Sedo News letter For .mobi enthusiasts and domaineer beginners
The Sky’s the Limit? Not Anymore…
By Keith White, Customer Relations Representative
Picture this: the moon's been colonized, and the land there is seemingly limitless. Countless thousands of people have migrated from Earth and are speculating and investing in property at a staggering rate. But what is property on the moon worth?. Who regulates the acquisition and marketing of this new land? The same questions could be and have been asked of the domain aftermarket. When real estate began, nobody would’ve given the cyberspace world much thought, but when the internet became a reality, it presented a new era for an old practice.
In the , the real estate industry was inching its way into existence by the early 1800s. The government gave away millions of acres of land for a fee of $1.25 USD per acre which was considered a hefty sum in those days. However, many couldn't afford the steep land costs, and the Free Soil Movement, which lobbied for a different method of distributing the same land, soon began. In 1862, the Homestead act was passed and provided free land with the expectation that settlers would improve it over time. This practice, and variations of it, continued until late in the 19th Century. All in all, the government gave away roughly 360 million acres of land. That initial land rush sparked the beginning of the real estate industry as we have come to know it. Although there have been many advancements and changes along the way, the industry has remained fundamentally unchanged. Anyone familiar with the history of the real estate industry should notice a close resemblance to the domain secondary market.
Flash forward almost 200 years later (March 15, 1985, to be exact) and SYMBOLICS.COM was one of the first–and now oldest–.COM domains registered, initiating the internet land-rush in which the government had given out domain names for free. (For a complete list of the first.COMs registered, see iWhois's list at http://www.jottings.com/100-oldest-dot-com-domains.htm). Eventually, there was a push for regulation within the market. Consequently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was created by the US Department of Commerce to be the regulatory body for domains, and with it, the system of registrars and registries domainers have become quite familiar with. Now, there are registration fees for owning virtual land, and a full-fledge internet real estate industry to boot. Sound familiar?
What sets the domain industry apart is the almost unlimited availability of property. Of course there are only so many names to be desired within a given extension (perhaps even trillions of possibilities), but when one extension is exhausted, another can be created after a certain amount of deliberation. Case in point: .NET, .ORG and the host of other generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) that have been created since the dawn of the .COM. Another difference between the two markets is experience—about 200 years of it. For this reason, and almost this reason alone, one should be careful when making too many comparisons. Nonetheless, the similarities are many and most likely expected.
As the oldest extension in the market, it makes sense that most individuals participating in the industry understand the intrinsic value of that which came first: the .COM. Primarily intended for commercial purposes, it has grown to be the all-encompassing locale for a variety of uses. It is sought after, respected, and in that vein, highly valuable. A one-word, generic .COM domain could be considered the downtown high-rise penthouse or beachfront mansion of the virtual real estate world. Naturally, most people find themselves venturing towards the proven standard. In this way, physical real estate can be used as a sort of jumping-off point for how domains are treated.
Everyone knows a bustling intersection is a prime location for building a storefront. A busy street will garner extra business, even from those who weren’t intending to visit. While not exact in comparison, a recognizable extension combined with a memorable or generic name, can provide the same kind of traffic for an internet business. However, should marketing power be introduced, a domain name, like a less-busy street corner, can become a real estate power-house. Like the land that was given away by the government hundreds of years ago, it can be supposed that virtual property, when given the funds and care, can become highly-desired as well.
With that said, land has intrinsic, tangible properties that have proven desirable over thousands of years, be it location in relation to necessities such as food and water, convenience, or the view from the roof, so to speak. The physical real estate industry has time and this near-common sense approach on its side that make speculating and investing a bit easier. Full systems of regulation have been set in place, and the practices involved have become familiar to even the least real estate savvy person. Despite the occasional fluctuations, the real estate market is quite stable.
The domain industry does not yet have that luxury, at least not in a traditional sense. It is still in its infancy, and when extensions run out, new properties can be created. For that reason, the virtual has the benefit of an unlimited amount of space. While new extensions may not pack the punch of a .COM, a log cabin far away from the hustle and bustle can be just as appealing as a view of the city skyline at night.
Take the .MOBI extension for example. In the excitement of this new top-level domain (TLD), speculation is high, and investments continue to climb both in price and in volume. But for a new extension designed for the purpose of delivering content to mobile devices, who knows how much it is worth? This is not a bad thing in the least, and depending on the level of investment in this property type, it could turn out to be quite profitable. But without time on our side it can be hard to say where this and other new TLDs are heading. As is the case with any new addition to the market, only time will tell.
An important thing to consider when speculating in the domain market is what type of real estate is the most valuable: a name with a marketing tour-de-force behind it, or a property on a busy street? Often, it can be hard to tell which is which, but with a little research (www.archive.org and www.alexa.com are helpful online tools), even the most inexperienced of domainers can understand the factors that determine property values. For the time being, there are brokers and market analysts like those at Sedo who have been trained in recognizing the patterns and trends in this ever-changing, ever-expanding real estate industry.
As with anything new, there are bound to be uncertainty and bumps along the way. However, we need the pioneers(like Vcool) who are willing to venture out and speculate in the unknown (modern-day Amerigo Vespuccis, perhaps). Think to the moon, if it helps to put it all into perspective. Eventually, the physical real estate industry may find itself imitating cyberspace should Earthlings venture upward. As more and more people turn to virtual properties for marketing goods, services, or even themselves, prices will even out, and slowly (or maybe quickly in today’s age of technology), a set of standards for determining value will solidify. That increased solidity will help make the domain real estate industry easier to navigate and more accessible to a wider market.
The Sky’s the Limit? Not Anymore…
By Keith White, Customer Relations Representative
Picture this: the moon's been colonized, and the land there is seemingly limitless. Countless thousands of people have migrated from Earth and are speculating and investing in property at a staggering rate. But what is property on the moon worth?. Who regulates the acquisition and marketing of this new land? The same questions could be and have been asked of the domain aftermarket. When real estate began, nobody would’ve given the cyberspace world much thought, but when the internet became a reality, it presented a new era for an old practice.
In the , the real estate industry was inching its way into existence by the early 1800s. The government gave away millions of acres of land for a fee of $1.25 USD per acre which was considered a hefty sum in those days. However, many couldn't afford the steep land costs, and the Free Soil Movement, which lobbied for a different method of distributing the same land, soon began. In 1862, the Homestead act was passed and provided free land with the expectation that settlers would improve it over time. This practice, and variations of it, continued until late in the 19th Century. All in all, the government gave away roughly 360 million acres of land. That initial land rush sparked the beginning of the real estate industry as we have come to know it. Although there have been many advancements and changes along the way, the industry has remained fundamentally unchanged. Anyone familiar with the history of the real estate industry should notice a close resemblance to the domain secondary market.
Flash forward almost 200 years later (March 15, 1985, to be exact) and SYMBOLICS.COM was one of the first–and now oldest–.COM domains registered, initiating the internet land-rush in which the government had given out domain names for free. (For a complete list of the first.COMs registered, see iWhois's list at http://www.jottings.com/100-oldest-dot-com-domains.htm). Eventually, there was a push for regulation within the market. Consequently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was created by the US Department of Commerce to be the regulatory body for domains, and with it, the system of registrars and registries domainers have become quite familiar with. Now, there are registration fees for owning virtual land, and a full-fledge internet real estate industry to boot. Sound familiar?
What sets the domain industry apart is the almost unlimited availability of property. Of course there are only so many names to be desired within a given extension (perhaps even trillions of possibilities), but when one extension is exhausted, another can be created after a certain amount of deliberation. Case in point: .NET, .ORG and the host of other generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) that have been created since the dawn of the .COM. Another difference between the two markets is experience—about 200 years of it. For this reason, and almost this reason alone, one should be careful when making too many comparisons. Nonetheless, the similarities are many and most likely expected.
As the oldest extension in the market, it makes sense that most individuals participating in the industry understand the intrinsic value of that which came first: the .COM. Primarily intended for commercial purposes, it has grown to be the all-encompassing locale for a variety of uses. It is sought after, respected, and in that vein, highly valuable. A one-word, generic .COM domain could be considered the downtown high-rise penthouse or beachfront mansion of the virtual real estate world. Naturally, most people find themselves venturing towards the proven standard. In this way, physical real estate can be used as a sort of jumping-off point for how domains are treated.
Everyone knows a bustling intersection is a prime location for building a storefront. A busy street will garner extra business, even from those who weren’t intending to visit. While not exact in comparison, a recognizable extension combined with a memorable or generic name, can provide the same kind of traffic for an internet business. However, should marketing power be introduced, a domain name, like a less-busy street corner, can become a real estate power-house. Like the land that was given away by the government hundreds of years ago, it can be supposed that virtual property, when given the funds and care, can become highly-desired as well.
With that said, land has intrinsic, tangible properties that have proven desirable over thousands of years, be it location in relation to necessities such as food and water, convenience, or the view from the roof, so to speak. The physical real estate industry has time and this near-common sense approach on its side that make speculating and investing a bit easier. Full systems of regulation have been set in place, and the practices involved have become familiar to even the least real estate savvy person. Despite the occasional fluctuations, the real estate market is quite stable.
The domain industry does not yet have that luxury, at least not in a traditional sense. It is still in its infancy, and when extensions run out, new properties can be created. For that reason, the virtual has the benefit of an unlimited amount of space. While new extensions may not pack the punch of a .COM, a log cabin far away from the hustle and bustle can be just as appealing as a view of the city skyline at night.
Take the .MOBI extension for example. In the excitement of this new top-level domain (TLD), speculation is high, and investments continue to climb both in price and in volume. But for a new extension designed for the purpose of delivering content to mobile devices, who knows how much it is worth? This is not a bad thing in the least, and depending on the level of investment in this property type, it could turn out to be quite profitable. But without time on our side it can be hard to say where this and other new TLDs are heading. As is the case with any new addition to the market, only time will tell.
An important thing to consider when speculating in the domain market is what type of real estate is the most valuable: a name with a marketing tour-de-force behind it, or a property on a busy street? Often, it can be hard to tell which is which, but with a little research (www.archive.org and www.alexa.com are helpful online tools), even the most inexperienced of domainers can understand the factors that determine property values. For the time being, there are brokers and market analysts like those at Sedo who have been trained in recognizing the patterns and trends in this ever-changing, ever-expanding real estate industry.
As with anything new, there are bound to be uncertainty and bumps along the way. However, we need the pioneers(like Vcool) who are willing to venture out and speculate in the unknown (modern-day Amerigo Vespuccis, perhaps). Think to the moon, if it helps to put it all into perspective. Eventually, the physical real estate industry may find itself imitating cyberspace should Earthlings venture upward. As more and more people turn to virtual properties for marketing goods, services, or even themselves, prices will even out, and slowly (or maybe quickly in today’s age of technology), a set of standards for determining value will solidify. That increased solidity will help make the domain real estate industry easier to navigate and more accessible to a wider market.
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