Domain investing tips, strategies, and industry insights
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Domainers have a strange relationship with automated appraisals. When the number is low, the tool is garbage. When the number is high, suddenly it is worth mentioning in the sales thread. I am not above this either. I have looked at appraisal numbers before and liked the ones that helped my argument more than the ones that did not. I think most of us have. The problem is not that appraisal tools exist.
When I see a registry launching an award, my first instinct is usually to roll my eyes a little. Is this actually about the artists, or is it a clever way to move more registrations? Both can be true, obviously. But I've watched enough of these to be skeptical by default. This one I'm less skeptical about. .ART is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and as part of that they're launching the .ART Award.
One thing I think domainers get really good at, maybe too good at, is explaining why a name could sell. On the surface, that sounds like a good skill to have. If you can look at a domain and explain who might buy it, how they might use it, and why it has some value, then you are probably doing more than just guessing. And that is true to a point. But I also think this is one of the traps in domaining.
I reached out to Annalisa Dias because I wanted to understand what happens when a four-letter .org domain becomes the front door for one of New York City's most respected arts institutions. HERE Arts Center has been operating out of Lower Manhattan since 1993, producing boundary-pushing work across theatre, dance, music, puppetry, and media.
For a long time, selling a domain online has been a pretty simple setup. List the name, set a price or invite offers, point the landing page, and wait. That still works sometimes. A good name at a fair price can sell from a standard lander. I am not saying the old model is dead. But it is starting to look incomplete. Domain Name Wire reported last week that Atom has added end-user targeting and is building an outbounding system.
For a long time, buying a domain still felt like a separate act. You had an idea. Then you had to stop, go to a registrar, search the name, look at the price, sit there for a second, and decide whether you actually wanted it. That little interruption probably saved people from a lot of bad registrations. It made the name compete with your own judgment for at least a few seconds. That pause is starting to disappear.
The country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla that has become extremely popular for artificial intelligence companies and projects.
A generic top-level domain (gTLD) operated by Google, designed for mobile applications and app developers.
A generic top-level domain for communities, organizations, and membership-based groups.
A generic top-level domain suitable for any internet-based business or presence.
A generic top-level domain designed for e-commerce and retail businesses.
A generic top-level domain targeting the technology sector.