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Namecheap tops $200 million revenue in 2020

by — Domain Registrars 1 Comment

Company hits big revenue milestone during its 20th year in business.

Picture of stock chart with the words earnings report

Privately held domain name registrar and hosting company Namecheap has revealed to Domain Name Wire that it topped $200 million in revenue last year. The milestone comes during the company’s 20th year in business.

Revenue was up 35%, or $51.6 million, over the $149 million it posted in 2019. Its growth rate in 2019 was 19%.

Namecheap picked up 1.1 million new customers, a 63% increase over the prior years’ growth rate.

The company finished the year with 12.6 million domains under management, up 2.24 million for the year.

The pandemic led to a surge in businesses moving their businesses online. Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall said he doesn’t see that trend slowing down.

“Looking forward to the year ahead, we believe that the shift to online by many businesses affected by the pandemic will continue to provide for steady growth,” Kirkendall said. “Our industry best support stands ready to continue to help our new customers get online as quickly and seamlessly as possible via our fast-evolving product range.”

Vaccine companies as examples of Chinese domain usage

by — Uncategorized 1 Comment

Kassey Lee examines the domains that these Chinese vaccine companies use as a proxy for Chinese corporate domain choices.

Image of a person getting a vaccine in their right arm.

When I read news about Chinese Covid-19 vaccines these days, I see international diplomacy in play. If I put on my domain lenses, however, I see a different picture which helps me understand what to invest in for the China domain market.

Undoubtedly, there is a frenzy for Covid-19 vaccines across the world, and China is busy taking orders from Mexico, Chile, Ukraine, Turkey, Indonesia, Philippines, and many other countries. Even Brazil has changed its anti-China stance and ordered 100 million doses of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines recently.

A few weeks ago, South China Morning Post published an article on the Covid-19 vaccine race and listed the key players involved in it. With the help of Baidu search, I have found the domains used by these companies, as shown below.

English Chinese Domain Upgrade
Sinovac 科兴 Sinovac.com –
Cansino 康希诺 CansinoTech.com Cansino.com
Sinopharm 国药 Sinopharm.com –
Zhifei 智飞 ZhiFeiShengWu.com ZhiFei.com
Biokangtai 康泰 Biokangtai.com –
Fosun Pharma 复星 FosunPharma.com Fosun.com
Walvax 沃森 Walvax.com –
Junshi 君实 JunshiPharma.com Junshi.com
I-Mab 天境 i-MabBiopharma.com i-Mab.com
Haier Biomedical 海尔生物 HaierBiomedical.com HaierBio.com
Aucma 澳柯玛 Aucma.com –

What can we learn from this exercise? First, focus on .com domains if you want to sell to China. All of the companies on the list own .com domains. More importantly, these .com domains are actually used inside China and trusted by Chinese consumers.

Second, most of the domains are brand-matching. For example, Jack Ma’s company is called Alibaba Group Holding, but most people remember it as “Alibaba”. Therefore, its brand is “Alibaba” and so the brand-matching domain is Alibaba.com but not AlibabaGroup.com or AlibabaGroupHolding.com. Of course, the acronym version is also acceptable. Therefore, if you own a domain that matches the brand of a company, your domain is very valuable.

Cansino is an interesting case. The company’s website actually promotes the “CansinoBio” as its brand but many news articles I checked use “Cansino” instead. Therefore, “Cansino” has become a brand by public usage. For this reason, it is important for the company to own Cansino.com. Currently, Cansino.com is a small website dedicated to the Cansino family, so its acquisition may be possible.

Many of the domains are English-based domains. Note that I’m using the term “English” loosely to refer to domains that “look” western. Examples are Walvax.com, i-Mab.com, and Aucma.com. That’s good news to investors who do not invest in Pinyin domains. You still have a chance to sell to China even if you only have English-based domains.

The list also shows that many Chinese companies can benefit from domain upgrades. Examples are Cansino.com, ZhiFei.com, and Junshi.com. The case of Fosun.com also shows how important it is to use the best domain from day one. The domain is currently owned by Fosun International (a large consumer group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange), so it is unlikely Fosun.com will ever be sold.

 

Newer domain investors find success – DNW Podcast #321

by — Podcasts 3 Comments

Listen to three newer domain investors talk about their strategies, tools, and approach.

Image that says DWN Podcsat #321 with headshots of Joshua Schoen, Doron Vermaat, and Josh Reason with the words "Newer domain investors find success"

They say “all of the good domains are taken” and many people think that if you didn’t get into domain investing early, it’s too late. But last week, I hosted a panel on behalf of the Internet Commerce Association that proves it’s not too late. I interviewed three relative new-comers to domain investing: Doron Vermaat, Joshua Schoen, and Josh Reason. On today’s show, I’m providing an abbreviated recording of the panel. You’ll learn how these three got into domain investing, some “secret” tools they use for investing, and get inspired to make your mark. If you want to watch the full session (and others like this), you need to join ICA.

Also: Facebook UDRP, strong domain sales, Parler and more.

Sponsor: Dan.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:31 — 16.5MB) | Embed

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Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)

GoDaddy explains AR15 .com boot

by — Domain Registrars 46 Comments

Company says it asked the site to remove content that incited violence before telling it to find another domain name registrar.

Screenshot of AR15.com saying that it was deplatformed

AR15 .com says it was kicked off GoDaddy without warning. GoDaddy disputes this.

Last week, gun site and forum AR15 .com said it was “de-platformed” by GoDaddy. It claimed that GoDaddy didn’t tell it which content violated its terms, and informed it that the decision was final and it was given no way to appeal:

GoDaddy released a statement explaining that it provided a specific warning to AR15 .com, and the site did not take action to address it:

Why did GoDaddy suspend services to AR15.com?

On January 8, we received a complaint regarding certain content on AR15.com. Per our policy, our team investigated the content in question and confirmed it violated our terms of service because it incited violence. On that same day, we notified AR15.com that they had 24 hours to remove the content, or their domain name would be suspended. AR15.com responded that the content had been removed, yet when we checked to confirm, the site showed the content still live. Accordingly, we suspended services on January 11.

Although we informed AR15.com they had 24 hours to take action, we actually provided them with 53 hours to remove the content. Again, because the content was not removed, we followed our terms of service and suspended services to AR15.com.

Does GoDaddy plan to take the same action with other gun sites?

GoDaddy supports a free and open Internet. We do not take action on complaints that would constitute censorship of content that represents the exercise of freedom of speech and expression on the Internet. In instances where a site goes beyond the mere exercise of these freedoms, however, and crosses over to promoting, encouraging, or otherwise engaging in violence, as was the case with AR15.com, we will take action.

This is the same rationale the company provided when it told DailyStormer to find a new registrar in 2017 after the violence in Charlottesville. GoDaddy took a lot of heat leading up to that point. It was a bit squishy in that case — it seemed that GoDaddy suggested the content on the site could lead to violence, even if it didn’t directly call for it.

AR15 .com moved its domain name to Epik.

GoDaddy to change closeout auction pricing

by — Expired Domains 32 Comments

Dutch auction will start at higher prices to deter closeout sniping.

GoDaddy is changing its closeout auction pricing structure in a move that will upset some domain investors and make others happy.

When a domain name on GoDaddy’s expired auction platform doesn’t sell by the end date, it moves to closeouts. Closeouts follow a Dutch auction format in which the domain is $11 (plus renewal) on the first day and decreases by one dollar per day to $5. The domain proceeds to deletion if no one buys it by the final day.

As expired domain auctions have become more popular, bidders have refrained from bidding on domains with no other bids at GoDaddy Auctions and hoped to snap them up the moment they went into closeout. This resulted in a sort of closeout drop catching process similar to when drop catching services ping the registry when domains delete.

People with access to GoDaddy’s legacy API have been able to take advantage of this opportunity, but bidders without API access and computing power/development resources have been left out. Smaller domain investors, in particular, have felt disadvantaged.

The new pricing structure should give domain investors without special access a better opportunity to get domains in closeouts. The new pricing (effective February 1) will be:

Day 1: $50

Day 2: $40

Day 3: $30

Day 4: $11

Day 5: $5

It may seem counterintuitive that the closeouts start at more than the starting bid price of regular auctions, but the reality is that if you place an $11 bid on GoDaddy Auctions, you’re likely to see the price quickly soar above $50.

It will be interesting to see how this changes behavior.

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