Afternic - Official Thread

[GoDaddy]

Hello NamePros!
By popular demand, we have launched a dedicated feedback thread for Afternic, the GoDaddy-owned domain name marketplace.

We have created this thread as a way for you to tell us what works, what doesn't work, and what features you'd like to see at Afternic (please be constructive with your feedback). We're looking forward to hearing from the domain investment community to help us shape the future of Afternic.

We will also be sharing Afternic product updates in this thread.

Please note that this thread is not meant for support. Please email our support team at [email protected] for assistance.

 

[tom365]

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[JB Lions]

As far as SEO and landing pages getting indexed, what kind of specific searches do you feel you're missing out on?

If the choice is between landing pages getting indexed or not, of course I'll take indexed but you're probably not missing out on any sales.

Getting indexed is one thing. Ranking and traffic are entirely different things.

95% of my domains have Afternic/GD landing pages. The other 5% split between Bodis and GiantPanda, however.......

I still have Efty. And I add all my domains there, they all get indexed and nothing happens. No offers, no sales, nothing.

So how would they find my domain via the search engines? What search?

I tried "mydomain.com" and it shows #1 but most people are more likely to directly type that into a browser than doing a search inside some quotation marks. The domain without quotation marks, not on page 1.

It's not going to rank for the keyword itself since most landing pages are not going to rank off a simple landing page, not a ranking that will get you actual traffic.

This is how a domain at Efty looks like in the search engines if somebody happens to type domain.com in quotes:

"This premium domain name is available for purchase! Make an offer. Fill out your offer for xxxxxxx.com below, to get in touch with the owner of this domain ..."

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

Dear Afternic/godaddy, @GoDaddy
Last week i have been testing many of my afternic landers on google search and i found out nothing indexed by google !!!
This is very important issue need to be taken seriously !!! , I think This SEO issue causing a general decline in sales we all noticed !!
In the past we could see DAN landers indexed and found when we search at google , BUT afternic landers NOT AT ALL !!!
I am not mentioning names of two of competitors landers in the market that in 80% their landers are indexed by google !! Even though this competitors are small compare to the potentials of afternic/godaddy !!

Can you explain why nothing indexed ?? And when you will find solution and fix this SEO issue that will benefit all of us ??


.

The sudden disappearance of Afternic-lander domains from the search results is a concern.

Sedo and Atom landers still rank (even Dynadot and Brandpa landers do) so that should give everyone food for thought.

 

[JB Lions]

The sudden disappearance of Afternic-lander domains from the search results is a concern.

Sedo and Atom landers still rank (even Dynadot and Brandpa landers do) so that should give everyone food for thought.

Do you have examples? I'm interested in looking at landers that rank.

So for keyword.com:

A. keyword
B. keyword.com
C. "keyword.com"

What lander out there is ranking for A or B. A of course would be the best.

Or just in general, anybody have a real life example that you can post and everybody can see. A would be the best, followed by B. C I don't think really happens.

 

[NameGroove]

As far as SEO and landing pages getting indexed, what kind of specific searches do you feel you're missing out on?

If the choice is between landing pages getting indexed or not, of course I'll take indexed but you're probably not missing out on any sales.

Getting indexed is one thing. Ranking and traffic are entirely different things.

95% of my domains have Afternic/GD landing pages. The other 5% split between Bodis and GiantPanda, however.......

I still have Efty. And I add all my domains there, they all get indexed and nothing happens. No offers, no sales, nothing.

So how would they find my domain via the search engines? What search?

I tried "mydomain.com" and it shows #1 but most people are more likely to directly type that into a browser than doing a search inside some quotation marks. The domain without quotation marks, not on page 1.

It's not going to rank for the keyword itself since most landing pages are not going to rank off a simple landing page, not a ranking that will get you actual traffic.

This is how a domain at Efty looks like in the search engines if somebody happens to type domain.com in quotes:

"This premium domain name is available for purchase! Make an offer. Fill out your offer for xxxxxxx.com below, to get in touch with the owner of this domain ..."

This is how I feel. Obv all things being equal, I'd want my landers to be indexed and listed #1. But I find it hard to believe that's how many sales happen (unless your folio is mostly exact match service/product sort of stuff).

The reason Afternic is #1 isn't because of indexing, it's because they have GoDaddy registration path to themselves.

As you stated, I'm on Brandpa (you're on Efty) and Brandpa is indexed - and I've never had a sale there. BrandBucket is indexed (low sales). Sedo is indexed (significantly less sales than Afternic). And so on.

Again, Afternic should index all their names. After all, let's try to get every sale we can. But I just don't see Google searches being how someone searches when they want to buy a name. The drop in Afternic sales isn't due to indexing imho. Lower sales are due to the flow being changed to push alt unregistered TLDs at GoDaddy instead of Aftermarket names. I'd give up indexing if they properly cross-marketed Aftermarket names as strongly as they do unregistered .sucks, .horse, and other irrelevant extensions.

 

[Acroplex]

If you believe the loss of existence in Google—not just ranking—of domains for sale on Afternic is ok, feel free to buy banned domains. I know I wouldn't.

A very large part of internet searches occur with exact match (domain.tld) punched into Google search. Surely MUCH LARGER than someone going straight to GoDaddy.com and searching for a domain. Some Google searches even return the domain for the keyword.

Where is all this traffic going now? Google won't even suggest that domain you searched for, if its traffic turned into 301/302 redirects. GoDaddy is now drinking our milkshake.

So yes, you need your domain to exist in Google searches and if it ranks, even better. If your .ai outranks the sleeper (non-resolving) .com you have more chances of selling it, especially if that damn lander doesn't glitch 1/2 the time.

 

[love4ever]

REGARDING THE RANKING : If domain indexed YES it can rank in google search when it is aged and have some BACKLINKS , Many of the domains we buy from expired auctions/dropped/closeout are aged and can rank high due to the backlinks because it was once upon a time an active website for products/services/blogs/news etc .. in the past .

Many buyers search for domain at google and when they see the lander for sale they buy it direct or they go to their preferred registrar to buy it from there , So YES being indexed it give big potential to be exposed to the eyes of buyers/interested people .


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[love4ever]

The sudden disappearance of Afternic-lander domains from the search results is a concern.

Sedo and Atom landers still rank (even Dynadot and Brandpa landers do) so that should give everyone food for thought.

Someone on X claimed on January his domain was indexed with no description ( ugly ) .
But now it is NOT existed ( indexed ) at all !!

.

 

[NameGroove]

If you believe the loss of existence in Google—not just ranking—of domains for sale on Afternic is ok, feel free to buy banned domains. I know I wouldn't.

A very large part of internet searches occur with exact match (domain.tld) punched into Google search. Surely MUCH LARGER than someone going straight to GoDaddy.com and searching for a domain. Some Google searches even return the domain for the keyword.

Where is all this traffic going now? Google won't even suggest that domain you searched for, if its traffic turned into 301/302 redirects. GoDaddy is now drinking our milkshake.

So yes, you need your domain to exist in Google searches and if it ranks, even better. If your .ai outranks the sleeper (non-resolving) .com you have more chances of selling it, especially if that damn lander doesn't glitch 1/2 the time.

Obv once a name is bought, Google rankings matter a lot. So clearly buying a name that was banned (whether as an investor or a end user) would be malpractice.

And obv when people search, they search for domain.tld - but what I'm believing (and this is the discussion) - is who and why are they searching that? Are they customers or people searching for a product or service? Or are they entrepreneurs searching for a brand? Are you suggesting new founders search on Google for a brand name when they want to name their company?

That doesn't seem correct to me. I'm off the belief that most go to GoDaddy (or whatever registrar they prefer). I not only a domain investor - I'm also a buyer of names (both as a reseller and as an end user). I've never once considered typing a name I want to buy into Google (as an exact match).

Obv as part of my research I do type a keyword (SLD only) into Google to see what appears (how much competition there is). But at that point I've already searched for and found an appropriate avail name. There'd be no point doing it backwards (searching Google first) because you don't know if the name you want is avail.

 

[Acroplex]

This is what your domains on Afternic look like to Google:

This is not just bad, it's terrible.

Google gets a 200 OK status with minimal/no useful content—it's not even a server 301/302 redirect—so it considers the page a soft 404, renders the domain as low-value and drops it from the index.

Don't believe me? Disable javascript in your browser and you will get a blank page. View the source.

 

[NameGroove]

REGARDING THE RANKING : If domain indexed YES it can rank in google search when it is aged and have some BACKLINKS , Many of the domains we buy from expired auctions/dropped/closeout are aged and can rank high due to the backlinks because it was once upon a time an active website for products/services/blogs/news etc .. in the past .

Many buyers search for domain at google and when this see the lander for sale they buy it direct or they go to their preferred registrar to buy it from there , So YES being indexed it give big potential to be exposed to the eyes of buyers/interested people

I do agree - if you have an exact match product/service name - that businesses may stumble upon the for sale name and if it's ranked highly (or #1!) that you could persuade a buyer to acquire it. I mentioned that above.

But here's an example... Loam.ai sold yesterday. Are you suggesting the buyer decided to type "loam" into Google when deciding, I want Loam.ai? Or even more interestingly, decided to type Loam.ai? Because this was an Atom listed name, it was indexed (as #3). Pretty cool actually. But you believe this is how entrepreneurs find names? Interestingly, @Atom.com has data on this (they monitor clicks to STR). Atom - would you be willing to share what % of sales happen from indexed Google names? If not - can you share generally whether this is a substantive portion of sales (that is, is it important to have domains for sale indexed?) If google changed their algo and all your for sale indexed names disappeared, would sales be materially impacted?

 

[Future Sensors]

We are constantly reviewing all feedback.

 

[Acroplex]

Obv once a name is bought, Google rankings matter a lot. So clearly buying a name that was banned (whether as an investor or a end user) would be malpractice.

And obv when people search, they search for domain.tld - but what I'm believing (and this is the discussion) - is who and why are they searching that? Are they customers or people searching for a product or service? Or are they entrepreneurs searching for a brand? Are you suggesting new founders search on Google for a brand name when they want to name their company?

That doesn't seem correct to me. I'm off the belief that most go to GoDaddy (or whatever registrar they prefer). I not only a domain investor - I'm also a buyer of names (both as a reseller and as an end user). I've never once considered typing a name I want to buy into Google (as an exact match).

Obv as part of my research I do type a keyword (SLD only) into Google to see what appears (how much competition there is). But at that point I've already searched for and found an appropriate avail name. There'd be no point doing it backwards (searching Google first) because you don't know if the name you want is avail.

This is what GoDaddy wants you to believe. But it's majorly amplified. Google-indexed domains aren't there for show, even if you don't gain PPC revenue from them. I already explained the ramifications.

Another reason why Atom seems to have been creeping up Afternic in recent months. My prediction: it will be the next GD acquisition.

 

[NameGroove]

This is what GoDaddy wants you to believe. But it's majorly amplified. Google-indexed domains aren't there for show, even if you don't gain PPC revenue from them. I already explained the ramifications.

Another reason why Atom seems to have been creeping up Afternic in recent months. My prediction: it will be the next GD acquisition.

I'm not arguing the value of companies, services, and products being indexed on Google. I'm trying to understand the mind of a founder. Where do they go to buy names?

For them to find an indexed name they have to know the name/keyword first. Once they know a name they want, what is the most likely next step for them to buy it? To go to Google or to go to GoDaddy (or another registrar)?

I have a hard time believing they go to Google first (or at all). That said, the number isn't zero. The mere fact you and others think it happens means it probably does. So now the question is what percentage. 95/5? 80/20? 50/50? etc. You think it so harsh, you literally left Afternic over it. I'm not so quick to judge - I want to understand the data first. I asked Atom, hopefully they can share some data here.

 

[Acroplex]

Everyone's online behavior to "find stuff" is different, however, these are the main piles in therms of volume:

1. Google exact match search
2. Secondary Google results, now extracted with AI
3. Landing page for the domain
4. Your favorite domain registrar
5. WHOIS tools (advanced)

This is the average behavior of mostly everyone, except of course us domain investors. Bob Searcher looking for a domain to build his business on will follow the above path.

Again, don't confuse indexability with SEO ranking. But it helps to rank! Javascript redirects drain all chances of a domain remaining indexed. Google's exact algo isn't known but the patterns demonstrate what happens when your domain doesn't fit certain criteria to remain indexed.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Aren't the NamePro's landers indexed?

When I type the exact domain with tld into giggle, my name/lander comes up first. HOWEVER, if the cracked up AI thinks it is associated with a business, it will babble about 'associations'.

Just got this when I entered one of my cooking domains: 'There seems to be some confusion about the domain name'. It then began to ramble about the domain BBQGrills.com LOL

 

[NameGroove]

Everyone's online behavior to "find stuff" is different, however, these are the main piles in therms of volume:

1. Google exact match search
2. Secondary Google results, now extracted with AI
3. Landing page for the domain
4. Your favorite domain registrar
5. WHOIS tools (advanced)

This is the average behavior of mostly everyone, except of course us domain investors. Bob Searcher looking for a domain to build his business on will follow the above path.

Again, don't confuse indexability with SEO ranking. But it helps to rank! Javascript redirects drain all chances of a domain remaining indexed. Google's exact algo isn't known but the patterns demonstrate what happens when your domain doesn't fit certain criteria to remain indexed.

Is ranking for #1-5 your opinion or do you have a source you can provide?

Because I find it very hard to believe (but if you have a source, I'm open to learning). My personal opinion is:

1. Your favorite domain registrar
2. Landing page for the domain
3. Brainstorming for alternate available names.
4. Google search for companies who resell names (perhaps stumbling upon Atom, Brandbucket, etc).
5. Frustration
6. Anger
7. Despair
8. Google exact match search
9. Secondary Google results, now extracted with AI
10. WHOIS tools (advanced)

For clarity, I still prefer my for sale names to be indexed. I just think it's a very small % of my ultimate sales (until someone can provide data otherwise)

 

[NicTraders]

We are constantly reviewing all feedback.

After reviewing the feedback we like to take a nap and forget about it.

 

[NicTraders]

Is ranking for #1-5 your opinion or do you have a source you can provide?

Because I find it very hard to believe (but if you have a source, I'm open to learning). My personal opinion is:

1. Your favorite domain registrar
2. Landing page for the domain
3. Brainstorming for alternate available names.
4. Google search for companies who resell names (perhaps stumbling upon Atom, Brandbucket, etc).
5. Frustration
6. Anger
7. Despair
8. Google exact match search
9. Secondary Google results, now extracted with AI
10. WHOIS tools (advanced)

For clarity, I still prefer my for sale names to be indexed. I just think it's a very small % of my ultimate sales (until someone can provide data otherwise)

I don't have a source, except for anecdotal evidence. I worked doing IT for small businesses for over 15 years (up until about 5yrs ago). In terms of how my clients would have searched for a domain (during that time), I would say 90% of them would have used options 1 - 3 (likely in that order), and maybe 10% of them knew of the existence of option #4 while probably none knew of #5. I suspect many of those people would have become a little more knowledgeable of such things since that time, but I doubt their procedures have changed significantly. All IMHO of course.

 

[Acroplex]

@NameGroove - You're presenting the creative process as opposed to the tools that perform the final action: find what you're looking for.

The hottest potato currently is how Google might become obsolete, as AI tool creators such as OpenAI and Deepseek do the heavy lifting for you. It's ironic: Google is becoming a meta-search engine, the very company that invented the drill of vacuuming up other people's content, serving it as its own.