Afternic Closed Their Marketplace

scithe · Feb 23, 2024

When you go to Afternic.com there's no option to search for domains. There is a link to GoDaddy where you can search but it doesn't show every name that's available on Afternic.

Interesting.

Sperry8 · Feb 24, 2024

Jannes said:
I don't know comprehensively, but at least DAN and DaaZ.

I would (and will) only put descriptions if I have something special to say, for instance if I'm accepting offers for combo deals (domain's singular+plural versions, ai+keyword/keyword+ai pairs etc). Other than that, perhaps very short unique descriptions might work, but AI generated sales pitches, where every single domain name is "catchy and memorable", are worthless imo.

Dan says "You can personalize your For Sale pages by uploading a background image and avatar. Both can be changed inside your account settings.

The rest of the content is not changeable. We explicitly have made this choice as we optimize these pages on a weekly basis. This means that we continually track the conversion rates of those pages, and implement new features that attract potential buyers, leading to more buying actions."

Are you sure you can add content to a Dan lander? Perhaps their FAQs are outdated?

Jannes · Feb 24, 2024

Sperry8 said:
Dan says "You can personalize your For Sale pages by uploading a background image and avatar. Both can be changed inside your account settings.

The rest of the content is not changeable. We explicitly have made this choice as we optimize these pages on a weekly basis. This means that we continually track the conversion rates of those pages, and implement new features that attract potential buyers, leading to more buying actions."

Are you sure you can add content to a Dan lander? Perhaps their FAQs are outdated?

Tbh, I haven't used Dan landers for a while, but I just checked that the option is still available (they even encourage it: "What is special about this domain name? Let your buyers know about it! A good description is excellent for better visibility in search engines."). I think descriptions are most prominent on 'Brandable' landers.

Of course that FAQ might reveal that GoDaddy is going to mutilate Dan landers soon.

Palinco · Feb 24, 2024

Seems GD is trying to merge the big players into one GD and take almost 90 to 95% of the market. Killing competition in any way possible.

internext · Feb 24, 2024

Palinco said:
into one GD ... Killing competition in any way possible.

We need to stop feeding the gluttonous swine. It can only do these things because we continue to feed it. And now it feels entitled to everything it can devour.

I love Dan, but it is well past time to move out of the GD ecosystem. Even if I can figure out how to leave, it won't matter, Nothing short of a mass exodus will.

Palinco · Feb 24, 2024

internext said:
We need to stop feeding the gluttonous swine. It can only do these things because we continue to feed it. And now it feels entitled to everything it can devour.

I love Dan, but it is well past time to move out of the GD ecosystem. Even if I can figure out how to leave, it won't matter, Nothing short of a mass exodus will.

Big players (big domain investors) in the industry can break this GD monopoly if they are willing to cooperate and launch a very competent rival.

internext · Feb 24, 2024

Palinco said:
a very competent rival.

,,,,only to sell out to GD to be absorbed and destroyed

End User King · Feb 24, 2024

What's crazy is that some of the most well known domain blogs won't even speak on this. The only domain blog which calls out GD's hypocrisy is DomainGang.

bmugford · Feb 24, 2024

Having an advanced search should be in the interest of GoDaddy and customers.

It would allow customers, especially domain investors, to easily find what they are looking for. That would lead to more sales.

It should be in everyone's interest.

I know I have found domains via the advanced search that I would have never found otherwise.

My suggestion -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761398651627114938

likemike · Feb 24, 2024

Wow must be part of Godaddy's layoffs. It's a big corp and we know what they are doing these days. I don't even see a section to buy names on their home page.

internext · Feb 24, 2024

And as far as I can see, only a BIN price, No minimum offer price that I can find, Feed the pig!

SuperBrander · Feb 24, 2024

@bmugford As I replied to you on Twitter/X- the general public doesn't know @Afternic. It's a listing and distribution service for domainers, not an actual marketplace. @GoDaddy should integrate the Afternic advanced search into its main search, which at the moment is extremely basic and makes it impossible to conduct any helpful search based on keywords, desired extensions etc. Buyers should search at Godaddy, a site they know and trust, and be able to filter and scan all the aftermarket inventory easily. That would lead to a much better experience for their clients and more sales for domainers. Afternic can remain the listing and distribution service only domainers are familiar with.

bmugford · Feb 24, 2024

SuperBrander said:
As I replied to you on Twitter/X- the general public doesn't know @Afternic. It's a listing and distribution service for domainers, not an actual marketplace. @GoDaddy should integrate the Afternic advanced search into its main search, which at the moment is extremely basic and makes it impossible to conduct any helpful search based on keywords, desired extension etc. Buyers should search at Godaddy, at a site they know and trust, and be able to filter and scan all the aftermarket inventory easily. That would lead to a much better experience for their clients and more sales for domainers. Afternic can remain the listing and distribution service only domainers are familiar with.

That would probably be fine as well.

That is why I said either put the search directly on the website, or have a simple one click link to it.

Right now it goes to some basic GoDaddy search, while there is actually an advanced search sitting behind a paywall.

The functionality exists. It should be made available one way or another.

There is no reason to not be able to narrow down what you are looking for.

It's not like the change would really even be that beneficial to me personally. I have access to the advanced tool now.

I just think it would be hugely beneficial to all customers, including domain investors.

Brad

SuperBrander · Feb 24, 2024

bmugford said:
That would probably be fine as well.

That is why I said either put the search directly on the website, or have a simple one click link to it.

Right now it goes to some basic GoDaddy search, while there is actually an advanced search sitting behind a paywall.

The functionality exists. It needs to be made available one way or another.

There is no reason to not be able to narrow down what you are looking for.

Brad

100% agree. I think domainers are annoyed by the Afternic search box disappearing, but that's only because we use Afternic daily. Only 1% of sales originated from Afternic according to @GoDaddy (mostly sales to domainers would be my guess). That's why I think those advanced search capabilities need to be at Godaddy, front and center, not behind a paywall, integrated into their main search, because that's the brand buyers know and that's where they go to search for domains.

The question is- does Godaddy want buyers to be able to search through the aftermarket inventory easily or do they want to promote .whatever extensions? Because their current main search only does the latter. Hopefully they'll change that.

scithe · Feb 24, 2024

internext said:
thats because it's not free!!

PAY THE MAN!! More, more, more!!

Show attachment 253124lol... PA,,,is... is ...is it?

I joined the DDC last year. I saw the academy but it looks like a dozen youtube videos and a myspace style messageboard with newbies asking people to appraise lurn2beea-boss247365.net
@DrJacoby found it though:
https://www.godaddy.com/domain-academy/tools/afternic-advanced-search

bmugford · Feb 24, 2024

There is another issue I have seen with some Afternic listings that simply don't show on GoDaddy search for whatever reason.

I have ran into this happening with some of my own domains. Sometimes the domain does not show up at all via GoDaddy search, while other times the listing on GoDaddy is some old/orphaned listing that is taking priority over my Afternic listing.

When I use the Afternic advanced tool, I frequently find domains that are listed on Afternic but don't show up on GoDaddy search.

There basically needs to be a way to search the Afternic inventory via normal metrics like extension, length, price, starts with, ends with, etc. Pretty much the same metrics every other marketplace uses.

If I want to search what LLL.org are available, or what 14 letter (or less) .COM starts with "Boston" I should be able to do that.

Every buyer is looking for something different. They should have the ability to find what they are looking for.

Brad

LoveCatchyDomains · Feb 25, 2024

Sperry8 said:
Are there any companies providing landers (other than BB/SH/BPa) that allow us to provide descriptions on landers? I know Sedo, Afternic, and Bodis do not.

As others are noting, Dynadot allows descriptions on landers for domains registered with them. HOWEVER, if a domain is with an external registrar, the Dynadot lander does not appear to allow a description to be added. That's been my experience, and hopefully there is some way to work around that.

Sperry8 said:
I just realized I'm already listed with Dynadot via Sedo and Sedo is not one of my primary movers of names. Therefore while I could theoretically save commissions by a direct Dynadot listing, it wouldn't increase my volume. Unless Dynadot promotes their direct listings more heavily than they do the SedoMLS ones. Do they?

Well, with the Ai descriptions, there is the option of allowing indexing. It was nice to see that my domain lander was readily visible with a Google search. Whether that is, in part, due to Dynadot helping with promotion remains unclear.

lovely4ever · Feb 25, 2024

** The problem is the main search at Godaddy that hides the aftermarket results and promotes a billion random extensions. From Godaddy.com's landing page you can't filter any searches.

** If potential buyers visit auctions.godaddy.com there's a good filtering system there. People can filter and find aftermarket domains using filters like extension, beginning with, ending with, containing, age, with/without hyphen/number/special character, price range, length range. BUT people who visit Godaddy.com directly and search there (=most people) are limited to (basically just a registry path type search) instead of getting access to a search that can scan the afternic inventory.

** Whats the logic behind hiding the aftermarket inventory from potential buyers ??
Godaddy visitors should all be able to search the afternic inventory out in the open in a convenient way, using the site's main search and using a good filtering system.

@GoDaddy

.

Jannes · Feb 25, 2024

But GoDaddy's search has been awful all along. In their statement GD/AN inadvertently revealed that we've been paying high commission just for landers and payment gateway, because we know that there's no real exposure at the biggest registrar and they say that almost no one used Afternic's search.

SuperBrander · Feb 25, 2024

Jannes said:
But GoDaddy's search has been awful all along. In their statement GD/AN inadvertently revealed that we've been paying high commission just for landers and payment gateway, because we know that there's no real exposure at the biggest registrar.

@Jannes Afternic is a distribution network. We're paying the commission in order to be listed not only at Godaddy but also at a lot of other registrars. The fact that Godaddy's main search is currently horrible, doesn't allow proper filtering and in effect hides the aftermarket inventory from potential buyers is a different matter that needs to be addressed. But the Afternic network itself is certainly worth the commission, IMO.

@lovely4ever Not sure why you copy/pasted highlights from my previous post. But thanks. I guess.

lovely4ever · Feb 25, 2024

SuperBrander said:
@Jannes Afternic is a distribution network. We're paying the commission in order to be listed not only at Godaddy but also at a lot of other registrars. The fact that Godaddy's search is currently horrible, doesn't allow proper filtering and in effect hides the aftermarket inventory from potential buyers is a different matter that needs to be addressed. But the Afternic system itself is certainly worth the commission, IMO.

@lovely4ever Not sure why you copy/pasted highlights from my previous post. But thanks. I guess.

I copied it because you mentioned the main most important points .

Thanks bro .

Jannes · Feb 25, 2024

SuperBrander said:
@Jannes Afternic is a distribution network. We're paying the commission in order to be listed not only at Godaddy but also at a lot of other registrars.

But it's not much better than Sedo, when exposure at GoDaddy is irrelevant. And Sedo requires less babysitting (no random pending reviews etc).

sharfab · Feb 25, 2024

bmugford said:
There is another issue I have seen with some Afternic listings that simply don't show on GoDaddy search for whatever reason.

I have ran into this happening with some of my own domains. Sometimes the domain does not show up at all via GoDaddy search, while other times the listing on GoDaddy is some old/orphaned listing that is taking priority over my Afternic listing.

When I use the Afternic advanced tool, I frequently find domains that are listed on Afternic but don't show up on GoDaddy search.

There basically needs to be a way to search the Afternic inventory via normal metrics like extension, length, price, starts with, ends with, etc. Pretty much the same metrics every other marketplace uses.

If I want to search what LLL.org are available, or what 14 letter (or less) .COM starts with "Boston" I should be able to do that.

Every buyer is looking for something different. They should have the ability to find what they are looking for.

Brad

I'm curious as to how many domain names are on sale at Afternic? Because if we multiple that number by the1% of sales that come from just Afternic alone, that could still be a substantial amount of money that should not be overlooked.

SuperBrander · Feb 25, 2024

Jannes said:
But it's not much better than Sedo, when exposure at GoDaddy is irrelevant. And Sedo requires less babysitting (no random pending reviews etc).

Afternic, despite its flaws, has been much more effective for me than Sedo. I suspect quite a few people would choose Afternic over Sedo, if they could only choose one distribution network. Regardless, I agree that for the 15% commission, or 25% in some cases, Godaddy need to make sure that buyers can search the inventory properly on their site. Not only for the sake of sellers, but also for the sake of buyers, who are getting a flat out bad shopping experience.

sharfab · Feb 25, 2024

What ever happen to the phrase "Customers are always right"....

karmaco · Feb 25, 2024

GoDaddy hates domainers (always has) which is interesting considering we provide the stock and good chunk of revenue on their shitty sites.

They essentially have made it that you have to join their club for the privilege of doing an uncomplicated search.

This is going to blow up in their faces as sales decline. Big mistake. If they take down DAN next that will be the final straw for many.

Afternic Closed Their Marketplace

Upgraded Member

Established Member

Established Member

Restricted (15-30%)

DNFS.comTop Member

Restricted (15-30%)

DNFS.comTop Member

VIP Member

www.DataCube.comTop Member

Established Member

DNFS.comTop Member

Top Member

www.DataCube.comTop Member

Top Member

Upgraded Member

www.DataCube.comTop Member

Daring to LiveTop Member

Top Member

Established Member

Top Member

Top Member

Established Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Similar threads

We're social

Pinned

Appreciation

Agreement