analysis Making Domain Name Marketplace Search Better

One of the key ways that a prospective buyer seeks a domain name is by using the search feature at the marketplace. But how effective is that really? I take a look at search capability at general purpose and brandable domain name marketplaces.

Try This

To get a feel for how effective domain marketplace search is: attempt to find one of your listed names using marketplace search without entering the exact term(s). That is, enter term(s) with a similar meaning.

I had been in domain investing for years before I really looked at how easy or difficult it was to find the names I was placing on marketplaces.

This is not a large or comprehensive investigation, but I tried a number of specific searches at the three major general-purpose domain marketplaces, Afternic, Dan and Sedo.

Later in the article, I apply the same search strategies at the largest brandable marketplaces.

Keep in mind that I only manually tried a limited number of searches to evaluate each question, and sometimes interpretation was subjective. It is possible that a more comprehensive evaluation might, in some cases, lead to different conclusions.

Search In Reversed Order

Multiple-word names usually have a correct, or at least preferred, order, but not always. So the first test I did was to search for the name with the words reversed. All three general-purpose marketplaces passed this test, showing a listing with the reversed order high in the results for the cases I checked.

Similar Term

Next, I tried searching using a different but similar term. For example, if the listed domain name used the word bike, I would try searching using cycle or bicycle.

In that test, at least for the small number of cases I tried, Afternic generally did a good job of showing related names,

Dan did a very poor job, since search there seems based on finding names that contain requested terms only.

Sedo did produce a full list, although some of the search results did not seem very similar to me.

Comprehensive List

There is a balance to be found between presenting too few results, in which case many relevant names the client might have purchased are not shown, and producing a very long list including irrelevant results. A comprehensive list is generally better, as long as the search engine is smart about showing the most relevant names first.

Sedo produce a list with a very large number of results, while Afternic only presents a short single-page list, often dominated by exact match terms in a variety of extensions. Dan include all names, but only those that contain the terms you searched, not a full list including similar names.

Limit By Price

Some buyers have a definite upper limit price range. It is useful to search based on that criteria. Dan and Sedo offer limit by price range, but Afternic do not, at least not directly in search. I assume that the agents can produce such lists for prospective clients.

The limit by price can, in some cases, work against sellers, since seeing higher priced names can cause some buyers to rethink their budget.

Limit by TLD

Some buyers only want to consider .com names, or only another extension such as .io. Ideally search allows this setting. Dan and Sedo do allow limits by TLD, at least if you use Advanced Search at Sedo. Afternic allow you to specify the extension, but in my testing they still included names with other extensions further down the page.

Limit By Length

While some prospective buyers are open to various domain lengths, others are looking for a relatively short name. Dan and Sedo search allow this to be set, but not Afternic.

Starts-Contains-Ends

Sometimes a client has a definite idea on how they want a name to end, such as looking for a domain name that ends in rentals or creative. In other cases, the searcher may want only names that contain a certain term, or start with some term. Dan and Sedo offer this functionality, while Afternic does not.

Results That Include Extension

Let’s say I search for recycle best. As well as names that include both terms to the left of the dot, the prospective buyer might be interested in names where the extension is used as part of the expression, e.g. recycle.best. In my tests, Dan and Sedo correctly included these in the search results, usually high on list, while Afternic did not.

Sectors and Niches

While it is a challenging job to categorize some names within sectors and niches, it can be very helpful to a searcher to be able to only look at names that have been designated as relevant to a certain sector, say biotechnology or training.

It does not seem that Afternic or Dan offer this capability, but if you go to the Categories section at Sedo Advanced Search it is possible.

Short List

As the client searches through lists of many names, it is helpful to be able to readily short list or like certain names, and then return to evaluate that shorter list. As far as I could see, none of the general purpose marketplaces offer this functionality.

Summary

In the following table I summarize results from the above information, presented in the same order as this article.


Brandable Marketplaces

I also looked at the same search aspects for the major brandable marketplaces SquadHelp, BrandBucket and BrandPa.


In general, the brandable marketplaces offered more full-featured search. Of course, it is easier to do search on a smaller set. Even the larger brandable marketplaces have a few hundred thousand domain listings, a factor of about 100x less than Afternic or Sedo.

BrandPa offer .com extension names only, so the columns on limit by extension, or search for term including extension, don’t apply. BrandBucket do show SLD+TLD combinations in their search, although only a few extensions are offered on their marketplace.

All of the brandable marketplaces offer lists curated by sectors and niches.

They also all offer ability to control results according to specific criteria, such as terms and their locations, length, price range, etc.

By default, all of the brandable marketplaces show names that are assumed relevant to the search, even if they do not specifically contain the terms used in the search. The user can then filter the search if they want only names including a specific term, including its location. SquadHelp shared that in the majority of cases, clients start search on generic terms, but purchase names that do not include those specific terms.

The short list feature seems well-used at SquadHelp, and it is handy as a seller to be able to see how different domain names in your portfolio rate in terms of number of views and shortlists.

AI Informed Search

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing many sectors and niches. It would seem that a truly powerful search experience should be possible, one in which the user spoke or typed their request in a conversational way. Then an AI-assistant interpreted that, and responded, presenting domain options.

The process would be iterative, with better matches presented as the dialog continued, and after the client short listed some presented names.

Certainly SquadHelp has applied AI to many aspects of their marketplace, and continue to do so at an impressive rate, but I don’t think any of the marketplaces have yet realized the potential offered by AI-informed interactive search.

SquadHelp offers an AI-powered Domain Generator. You enter a number of words describing your naming requirement, and it will generate a list of possible names, both drawn from SquadHelp listings and names available for registration.

This article Supercharging Search with Generative AI, from the Google Blog, offers glimpses of how Google see the rollout of AI-informed search.

Summary

This article concentrated on marketplace search, but there are of course Many Ways People Can Discover Your Domain Name.

As a result of research for this article, I came to the following conclusions:

• Getting search right is one of the most important functions of a domain marketplace.
• To varying degrees, the current search experience offered by the three major general-purpose marketplaces is disappointing.
• While Afternic do a good job on reversed order and recognizing similar terms, the limited number of search results presented seriously impacts search effectiveness.
• The current short list offered by Afternic marketplace search does provide an advantage to those with single-term domain names in a desirable extension, while hiding many relevant two-word names from the results.
• Dan needs to implement smart intentional search, and not focus only on names that contain specific terms.
• Sedo currently offers the most complete search among the general purpose marketplaces, assuming the user goes to Advanced Search, and is not put off by how it covers part of the results screen.
• One advantage of the brandable marketplaces is that they all offer stronger search capabilities.
• A strong network of agents, who have access to the complete list of names for sale and powerful ways to search it, can make up for user search limitations to some degree, but some potential buyers will prefer not to go that route. Afternic and Sedo both have agents that can help clients with search, and BrandBucket certainly do that as well.
• Whichever domain marketplace takes full advantage of the possibilities of AI-informed search will have a huge competitive advantage.
• If I compare domain marketplace search to Amazon marketplace search, or to the effectiveness of search in general using Google or Bing, the domain marketplaces seem well behind.
• For certain types of names, such as matches across the dot, or names that will depend on intentional, not literal, search, these results may provide guidance regarding where to list.

My hope is that this article will provide a small push for the marketplaces to up their search game. That will benefit both them and us.

Update: Aug 4, 2023 A duplicate line in the tables was removed.