.app .APP Registration

[drewwash]

Now that .APP is rolling out I thought I'd share a little of our position in .APP domains. I'd love to know what others are doing.

We budgeted just shy of $100k for .APP domain registrations. Several we've already acquired and several we've missed. I'll update our pickups as I can without giving away our position. So far I will share that we picked up:

• Wedding.app

Trademark Claim
I do have a domain that we registered that has to pass their trademark claim process... it is very generic, not sure who decided to try to call it a trademark, we shall see.

Our Why
To sum it up, Google is our why. I became a domainer back in 2000, when the domain really mattered in SEO. My hunch is that Google won't be able to resist giving some type of preference to quality .APP domain.

Even a small advantage in the SERs or even the Play App Search results, make generic .APP domains valuable.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I would leave this one for the end users, people buying early for resell, probably will get burned. Have some/sold some keywordapp(s).com and just not buying anymore. Namebio has 517 reported sales of .com ending in app, only 9 $10,000 and up. If you're buying at 4 figure and up now and I don't even know the renewals on these, risky.

Whilst I don't disagree that lots will get burned, especially the point you made about high priced (and high priced renewal, don't forget those) domains - I wonder whether sales for domains ending in 'app' are really a decent indication of the future success and sales for .app. Not many want or need to be on a .com domain that ends in 'app', when they already have a brand that doesn't require them to put 'app' at the end of their name, so it doesn't feel too surprising that everyone's not clambering each other to buy them. For example, Snap don't need to buy Snapapp.com etc.

If Google sticks additional meaning to these domains, such as their instant apps proposition (https://www.androidauthority.com/android-instant-apps-693316/) or additional emphasis on progressive web apps (PWA) then we might find things heading in a different direction.

Try not to get burned

 

[JB Lions]

Not many want or need to be on a .com domain that ends in 'app', when they already have a brand that doesn't require them to put 'app' at the end of their name, so it doesn't feel too surprising that everyone's not clambering each other to buy them.

Which is right and doesn't bode well for these. You can have an app and don't need that word in the domain/brand. Don't know anything about any extra benefits you would get from these, I guess some people are thinking there will be.

 

[LA Digital]

It all depends on the name, what you paid and how you want to use it. I'm more of a brand / startup guy than a domainer per se so I'm thinking in terms of building a company how / if someone would use a .app name.

My background is in the live event and ticket space, and really wanted "tickets.app" since I already have a ticket app that would seemless slide onto that URL. And from a branding perspective, tickets.app is a way better URL for growing a ticket app than ticketapp.com, not to mention if it does stick because of Google backing and gets decenter search placement. Needless to say it was landrushed day 2 and I wasn't going to pay $3k for it. Not only that but it has the plurality issue with "ticket.app" which also landrushed day 2. Those were both $250 + $250 renewal.

So today we got "tix.app", not as good of a domain but a nice short brandable type and is a $17 renewal. I like my chances either using that name or making some profit someday. Also got "ivf.app" with a $17 renewal, "socialmedia.app" with a $17 renewal and "entertainment.app" with a $108 renewal.

None of their +app.com counterparts as nearly as good IMO so that shouldn't be comparable. There are some cheap gems in there if you look but again something like "selfie.app" at $1999 is pretty crazy.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

My background is in the live event and ticket space, and really wanted "tickets.app" since I already have a ticket app that would seemless slide onto that URL.

There are already examples of websites sliding into .app, like stylexfer.com to http://art.app.

Some will be surely be establishing new web apps on .app. No additional benefit other than a nice short and descriptive domain for thier app.

 

[LA Digital]

Art.app is a perfect example. Theres definitely a way to utilize a .app online property in addition to a native or web app. Having just a website and no app with a .app makes no sense. Great domains like art.app have a value to someone for sure.

 

[Josh R]

As the owner of many domains such as forexapp in king among many others, I know the offers, and values that come in thru inquiries, and most of these people speculating in eap will be burned!

Sorry to say it, but I am just telling you the truth.

I've also owned some exceptional keyword+app.com names and garnered close to no interest over the last couple of years.... Who's branding their company with "APP" at the end?

 

[LA Digital]

I've also owned some exceptional keyword+app.com names and garnered close to no interest over the last couple of years.... Who's branding their company with "APP" at the end?

Well art.app is a better name than artapp.com. Whether it has more resale value or users will be able to find it in time is anyones guess at this point.

If you have some sort of art application, you can zero good names with a .com so why not grab an amazing .app name and play the long game with some sort of confidence that google is going to do something with it?

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I've also owned some exceptional keyword+app.com names and garnered close to no interest over the last couple of years.... Who's branding their company with "APP" at the end?

Indeed. It's what comes before the dot that matters.

 

[drewwash]

Not many want or need to be on a .com domain that ends in 'app

Exactly. These SomethingAPP.com is a horrible domain. Glad if it worked for some, but it can't be compared to .APP.

I've noticed many apps just go with GetAppName.com or others. Basically they have options of adapting a .COM to accommodate their APP. There wasn't a "standard".

.APP will be the standard. That is why it is different and matters.

Time always tells... but I'm rather confident that the money I've spent was smart.

 

[Jasonn]

Exactly. These SomethingAPP.com is a horrible domain. Glad if it worked for some, but it can't be compared to .APP.

I've noticed many apps just go with GetAppName.com or others. Basically they have options of adapting a .COM to accommodate their APP. There wasn't a "standard".

.APP will be the standard. That is why it is different and matters.

Time always tells... but I'm rather confident that the money I've spent was smart.

Personally I see little difference between somethingapp.com and something.app or just something.com. there won't be a standard. People will contribute to do different things depending on their ideas and views.

 

[Pedro Santos]

socialmedia.app. Crazy it only has a $17 renewal.

 

[wwwweb]

Exactly. These SomethingAPP.com is a horrible domain. Glad if it worked for some, but it can't be compared to .APP.

I've noticed many apps just go with GetAppName.com or others. Basically they have options of adapting a .COM to accommodate their APP. There wasn't a "standard".

.APP will be the standard. That is why it is different and matters.

Time always tells... but I'm rather confident that the money I've spent was smart.

Hilarious, that is the biggest bs statement I had seen on namepros, based on personal biased, take note people many people are absolutely clueless here. You have 6 - 7 figures of free knowledge advice, because you caught some crappy .app domains, you think you can make your own rules based on what?

Absolute hogwash, go back and read the gtld threads from 2014, you won’t find many of those people here today.

The good .app domains are $500+ annually, Domainers are not going to create a product based on a .app domain, a good app will catch fire just thru viral word of mouth.

Stop selling this crap here, nobody is buying it, good on you, if your happy, be happy, but don’t sell newbies into this nonsense.

I can’t believe the argument is being made here that keywordapp.com are worthless in the face of keyword.app, which are all tagged with premium renewals.

 

[LA Digital]

Personally I see little difference between somethingapp.com and something.app or just something.com. there won't be a standard. People will contribute to do different things depending on their ideas and views.

Theres a difference in how you're going to use it for your brand. If you have brand recognition or are trying to brand a specific name, it wont matter much - IE uber.com (obviously the best but would never be available to a new company unless HEAVILY funded), uberapp.com, or uber.app.

If you are trying to create a generic app like a baby app, an art app, a food app or a dating app, you can only get the .com if you have a crappy name. And again the word+app.com is clunky in this instance (IE babyapp.com, artapp.com), the cleaner name is art.app. And there is potentially future benefit because the world's leading search engine is backing this so in the event the categorize .app with some special snippet or placement art.app is gold.

I'm not advocating spending $15,000 to landrush day 1 but I do see a calculated gamble for future value in .app and probably the best use case for companies to build out actually sites off it more than any other GTLD.

 

[Pedro Santos]

I wanna propose a new gtld: .crap
Who's with me?

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Hilarious, that is the biggest bs statement I had seen on namepros, based on personal biased, take note people many people are absolutely clueless here. You have 6 - 7 figures of free knowledge advice, because you caught some crappy .app domains, you think you can make your own rules based on what?

Absolute hogwash, go back and read the gtld threads from 2014, you won’t find many of those people here today.

The good .app domains are $500+ annually, Domainers are not going to create a product based on a .app domain, a good app will catch fire just thru viral word of mouth.

Stop selling this crap here, nobody is buying it, good on you, if your happy, be happy, but don’t sell newbies into this nonsense.

I can’t believe the argument is being made here that keywordapp.com are worthless in the face of keyword.app, which are all tagged with premium renewals.

Could you share me the link that contain .APP structure price ? I could not find any site included that.
BTW, i thought that the renewal fee for all .APP is just $15 @@

 

[drewwash]

Stop selling this crap here, nobody is buying it, good on you, if your happy, be happy, but don’t sell newbies into this nonsense.

I have zero to sell. I buy to develop. I'm a buyer, not a seller. So when I buy, or believe in something, it matters more than some kid hoping to buy something to resell it in a year.

I hope that point is clearly communicated, because it is important.

It isn't "hogwash". It is drewwash.

 

[wwwweb]

Could you share me the link that contain .APP structure price ? I could not find any site included that.
BTW, i thought that the renewal fee for all .APP is just $15 @@

Just do random searches on godaddy for terms.

Reg fee is for crappy terms, the majority of the keywords I checked were $500 annual renewal, not including the upfront eap fees, the better terms were 4 figure renewals.

This is not a simple reg fee registration, and renewal, this is a recurring 3-4 figure annual renewal for the better terms year over year, making it very hard to sell the renewal for the domainer to an end user who will identify of to discount the present value of their domain offer.

The premium renewal model is just stupid for domainrrs to buy into when it’s $500+ a year, unless it’s a category killer domain.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Just do random searches on godaddy for terms.

Reg fee is for crappy terms, the majority of the keywords I checked were $500 annual renewal, not including the upfront eap fees, the better terms were 4 figure renewals.

This is not a simple reg fee registration, and renewal, this is a recurring 3-4 figure annual renewal for the better terms year over war, making it very hard to sell the renewal for the domainer to an end user who will identify of to discount the present value of their domain offer.

The premium renewal model is just stupid for domainrrs to buy into when it’s $500+ a year, unless it’s a category killer domain.

Yes, i just searched some keywords on GoDaddy, and the renewal fee is shit.
This is one of the expensive extension i have ever seen.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

I have zero to sell. I buy to develop. I'm a buyer, not a seller. So when I buy, or believe in something, it matters more than some kid hoping to buy something to resell it in a year.

I hope that point is clearly communicated, because it is important.

It isn't "hogwash". It is drewwash.

Just follow your own tactic, Drew.
Almost people here are re-seller, so we have to buy low and sell high.And get a huge budget to buy a new extension with expensive renewal fee is not our style. Too risky.
If you buy premium domain for developing, advertising or else, it's another story.

 

[wwwweb]

I have zero to sell. I buy to develop. I'm a buyer, not a seller. So when I buy, or believe in something, it matters more than some kid hoping to buy something to resell it in a year.

I hope that point is clearly communicated, because it is important.

It isn't "hogwash". It is drewwash.

So your going to develop world class apps for the keywords you acquired, give me a break!

 

[drewwash]

So your going to develop world class apps for the keywords you acquired, give me a break!

No. That is my point. It doesn't have to be world class.

The quality of the domain will create authority. I will then create a simple website and app that will bring value to our users and customers.

The authority of the domain and the simple product will allow me to create a profitable business. It is exactly the same thing I do with .COM domains. Nothing new. Nothing world class. Just a basic, but profitable, business.

 

[slader23]

Premium pricing is essentially the business model of domainers turned businessmen and not the other way around. The best business models are those that are mutually beneficial over extended periods of time, I just don't see the long term viability of the restrictive pricing structure that is being deployed within ngtld domains right now. Fully streamlined and affordable pricing structures that mimic already successful subscription based models are what ngtlds need to adopt so that they grow in use but at this point in time it doesn't look like that is gonna happen. Registry owners will have to learn from this mistake and many registries will go under for ignoring the model that made .com so damn limitless in the first place. Whats the point of selling a few names for $500k every year when you can't get past 50k registrations? I'd much rather have millions of people paying $15-$30 every year to keep their names.

Look at .COM...everything costs the same....look at Netflix everyone pays the same......see a trend?

 

[CryptoInvestor]

Has BlockChains.app sold yet? Was pondering registering it a few days ago cause it was available but, 1k....

 

[LA Digital]

Most of the good names are premium but not all. There are plenty of good names for regular registration fee of $16-20.

By no means am I shilling .app or saying its going to have longevity - it very well may not. But keep in mind it was the highest selling gltd of all time & is backed by Google so if any of the gtlds have a chance as an extension and not a domain hack its either .app or .web.

Many of the domains on my list are no longer available as of today & yesterday so clearly some people are investing in this extension.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Yes, i just searched some keywords on GoDaddy, and the renewal fee is sh*t.
This is one of the expensive extension i have ever seen.

I'd suggest leaving it then.