Domain company Thought Convergence putting together all the pieces of a domain name ecosystem.
There are lots of companies playing one or two angles of the domain name business: sales, monetization, registration, etc. Thought Convergence, however, is making a play to own the entire life of the domain from research to registration all the way through sales. That puts it in a class with another Los Angeles domain icon: Oversee.net.
You probably know Thought Convergence, Inc. (TCI) for its TrafficZ domain name parking service. But over the past couple years it has cobbled together an assortment of companies and services, with the big coup coming when it acquired Name Intelligence, parent company of DomainTools.
When you consider the lifecycle of a domain name, TCI can now play in just about any part:
Research: Use DomainTools to find good domain names to register or buy
Registration: TCI doesn’t currently offer end user domain registration, but the company owns a handful of ICANN accredited domain registrars. Look for TCI to enter the domain registration business soon.
Monetization: TrafficZ, LeaseThis.com and Idea.net
Monitoring: DomainTools
Hosting: TCI picked up web hosting companies Spry and VPSlink in its acquisition of Name Intelligence
Sales: The launch of Aftermarket.com will make TCI a player in the live and online domain auction space
Community: Community isn’t part of the domain lifecycle, but TCI’s Domain Roundtable conference helps position the company as a thought leader.
When you put all of these pieces together, Thought Convergence has assembled a powerful package. For example, consider adding data from DomainTools to Aftermarket.com domain listings to provide rich details such as ownership and nameserver history.
As one part of the domain lifecycle declines (currently domain parking), Thought Convergence’s bet on diversification and catering to all aspects of the domain business should pay off.
Thats what I call a good business to invest in!
TCI have all there fingers in different pies and that is what helps then stand out from the rest.
They shall grow year on year and I look forward to dealing more and more with there company.
Regards,
Robbie
Founder
RegFeeNames.com
Andrew,
Great 30,000 foot overview.
TCI would make an attractive acquisition target for Godaddy, Google or even a business focused media company like Forbes.
LeaseThis.com – I had forgotten all about this company/site. Seems we haven’t heard much about them though the concept sounded very good when they launched.
It’s great to see that they are investing back in the industry… goes to show you that they feel pretty confident about domains in general. It would be nice to see more companies do even more acquisitions and better integrate services to offer better products.
Makes sense and sure it can be done…but can it be done well is the question. Would make domaineering easier if everything is in-house.