Top domain news stories — Last month’s
India, .net, appraisals and more.
Early each month, I send a newsletter featuring the top stories on Reglike from the prior month. Sign up here for the newsletter.
If you don’t get the newsletter, here’s a wrap of the top stories from last month:
1. India might ban .in domain investing – investing in .in domains has always been challenging given wacky policies, and it might get even more difficult.
2. Top level domain operator wants out of the business – .Desi is throwing in the towel. It’s the first time a non-brand fresh top level domain operator has voluntarily surrendered its TLD.
3. ICANN enters into .net contract extension with Verisign – Verisign played the long game smartly when .net went out to bid in 2005. It lowered its price substantially, but ICANN allowed it to raise prices by 10% annually. And it probably knew ICANN would never try to rein in those price increases. So its contract renewal will allow it to continue raising prices by 10% annually.
4. Top .com registrars, ranked – It’s wild to think what will happen when Google hands its domain name business over to Squarespace. Oh, and here are the top 11-25 registrars by .com DUMs.
5. When’s the last time you looked at GoDaddy appraisals for your domains? – Even if you don’t like GoDaddy’s numbers, they can be helpful when setting your own prices.
…and here are podcasts you might have missed:
#446 – Domain investing updates – I discuss my sales so far this year and what I’m doing to sell domains.
#445 – Lease-to-own – Kate Buckley joins me to discuss things to consider ahead of entering into lease-to-own deals.
444 – 10 years of domain lessons – Bill Sweetman shares many lessons he’s learned since launching Name Ninja a decade ago.
443 – Brandable domains – BrandBucket founder Margot Bushnaq chats regarding the accidental founding of her business, the success of LTO deals on BrandBucket, and more regarding brandable domains.
