I received a press release that will be of interest to people who have invested in .XXX domain names. ICM Registry, the company that operates the .XXX registry, has announced the release of “over 1,000 premium generic keyword domain names.” The names will be available on a first come, first served basis.
Many of these keywords were determined to be premium based on searches of the ICM Registry’s Search.XXX search engine, which went live at the end of September. It looks like the company has a custom landing page with a blue “Buy Now” landing strip across the top. Interested buyers are requested to make an offer on the name via form.
According to the company, these keyword domain names should benefit the owners, as the company skews towards exact match domain names in Search.XXX results. According to the press release, “the algorithm that search.xxx uses gives weighting to exact match domains with highly developed content and so these newly released names , once developed and listed, will feature prominently in search results for the most popular keywords.”
This seems like this is a good way to increase the value of keyword .XXX domain names.
You can see a list of names that are now available on the ICM Registry website, along with the prices. Based on the offer form though, it seems like there might be some room for negotiation. As Kevin posted this morning, the company hopes to raise over $7.7 million by selling these domain names.
Press Release below:
Palm Beach, FL – October 24, 2012 – Following the highly-successful launch of the Internet’s first Top Level Domain (TLD) porn search engine, www.search.xxx, ICM Registry today announced the release of over 1,000 premium generic keyword domain names. These domain names are now available for registration on a first come, first served basis and many reflect the most popular key words searched by millions of adult content connoisseurs.
Keyword domains ranging from blondes.xxx to zorras.xxx are now generally available for registration for those interested in being part of the Internet’s hottest search engine. ICM Registry, which operates the .XXX TLD, created www.Search.xxx as the first search engine to find exactly what a user wants amongst millions of pages of .XXX content. The creation of the Internet’s first porn search engine drove immediate high volume traffic to many .XXX domains – and has kindled overwhelming interest from across the globe for new generic keyword domains.
The algorithm that search.xxx uses gives weighting to exact match domains with highly developed content and so these newly released names , once developed and listed, will feature prominently in search results for the most popular keywords.
ICM analyzed the most-sought after keywords based on the top keywords entered into Search.xxx by over eight million searches/page views undertaken since the launch on September 27. This was then matched to the list of previously reserved premium names. The list of names now generally available can be found at www.icmregistry.com/premium Editor’s Note: Most of those reference adult-themed content.
CEO of ICM Registry, Stuart Lawley, said the general release of these domains is part of ICM Registry’s responsible approach to developing the .XXX top level domain into an environment that serves adult entertainment consumers by helping them find and enjoy the exact content they want. There has been astounding interest from across the globe from providers wishing to seize this opportunity to build pages of content for a growing audience under the .XXX umbrella.
“In the first week we saw over one million unique viewers who searched through 8 million pages of content. This meant a huge spike in our .XXX registrants’ traffic,” Lawley said. “Now people have heard of Search.xxx, and we’re responding to this sense of urgency and answering a demand for more domain names. For years we’ve studied keywords – but in the last few weeks we have had the ability to know exactly what is currently driving consumers’ interests. Search allows us to provide real-time industry insight while protecting individual consumer privacy.
Lawley added that the release of these domain names is a part of ICM’s on-going mission to build the strength and vitality of the .XXX ecosystem with ICM registrants who develop quality sites; we want our community to prosper from high levels of traffic. Many of the names offered are exact matches of top search terms and categories.
“This general release of premium domain names follows ICM’s prior sales of over $5 million in premium domain names; over the last year, we have sold approximately 200. Many sites such as Gay.xxx at $500,000, Fetish.xxx at $300,000 and Shemales.xxx, which was part of a $200,000 deal, are developed, live and attracting visitors daily,” Lawley said.
Websites built on these new premium domains will benefit from the unique visibility being driven by Search.xxx, the porn-only search engine. Consumers can rest assured that new websites will provide the same .XXX security protection of daily Malware scans by McAfee. Additionally, each site will have a MetaCert electronic Family Safety label making it easier for users, organizations and parents to adjust browser settings to restrict access to websites labeled as adult oriented content.
More on Search.xxx
Search.xxx offers a clean user interface and intuitive keyword searches. Search.xxx uses the same technology as usual mainstream search engines but is for adult content only. Search.xxx allows you to set your language preference and your sexual orientation preference, as well as to control the “look and feel” of your style preference.” Additionally the service offers 50 pre-set categories and selections already figured out based on popular surfing habits. Recent enhancements allow users to search specifically for videos, still images, cam sites, stores, DVDs and more, making Search.xxx an experience totally focused on delivering exactly the adult entertainment users want: quickly, discreetly and easily.
More on ICM Registry
ICM Registry, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is the registry operator for the .XXX sponsored top-level domain as approved by ICANN in 2011. ICM Registry provides the management and supporting infrastructure for this extension offered via registrars around the world.
The entire XXX registry is the most ill-conceived venture in the history of domain gTLDs. The XXX extension would have made great traction has it introduced around 2003, but I really can’t see any .com “adult keyword” domain really making a mark, let alone a .xxx one. If anything, explosion of free “tubes” sites in the past 2 years shows that brandability far outweighs keyword domains. I read somewhere that the top 10 adult video tubes sites alone, such as xvideos (alexa #49) dot com account for about 25% all USA net traffic volume (and Netflix about 20% on their own). Consumers are not comfortable typing adult keyword domains IMO, thats why xhamster is alot less heavy on the conscience than something f*cking.com
Here’s an update from Stuart about these domain names:
“Each and every one of the 1,000 names up for sale , will come with entitlement under our “grandfathering” program we previously announced.
this means , if we are successful in obtaining the rights for .sex, .porn and .adult via our pending applications to ICANN in the new gTLD round, the premium names available in .xxx will entitle the registrants automatically to the matching name in the 3 new strings at no extra premium.”
Just FYI, comments on this post may take a bit of time to approve (and may go into the spam filter) because of the “xxx”. Akismet generally spams these and I have to manually approve.
pricey… definitely pricey. plus… to quote rain man… about a hundred dollars.
don’t see how they could be worth it.
Where is the best place to sell xxx domains?
Not sure… can anyone else with experience advise?
In the poker world, the timing of this release would be called a “tell.” If ICM was confident that its renewal rate would be strong, it would wait until AFTER the first year renewals data is available, as that would show stronger demand for .xxx with corresponding higher values. If the renewal rate turns out to be weak, values of these “premium” domains would be lower.
It’s just like the stock market, and an earnings release. Do you sell before the earnings announcement, or wait until after the earnings announcement? In this case, ICM is selling before the “big announcement” (i.e. the reveal over what percentage of registrants decided not to renew their domains).
what do you think freemium.xxx will be worth? Any idea?
Why bother getting the “premium” SexOther.xxx for $5,115. when the .com is available for 1/1000 that? Just snatched it.
If there is one thing that the market forces of internet has taught us is there’s no such thing as “self proclaimed authority” (or at least not since 1998!) – in this case, ICM’s proclaimed authority over “sanitized” porn search.
It continues to amaze me, like the domainers who proclaim to be “building an authority site” on so-and-so niche. A person or organization cannot build authority on the web of 2012. Authority (being the world community on the web) must build you. ICM is building a “push” model, when only “pull” efforts will work today on a scale they are looking to achieve.
XXX intentions and goals are much like MOBI’s 5 years ago (albeit, much more advanced and sophisticated) but ICM will go down in flames, just like MOBI. I am not an XXX, porn, or ICM hater – just a student of life and business on the sidelines watching the game.
A do indeed sense you are an ICM hater, but youve got a point Nick!