Dynadot

poll How much longer will we see big sums being paid for domains?

Spaceship Spaceship
Watch

domain invest3r

Pinyin domains for saleEstablished Member
Impact
226
All,

I have been doing some research recently, particularly on the future of domaining. I have come into this game late and what with the exponential progression of technology I am sure this is a question many of you will have also already pondered on. "How much longer will be see big sums being paid for domain?"

Whilst it is clear that the internet will be an integral part of our lives almost indefinitely (unles you know otherwise!), the value of domains is certainly an area for discussion. Granted they will never cease to exist but their usefulness in the face of emerging tech is a question. How much of an effect on future pricing will the below have for example:
  • China and other countries/markets joining
  • The infinite multitude of alternative domain extensions now available, watering down the market
  • Artificial Intelligence- I recently watched a video by an "internet founding father" who seemed to know his stuff although I am not entirely sure of his credentials, which basically suggests domain names will trend towards being obsolete over the course of the next 5-10 years
Grateful for your thoughts.

I hope the poll works!

DI
 
1
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Sorry- could a mod please help me insert a poll on this (I thought clicking submit would take me to a further page to choose poll options)

DI
 
0
•••
I've read about this as well and can see it happening.. More app based and / or everything tied into a few large sites like Facebook and Amazon.
 
1
•••
i dunno what youve been reading but prices of now valuable domains are not going down to any extent that would be worth mentioning in future
 
1
•••
i dunno what youve been reading but prices of now valuable domains are not going down to any extent that would be worth mentioning in future
It wasn't related to domaining, just how things could change online.. For example, I can make a website display inside a Facebook app. Negating the need for a url.. Just one example.
 
0
•••
i dunno what youve been reading but prices of now valuable domains are not going down to any extent that would be worth mentioning in future

Thanks for the input alcy. It is not so much something I have read but more a look at the logical progression of things.

Do you not think perhaps there is a chance that the need for a good domain name will be superseded by the willingness of a search engine to grant domains the prevalence they currently have on search results? For example, won't .COMs fall in value the moment wider acceptance of the extensions occur?

Whilst we are seeing action, it is numeric and short domains, pointing towards a shift in paradigm. Or maybe I am just talking loopy?!
 
0
•••
I agree that there is a certain amount of risk that needs to be factored into buying decisions. I personally make decisions under the assumption that domains will not be a thing in 6 years. It's probably conservative, but I can still spend nearly all of my bankroll.
 
2
•••
Could someone help me put a poll on this thread. Would love to get a rounded view from the whole forum. Options would be:
  • 1-5 years
  • 6-10 years
  • 10-15 years
  • forever
 
0
•••
Could someone help me put a poll on this thread. Would love to get a rounded view from the whole forum. Options would be:
  • 1-5 years
  • 6-10 years
  • 10-15 years
  • forever

uneed to create new posrt with poll
cheers
 
0
•••
  • Artificial Intelligence- I recently watched a video by an "internet founding father" who seemed to know his stuff although I am not entirely sure of his credentials, which basically suggests domain names will trend towards being obsolete over the course of the next 5-10 years
Domain names were declared 'obsolete' many years ago in some SEO circles :rolleyes:
The reasoning being, that more and more searches are done through search engines. But a website still needs an address to be located.
I can imagine that domain names could become less important in branding strategy, however I don't believe in this scenario for the near future. Because businesses need to advertise their brands, and for this they advertise URLs, that is domain names...

Domain names have become valuable just because they are advertising tools. In 1992 there was no WWW, so you didn't need a sexy domain back then. Domain names were mostly used for E-mail. They didn't have to be good or memorable.
 
11
•••
Next time you're driving down the road and see a plumbers truck try to memorize the phone number and the website address. Later on try to recall both. As long as a business needs to be found there will always be a way to find them and until that way exists and replaces the ease of remembering a url then I don't think we have to worry about the url going away anytime soon.

1-800 numbers were the next step up from a regular phone number because they were easy to recall in memory and the internet didn't exist so a business was reached by phone. Then the internet was created and the link to a business was replaced from a phone number to the url. There is nothing that will replace the internet so the url will never be replaced. There will always be a value in urls until something replaces how we link DIRECTLY to a company and how easily we can recall that company from our brain. Even longer urls are going to become more popular because they are easier to remember than a phone number. This is why I don't understand the Chinese market for long 6,7,8,9 number numerics. If we can't remember a phone number then how can we recall multiple numeric domains from multiple companies that use long numerics? Obviously that is a whole other subject but it does baffle me.

Brick and mortar stores at some point can't survive against the onslaught of the internet and every single business is going to want/have to be online which should only increase the value of good domains. The future of the brick and mortar store is going to be a combination of storefront/warehouse facility that sells to the walk in public and also stores and ships products online. Everybody and their mother is going to want/need a url.
 
10
•••
I had the same thinking 10 years ago thinking there was not big enough money in domaining and all the very good names were gone, so I moved on to other areas to make money.

The market is way more open now and i would say more fluid too, also thanks to the Chinese flooding the market lately.

Personally I fee like businesses and big companies are now more open to the new gtld domains and this is obviously due to several factors like time, marketing, etc, etc. Im of the opinion that new gtlds are slowly ripening and they might just disrupt the status quo.

Im thinking old fashioned dot com will still be the king for at least the next 2 to 5 years.

One thing is always certain in domaining, and I guess outside domaining too, that is if you got the brain plus the money, you are more than likely to make it worthwhile.
 
2
•••
I have seen numerous businesses and online channels operating without a domain name but merely using social accounts at either Facebook, Youtube or even Twitter to promote their online presence. However, my largest sale this year (in one of my worst years since I started in domaining) was to a company which merely redirected the domain to their Youtube channel.
 
1
•••
Next time you're driving down the road and see a plumbers truck try to memorize the phone number and the website address. Later on try to recall both. .

Why would you need to memorize either?
 
0
•••
Like any other market, Pricing is determined by demand.
So if you see demand going down, so go's prices.
If you see supply being up from all the new TLD's...
...
I have herd that before and yet to see it happen.
It could happen, but I don't see it in the next 5 years anyway.

What you are seeing is a increase in the number of NDA's ...
So most 'higher priced' sales are under the radar.
You can't track what you don't know about.

Gives you the appearance that prices are falling by listed sales reports and fewer of them.
I think it is alive and kicking. But the NDA'a do make it hard to determine market breath and depth.
 
3
•••
Why would you need to memorize either?
Branding is everything. If I see a company on the road with great branding I would choose them over hundreds of others in the exact same business. If that company has a generic company name like Bobs Plumbing and I searched for them on Google how would I know which Bobs Plumbing I saw? Reason being there is BobsPlumbing.com, Bobsplumbingandheatinginc.com, BobsPlumbingServices.com, BobsPlumbingInc.com, BobsPlumbing.net, BobsPlumbingandHeating.biz, BobsInstantPlumbing.net and on and on........

No confusion if they have a memorable domain name that can easily be recalled.
 
Last edited:
1
•••
Even longer urls are going to become more popular because they are easier to remember than a phone number. This is why I don't understand the Chinese market for long 6,7,8,9 number numerics. If we can't remember a phone number then how can we recall multiple numeric domains from multiple companies that use long numerics?
Asians are not comfortable with ASCII.

Branding is everything. If I see a company on the road with great branding I would choose them over hundreds of others in the exact same business.
You've raised one of the most important characteristics of a winning domain name: memorability.
Some domains are clearly better than others, domain names that are credible and memorable will certainly be sought after, especially when exposure time is limited: TV advertising, or the truck passing by the road. You URL has to make a lasting impression.
 
4
•••
Hello,

Great domains will stay valuable as long as internet navigation and marketing depends on them. I guess I'll be long gone before that.

Crappy domains will continue to sell for peanuts, or not at all.

The tricky part is how to get the great (or at least good) ones without spending more than you earn.
 
4
•••
There are less than 50% of Earth population connected to internet, also internet is still young, so domain prices will go only higher at least for next 20 years.
 
3
•••
I believe the biggest challenge the domain investor faces is that generally speaking the potential buyers of domain names (small business owners, developers, executives with purchase authority) do not place much value on branding via a domain name. So while these businesses will spend thousands and thousands of dollars on online marketing, travel, professional services, website development and other IT costs, executive bonuses, the thought of spending more than $XX for a domain name seems like extortion. Attempts to market a domain name to a targeted end user are often viewed as spam. Since there are more than 100 million .COM registrations, the end user attempts to add extra words or abbreviations or hyphens or numbers or maybe use an alternative extension to come up with something which is available. The launch of hundreds of new TLDs will give such tight-fisted end users more options. That does not mean investing in those new extensions will generate favorable results. As long as the potential buyer can still get creative to avoid having to pay more than $30 for a domain, they are not as likely to open their wallet for an aftermarket domain.

That is until there is a seismic shift in end user value placed on branding via domain names.

Will we see a massive shift in the value placed on branding using domain names in the next few years (given it has not happened as of 2015)?
 
5
•••
There are less than 50% of Earth population connected to internet, also internet is still young, so domain prices will go only higher at least for next 20 years.

Hope so!
 
0
•••
I believe the biggest challenge the domain investor faces is that generally speaking the potential buyers of domain names (small business owners, developers, executives with purchase authority) do not place much value on branding via a domain name. So while these businesses will spend thousands and thousands of dollars on online marketing, travel, professional services, website development and other IT costs, executive bonuses, the thought of spending more than $XX for a domain name seems like extortion. Attempts to market a domain name to a targeted end user are often viewed as spam. Since there are more than 100 million .COM registrations, the end user attempts to add extra words or abbreviations or hyphens or numbers or maybe use an alternative extension to come up with something which is available. The launch of hundreds of new TLDs will give such tight-fisted end users more options. That does not mean investing in those new extensions will generate favorable results. As long as the potential buyer can still get creative to avoid having to pay more than $30 for a domain, they are not as likely to open their wallet for an aftermarket domain.

That is until there is a seismic shift in end user value placed on branding via domain names.

Will we see a massive shift in the value placed on branding using domain names in the next few years (given it has not happened as of 2015)?

Thanks- completely agree with all of this. There are many variables to the question of whether .COM will remain king or indeed whether domains in general will remain a holder of value for some time to come. Would be interested to hear more views on this.

DI
 
0
•••
Those that leave their future in the hands of third-party companies like FB will soon regret it. You have absolutely no control and can lose everything with just a few policy changes. I saw this happening with Facebook groups.

Long live domain names!
 
2
•••
Branding is everything. If I see a company on the road with great branding I would choose them over hundreds of others in the exact same business. If that company has a generic company name like Bobs Plumbing and I searched for them on Google how would I know which Bobs Plumbing I saw? Reason being there is BobsPlumbing.com, Bobsplumbingandheatinginc.com, BobsPlumbingServices.com, BobsPlumbingInc.com, BobsPlumbing.net, BobsPlumbingandHeating.biz, BobsInstantPlumbing.net and on and on........

No confusion if they have a memorable domain name that can easily be recalled.

Three quick points:

(1) You're confusing branding with domain names.
(2) I carry an instant memorization device with me at all times (almost).
(3) Most of the dealings I have with companies on a local basis have ZERO dependence on their website (I had a job done by a plumber last month and I don't even know if they have a website)

Because businesses need to advertise their brands, and for this they advertise URLs, that is domain names...

Yes. Many Companies advertise their brands. The relationship of brand to domain varies VASTLY depending on the type and scope of their needs. More often than not, the need is vastly overstated by domainers who tend focus their attention to national/international brands which biases their understanding.

You've raised one of the most important characteristics of a winning domain name: memorability.
Some domains are clearly better than others, domain names that are credible and memorable will certainly be sought after, especially when exposure time is limited: TV advertising, or the truck passing by the road. You URL has to make a lasting impression.

Yes and no. What you say is true; however, the brand is often greater than domain and they are NOT the same thing.

To answer the question in the OP.
Domains will always have value dependent on the same three factors that exist today:

1) Marketing return on investment
2) Vanity
3) Whether you can find idiots with more money than sense.

The likelihood is that (1) will reduce over time but (2) and (3) sometimes seem to have limitless potential.
 
3
•••
Three quick points:

(1) You're confusing branding with domain names.
(2) I carry an instant memorization device with me at all times (almost).
(3) Most of the dealings I have with companies on a local basis have ZERO dependence on their website (I had a job done by a plumber last month and I don't even know if they have a website)



Yes. Many Companies advertise their brands. The relationship of brand to domain varies VASTLY depending on the type and scope of their needs. More often than not, the need is vastly overstated by domainers who tend focus their attention to national/international brands which biases their understanding.



Yes and no. What you say is true; however, the brand is often greater than domain and they are NOT the same thing.

To answer the question in the OP.
Domains will always have value dependent on the same three factors that exist today:

1) Marketing return on investment
2) Vanity
3) Whether you can find idiots with more money than sense.

The likelihood is that (1) will reduce over time but (2) and (3) sometimes seem to have limitless potential.
Fantastic post DU, I agree completely!!!
 
0
•••
Back