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discuss Are domain names becoming less valuable in the near future?

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Fayaz Ahmed

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Just thinking out loud:

👉 Interests in Social Media and advancements in Search Engine algorithms caused the decline in low & no content website traffic severely.

👉 gTLDs and possibility of an alternate decentralized domain naming system such as unstoppable domains (more likely a more open and non-profit future version of something similar) diluted the domain name industry even further.

👉 Popularity of smart phones and phone apps made many services available to mass people that were previously mainly served by websites. So the app market, on one hand facilitated the creation of new brands (hence more brandable tech domain names), but on the other hand, it contributed to the decline in web traffic. Besides, as we are reaching to an equilibrium point to the number of these new brands, eventually the smart phone app market are more likely to contribute to the further decline of interest in websites and hence domain names.

👉 And last but not the least, the recent advancements in Ai implementations like ChatGPT is threatning website traffic even with content.

So, are domain names as a whole becoming less valuable in the near future because of all these?

Surely ultra valuable domain names will most likely still remain valuable in the foreseable future. But what about the others?

To summarise, in the near future (say 5-10 years):
  • What sort of names will prevail?
  • What sort of names are most likely to fade away?
  • What's your thought on this overall concern?
Please also provide your reasoning behind those thoughts.

Note: I'm not asking this to spread negativity. Instead, please look at it as a discussion to better prepare for a probable foreseeable future.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
🟨 For QUAD, “4” is a reference to the number of creative and diversification elements we offer in tandem with the digital assets being sold. It’s worth noting that our creative and decentralized bridging add-ons make up the “building blocks of value” we strive to provide every client with.

🟦 We do understand, and respect, the symbolic interpretation certain cultures have as it relates to numbers. We tip our hats to domain investors who acknowledge this via how they price the domains they hold. For QUAD, the use of 4 hasn’t been a deterrent for our audience though.

⬛️ We realized early-on the conventional buy and sale of domain names leaves more to be desired. Most domain investment strategies involve collecting names, solicitation and wait. QUAD set out to offer a niche service that doesn’t dismiss the fact prospective buyers have various options for buying domains themselves.

🟧 Just like there are two sides to every story, there are four building-block elements paired with QUAD Domains’ offerings. Even if it’s just additional variations of a particular name that a client receives as an added value. We aim to think outside the 4 sides of the “box”, “square” or “rectangle”. Get it? 😉




Very interesting.

Is there any science behind this? And why 4? That could be a deal breaker to a Chinese, e.g., as it is an instant bad omen for them.
 
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A lot of these points have been debated for years. Domains are still around.
They were not replaced by social media, apps, etc.

The one legitimate threat would be AI, but that is a threat to society in general. Domains would be way down the totem pole.

AI could replace jobs, in fact entire fields and professions. If not reigned in, it should possibly reshape society in a very negative way.

Brad
Yes. Very accurate. To give it some negative thinking is essential. AI has already replaced more jobs than people realize. Many people still have the jobs that can be taken by computers out of employer courtesy. There are robots that can perform surgery better than MDs. So you can see even the most traditional, conservative, necessary professions are being threatened. This is clear.

Domains are far down the totem pole, like you said. However, to be seeringly honest about it, if I were a plain beginner, I'd probably just forget about domains. In reality, the potential ROI dupes many new-to-online people from non-Western countries (meaning countries that have less disposable income) into believing they can amass immediate fortunes here and nothing can be further from the truth. It takes YEARS, as you know.

Beginners are coming in at the close-to tail-end of the domain industry. If a person has money to spend on great names, the industry is still a good place for investment. But for lottery registrants, it's a complete waste of time.

I would suggest that someone like you who has crafted a dynamic portfolio, and has been doing it since the beginning, will be part of the 5% who will be fine, even if the need to liquidate comes around with AI deciding which domains work and which do not. You will still have a handsome reward for your years of work.

I'm sure you are taking a cross-that-bridge-when-I-come-to-it approach with your level of portfolio, but I would caution beginners here not to think that what BMugford built can be done by flipping or lottery registrations or done within months. This was a combination of luck and savve. Luck in that he was around when tremendous change was happening with the advent of the internet and savve meaning he has a keen eye and a refined business acumen.

In no way am I trying to dissuade new people to this online venture, but you need to be realistic and sober about how wealth is accumulated. It is not JUST luck, it is really a complex combination of factors.

If the domain industry does indeed fall off, those with the best domains will be fine. That's why the caution goes out to beginners. Be sure you know what you are doing.
 
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I agree with some of you on that the top domains will still remain on top and even increase their top peak.
But let's be honest this AI is a grabber without limits, those who will control it will have all the juice sucked of our websites, because of grabbers no matter humans or Bots I did not create my own NFT's and it stops me from sharing my creativity so I can profit out of it.
 
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I agree with some of you on that the top domains will still remain on top and even increase their top peak.
But let's be honest this AI is a grabber without limits, those who will control it will have all the juice sucked of our websites, because of grabbers no matter humans or Bots I did not create my own NFT's and it stops me from sharing my creativity so I can profit out of it.
Yes. I see your point. Try to fight with a machine that can spill-out infinite combinations in pronto-time and you will lose. Casinos have been showing us this for years, to a lesser extreme.
 
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Are domain names becoming less valuable in the near future?

In the next 5-10 years period, I expect domain names will likely become less valuable. Its probability is higher than 50% in my opinion. Why? My short answer is evolution.

Reasons:
1- computer, internet and domain name system (DNS) are evolving technologies like other technologies. But there is a big difference. That is speed. We still use almost the same DNS, http technologies for about 30-40 years. You can't see a 30-40 year period without any notable improvement in any other technology such as medicine, transportation, education and so on.. Everything is constantly evolving with very big steps except how the internet works. That doesn't look like normal to me. Because evolution is inevitable, may only delay.

2- Since technological improvement on how the internet works is almost stopped, new and better alternatives might be invented. Those alternatives may lower the usage of internet of today.

3- Economy and trade may evolve in global and local levels. Improvements on economy and trade looks like frozen in a way similar to internet and domain names. Notable improvements on how economy and trade work, may affect everything including value of domain names.
 
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Just thinking out loud:

👉 Interests in Social Media and advancements in Search Engine algorithms caused the decline in low & no content website traffic severely.

👉 gTLDs and possibility of an alternate decentralized domain naming system such as unstoppable domains (more likely a more open and non-profit future version of something similar) diluted the domain name industry even further.

👉 Popularity of smart phones and phone apps made many services available to mass people that were previously mainly served by websites. So the app market, on one hand facilitated the creation of new brands (hence more brandable tech domain names), but on the other hand, it contributed to the decline in web traffic. Besides, as we are reaching to an equilibrium point to the number of these new brands, eventually the smart phone app market are more likely to contribute to the further decline of interest in websites and hence domain names.

👉 And last but not the least, the recent advancements in Ai implementations like ChatGPT is threatning website traffic even with content.

So, are domain names as a whole becoming less valuable in the near future because of all these?

Surely ultra valuable domain names will most likely still remain valuable in the foreseable future. But what about the others?

To summarise, in the near future (say 5-10 years):
  • What sort of names will prevail?
  • What sort of names are most likely to fade away?
  • What's your thought on this overall concern?
Please also provide your reasoning behind those thoughts.

Note: I'm not asking this to spread negativity. Instead, please look at it as a discussion to better prepare for a probable foreseeable future.
OpenAI-ChatGPT replied :unsure:: it's important to note that domain names have been a critical part of the internet infrastructure for several decades, and they continue to be a valuable asset for businesses and individuals looking to establish an online presence. Domain names are still widely recognized and trusted by users, and they provide a unique and identifiable address for businesses and individuals to build their brand and promote their products or services.

Overall, while there may be some trends and factors that could impact the value of domain names in the near future, it is difficult to predict with certainty what the future holds. However, given the continued importance of the internet and online presence for businesses and individuals, it is likely that domain names will continue to be a valuable asset for the foreseeable future.
 
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OpenAI-ChatGPT replied :unsure:: it's important to note that domain names have been a critical part of the internet infrastructure for several decades, and they continue to be a valuable asset for businesses and individuals looking to establish an online presence. Domain names are still widely recognized and trusted by users, and they provide a unique and identifiable address for businesses and individuals to build their brand and promote their products or services.

Overall, while there may be some trends and factors that could impact the value of domain names in the near future, it is difficult to predict with certainty what the future holds. However, given the continued importance of the internet and online presence for businesses and individuals, it is likely that domain names will continue to be a valuable asset for the foreseeable future.

LOL, if I wanted input from ChatGPT, I would've asked ChatGPT.

Ai is advanced enough to replace many (not all) content writers, but it's not yet advanced enough to replace the valuable opinions of domainers who are doing it for ages.

What's your own personal opinion? I'm more interested to hear that :giggle:
 
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Like in any business, success or failure is mostly determined by the business owners' actions.

As it is now, domainers act like lone wolves on the internet landscape... always looking for the environment to provide feeding opportunities, and forever howling at the moon -in threads like this... about the future.

The web is still young, but its old enough to have taught other animals to fear the wolf. So its safe to say the well being of domainers is not on any web planner's list. If anything, I think we all can feel the squeeze.

If evolution is a teacher, a rapidly challenging environment will have domaining branching-off into some becoming "man's best friend". While others learn to hunt in packs. The paths will not be mutually exclusive.
 
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LOL, if I wanted input from ChatGPT, I would've asked ChatGPT.

Ai is advanced enough to replace many (not all) content writers, but it's not yet advanced enough to replace the valuable opinions of domainers who are doing it for ages.

What's your own personal opinion? I'm more interested to hear that :giggle:

In my opinion , domain names will remain relevant for creating online identities and establishing brands, and while their value may change, they are not likely to become obsolete.
 
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The biggest hit I can imagine has already happened, the introduction of COUNTLESS alternative extensions have probably massacred .com sales more than social media or internet trends could. (inb4 .com's still sell for a lot, yes, they do, but people being able to buy TheirBrand.whatever as an alternative obviously cuts into .com sales.)
 
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You people still don't realize what is AI, so let me explain in a more down to earth manner.
AI was created by humans to serve humans (good fairy tale) this tool will take everything from you and then sell it back to you, by those who control it, Google, Apple and Microsoft will benefit from this scrap of free content from us.
Humans will realize later what they did but it may be too late, because you will be a bunch of beggars without a job. Then who will buy the AI services? Other Ai bots?
This is self destruction of humanity, the more a human is fed what to do, the less mature he becomes, it will be like a kid with a AI father that will tell him what to do, in the end human will be like a useless potato that does not know how to live, we already can see in the youngers that they depend on their mobiles, they easy forget and depend on it, most don't know what purpose they have in life.
My question do you really want to depend on an AI that will tell you how to wipe your boott proper?

I m going to look for ways to at least to block it from collecting real human data, let it invent content from it's own brainless head.
P.s. you can go sell your soul in defending it, you people can do anything for money.
 

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What sort of names will prevail?
What sort of names are most likely to fade away?
What's your thought on this overall concern?
AH, or re-worded as 'Please share your future domain investment strategy" The rest of my initial post is my personal concerns. So please confirm or deny. ;)

Just a bit of humorous steer, Whether it was the Greeks the Arabic nations or the Babylonians that invented the numerical system you can bet the competing communities were of the belief that this nonsense would soon fade away. The internet in its current guise is here to stay. It's search engines that are becoming less relevant as business placement takes over from relevance.

Now if 'Human Thought processing' found a doorway in then we are in a whole new world. Until then the various methods of interaction are purely distractions and playthings. Voice has already come to its limitations and again will follow the path of business influence. AI hype is like watching '2001 a Space odyssey' back in the 1970s. Yeah, You wish
 
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Nothing in the immediate future IMO , technology is so fast today that it may not be a long way off though IMO
 
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You people still don't realize what is AI, so let me explain in a more down to earth manner.
AI was created by humans to serve humans (good fairy tale) this tool will take everything from you and then sell it back to you, by those who control it, Google, Apple and Microsoft will benefit from this scrap of free content from us.
Humans will realize later what they did but it may be too late, because you will be a bunch of beggars without a job. Then who will buy the AI services? Other Ai bots?
This is self destruction of humanity, the more a human is fed what to do, the less mature he becomes, it will be like a kid with a AI father that will tell him what to do, in the end human will be like a useless potato that does not know how to live, we already can see in the youngers that they depend on their mobiles, they easy forget and depend on it, most don't know what purpose they have in life.
My question do you really want to depend on an AI that will tell you how to wipe your boott proper?

I m going to look for ways to at least to block it from collecting real human data, let it invent content from it's own brainless head.
P.s. you can go sell your soul in defending it, you people can do anything for money.
I agree to a point , Elon Musk has warned about such a senerio as well .
 
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I agree to a point , Elon Musk has warned about such a senerio as well .
Stop following such people as Musk he is rich thanks to my blessings that i did some years ago when he was crying that tesla is not profitable, I did this because I love Nikola Tesla as an inventor.
Elon Musk is paid to hide the biggest secret in the world and film space under water, if he is rich it does not mean he is to be followed.
It is better to follow me because soon I will release what they hide from us together with all the governments in the world.
I also can tell you why the Twitter was sold to Musk, it was because of me!
I was preparing a death curse for Dorsey, they think they can fool me and I will do it to Musk but no I m not stupid.
 
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AI needs data to serve you for your search of "nice branded shoes" that data would always be authenic if it is coming from a direct source aka domain website. so websites will be there. yes it will be far easiler for an AI to grab that data from .shoes rather then .com so all others tlds are fitting in the perfect AI order.
 
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AI needs data to serve you for your search of "nice branded shoes" that data would always be authenic if it is coming from a direct source aka domain website. so websites will be there. yes it will be far easiler for an AI to grab that data from .shoes rather then .com so all others tlds are fitting in the perfect AI order.

I agree with you. Ai, as it is today, will need continuous support from human generated content.

However, there are still two valid concerns:

1. Ai companies may decide to pay good money to content creators to exclusively train Ai with human generated content. If that happens, many content creators will work directly for Ai, instead of websites. This may still reduce the value of websites that depend on content and search.

2. Eventually, Ai algorithms may improve to the point where they'll need little or no human input. This is popularly known as singularity in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Some Ai exparts think that we'll never achieve singularity in AGI, other experts think it's only a matter of time.

I'm a programmer myself and I'm heavily investing my time on Ai (Machine Learning) at the moment. My personal opinion is, sooner or later, humanity will achive AGI singularity.

Although I personally don't think that AGI singularity is necessarily bad, I must admit that it is potentially far more powerful than even Nuclear Power! We all know how destructive Nuclear weapons can be. So, while responsible use of AGI can benefit humanity greatly, irresponsible use of it can also be supremely destructive compared to anything else in human history.

Hence, no matter in which direction this AGI pendulum swings, it won't hurt to be cautious about it.
 
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I agree with you. Ai, as it is today, will need continuous support from human generated content.

However, there are still two valid concerns:

1. Ai companies may decide to pay good money to content creators to exclusively train Ai with human generated content. If that happens, many content creators will work directly for Ai, instead of websites. This may still reduce the value of websites that depend on content and search.

2. Eventually, Ai algorithms may improve to the point where they'll need little or no human input. This is popularly known as singularity in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Some Ai exparts think that we'll never achieve singularity in AGI, other experts think it's only a matter of time.

I'm a programmer myself and I'm heavily investing my time on Ai (Machine Learning) at the moment. My personal opinion is, sooner or later, humanity will achive AGI singularity.

Although I personally don't think that AGI singularity is necessarily bad, I must admit that it is potentially far more powerful than even Nuclear Power! We all know how destructive Nuclear weapons can be. So, while responsible use of AGI can benefit humanity greatly, irresponsible use of it can also be supremely destructive compared to anything else in human history.

Hence, no matter in which direction this AGI pendulum swings, it won't hurt to be cautious about it.
my bits:
1. AI is not for public service its a business. As a business owner why would i hire thousands of writers when data is already available in search engines. i would just focus on AI tools to scrap that data as acurate as possible. i think in near future these writing jobs will be gone and there will be paid plugins available for every website owners so they can write content and train AI algorithm too. as data will be outdated everyday so AI need to get new data so these websites will train AI with updated content. as a Ai company owner i would love these websites they would feed my AI and also paying me money for my plugins or services.
2. it is also possible there would be a cloud storage for pre approved websites like google news approved etc and those websites train AI with updated content and get paid for it.
3. as i know myself, the little knowledge i have about programming, no matter how far AI go it is still a code written by human minds. AI singularity can work if all the progress has been achieved (mostly medical fields like an operation AI can decide how to operate for this paticular disease) and there is not single field where progress is still not happening. everyday new updates. yes i agree in some fields its can create wonders for example you need to construst a building you just need to enter the location and kaboom a full floors plan with earthquick proof designs in a particular budget is ready for you in minutes. another example a virus broke out AI can not itself identify until you feed some data in it regarding that virus. so that feeding will remain there may be on a micro level but will remain there.
4. a AIbot can not beat human intelligence Its depends on energy source Electricity which can be switched off anytime. in future there will be a big market for AI bots hacking devices or jammers/ viruses/trojans /anti virus/trojans/scanners etc. as human we build one thing and then want to build more better or want to destroy it.
 
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Only the best .com's gonna survive.
Rest will die as silver as poor men's gold.
 
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Only the best .com's gonna survive.
Rest will die as silver as poor men's gold.
Bad names will continue to be registered.
 
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Only the best .com's gonna survive.
I wouldn't go that far, some darn good alternatives are being used And I didn't think I would ever say that. It's still game-on imo

Bad names will continue to be registered.
Oh yes, and its getting even worse by the day. Trouble is people don't want to do all the ground-work and gain the understanding that really is the foundation. Some of these domains are real gobbledygook. It does have a lot to do with non English speakers trying their best but falling well short. You would hope there was a market in all native languages - but the English/American language dominates in the business of buying and selling.
 
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Gated content is the future. And for that, you need a domain
 
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Gated content is the future.
I agree.

And for that, you need a domain
Not necessarily. You can do it with Apps as well.

Furthermore, it's also possible with alternative domain naming systems.

I know no such alrernative naming system exists that is a threat to the current one, but that could all change.

At the moment U.S. government mainly controls domain naming system. This is understandable, since the web is an innovation of U.S. army research. However, the world is becoming multipolar. In the future, countries like China, Russia, Iran etc. may want alternative domain naming system so that U.S. cannot unilaterally block them whenever it wants for whatever reason.

This will inevitably initialte the downfall of the current domain naming system sooner or later. Possibly something like an open decentralized system will become popular instead. China already has the infrastructure to do so. Eventually they'll do it if U.S. govt. keeps acting like the global police.

Having said that, pragmatic people from the U.S. may realize this, and free the web from their own control, so that no one else has any reason to invest on an alternative system. U.S. has the biggest benefit of keeping things as is, and it'll become the biggest loser if things change.

Personally, I don't think this sort of change will happen anytime soon, but I'm still mentioning it to show that alternative is possible and why it may happen (if ever).
 
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👉 Interests in Social Media and advancements in Search Engine algorithms caused the decline in low & no content website traffic severely.

Are you suggesting that a serious business should base their presence on the internet on a social media profile? So let's say your "website" is a Twitter handle. You print it on business cards. Your customers bookmark it. You mention it in ads etc. Then all of a sudden Twitter deletes your profile. What now? It's unrealistic that any serious business would depend on a social media profile as their "website".

👉 gTLDs and possibility of an alternate decentralized domain naming system such as unstoppable domains (more likely a more open and non-profit future version of something similar) diluted the domain name industry even further.

Your customers have never heard of "unstoppable domains", they don't know how to use it or what it is.

👉 Popularity of smart phones and phone apps made many services available to mass people that were previously mainly served by websites. So the app market, on one hand facilitated the creation of new brands (hence more brandable tech domain names), but on the other hand, it contributed to the decline in web traffic. Besides, as we are reaching to an equilibrium point to the number of these new brands, eventually the smart phone app market are more likely to contribute to the further decline of interest in websites and hence domain names.

Same problem like with the social media profiles: you build your business on sand. The platform can delete your clever mobile app anytime, you have no control over it. You have no control.

👉 And last but not the least, the recent advancements in Ai implementations like ChatGPT is threatning website traffic even with content.

So how can I book a hotel with ChatGPT? I need to find out the website of that hotel and book a room there. How can I buy a new pair of shoes with GhatGPT? I need to find an e-commerce store (= a website!) and place an order there. Why would ChatGPT replace domains? I don't understand.

Of course every business needs a domain name, or else you have zero control over your internet presence. Only a domain name can give you full control.
 
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