Thies Lindenthal at MIT: Full Time Research into Domain Markets

I want to share some news from Thies Lindenthal, the creator of IDNX, “the first scientific grade price index for Internet domain names,” operated by Lindenthal with extensive sales data from  Sedo. Using IDNX, you can see how domain names have performed since 2006 and compare the performance of the domain market to that of the NASDAQ 100.

Thies recently announced that he has begun a post-doctoral studies program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he will be researching the domain market in depth. The goal is of his research is produce empirical papers on several research questions, such as:

  • How big is the demand for domains? Which fundamental factors determine the demand for domains?
  • What are launch strategies of new gTLDs?
  • What determines a successful new gTLD launch?

As far as I know, Lindenthal’s research will be the first and most extensive of its kind, and I am sure it will provide considerable value to those of us operating in the space. It should also provide guidance to gTLD operators and those who wish to participate in future gTLD applications.

Lindenthal offered additional insight into his post doctoral work:

The postdoc is with MIT’s Center for Real Estate. It means full time research into primary and secondary domain markets. And, obviously, the launch of new gTLDs. I will collaborate with prof. Albert Saiz and prof. David Geltner, who are leading urban economists.

I am looking forward to learning more about Lindenthal’s research in the future, and I anticipate that it’s going to be used by everyone from domain registrars, brokerages, and domain investors.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

1 COMMENT

  1. “MIT’s Center for Real Estate”

    This reinforces my belief that domain names are truly digital real estate.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

Andrew Miller Turns Random Sunday Thoughts into LinkedIn Newsletter

0
Andrew Miller has been sharing a regular post on LinkedIn each week called Random Sunday Thoughts. In each Sunday morning edition, Andrew has shared...

Icon.com Acquired for $12 Million

1
Icon.com was recently acquired for $12 million, according to a LinkedIn post from the startup’s Founder, Kennan Davison. The domain name is being used...

DropCatch Auctions No Longer Close on Weekends

0
I wrote about the Mine.com auction on DropCatch.com earlier today. One of the things that stood out to me is the five day auction....

Mine.com in Pending Delete Auction

2
As I was looking through the upcoming pending delete auctions, I was caught by surprise by an exceptionally valuable domain name. Mine.com went into...

Check Price History on Acquired Domain Names

2
Timing is critical with domain name sales. I may have a domain name for 10 years, let it expire, see it picked up by...