Company says intense competition and overall decline in domain parking are hurting its business.
Sedo Holding, which runs Sedo and affiliate marketing company Affilinet, recently released first half financial results.
Last month I wrote about how Sedo had lowered expectations for domain parking. Now the company says its domain parking business trajectory is worse than expected.
The Sedo segment of Sedo Holding declined 17.9% in the first half of 2012 compared to 2011. Revenue fell from EUR 20.1 million in the first half of last year to EUR 16.5 million this year.
While domain name sales are fine, parking woes continues to plague the company. Sedo says the overall decline in domain parking continues, but it also faces competition from “new and price-aggressive” parking providers. (I suspect Frank Schilling’s Internet Traffic is one of those.)
The company also said domain parking is being hurt by “advances made in browser technologies, which alters the circumstances surrounding monetization in the parking business”
As a result, Sedo wrote off a whopping EUR 57.1 million of goodwill in its domain marketing segment.
You can read the full first half report here (pdf).
Any idea what the “advances made in browser technologies” are specifically?
Kevin,
I suspect it’s the general shift from IE type browsers to chrome type browsers. IE allows type in traffic while chrome is geared towards searches.
Just my 2 cents.
Jacob
I think a lot of companies are taking customers away from Sedo. Voodoo.com, Parking Crew, and Rook are all paying more money to their customers than Sedo is today.
Just look at what Apple passed off in a seemingly routine update of Safari. Type any word in the browser (now also search bar combined) and before you can even typo dot you get a suggestion list that takes you to a search page even if you hit the domain wire.com suggestion. When I did this for Voodoo the first result of theirs was a paid ad, so they paid to get me back after Apple/Google hijacked users intention. Apple made a billion from Google off this practice last year. Firefox is also paid a billion! it’s illegal and it should stop. But who has the balls to form a class action? I for one,m will never bite a hand that feeds me. That’s the dilemma!
I meant “type dot” boy was that a subliminal typo
Domain parking is booming, look at internet traffic and others. Sedo never updated their parking templates, had the worst revenue per impressions in the industry and didn’t see this coming?
I switched to VooDoo and my revenue doubled.
Is it a lot……no but it pays for renewing
my small portfolio.
I’m expecting a letter any day now from my ppc suppliers, requiring me to pay them to park domains with their service.
🙂
This quote sounds like pure conjecture
Did they actually do a test? Or, are they just saying this because their business is down? How would they really know for sure that they are losing traffic to browsers?
Parking in my opinion is the best it has been since 2008.
Quote:
“The company also said domain parking is being hurt by “advances made in browser technologies, which alters the circumstances surrounding monetization in the parking business””
What exactly does “Sedo wrote off a whopping EUR 57.1 million of goodwill” mean?
Did they write of that much in cash or just in terms of brand equity?
And if it was brand equity, how is it quantified in a company’s balance sheet?
I wish Sedo would just F*** off and stop moaning..
They have THE most pathetic parking payouts IN THE WORLD – what do they expect if no one uses them ?? Bunch of greedy Germans!
Audi slogan: Vorsprung durch Technik ?
Sedo should be: Advancement Through Idiocy
LOOOL!
For my 15 years in active domaining, I never bought traffic domains nor depended on them, though I sold and bought tens of thousands for companies I worked for.
Domains have always, for me, been solely about end user branding. PPC rev was just icing.
Let the web developers like Tia Wood and Vessio reap the benefits.
“Gentlemen! Start your…. buildouts!”
I hate to break it to everyone without good type in domains, but domain parking as an industry is actually doing better than ever. I know you just bit your tongue reading that, but take a second and check this out. Many of my client’s day in and day out make a ridiculous amount of money, while they sit back and relax and shop for more traffic names. Frankly, they laugh at people who think new technologies will eradicate the importance of domain names in general and more specifically harm their type in traffic. Every day new terms are born and thus new markets for typos, extension altering yata yata. So, while ppc prices may fluctuate over time like they have declined for the past 5 years, the opposite is happening to traffic volume on the net, and perhaps these two have an inverse relationship anyway. You know the good old supply and demand. This doesn’t mean your revenues have to drop. This means that you have to change your game, because the game changed around you. But hey, you knew that to begin with. I bet many of you love that very aspect of domaining and that’s what makes it so interesting every day. These days, I find a lot of my clients are making money in parking and then using that as a source to acquire both more traffic names and resell type names. Our clients have access to our DomainPool platform. To make a long story short, this is your own unique and branded domain store that is fully integrated with a sales message system, organization and integrated with parking. Here is an example of one of my clients: http://www.PerfectNames.com so, many of my clients are making money flipping and from parking. You know, if I didn’t work at a parking company, maybe I too would think the business has no legs. BUT! I see it with my own eyes; people make a lot of money from parking. But it’s like anything else, you need to be smart and work with even smarter people.
Best Of Luck,
Ben
DomainParking.com
with other players coming in, you can’t really say the size of domain industry has been shrink when big elephant stop humping. companies like godaddy, hugedomains, and don’t others too. On other front it can be also happen, companies and domain buyers now started focussing on other tlds than .coms. likewise any company in australia, uk, india now prefer buying their cctld insted of .com or they settle with next thing like .org or .net. even some companies are running their sites on .me and .co. so now who really want to waste his money .com when they have such alternatives.
The problem of Sedo is one very important for the owners of domain names with account in this company country of Germany (EU). Sedo.com have partners registrar accredited ICANN the equal receive one percentaje 10% to 25% of all the domain names that sell in auction or for sale this is a problem by owner customer of the registrar………..of ICANN. The owner with account in Sedo.com not know this situatuion to hide . after to loste many money. Not is good this system for all the owners domain names TDLs the have opportunity cash charge $US 500000 before only $US 375000. This market and industry of domain names with his company parking domain is preference a rule new to the actuality.
Best
@ Joe – I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.
Hello, Andrew Allemann. I as member in Sedo have a problem for which for sale a generic domain name that I as owner and customer account with Godaddy, this last company is also Partner with Sedo.
If Sedo give to my a import for sale generic domain name. Exemple: $US 250000 that a interested business investment or invest in buy my generic domain name the result of sale is next the 20 percent for Goddady because I as owner, customer account with Goddady Sedo.com payment $US 50000 by be Partner of Godaddy.
The result end of the import for my as owner of generic domain name is of $US 200000.
You understand now as function Sedo.com and his partners registrar accredited of ICANN.
You Thank.
Honestely.