In July of 2016, Andrew Allemann reported that the auction for the .Web extension closed with a winning bid of $135 million. It was subsequently reported that Verisign was behind the winning bid in that auction, although the operation of .Web has been held up due to a dispute, also reported on by Andrew.
It has been several years since the .Web auction, and it looks like we may be coming to and end point with the ongoing dispute. According to Verisign’s Q2 2020 earnings call (transcript via Seeking Alpha), a final hearing related to .Web is coming up in August. The news about .Web was shared by Jeffrey Eckhaus:
Had a chance to listen $VRSN earnings call . Seems like we may have closure soon on .web
“A final hearing is currently scheduled to begin on August 03 in the Independent Review Process”But knowing ICANN, “final” is never final
— eckhaus (@eckhaus) July 24, 2020
Here’s the full transcript of the discussion about .Web from the Verisign earnings call:
“The second question, are there any updates on the status of dotweb? Answer, as we noted last quarter, a final hearing is currently scheduled to begin on August 03 in the Independent Review Process or IRP that affiliates initiated in November 2018. That hearing is scheduled to take place on videoconferencing. As a reminder Verisign is not a party in these IRP proceedings, but was granted the right to participate in certain limited aspects.
Also as a reminder an IRP under ICANN’s bylaws is for the purpose of ensuring that ICANN follow its own policies and procedures when making decisions. Our expectation is that following the resolution of the IRP the ICANN board will make the final decision on the delegation of the dotweb PLT.”
Personally, I don’t really like the .Web extension, but that is neither here nor there. Perhaps we will see .Web domain names in the market in 2021?
.Web is the best domain extension since .NET IMO.
Probably, but what does that count for?
It is a worse extension than .Net released 30 years too late. I think Verisign will make a decent ROI off it, especially if domainers and defensive registrations. In terms of actual usage it has no chance.
This extension is the last hurrah for the new tld market.
Unless we’re expecting spiders to suddenly start running e-commerce systems, it’s a completely pointless TLD – it’s only purpose would be to tell people there is a website (kind of what ccTLD .ws completely failed at) – at best redundant and at worst just going to get used for scams.
Redundant in the way that 2 legs are. The TLD is NEEDED to function PRINCIPALLY – like 2 legs.
So while .web is redundant, for many WEBSITES, .com is a DEFORMED appendage!
It’s saturated. There aren’t enough domains. People WANT something else.
That’s not what you want. Too bad. It’s happening anyways.
Of course. They know .com is DYING. Everyone knows except domaining. Let me explain…
– Domains are (memorable) VANITY addresses.
– Com is old & un-savvy.
– Your baby’s ugly.
Sorry to have to tell you.
Clearly you’ve registered way too many New Tlds to be having these thoughts.
How much are you in in the hole for?
That’s a bold question coming from someone who won’t even show their domains. I’m not going to oblige you, https://fucking.dog
As soon as you OPEN your mouth while hiding your domains, you’re a fraud as far as I’m concerned. Nobody to entertain.
You never have anything of value to add. Does that all make sense? Or will I have to explain 3 more times before you understand?
YOU’RE the NOBODY with NO domains. Get on our level before you make such demands! It’s called MANNERS.
So I take it you don’t want to answer that question? What is the point in the long winded New Tld sales pitch if you aren’t even making a profit from them?
Boy, looks like these .whatever renewals are killing you… .com cost to carry $9 a year for 7 figure assets. I wonder, when did the language become so rude here, Elliot? Clearly those new gTLD fans are underwater so bad that they throw away all their manners and decency. Drop those .crap domains and invest whatever is left in some value stocks. Jeez…
No shame in making a business / investment decision and be wrong. That happens to all of us. But continue to ride a dead horse like the new TLD’s, doubling down, even attacking others… Cut your losses and move on. Don’t throw good money after bad. Look at the sales data. How much more evidence do you need?
.com is the status quo. FACTS
TLD is nothing better than people wanting to boast that they bought a Tesla. It’s all about “Ooh loooook at me” and then sit on a 3 letter domain until someone is daft enough to buy it. Daft rich investors who think B2C TLD reputation is the best.
It is now September, do we have any more news?
lol, after reading here, I had to chuckle Today’s date is August 18, 2021 and still no .web extension! Still waiting…. Asking the question; When will it be possible to “register .web names?, is useless. Nobody wants to talk of .web names. Exhausted and in the red, ntld registrants cling to the hope of the dream of being a Kevin Ham, or Rick Schwartz, or Frank Schilling. Alas, circa 1995-1999 domain registrants, the first to the trough, are the only ones making money in selling domain names and this will not change. The geniuses that were there first, right place and the right time, first to the .com, one word registration trough, have won the day. Here we are, 25 years later, and still venture.com is an embarrassment of riches, quietly, the only one among a very few, first to the trough who are making money. And, there is the behemoth bully, Godaddy, for good measure, to bury the newbie ntlders.