I don’t really keep tabs on drop auctions, unless I am bidding on them. I also don’t generally place a bid on a domain in auction to watch it, even if there are many other bidders involved. However, Mike’s post, which has little to do with drop auctions, should make us more aware of what’s dropping.
With PPC down, companies are less cavalier about spending significant money on dropping domain names because they simply won’t be able to maximize the value with a parked page. For domain investors that develop or that buy and then target end users to re-sell, this is a big opportunity. Names that were selling for 4 figures are now selling for 3 figures, and there is less competition – especially for longer tail keywords. Some can even be picked up for registration fee after the auction ends.
In addition to the PPC slide, domain tasting has been virtually killed. This is causing more domain names to drop than ever before, allowing domain investors with a sharp eye to get deals. IMO, there are many great domain names that would be perfect for niche businesses, but they don’t get much type-in traffic. These types of names can be perfect for a quick flip to a targeted end user buyer.
I talked about a good deal I got on CabCompanies.com a while back, and every day, there are dozens of great domain names like this that would have sold for much, much more several months ago – or would never have even dropped. If you haven’t been paying attention to Snapnames or Namejet auctions, now is a very good time to do so.
