Publicly traded Demand Media (DMD) announced some news in a press release this morning that I want to share with you. The company announced that a proposed spin-off of its domain name services companies will be called Rightside Group. Taryn Naidu, who has been an Executive VP at DMD, will be the CEO of this spinoff company.
Interestingly, Rightside Group will be using a .CO domain name, which I believe shows the company’s commitment to the new gTLDs and the upcoming right of the dot world. Rightside.com is owned by someone in London, and the domain name does not currently resolve. RightsideGroup.com is owned by a private registrant and is parked, although the company may have privately acquired this domain name recently.
Taryn Naidu wrote an article on the company’s blog discussing the news. In it, Naidu discusses the company’s mission:
“Rightside’s mission – to advance how consumers and organizations define and represent themselves online – embodies both of these concepts. And we will deliver on this mission through the industry’s most comprehensive domain name services platform, an expansive distribution network, a large portfolio of some of the most highly anticipated gTLDs and a phenomenally committed and talented team. All of the capabilities, products and relationships that we have spent more than a decade developing will be united under the singular brand and company focus of Rightside.“
I think it will be beneficial for the domain investment space to have a publicly traded company that focuses solely on domain names. As of right now, Rightside Group is comprised of eNom, Name.com, United, TLD, and NameJet. I would imagine the new gTLDs are going to play a major role in the growth of the company, and it will be interesting to read its quarterly and annual reports to see how that business is developing.
The spin off process is somewhat lengthy and is similar to the IPO process. The company will need to file a form 10 with the SEC, and that will be followed by discussions with regulators. I am sure there are many people who will be following along with this process.
How can a company that has 15 million domains for resale which are primarily dot com use a .CO as its web address? They are basically indirectly telling whoever wants to buy a dot com from them that there is no need because you can save the 10 grand you were going to give us for that dot com you wanted and go register the equivalent .CO for 20 bucks because we are a prime example that you don’t need the dot com. Ridiculous!!! This has got to be one of the worst moves I have ever seen a domain re-seller make and yes I understand that they are positioning themselves for the new GTLDs but that doesn’t mean you have to use a .CO. Things like this are killing the value of dot coms and those that don’t see it are blind.
A tweet the company put out this morning said “We chose .co because its one of the neighborhoods where innovative companies live”
https://twitter.com/rightside/status/397742001539387393
One of the worst decisions I have seen a domain industry company make in a long time.
Well they could have still bought the .com and redirected it to the .co if that is the way they felt, right?
There isn’t anything particularly distinct about “rightside” so I would have to believe that if the owner of that was approached the right way it doesn’t seem to be a domain that would sell for large dollars.
Interesting that fairly major internet businesses are prepared to use the .co domain. I think in future the likes of Google will be encouraging this kind of movement. Dot-com has had its own way for far too long!
Cool
More companies relating to domain industry moving to the Seattle area.
High tech jobs are hot in this area!!
Rent has gone up thru the roof and traffic sucks but good for the economy.