In another landmark domain name deal, Moniker has been acquired by advertising company Kanoodle.
Just months after eNom was acquired, popular domain registrar Moniker has been acquired. Kanoodle, known for its contextual advertising services, is buying Moniker but will operate it as a separate business unit. The new company will be called Seevast.
I’m a big fan of Moniker and hold most of my domains with the company. Moniker focuses on clients with large portfolios and provides one-on-one customer service. I hope this acquisition adds value to Moniker’s existing registration customers and doesn’t result in major changes at the registrar. Moniker is great; the addition of Kanoodle can make it outstanding if done properly.
The reasons for this acquisition are obvious given Moniker’s role in the industry. Kanoodle will also be able to syndicate its ads through Moniker’s parked domains, including those parked in its TrafficClub service.
So eNom has been acquired and then it acquired BulkRegister. Moniker has been acquired. Register.com was purchased by an investment group. What’s next? The industry is ripe for more mergers and acquisitions. There are two types of acquisitions in this industry: first, consolidation in which one registrar buys another; second, value chain consolidation in which companies combine more pieces of the puzzle such as content, advertising, and domains.
With GoDaddy going public soon we might see it snap up some other registrars. Still other registrars may be forced to combine forces or meet a sad fate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see action with Network Solutions, Tucows, Register.com, or Dotster, with most of my money on the latter three.
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