Afternic Closed Their Marketplace

[scithe]

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.

 

[NameGroove]

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.

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.

I'll give this a try (I have some names with Dynadot). They will win some renewal transfer business from me if this works out, especially at 10% commissions for their landers. Since they are a registrar that allows Afternic and Sedo fast transfers (not many have both)

EDIT: Well, you are correct! My brandable domains now have a paragraph describing them. Not sure it'll help sales - but it can't hurt.

 

[love4ever]

Afternic was showing results of domains regardless of registered where .
i am afraid that the godaddy search results will give priority to domains registered at godaddy registrar to appear first as a results , and godaddy doing it by indirect way to let people use them instead of other registrars and increase their costumers numbers .
In business there lots of wars and conspiracies between companies to increase revenue and profit .

.

 

[Garet]

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.

GoDaddy search not only lacks flexibility and power. It also is prone to being inaccurate. I just did a search at GoDaddy for 19 expired names that are dropping today. GoDaddy tells me that 13 of the 19 names are available at premium pricing. GoDaddy correctly identified 6 of 19 names as being unavailable. Not bad!

The same search at Dynadot tells me that all 19 are unavailable but could be backordered.

 

[DNabc]

I wish Godaddy could stop doing these terrible changes to every company they buy... Uniregistry, Dan, Afternic, all became worse after acquisition Afternic worked alright, despite the high fee.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

GoDaddy search not only lacks flexibility and power. It also is prone to being inaccurate. I just did a search at GoDaddy for 19 expired names that are dropping today. GoDaddy tells me that 13 of the 19 names are available at premium pricing. GoDaddy correctly identified 6 of 19 names as being unavailable. Not bad!

The same search at Dynadot tells me that all 19 are unavailable but could be backordered.

Great job domain sleuthing!

The GoDaddy search seems to have another curious twist with the many alternatives offered on the page. Now there seems to be a prevalence of the ".sucks" domain, often as the third choice down on the list.

For example, one NP member auctioning a domain on our marketplace currently has an interesting GoDaddy search result. When typing in the domain name, over 40 alternative choices show up. Number 3 on the list is "XXXX.sucks."

Could it be detrimental, having "yourdomainname.sucks" listed right below "youractualdomain.tld." in a marketplace search? Perhaps in some instances not, but worth considering when choosing where to list your domains?

If, for each GoDaddy search, the "name.sucks" version is presented immediately as an alternative, are you really enhancing the perception that the name is of any value?! It certainly made me wonder if that was a contributing factor for that paticular Afternic- domain not selling on their platform,

Note that I did compare the search on Dynadot. I was glad to see that they do not appear to be promoting the ".sucks" alternative when doing a search of a seller's domain.

 

[Ostrados]

BIG SUGGESTION TO GODADDY

In GD website, why you don't add Aftermarket section were users can search aftermarket domains exclusively with advanced filters such as extension, domain length.. etc

That will be a win-win situation for everyone:
1- You keep you normal search
2- You unlock a new path of potential sales through the new Aftermarket search section.

% profit will increase for both GD & Domainers.

There is always a way to keep everyone happy.

@GoDaddy

 

[franka46]

Hi everyone,

Maybe somebody at GD can finally refund the money GD owes me since october 2023
which they promised to send by "Cheque" to AUSTRALIA !!
I have sopke by PHONE to 2 Support staff and I am still waiting

We appreciate the feedback on Afternic search. As Afternic mentioned on X, we're transitioning search from Afternic.com to GoDaddy. The strong buyer connection to GoDaddy, along with the multi-currency, global checkout process, and the trusted brand name mean that we chose to direct Afternic searches to GoDaddy.

This move allows Afternic to remain focused on giving sellers the best tools and resources to sell their domain names through Afternic's vast distribution network (85 million searches/month across 100+ partners and resellers for the Premium Network), and the range of optimized landers, all backed by an expert team of brokers. This consistent work will continue to help sellers at Afternic to produce a high sales velocity through the entire network.

For anyone separately looking to take a deeper dive into Afternic's inventory, Domain Academy's toolkit contains an advanced search tool to connect you with inventory.

Again, we thank you all for your feedback on Afternic.com's search directing to GoDaddy.

 

[rh2000]

I wish Godaddy could stop doing these terrible changes to every company they buy... Uniregistry, Dan, Afternic, all became worse after acquisition Afternic worked alright, despite the high fee.

I am still recovering from the Uniregistry buyout. Seems like I can't escape Godaddy no matter how hard I try.

 

[internext]

The future looks bleak for Dan. Run now, on YOUR terms, before it's too late. When was the last time Dan (a company built on innovation) innovated anything? They can't even be bothered to fix a huge cookie privacy popup that we all complain about. Ask yourself why.

GoPiggy doesn't want to compete with itself. By the looks of things, everything is being brought in-house. I thought it was pretty obvious when I first saw Afternic landers replaced by the new, ugly GoPiggy landers.

I wish Godaddy could stop doing these terrible changes to every company they buy

GoPiggy doesn't buy companies to help them thrive or even just to peacefully coexist. They want all the food in the bucket to feed their voracious gluttony. They buy out companies so they don't have to share. And they keep the old companies alive on scraps just long enough to avoid consequences from monopolistic business practices.

Bad Piggy!!

``````The Competition Goes Here

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Afternic was showing results of domains regardless of registered where .
i am afraid that the godaddy search results will give priority to domains registered at godaddy registrar to appear first as a results , and godaddy doing it by indirect way to let people use them instead of other registrars and increase their costumers numbers .

Well, if you check search results, many "sponsored" domains along with "xyz" and some other apparently favored extensions seem to show up now. . One might wonder whether GoDaddy has a new, signiificant revenue stream from simply even showing the "sponsored"domains. And, perhaps getting money from any clicks on them--even if they don't sell?

You could be right about GoDaddy-registered domains being given more favorable treatment. Perhaps you or someone on NP could check that hypothesis?

 

[Dane]

I wish Godaddy could stop doing these terrible changes to every company they buy... Uniregistry, Dan, Afternic

It's called a Monopoly.

 

[forge]

There is always a way to keep everyone happy.

I've transferred 100 domains out of Godaddy, to NameCheap, NameSilo and others. That's made me very happy!

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I'll give this a try (I have some names with Dynadot). They will win some renewal transfer business from me if this works out, especially at 10% commissions for their landers. Since they are a registrar that allows Afternic and Sedo fast transfers (not many have both)

EDIT: Well, you are correct! My brandable domains now have a paragraph describing them. Not sure it'll help sales - but it can't hurt.

Also, don't forget that you can click the button to have the page indexed. The point is tof this is tomaximize your lander's abiliy to be found on an internet search.

Afternic's strength was perhaps all of the network affiliates. Perhaps Dynadot's strength would be using AI effectively with their descriptions. Some of the Ai-descriptions have changed overtime, if you do a refresh. I wonder if they are actively refining the tool to enhance search results and sales.

Note that the Dynadot Ai-generated description tool can have some drawbacks. For example, the Ai tool keeps confusing "SanFranciscoMed" domain for a potential comedy site. And for inexplicable reasons, a "xxTeddie" keeps showing up as "eddie" in their description. So one may want to check the Ai-generated description carefully before posting.

 

[NameGroove]

Also, don't forget that you can click the button to have the page indexed. The point is tof this is tomaximize your lander's abiliy to be found on an internet search.

Afternic's strength was perhaps all of the network affiliates. Perhaps Dynadot's strength would be using AI effectively with their descriptions. Some of the Ai-descriptions have changed overtime, if you do a refresh. I wonder if they are actively refining the tool to enhance search results and sales.

Note that the Dynadot Ai-generated description tool can have some drawbacks. For example, the Ai tool keeps confusing "SanFranciscoMed" domain for a potential comedy site. And for inexplicable reasons, a "xxTeddie" keeps showing up as "eddie" in their description. So one may want to check the Ai-generated description carefully before posting.

Thank you, I had neglected to 'tick' that option. Fixed

Do you cross-market your portfolio on Dynadot by checking the Display "More listings from this seller" box? Any positives (or negatives from doing this)?

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Thank you, I had neglected to 'tick' that option. Fixed

Do you cross-market your portfolio on Dynadot by checking the Display "More listings from this seller" box? Any positives (or negatives from doing this)?

No, I don't, but you may want to depending on the domain. Presenting other domains may be distracting to a potential end-user. But, for some portfolios, it might make sense.

 

[Webmail]

Redacted for privacy.

 

[NameGroove]

Personally for me I always uncheck any option in domain marketplaces that gives visitors a list of all my other domains listings because I feel it distracts them.

I feel like when they have too many domain options to choose from it gets overwhelming and they are less likely to purchase the domain they arrived at originally.

Kind of like when you go to the market and see 20 different options for bread, it feels like it's a bit too much. If they just see the single domain they landed on I think it might increase the chance of getting that sale.

I did learn that back in marketing 101. If someone has more than 3 choices, they freeze. A this or that option is fine however. Nevertheless, the way Dynadot shows the other names for sale at the bottom of the page, I don't think it's too distracting and I'm going to give it a try. We shall see if it distracts or not (although I'll probably never truly know)

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I've transferred 100 domains out of Godaddy, to NameCheap, NameSilo and others. That's made me very happy!

I'm seriously considering removing the last few domains remaining there, even though they are registered through this decade. I've spent hours tonight again dealing with even more unauthorized listings of my domains, showing up on Dan and Afternic/Godaddy. I'm frustrated and disgusted.

At this point, my feeling is that if GoDaddy can't get these unauthorized and unwelcomed listings under control, they would do best to close both marketplaces.

 

[zomainhacks]

Removing a free global search of the inventory is for sure the dumbest thing a marketplace can do.

Thanks God we still have SEDO!

 

[JB Lions]

So the main issue is domainers can't use Afternic search to find domains listed in the Afternic marketplace? Don't think I've ever done that. I've just been using it for Fast Transfer network. So I guess whatever is going on, has 0 affect with what I'm doing, unless I'm missing something.

So Dan still working.

Afternic Fast transfer still working.

Saw somebody post something about GoDaddy favoring their domains over other registrars. Just tried some I have with Dynadot in the GoDaddy search box and they come up first. It's Afternic Fast transfer.

Of course whatever inventory Afternic has, whatever Godaddy has access to, should show up when anybody does a search. It should always be the most relevant searches coming up first.