Auction results to date — Donuts explains

Donuts discusses first fresh TLD auction results.

Fresh TLD applicant Donuts participated in six private auctions to resolve contention sets. It won one of the auctions and lost the other five. Here is a statement from the firm regarding the results so far.

Donuts won the bidding for .PHOTOGRAPHY. As stated by the auction agreement terms, we’ll be the sole remaining applicant for that TLD. Final bids are confidential as you know.

Some are speculating that we or other bidders are intentionally losing auctions merely to collect from winning bidders. Speaking for Donuts, our strategy is to acquire gTLDs. We were very active in the auctions — we placed bids totaling more than $8 million over the course of this round.

Each TLD, still, has its own unique circumstances. We’re resourced to win all auctions, private or ICANN, but at the same time have made careful judgments regarding values of contested strings. We’ll avoid getting carried away and bidding beyond reasonable valuation assessments.

For the record, we’re still standing behind the applicant auction as the best means of resolving contention. They are a fair and efficient method to solve competition for resources.