I contacted a number of prominent domain industry people to ask what they saw for the year ahead. I suggested ten questions, ranging from Overall, are you positive about domain investing in 2020? to Is there an important topic that is being overlooked? I asked each person to choose one question, or a few questions. I also searched NamePros discussions for member predictions on the same topics. The result is this compilation of views from twenty-five different people. The respondents include domain investors, brokers, leaders, service providers, analysts and others. Overall. most are optimistic about the market for quality domain names. Fractional domain name ownership, as well as increasing use of payment plans, were noted trends. A number of people commented on consolidation within the industry, as well as concerns over regulatory control of domain names. Increasing wholesale prices, along with limited inventory of quality names, were raised as issues going forward. Several interesting niches to watch were suggested. Are you positive about domain investing in 2020? There was general optimism for a strong 2020, at least for high quality domain names. In a NamePros poll, about 60% of respondents predicted an outstanding 2020 for the domain industry. Only about 5% saw a domain market recession in 2020. What other extensions will be strong? A number of respondents see a strong 2020 for .io, .co and .ai. A few other extensions received mention in the replies. Are there particular niches to watch? A wide variety of niches were mentioned including AI, distributed technology, 5G, gaming, shared resources, medicine, and many others. Do you envision new products or services? See also the Things On The Way section below for additional answers. What changes do you see in domain investing? What storm clouds threaten domain name investing? Is there an important topic that is being overlooked? Do you plan any major change in focus? What do you predict for high value sales? I encouraged respondents to speculate on whether we will see another sale in the $30 million range this year. And one respondent gave us a very precise domain sale price prediction! What other topics are important? What new is on the way? As part of their responses several respondents indicated planned or new initiatives. A few more quotes Find more predictions and leave your own For additional predictions check out the 2020 Predictions Thread started by Silentptnr. Please feel free to add your own predictions, either in that thread or in the comments section here. Rob Monster started a domain forecast for 2020 thread, and many NamePros members added their own predictions there as well. May 2020 be a fantastic year for each of you! My heartfelt thanks to all who took the time to provide insights for this article.
Cannabis, Illinois became 11th state New Year. also like cryptocurrency “cryptos” and... VR Oculus, HTC Sony more mainstream 2020 good list and “technology” encompasses many, except recreati Cannabis, not legal federal yet, good niche, not mentioned, beyond medicine. Samer
Thanks for the post Bob. I am sure that took a lot of time and effort to put together. Your efforts are appreciated. Brad
My prediction is some of those that were interviewed for this post will continue to avoid NamePros and will continue to not be part of any discussion here. To those that converse and are active on NamePros, Thank You. Thank You! You are the ones who's opinion is valued.
Thanks for the additions to niches, @Samer. The individual responses seemed so varied on niches, that I just listed a few and then said many more. While I realize the levels of involvement at NamePros vary a lot, I did only include in my list I sent out requests those who had some presence on NamePros with an account, so every respondent is at least occasionally on here (and some as you cite on a lot). In retrospect I should have sent out my request earlier, as it was too near holidays, and I should have simplified it to a smaller number of questions. Thank you for your comment. Also any who want to add their predictions, please everyone don't be shy, and add them in the comments! I would like to have included more, but the article was already getting long. Share with us what you think will happen in 2020. Thank you for starting the thread that helped me fill out the content with the breadth that I was seeking. I am gradually learning that if I plan that an article will take x amount of time it really takes 10x! Thanks for contributing and also for your comment. Thanks everyone for reading and commenting. Bob PS I should also have mentioned that in some cases I did slightly edit for length, etc.. a few contributions, but I certainly hope that I maintained accurately the intent of each quote.
@Bob Hawkes , you sure put a lot of work in to making these interesting articles about domaining and the domain Industry, One more prediction by me: Thanks to Oldtimers like Bob and his gentle, caring, and professional attitude towards others all hostilities, animosities, and negative competitions will end in the domain Industry and everyone will work together to make domaining a more fun and profitable experience in 2020 for all involved. IMO
If we could somehow achieve that it would be amazing (and the vast majority of interactions on NamePros we do achieve exactly that). I wish everyone in domaining was active on NamePros, and true harmony for everyone was achieved. Thanks for the innovative thinking and respectful discourse you bring to NamePros every day, and I love and share your interest in keeping things fun. Bob PS I love your AI robot as NamePros member prediction. I wonder, even with today's technology, if we would realize it was a robot. I bet not, at least not for a long while. It is an interesting idea and i actually don't think that far-fetched. But if one robot got on, then everyone would question if others were real people.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a Robot, it could be an AI Entity that exists in the Cloud. Although eventually maybe in a few years we might have Intelligent Robots living and working amongst us, but by then they might be called Artificial Lifeforms instead of Robots. I bet that the future AI member at NamePros can teach us all a few new things once it learns everything about domaining. PS: eventually the World has to find some common ground and come to an agreement as to how it's going to deal with AI (and Automation), I assume an AI Entity will be required to introduce itself as being AI when interacting with others. IMO
We all have a limited amount of time and different areas that we find rewarding. Lets be thankful that Bob took the hours to put this together and those that took the time to answer. Concentrating on the negative that they don't spend enough time here is perhaps one of the reasons why they don't.
Thanks for including me in this article, Bob! All the best for 2020 to you and all investors reading this.
Thanks for joining the conversation and Happy New Year to you. Please feel free to join conversations throughout the year, anytime. Like life, you get out of NamePros what you want. If you feel its negative, I am sorry to hear that. If you find it mostly positive and enjoyable, great! We all have different lenses. Keep the glass full!
There is always going to be differing opinions and interests in the domain Industry, the important thing is to keep all interactions on the forum and on the blogs at a respectful and professional level even when people disagree on a subject. In the past a lot of discussions ended up a little on the rude and hostile side even amongst the Industry veterans and leaders and the existing environment of the forum in a way encouraged that kind of behavior, but I believe that things have changed for the better and it is now possible to engage in a conversation without being attacked or demeaned and as such it would be of great benefit to everyone if some of the Oldtimers in the Industry returned here to share their experiences and expertise with others. If people don't agree with someone's point of view they should start their sentence with: With all due respect, but . . . instead of saying: That's BS, or Crap, or talk down to others by starting with "You just don't get it" or "How many times do I have to repeat this" IMO
After an initial reading of your " 25 Perspectives " I must say it would be hard to argue or strenuously disagree with most if not all of the perspectives presented. The overall positive outlook for the domain investor bodes well for industry. Thanks for the " Perspectives " Bob!
Great article Bob. I agree with Braden about two-word .COM's and one-word .NET increasing in value. But only if the global economy holds up and the markets don't crash. .ORG is still up in the air right now and .CO is being pressured by other ccTLD's (.io .ai). New gTLD's (non-coms) will continue trend lower. AI and machine learning are the future, unfortunately. Virtual assistants I'm still on the fence (privacy issues). Cannabis, sports betting, gaming and gambling will stay hot. Stem cell therapy will continue to grow. My biggest worry is ICANN and other entities trying to regulate domain owners names and domain extensions. Mark Thorpe
Some predictions summarized here, as well as published in 2 related threads, do reflect personal or business preferences of the writers. Not all predictions, but some. It is human nature. Or, to some extend, it may be considered as a programming of the future. However, when I posted comments in 2 related threads, I tried to do this without my personal preferences. Not an easy task indeed
Thanks for having my input Bob which is much appreciated! Loved reading other's input which is always helpful to know what others think from their perspective. Wish you and everyone the best 2020
