AMA: We got a Tier 1 parking feed 4 months before everything changed. Ask me anything

[Paul_GiantPanda]

Hello NamePros! I'm Paul, the CRO of Giant Panda (giantpanda.com).

We spent years negotiating for the first new Tier 1 parking feed in over a decade, and were finally approved and launched in November of 2024. Fast forward 4 months, and, as everyone here knows, the Tier 1 ad network began an initiative that will markedly constrain advertiser access to domain traffic.

We have been parking names for years, but in our relatively short time as a parking company I've learned a lot about how the parking ecosystem works. I like to think I have perspective now that I didn't have when we were purely buying and parking names with other companies.

Many of our current clients (hi, y'all) have asked my thoughts on the future of domain traffic monetization, so I thought I'd open up a thread and let anyone ask anything. As the readers of my newsletter know, I like to speak transparently and extensively (maybe too extensively!) about domain parking.

I will be wildly embarrassed if no one responds to this, so, please, ask me anything! About the ideal types of domain traffic? About the reasons for these latest Tier 1 changes? About the past, the present, and future of domain parking? And, of course, I'm happy to talk about Giant Panda, what we do differently, and how we're moving forward into this new era.

This is a sponsored post.​

 

[wreckingball]

One of my corp client's adwords account finally excluded parked domains. Guess it still is ongoing.

 

[doidomnola]

What is the minimum withdrawal for Giant Panda?

 

[Paul_GiantPanda]

What is the minimum withdrawal for Giant Panda?

Generally it's $50 to prevent scenarios where payment processing fees eat up a large percentage of your earnings.

US-based clients can be paid much less expensively though, so if you want to withdraw under the minimum shoot me or support@ an email and we can include you in the next payment cycle.

 

[yzchwj]

Hi Paul, nice work! I've sent you a message, please have a check, thanks

 

[g9xmouse]

Hi, Pual

Does your optimization strategy consider avoiding some UDRP troubles? For example, most TYPO domain names will achieve better returns by using keywords related to the main site, but at the same time, using these keywords will increase the risk of UDRP. How do you balance it?

 

[Paul_GiantPanda]

Hi, Pual

Does your optimization strategy consider avoiding some UDRP troubles? For example, most TYPO domain names will achieve better returns by using keywords related to the main site, but at the same time, using these keywords will increase the risk of UDRP. How do you balance it?

Great question. Whether we use trademark keywords (or even keywords related to the general intent of a trademark) depends on the risk tolerance of the domain owner.

Some clients are only concerned with parking revenue, and are happy to let us do whatever makes them the most money.

Other clients (usually those with wildly valuable premium names) have very specific requirements about what keywords we can use. In those cases, I'll often sit with the client, discuss every name in the portfolio, and structure the optimization exactly how he/she wants.

Proper optimization can actually work as a defense against UDRPs. T1's algo has no qualms about using keywords that might support a UDRP case. With the domain owner's agreement, we'll often allowlist (hard set) the keywords to relevant-but-generic-enough-to-be-non-infringing terms. This allows the owner to still generate some revenue while mitigating the risk of losing a 10k/100k/$1M value domain.