The
Aftermarket Sales
According to NameBio data, there have been 106 aftermarket
Only 10 of the sales were at prices of $10,000 or more, and only 26 were at prices at or above $5000. I show the distribution of
The rate of
When compared with all NameBio-listed new extension sales over the past year,
If interested in asking prices, here is a list of
Top 10 Sales
Here are the top 10
This list is based on NameBio data, and many venues do not report sales. There have been claims of other six-figure sales and at least one seven-figure sale, but I have restricted my analysis to NameBio-verified sales data. One can find additional verified sales through searches in GoDaddy domain appraisal - for example the name
APP Sales By Domain Length
Most sales in the
The vast majority of sales are single words, short acronyms or abbreviations. The sectors represented are broadly distributed. You can view the entire list of NameBio reported
Registration Data
The
Many had speculated that after the first year there would be a massive drop in registrations due to lack of renewals. For the most part, that has not happened, as the following registration data from nTLDStats indicates.
Although the wholesale cost is $12 for a standard
According to Dofo data, about 62% of the registrations in the extension are at GoDaddy, with Google at 9.5%, NameCheap at 6.1% and West at 3.1% the next most popular registrars. Together China and USA represent over half of all registrations in the extension.
Sell-Through Rate
One can combine NameBio sales data with Dofo domains for sale data, to compute an apparent sell-through rate. If I do that for the past year, the
You can readily calculate a sell-through rate for a different price cutoff, to better separate retail and wholesale. However, the smaller numbers become not very statistically significant. Also, the majority of retail sales are not reported in NameBio.
Actual Use
According to Dofo data, about 521,000
NameStat data indicates just over 1200
I suspect that many
Additional examples of operating
While fraught with bias due to repeat listings, a simple measure of operating website use is obtained using the Google
Potential Market
While the
According to Statista data, currently there are 2.56 million apps on Google Play, and about 1.85 million apps on the Apple iOS App Store. Amazon App Store accounts for another 490 thousand apps. While other types of apps exist, and other uses for
An interesting question: Is there a market for a brandable
Secure With Little Abuse
One of the features promoted by Google is that any website on an
A security certificate by itself does not prevent phishing, spam or other abuse however. I checked Spamhaus for abuse information on the
Final Thoughts
I welcome reader comments on potential for
Acknowledgement is made for the various sources of data and information used for this report, including Dofo, NameBio, nTLDStats, NameStat, DomainNameStats, Spamhaus and Google registry.
No association with any operating sites mentioned in this article is claimed, nor is mention an endorsement of any site. .
.app domain extension was released for general availability by Google on May 8, 2018, after a short sunrise period with higher registration costs. Now in circulation just over two years, I thought this an opportune time to look at aftermarket sales and health of the extension. Aftermarket Sales
According to NameBio data, there have been 106 aftermarket
.app sales accounting for a volume of about $617,000, and an average price of about $5800. The sale of shop.app for $200,000 has a significant impact on the average price, however.Only 10 of the sales were at prices of $10,000 or more, and only 26 were at prices at or above $5000. I show the distribution of
.app sales prices below. Keep in mind that this is a mix of wholesale acquisitions and retail sales data, with it likely that many of the sales less than $500 are wholesale.The rate of
.app sales is increasing. Even when no account is taken of the fact we are only about 2/3 of the way through the year, 2020 is already the best year for .app both in terms of number of sales and dollar volume.When compared with all NameBio-listed new extension sales over the past year,
.app represents 7.1% of the number of sales, but 19.9% of the dollar volume.If interested in asking prices, here is a list of
.app domain names listed with buy-it-now prices and sorted by price. 47 .app domain names have asking prices of $1 million or more, with the top at $49 million.Top 10 Sales
Here are the top 10
.app aftermarket sales in the NameBio database.shop.app$200,000 2020ZB.app$91,000 2019support.app$30,000 2019reality.app$24,000 2020me.app$24,000 2020dispatch.app$15,000 2018host.app$13,981 2018less.app$12,000 2019kind.app$10,000 2019Dubai.app$10,000 2019
shop.app is used by Shopify for a shopping app, while ZB.app is a cryptocurrency app. The domain me.app is a contacts application, although currently redirects to the site MeApp.info. Less.app is a multilingual site for upper-end second hand fashion, while kind.app is a healthcare app.This list is based on NameBio data, and many venues do not report sales. There have been claims of other six-figure sales and at least one seven-figure sale, but I have restricted my analysis to NameBio-verified sales data. One can find additional verified sales through searches in GoDaddy domain appraisal - for example the name
nomad.app sold for more than $25,000. The name is in use for a travel publication.APP Sales By Domain Length
Most sales in the
.app extension are 6 characters or less. The full distribution of NameBio-listed .appsales is shown below.The vast majority of sales are single words, short acronyms or abbreviations. The sectors represented are broadly distributed. You can view the entire list of NameBio reported
.app sales at this link to make your own decisions about what typically sells.Registration Data
The
.app extension found quick traction, growing to about 250,000 registrations by June 1, 2018. That has now expanded to about 750,000 registrations at time of writing. It is currently the tenth or eleventh most registered new domain extension depending on how expiring names are handled. Among all extensions, it is the 42nd most registered extension, Many had speculated that after the first year there would be a massive drop in registrations due to lack of renewals. For the most part, that has not happened, as the following registration data from nTLDStats indicates.
Above registration data is provided courtesy of nTLDStats.com.
Although the wholesale cost is $12 for a standard
.appregistration, with registrars charging higher retail prices to cover their costs, many of the most desired names carry premium registration and renewal prices. There has never been, to my knowledge, significant discounting in the .app extension.According to Dofo data, about 62% of the registrations in the extension are at GoDaddy, with Google at 9.5%, NameCheap at 6.1% and West at 3.1% the next most popular registrars. Together China and USA represent over half of all registrations in the extension.
Sell-Through Rate
One can combine NameBio sales data with Dofo domains for sale data, to compute an apparent sell-through rate. If I do that for the past year, the
.app apparent sell-through rate (baed on all sales over $100) is 0.14%. That is substantially smaller than the similarly calculated sell-through rate for .com which is 0.59%. However, the average price of an .app sold is substantially above that of a .com, so it might be argued that the overall profitability is not much different.You can readily calculate a sell-through rate for a different price cutoff, to better separate retail and wholesale. However, the smaller numbers become not very statistically significant. Also, the majority of retail sales are not reported in NameBio.
Actual Use
According to Dofo data, about 521,000
.app domain names have an operating website, about 74% of all domains registered in the extension. However, certain types of landers are considered an operating website in their analysis. Nevertheless, there is significant use of the extension in operating websites.NameStat data indicates just over 1200
.app sites in the Alexa 1M, or a ratio of one site per about 580 registrations, a reasonably strong ratio. The rate of sites in the Alexa 1M has grown by about 100 in the last month. The highest ranked site is only in about position 3000 however, sleeper.app associated with online games under the same name. Other highly ranked operating .app sites include cash.app and shop.app.I suspect that many
.app sites are either startups or existing sites that use an .app site along with their .com website. There are some examples where businesses have moved from a .com to an .app however, such as the Canadian medical administration service Jane.app.Additional examples of operating
.app sites are given on the success stories section of the Google Registry site.While fraught with bias due to repeat listings, a simple measure of operating website use is obtained using the Google
site:.app command. Here is what I found for .app along with a few comparators..app53 million.site171 million.online69 million.io231 million.gg18 million.vc5 million
.app has a similar number of sites to .online, a factor of 4 or 5 less than .io, and several times more than .gg.Potential Market
While the
.app extension is finding some other use, the majority are used for promotion and customer support for apps. Since most apps are available on both Google Play and the iOS App Store, a website can provide links to both.According to Statista data, currently there are 2.56 million apps on Google Play, and about 1.85 million apps on the Apple iOS App Store. Amazon App Store accounts for another 490 thousand apps. While other types of apps exist, and other uses for
.app domains, this probably provides an indication of the maximum number of .app domains that might find end use.An interesting question: Is there a market for a brandable
.app marketplace? Those creating a new app would go to the marketplace to get ideas for possible names with available domains in the extension.Secure With Little Abuse
One of the features promoted by Google is that any website on an
.app domain must have a https certificate to be operational. Google explained it this way in their release announcement.
The
.page and .dev extensions released by Google after .app have a similar https requirement.A security certificate by itself does not prevent phishing, spam or other abuse however. I checked Spamhaus for abuse information on the
.app extension. Just 0.2% of active .app sites have been associated with spam, resulting in an abuse score of 0.01, far better than any of the legacy extensions and most new extensions and many country codes.Final Thoughts
I welcome reader comments on potential for
.app domains as investments. Feel free to share success you have had in the extension, the type of names that you feel sell, or one .app name from your portfolio. Please do not post your entire holdings in the extension, however. I would also be interested in thoughts on what venues have best potential for selling .app extension names.Acknowledgement is made for the various sources of data and information used for this report, including Dofo, NameBio, nTLDStats, NameStat, DomainNameStats, Spamhaus and Google registry.
No association with any operating sites mentioned in this article is claimed, nor is mention an endorsement of any site. .
