason for the change was announced, and it is not at all clear what the actual payout policy is now.

Prior to the change, Dan.com would send a payout to the seller the business day after a buyer made an installment payment. After the change, some payouts have been delayed, and there does not appear to be consistency on payout timing. Worse yet, neither Dan nor GoDaddy have offered any explanation about why delaying payouts is necessary.

In my opinion, changing the payout timing for active LTO deals is unacceptable. Dan.com should return to issuing payouts to sellers the day after receiving the monthly installment payouts from buyers on deals that were created prior to the payout change. This is what sellers expected when they listed domain names for sale on Dan.com – and when the domain names were sold prior to the product update announcement last month.

When I first learned about Meta’s plan to launch a product called Threads to compete with Twitter, I was curious to know what domain name would be used. The most obvious domain name – Threads.com – is being used by a company billed as “a Slack replacement designed for makers.” The startup was launched in 2019 and is backed by Sequoia Capital with more than $10 million in funding.

This morning, Meta Founder Mark Zuckerberg posted the first Thread, and it revealed the domain name that was chosen: Threads.net.

 

Post by @zuck

View on Threads

 

My domain industry-sponsored Pan Mass Challenge kit arrived a couple of days ago, and I took it for a short spin yesterday evening. I think it looks great, and it raised quite a bit of money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Thank you again to all of the companies (listed below) whose logos are featured on the jersey and shorts.

Domain industry attorney John Berryhill let me know me is now able to ride in this year’s PMC. John is getting a bit of a late start on fundraising, but I bet he will hit his $8,500 fundraising goal.

John and I will both wear our industry sponsored jersey and shorts as we train for August’s ride, and we will also wear them on the ride.

2023  domain industry PMC kit sponsors (in ABC order):

• Above.com
• Afterthought.com
• Alan Dunn
• Bitcasino.io
• Bobbleheads.com
• Buckley Media
• Digimedia
• DropCatch.com
• Embrace.com
• Evergreen.com
• GoDaddy
• Hilco Digital Assets
• IT.com
• Media Options 
• Odys Global
• Paradise.com 
• Premium Traffic Ltd.
• Rank Theory 
• Sportsbet.io
• Telepathy
• XYZ Registry

I’ve read quite a bit about Squadhelp and its domain name marketplace. I like what I can see they are doing, and I enjoy reading the insights shared on Twitter by CEO Darpan Munjal. I also trust Hilco Digital’s Andrew Miller, and if his company is backing Squadhelp, I like their chances of continued growth.

In particular, I like that the Squadhelp target audience seems to be people and businesses looking for a brand name rather than people who are simply looking for a domain name. Domain registrars and domain sales platforms compete for customers searching for domain names, and I like that Squadhelp seems to primarily target people who are seeking out a brand identity – and a domain name is a big part of that.

If you’re a SEO/SEM expert with some domain industry experience, Name.com just posted a job opening on LinkedIn that may be appealing to you. Name.com is looking to hire a Growth Marketing Strategist, Digital Acquisition (SEO/SEM). This is a hybrid work opportunity at the Denver, Colorado-based company owned by Identity Digital.

Here’s an excerpt about the opening with details about what the person hired for this role will do:

The domain investment community is relatively small and most of the main participants know each other. There’s a collegial feel among many of us who have known each other for years. Mike Sullivan posted a tweet last week about competition amongst domain investors:

You aren’t in competition with other domainers. Consider yourself part of a team that can help and support each other.

— Mike Sullivan (@Sullys_Blog) May 20, 2022

I wholeheartedly disagree with Mike’s tweet (in a friendly way).