question Domain industry is dying slowly?

[souren]

Since beginning of the internet .com .net .org were always the best option for any business or personal use
names were too limited in a sense that generated a solid valuable market for the domaining business
and domain investors

Most of us as the people who are buying this so called land , imo are unaware of the fact that everyday new lands ,are being generated by the Icann ( Internet's Allah )

every year 10 to 20 new domain extension were being released to the public witch in my opinion wouldn't create a serious problem
until 2014 and beyond where +400 tld has been released to the public witch followed similarly and here were are in 2017 with 882 domain extension
witch in my opinion make owning a premium name easy,cheap, for any potential buyer
witch at the end will affect the tld market valuation
imagine if you own solarenergy.com in 2000 and the value would be a good $$$,$$$
then time passes and here we are in 2017 where you can have names like
solar.energy energy.solar and more.. combinations for
a reg fee or very cheap price
Then it would seriously affect the valuation of solarenergy.com
I see a world (in near future )where anyone can have a short and premium looking domain
that he just registered for 10$
and a market witch looses it's value everyday


That's just my thought about the future of this industry
What you guys think about this?

 

[Asfas1000]

The only thing that could tip the balance is massive usage, and sustained advertising.

That wouldn't help either.

 

[bmugford]

Stupidity and greed is what is killing the domain industry. A 30% ROI in real estate is considered amazing. Yet, many domains will receive a 1000% ROI on their domain and still turn it down because it's not their asking price. This is why most domains will never sell.

Real Estate is far more liquid. Anything that is more liquid will have a lower ROI in general.

You have to account for what doesn't sell as well.

If you buy a domain for $100 and sell it for $2500 it might sound great on paper, but you also have to account for the renewal fees on 500 other domains you did not sell.

Brad

 

[garptrader]

On the days I don't lift weights or run, I will normally go for a walk. Quite often part of the walk will be along the bay in West Palm Beach. There is luxury condo complex under construction called The Bristol with a bay view toward Palm Beach island. I have seen advertisements for that location "starting at $5 million." I don't know if they will really sell for that much but they will be rather nice. Sadly, a few hundred meters north of that spot also with a bay view it is common to see homeless people who spend the night either on the sidewalk or one of the benches or even the wall designed to protect against flooding in the case of storm surge. The location is almost identical and the view not much different but those who live in The Bristol will be in a totally different world than those who spend the night sleeping on the boardwalk along the bay. That is the difference between .COM and .nTLD.

 

[killerwhale]

Domain industry is not dying. At this time, people just have more options to choose from for their online presence.

And let's be honest, what's stopping someone with a good specific idea from using a non .com domain and still get running, as long as the name is related to the business and the product, service, or information it provides is good and people buy it. I'd say it's smart for a start. You just cut down your .com acquisition costs and have that money to spend on marketing (which is the backbone of your business) instead to bring in new customers and convert them, who in turn will provide you with that capital in the long run through sales in order to acquire that .com later!

Lol, but when that end-user finally does come with a bigger pocket than before to acquire the .com, I know majority of the domainers if they owned that specific name in .com will jack the prices up. Or ask an insanely high price. The reasoning simply being it's a . com, which is fine but not having that .com didn't stop that end-user from getting running or making sales correct?

This is where new tld's fill that niche, for those small and specific related businesses. However, the new tld's worst nightmare is the scaling aspect of it, and wide spread adaption. And consumer adaption is very important, which is why .com is still the king, and will remain so for a long long long time. There is a major reason corporations and companies with a good market share in their markets use .com, or atleast come back to acquiring the .com once they scaled to the next level. It gives them that opportunity to scale, or even expand into other markets.

Point is, domain industry is not dying. Domain investors just need to be more realistic with their pricing, which might tip things around. Also supply and demand is another factor. Just look at the amount of domains registered and the amount in use. If the industry as a whole dumped all the mediocre domains and actually stuck with names that has real world use, then that demand aspect might rise, and bring more sales in the industry.

 

[Business Brands]

You need to keep .mobi in mind.

 

[Arca]

I believe it can make ultrapremium .com names less valuable over the time

"Ultrapremium" .com domains won't be affected by the new Gs, because there just isn't any equivalent for that quality level in the ngtlds.

The only kinds of names that can be affected by the ngtlds are average quality .com domains (the kind of names that sell for sub $5000, more often sub $2500 range). Some end-users opt to buy a name in one of the new extensions instead of paying up a grand or two for an okay .com name.

After running a site on a new g for a while, they come to realize that they are guinea pigs in an unwise experiment, and gradually start learning of the massive drawbacks of running a business on a new g (NOBODY recognizes that your keyword.keyword is a domain, marketing a .unknown is highly ineffective, a .whatever at the end of a domain generates distrust, sending and receiving emails is a huge challenge, new g registrars may jack up your renewal costs etc.).

Marketing these new extensions as viable for businesses is causing a lot of damage to the new businesses opting for them, as they end up serving as an obstacle for these businesses to succeed. Running a business on a new G is an uphill battle that new businesses unnecessarily put themselves in.

While some of these issues may be sorted out in the long run, the new extensions are rapidly losing the little momentum they had. So widespread recognition is probably never going to happen, as these currently obscure (the to general public) extensions have already peaked and are now petering out.

The new extensions could have been the "next big thing", and were marketed as such (there used to be a lot of ".com is dead" threads, the new extensions is thr future, a few years ago). But as we enter the fourth and fifth years of their existence, that narrative is not going to work anymore, as the reality is becoming increasingly evident for all to see. And if they remain insignificant after several years, while reg numbers are now decreasing, and early adopters are growing disillusioned with them, there really doesn't seem to be any chance for these to succeed in a meaningful way later on.

I believe .com holders face a number of significant challenges in the coming 10-15 years, however, I don't think the new extensions are even worthy of making it into the top 5 on that list.

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

As long as there is mankind, open internet and moneyyy, the 'domain industry' will stay alive.

 

[Jim Holleran]

Since I started in this industry almost 20 years ago, 2017 is the 1st year that I have not bought any domains, nor am I even looking to buy. IMO better ROI/and liquidity in other investments right now than domaining.

 

[drakeholm]

So the pioneer days of goldrush land grabbing are over. We all know that. But the USA is still going strong a hundred years after the pioneers settled the wild West.
If the real estate comparison extends indefinitely then the prediction for future markets is robust.
But name development along the lines of site development may groom values in this unexplored country era.
When development becomes as habitually diverse as the buyers I will believe that saturation density has been achieved.

 

[Skumars]

If i just type namepros in my browser and then press "ctrl+enter", it automatically changes to namepros.com. However there are no shortcuts for any other extension...

Regarding other domain extensions becoming popular they will, but any company which has marketing managers/digital managers will strive for .com whereas single person owned businesses will mainly look for saving money.

 

[Hootsifer]

Things will bite at the domain industry but it's as strong as ever - lots of buying even in .net, org, and cc lately among others.

 

[DnEbook]

The only way the critical mass would even become aware of New Gtld's is if a new entity such as Facebook suddenly took the world by storm, even then they would seek the .com equivalent after a short time. A new enduser would always seek the .com first

 

[bludex]

What if all the premium stuff is mostly taken and only he minor stuff is visibly moving between hands? This creates an impression of a downturn, in reality strong hands keep holding values that are growing. The experienced domainer sees sales like cars.com, apartments.com etc.. It's in the self-interest of most domainers also to create noise and preserve the impression that domains in general are perceived to have marginal to zero value (replacement cost). Not talking of ntlds, though..

 

[.X.]

Not Dying a slow death at all. Things are moving along as normal, It is a matter of adapting to the changes and behavior of the internet is all.

 

[Kenny]

This thread (or others just like it) pop up about once or even twice a year.
It's the same old story, the same old song and dance, my friend.

Domaining is not dying, nor is even close to it's demise.
Good names will always sell, bad names will rarely sell.
Simple.

As our good friend .X. has so clearly pointed out, it's all about finding the domains to fit the situation at hand.

Happy Domaining!

Peace,
Cy

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

I think thee other thing we all neglect to mention here are the ridiculous unrealiatic asking prices some domainers have for their .coms.( I'm guilty of this myself)

It's one of the best motivators if not there best motivators for endusers to try and get new gtld.

If the rate.com is $1.5 million? Perhaps rate.world will be way cheaper?

 

[.X.]

As far as corporate end users, Most will give the .com owner an offer for their brand, when the price is to high, I have seen them go with a very similar name , to the name they are trying to purchase, I have seen them go with either the singular or plural of their name, which ever one is available in .com .

On the flip side, we see strictly ecommerce businesses pay a premium for their brand, The domain name to a million dollar + a year business is the same as their rent or having a building built to operate in the corporate business, It is the cost of doing business, but the corporate company already has their name and branding in their state, so purchasing the domain name is not near as important to them. They would like it. but don't have to have it.

The strictly ecommerce business needs their brand, that is their address and operations building, They only exist online, Not getting their name and brand, can make the difference in possibly millions of dollars per year.

So it comes down to who the domainers target buyer is, That is a choice that comes with the domain name you register, You can seek out and reg many corporate company names, that are not TM, Most are copyright though, as the owner makes the name, files it for their business. most know the domain name of their company is available in .com , they just don't seek to register it, as they have no online presence. I have seen their come a point when that business wants their branded business name, they have decided to make an online presence, but they wont pay a premium for it, They have a building and a ton of over head that they have to fund.

Then, you have the savvy domainers, The big daddies in the industry, They have made their way to the top by buying and selling names, domain name parking, domain name development, ecommerce within the domain name industry, snapname, namejet, efty, estibot , brandbucket, and the list goes on and on. NamePros rings a bell lol.

The industry is wide eyed alive and bushy tailed, and will remain this way. unfortunately everyone who enters the industry wont succeed, Many are not motivated for the domain name industry, just the money.

I can tell you this though, In the years i have been here at NamePros, I have seen MANY come into this industry, and become hugely successful, that on a yearly basis. I expect to see this continue for years to come. NamePros has bread some real Entrepreneurs through the years.

We all can't be in the group of the highly elite successful domainer entrepreneurs, But, If you are here because you love domaining, Your passion goes beyond being here ,and in the industry to just make money as your sole purpose, You may want to reevaluate your agenda and purpose. Give yourself a chance to prosper in this industry, find your niche in domaining, there are very many niches within the domain name industry, Most importantly, Enjoy domaining, Enjoy everything the industry has to offer you, Enjoy the friendships you establish in the industry and the forums, Let the rest take care of itself, It will if it is meant to be.

 

[Kuffy]

They build houses on drained swamp land. People rush to buy them because they are cheaper, but when the rains come, and the houses become damp and lose resale value, they try to move to more traditional locations. I bought into the swamp land domain tlds, but now I'm moving back to the big com city.

 

[Furquan]

I don't think it's dying but I had rather think it's changed lot, I have seen lot of startup with big pocket are using .io and other extension. I am not old in this domaining world's but for me the first sale of mid $xxx has come from .co, I have dozens of .com but I have yet to sold them for even $100.

 

[garptrader]

We still have the issue where startups and even larger businesses give little thought to domains as branding or marketing tools. They are just viewed as a technical requirement like buying a garbage can for the break room - no willingness whatsoever to pay a premium. Yet real businesses spend thousands of dollars on all kinds of normal operating expenditures. As a finance professional I see the spending of real businesses - have seen attorneys charging $300+ an hour and IT professionals being billed out at $100-$200 an hour or corporate travel where the senior managers fly to an out of town meeting for several days - total bill easily six figures. Yet $5k for a .COM is viewed as usury.

 

[lock]

There are plenty of gtlds that work as type ins. I am 100% that dot com is king.
But toy dot land is better than toy dot xyz for generic traffic.

 

[Smiles76]

On the days I don't lift weights or run, I will normally go for a walk. Quite often part of the walk will be along the bay in West Palm Beach. There is luxury condo complex under construction called The Bristol with a bay view toward Palm Beach island. I have seen advertisements for that location "starting at $5 million." I don't know if they will really sell for that much but they will be rather nice. Sadly, a few hundred meters north of that spot also with a bay view it is common to see homeless people who spend the night either on the sidewalk or one of the benches or even the wall designed to protect against flooding in the case of storm surge. The location is almost identical and the view not much different but those who live in The Bristol will be in a totally different world than those who spend the night sleeping on the boardwalk along the bay. That is the difference between .COM and .nTLD.

It's more liquid because it follows normal market practices. Domaining would be far more liquid if it did the same.

 

[dordomai]

i don't think companies will stop paying big money for ultra premium domains but the market isn't growing either. It could turn out to be a buying opportunity. Maybe it isn't

one thing is clear: type-in domains are dead and won't come back.

I think if you overpay for mediocre names at this point you won't do well.

domain values have been cyclical historically:

first wave .com bubble
then .com crash, domains were considered worthless
type-in boom, type-in domains were worth a fortune
then domains becoming mainstream
exact match boom
peak of values
parking decline, death of exact match
browser autocomplete
numeric and short letter boom
new extensions, oversaturated market
next cycle??? public understanding domain values? Killer generic brand selling for fortunes?

 

[souren]

I once contacted a LLLL.com owner out of curiosity
And asked for their price
They returned me with 29,000$
Then once i mentioned my budget to be 2k
They immediately reduced their price to 3,000k


Is there any other industry who conduct the same habit ?
I am also sick of people who use tools like estibot or similar ones too
fool a client with the domain value .

I mean end users shouldn't be viewed as a lamb meat .
It makes me wonder , should i conduct the same habit if i want to be successful ?

 

[souren]

I see google ''read naked chok''ing the S**t out of domaining as well
TBH , 95% of the website that i visit is through google search nowadays
And i don't look at their domain names, more than 80% of the time !

I also don't think ultra premium short names are really really that valuable
Because they are simply not brandable !
For example old.com car.com shit.com etc..

There are few exceptions in some industries i believe , specially in Travel industry
Where an actual name can be a brand
That's when great success meet the great domain
booking.com hotels.com are 2 examples
But for most industries..
I think that's not the case


I might be wrong
But i can't help myself thinking in other way