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.Gay domain now available for all

by — Uncategorized 4 Comments

The .gay domain name has finally entered general availability.

The .gay top level domain name entered general availability today, meaning anyone can register the domains.

It took a long time for .gay to come to fruition. There was a contentious and drawn-out process to allocate the top level domain name, and then the pandemic pushed back the release by a few months.

But it’s finally here.

A quick survey of domain name registrars shows that non-premium domains are available for around $25-$35. PorkBun appears to be the cheapest at $26.76. (While PorkBun is owned by the same people that own the .gay registry, the low pricing is due to PorkBun’s policy of making only about a dollar on each domain it sells.)

While anyone can now register .gay domains, those that want to use it for hate speech, bullying, or harassing LGBTQ persons, etc., need not apply. Domains used for these purposes will be suspended.

You can learn more about the .gay top level domain by listening to Domain Name Wire Podcast #299.

Taking a look at Web.com’s auction sales last month

by — Domain Sales 1 Comment

A three-letter .com domain led the charts.

Screenshot of RumorFix.com

RumorFix.com sold for $15,750 at SnapNames last month. It was previously used for a celebrity rumor site.

Web.com’s aftermarket sites NameJet and SnapNames combined for 76 sales over $2,000 last month. These 76 domains sold for a combined $360,000.

The top sales were:

ZML.com $34,000 – Not a bad sales price for a three letter domain. Top search results are for the .zml file extension and Zoho Markup Language.

Taiyuan.com $17,500 – Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of the Shanxi province in China. It has about 4 million residents.

RumorFix.com $15,750 – This was a pending delete drop catch at SnapNames. It was a developed celebrity site.

NCVC.org $10,500 – The .net is developed by a bicycle club. The outsized sale is likely due to backlinks to the former user, the National Center for Victims of Crime. How you’d use those backlinks, I’m not sure.

Cybersales.com $9,916 – Help me out on this one. Maybe for Cyber Monday sales?

PerfectRecall.com $9,190 – There’s no site history here, but this term is used in place of “photographic memory”.

LoanShop.com $8,250 – A great name for the loan business. The .biz is used by a company in Texas.

Here’s a complete list of auction sales over $2,000.

Domain NameSale PricePlatform
zml.com34000NameJet
taiyuan.com17500NameJet
rumorfix.com15750SnapNames
ncvc.org10500NameJet
cybersales.com9916NameJet
perfectrecall.com9190SnapNames
loanshop.com8250NameJet
countdownapp.com7790SnapNames
ashok.com7777NameJet
thoseshirts.com6337NameJet
blackiris.com5899NameJet
bluestarjets.com5811NameJet
scrapbookpages.com5751NameJet
thyroid-info.com5751SnapNames
evergreenseeds.com5750SnapNames
mydigitalmoney.com5590SnapNames
anrok.com5390SnapNames
longevitycollective.com5390SnapNames
birdseyeview.com5250NameJet
cmicorp.com5190SnapNames
sabinocanyon.com5150NameJet
datta.com5050NameJet
gelv.com5029SnapNames
jr8.com5000SnapNames
windandsolar.com4906NameJet
fooddonelight.com4906NameJet
advancedpsychiatry.com4790SnapNames
hummyyummy.com4790SnapNames
familysecuritymatters.org4700SnapNames
nutritionexplorations.org4443NameJet
hamptonshomes.com4072NameJet
shopinsurance.com4000NameJet
coin888.com4000NameJet
keynet.com3900NameJet
flybetter.com3600NameJet
snuggy.com3434NameJet
fernandodelasfuentes.com3390SnapNames
hg360.com3333SnapNames
medicarecompare.com3219SnapNames
yoin.com3201NameJet
myphr.com3200NameJet
theartcartel.com3200SnapNames
v-s.com3099NameJet
lionmedia.com3060NameJet
liveid.com3000NameJet
moviepro.com2988NameJet
asianamerican.com2930NameJet
estimators.com2900NameJet
rideguide.com2877SnapNames
etox.com2851NameJet
malunggay.com2811NameJet
turiya.com2809NameJet
freshtogo.com2806SnapNames
retirementage.com2751NameJet
naturalmeds.com2712SnapNames
cancersurgery.com2678NameJet
v-d.com2555SnapNames
islandcounty.net2549NameJet
neuratech.com2522NameJet
yamp.com2502NameJet
cannabissales.com2501SnapNames
rbcbusiness.com2495SnapNames
techawards.org2400SnapNames
miauto.com2334NameJet
dentist.info2272SnapNames
leanbusiness.com2272SnapNames
silverhomes.com2271SnapNames
yokoyama.com2223SnapNames
wellnessjunction.com2200SnapNames
kemtech.com2160SnapNames
techboom.com2150NameJet
floa.com2150NameJet
blosxom.com2055NameJet
radiantly.com2055SnapNames
airconditioning.org2048SnapNames
teeters.com2020NameJet

Milestone: There are now over 150 million .com domains registered

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.Com has over 150 million registrations 35 years after its launch.

Graphic showing that the base of .com domains is now over 150 million

There are now officially over 150 million .com domain names registered.

Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) updated its .com domain base statistics earlier today, revealing that .com hit the big milestone.

Just 20 years ago, there were only 10 million domains registered across .com, .net and .org combined. People said “all of the good domains are taken” back then, yet people have found another 140 million-plus .com domains to register.

Verisign, the registry for .com domains, has been a huge benefactor of the boom in domain names. It holds the sole contract for managing the .com registry and is rewarded with as much as $7.85 for each .com registered. It is contractually allowed to increase its prices starting this year.

In 2000, Verisign had 2,291 employees and grossed $475 million. It has sold off most of its businesses since then, focusing solely on running registries. Last year it grossed $1.23 billion with just 872 employees.

The rate of growth in .com has certainly slowed, however. Ten years ago, in September 2010, there were 118 million registered .com domains.

 

Why are two letter domains so sought after in China?

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Kassey Lee explores why two letter domains are valuable to Chinese companies.

Two Ls on a background that is yellow on the top and blue on the bottom

Actually, I found the answer in a comment made by Jeff Sass (CMO of .club) on the September 7 DomainSherpa show — even though he was not referring directly to China.

On the show, Jeff said, “When you get into two-letter domains regardless of the extension, the value is not just the fact that they are short two letters, but there are so many different potential applicants.” His comment applies to China, too.

First of all, Chinese companies highly value short domains. A good example is Jing Dong (京东), the third-largest internet company in the world, according to Wikipedia. In 2012, it already owned the brand-matching JingDong.com. However, the company wanted a shorter domain and upgraded to JD.com. Currently, JingDong.com forwards to JD.com.

Two letter domains have many different potential applicants. This is particularly true in China for a cultural reason that I explained in “The cultural reason 2 letter domains are valuable in China“.

Let’s take JD as an example. According to Domain Meaning Assistant, JD can be an acronym for more than 1,300 Pinyin phrases, which means a variety of Chinese brands. Here are ten examples to give you a taste of it.

Chinese brand Pinyin Meaning Application
京都 Jing Du Kyoto, Japan Japanese restaurant
景点 Jing Dian Scenic spot Tourism business
九鼎 Jiu Ding Nine sacred tripods Finance and investment
焦点 Jiao Dian Focus Investigative journalism
金盾 Jin Dun Golden shield Security
角度 Jiao Du Point of view Entertainment
绩点 Ji Dian Accomplishment point Education
绝顶 Jue Ding The very top Sports
健道 Jian Dao Healthy way Health business
决断 Jue Duan Make decision Business consulting

As you can see, two letter domains can be used to create a variety of Chinese brands. That’s why Chinese investors and companies own a lot of two letter domains.

End user domain sales up to €50,000

by — Domain Sales 0 Comments

A green energy company, an office space broker, and a fire detection company bought domain names at Sedo.

picture of rolled currency with the words "end-user domain sales"

Sedo’s public sales this week were led by HotelsGuide.com. A Romanian direct response company bought the domain name.

Here’s a list of some of the end user sales at Sedo this past week. You can see previous lists like this here.

HotelsGuide.com €50,000 – Romanian direct response agency Signivis bought this domain. I assume they’ll create a hotel booking site.

Offices.co €19,000 – This site helps connect businesses with office space.

Ilek.com $12,000 – Ilek is a French company that helps people switch to green energy. The company uses Ilek.fr for its website.

CXSummit.com $10,000 – UC Today LTD, a media company for Unified Communications, collaboration, and customer experience technology news.

FortFinancial.com $7,399 – Fort Financial FCU is a credit union with locations in Indiana, Mississippi and North Carolina.

Dryad.com $5,000 – Dryad offers ultra-early fire detection as well as health & growth monitoring solutions for public and private forests. The sensors they produce can detect wildfires and provide valuable insights into the microclimate and growth of the forest. Sure would be handy in the US West! It forwards the domain to its site at Dryad.net.

UCAwards.com £5,000 – UC Today LTD, which also bought CXSummit.com.

SafJet.com $4,460 – This domain was bought by eJet international, a consultant group specializing in aviation fuel facilities at airports, airport fuel operators and associated organizations.

EMShop.com $4,199 – Engineered Medical Systems is a manufacturer of medical instruments and implant devices.

GenesisX.com €3,750 – Del Rey Marketing, a digital marketing agency out of California. This domain might be for a client.

Salzmann.eu €3,599 – Salzmann is a manufacturer of high-performance reflective vests and clothing.

Luxusmesse.de €3,050 – Luxusmesse is German for “Luxury Fair”. The domain now forwards to the site for CyberFair.de, a virtual tradeshow marketing firm.

DetectLink.com $2,895 – GMO Brights Consulting is a Japanese intellectual property rights consulting group. This might be for a link detection or IP rights protection service.

FundStarter.com $2,000 – Nextone Media Limited, a media group in the UK, is listed as the owner in Whois. This purchase might be for a client or a new service.

Minimax.in $2,000 – Gunnebo AB Group sells the Minimax brand of fire extinguisher.

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