What registries need to know regarding working with registrars

Fresh registries ought to enter the market with their eyes wide open.

A lot of fresh firms will enter the domain registry business with the next round of fresh top level domains next year.

Last time around, there was irrational exuberance regarding the opportunity. Hopefully, people now have more realistic expectations.

This isn’t just regarding volumes. It’s also regarding how you work with the registrar channel.

Registries will have a rude awakening if they think they’re going to get their names on GoDaddy without paying for it.

I was reminded of the relationship between the registry/registrar when I read Kelly Hardy’s newsletter, Beyond The Next Round. Kelly, a domain consultant, interviewed Blacknight CEO Michele Neylon for a recent newsletter.

Now, Michele is known to complain regarding things. And his registrar isn’t the biggest. But there’s the thing: I talk to lots of registrars, and the things Michele takes issue with are common complaints among registrars.

A critical tidbit from Michele:

To be honest we have decided that we will not be onboarding any of the next round TLDs unless they are incredibly compelling and using backend systems we are by now integrated with. This is based on our spending way too much time, energy and resources trying to market “fresh TLDs” since the 2012 round. We haven’t been able to convince people and businesses in any serious volumes to try fresh domain extensions. Instead we have seen a reasonable growth in registrations of “legacy” domains and ccTLDs. So from a pure ROI perspective it’s more prudent for us to simply wait and see.

Michele outlined many things registries do that make it less likely registrars will sell their domains. In a nutshell: keep it simple. If you try something radical with distribution or policies, it makes it less likely registrars will sell your domains.