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#4 in 2016: The Death of DNForum

by — Uncategorized 6 Comments

The demise of DNForum was big news in 2016.

The fourth most-read story of 2016 was my post about the death of DNForum.

The domain name forum, which used to be a popular place for domain name investors to discuss and trade names, went dark without notice in February. It came back online months later, but it is down again as I write this.

The forum’s demise seems to be a result of its owner’s financial or other troubles. Adam Dicker ran into some issues in 2015 when a number of clients went public alleging that he either didn’t deliver what he promised or owed them money.

Dan Gessler founded DNForum in 2001. Domain name investor Greg Ricks purchased the forum from Gessler about a year later, and then Adam Dicker acquired it from Ricks.

While the site was once the preeminent domain forum, NamePros was quickly becoming the go-to place for domain conversations even before DNForum’s death.

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How to quickly sort through crappy domains on domain name forums

by — Domain Sales 6 Comments

New site extracts domain listings from forums.

Back in the good ole days, domain sales threads on domain forums were full of great domains and big transactions got done.

Business still gets done on domain forums, but you have to weed through a lot of crap to find anything worthwhile.

Enter dnDigger, a site that collates domain listings from forums and lets you quickly sort through them:

dndigger

It’s an automated system, and it’s not perfect. A number of the domains currently on its home page are mentioned in a “for sale” post as comparable sales, so they aren’t actually for sale.

Yet it’s still helpful (and free), especially because you can add filters (e.g. .com only, 1 word dictionary domains, etc.).

What would be really helpful is if you could add multiple filters at once, such as 1 word + .com.

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Survey: DNForum Still Top Domain Name Forum

by — Services 8 Comments

Survey takers rank domain name forums.

Once again DNForum is the highest rated domain name forum.

That’s according to over 1,500 people who took the 6th Annual Domain Name Wire Survey.

48% selected DNForum as the top forum for discussing domain names, up from 37% last year.

NamePros came in a distant second place with 21%, followed by the private Domain Boardroom at 14%.

A few regional and/or niche domain forums also picked up votes: Poland’s DI.pl received 6% of votes via write-ins, UK’s Acorn Domains got 4%, and IDNForums received 3% via write-ins.

Despite changing ownership last year, DomainState only mustered 4% of votes.

1. DNForum 48%
2. NamePros 21%
3. Domain Boardroom 14%
4. DI.pl 6%
5. Acorn Domains 4%
6. DomainState 4%
7. IDNForums 3%

You can see more results from the 2011 Domain Name Wire Survey here.

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Battle of the Forums: Which Domain Forum is Best?

by — Services 10 Comments

Provide your input on the best domain name forums.

Are you one of the 1,000 people who have already taken the 6th Annual Domain Name Wire Survey?

That’s how many people have participated in the survey already, and one of the questions they’re answering is “which domain forum is best?”

Last year DNForum took home the most votes. The popular gathering spot for domainers has taken home the top prize 4 out of 5 years on the survey. NamePros came in second, and the private Domain Boardroom came in third.

If nothing changes in the waning weeks of the survey, you’ll see results for the domain forum question very similar to last year.

The last day to submit your survey is February 5.

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Survey: Sedo Best Online Sales Venue

by — Domain Sales 10 Comments

Sedo tops list of best online sales venues.

For the second year in a row, Sedo has been selected as the best online sales venue for buying and selling domain names. In a survey of 841 domain name professionals, 51% selected Sedo as the top online sales venue. Last year Sedo was first but only grabbed 36% of the vote.

The question on this year’s survey was slightly different from last year, as the question specified that it only pertained to online sales venues. Here are the complete results:

1. Sedo 51%
2. Forums 20%
3. Other 9%
4. SnapNames (non-expiring) 7%
5. TDNAM 6%
6. Afternic 5%
7. eBay 3%

(results do not equal 100% due to rounding).

Perhaps the most interesting statistics is forums only getting 20% of the vote. Domain name forums were the top choice amongst domain professionals in the first year of the survey, but have slid ever since. It is becoming more difficult to weed through the poor domains on these forums, making the time cost of searching for good domains to buy much more expensive.

The online sales channel is changing, and these results may be different next year. Moniker is integrating its online marketplace with SnapNames, which could create a powerful force in the industry. Also, Domain Distribution Network is gaining steam as is NameMedia’s integrated marketplaces including Afternic and BuyDomains.

The next survey results will discuss which company is most innovative when it comes to selling domain names in the aftermarket.

[View survey results here.]

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