Company changes its strategy to make it easier (and less expensive) to register .homes domains.
Dominion Registries is relaunching the .homes top level domain next week with a new strategy.
The registry for .homes (and also .autos, .boats, .yachts, and .motorcycles) originally launched its domains with restrictions and pricing that turned off both registrants and registrars.
Dominion Enterprises (parent of Dominion Registries) is a publishing company that owns Boats.com, Homes.com, Franchise.com and many other sites. Its original goal was to control the registrations of domains at the second level and sell them to their existing clients.
Onerous registrar requirements meant that few registrars carried the TLDs at launch. Also, registrants had to show a connection to the industry and verification could take 1-2 weeks before they were able to use .homes domains. (Listen to a podcast with Dominion’s Jim Schrand that was recorded when the restrictions were in place.)
As a result, the domain hasn’t taken off. .Homes has just a few hundred domains in the zone.
Last year the company removed restrictions on .boats and tried to re-engage with the registrar channel.
Now it’s doing the same with .homes and it seems to be having success getting registrars on board. Notably, GoDaddy will carry .homes domains.
Promotional first-year rates should be around $15 retail with standard and renewal prices around $35 or so. This compares to over $100 previously.
The relaunch is scheduled for Monday, January 14 at 16:00 UTC.
mike says
I guess Rick was right, they are so registry restricted, they missed the chance, trying to get the scraps now.
Snoopy says
Looks like the .boats changes added about 200 registrations. I’d say this registry will go out of business in the next couple of years. Donuts get ready!
John says
And whose been saying for ages now the “money grab” model was flawed from the start? 😉
Snoopy says
It is not the model that is flawed, the names are flawed. It is a dot com world and anything else is a fools game.
John says
You’ve become a broken record, Snoop. Some of them are nice and a “normal” cost model could have made a big difference.
Carl says
At least people now can buy domain names at cheaper prices than previously asked. Some benefits to normal world at last for domain name. Otherwise, it was expensive.
Steve says
Consumers desite the quality of choice NOT the quantity of choices. The GTLDs had a flawed value proposition from the beginning. The business model of the owners of the extensions: pump and sell the sizzle and get paid for dropping out of auctions for perceived viable extensions.
Steve says
Desire not desite