Terrible names in domain industry

[Aleksi]

Why do so many domaining companies use terrible domain names?
e.g. GoDaddy (should be an adult site), spaceship, porkbun, domaineasy etc.

Also, many domain brokers use such bad domains that my soul hurts.

 

[BritFlippa]

There are around 200 names similar to zg9tywlubm***w5ldze*xmdu.com
which have dropped and expired.

Why would someone reg them in the first place?

 

[Future Sensors]

Why would someone reg them in the first place?

Here's more:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/ak...-malicious-in-the-first-half-of-2022.1284812/

 

[BritFlippa]

Here's more:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/ak...-malicious-in-the-first-half-of-2022.1284812/

Thanks.
I had a feeling it wasn't going to be for Miss Jones' new hair salon.

 

[BrandingGo]

What about Atom.com?
Probably one of the best names in industry, except name.com and domain.com

 

[Simvola]

What about Atom.com?

The name means nothing if you don't already know what field they are in.
And if you already know what field they are in, the name is irrelevant.
This is so for almost all domain name companies.

domain . com and name . com are the only ones that are close enough to be good names, but even these are not descriptive enough to tell someone outside the domain name field what they do. So in that sense, they are poor names too.

Do average people in the street know what a domain name is or what a domain is? No, they mostly do not and probably 80% or so of the public will never know or ever need to know.

 

[HotKey]

The name means nothing if you don't already know what field they are in.
And if you already know what field they are in, the name is irrelevant.
This is so for almost all domain name companies.

domain . com and name . com are the only ones that are close enough to be good names, but even these are not descriptive enough to tell someone outside the domain name field what they do. So in that sense, they are poor names too.

Do average people in the street know what a domain name is or what a domain is? No, they mostly do not and probably 80% or so of the public will never know or ever need to know.

There's thousands of names that are used for branding that aren't relevant to their field or definition because they are GREAT names. They impart a meaning. Great names are remembered you could have Ostrich or Brick for a killer domain company brand because they are EASY and could have a subtle connection to what the platform offers.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

If we flipped the script of this interesting discussion, and said that the name industry has some of the best names, what would we use as examples of great names?

I mean if looking for a name that describes what it does, hard to imagine much better than Name.com and NamePros.com. Both memorable, descriptive and direct.

But most brands don't use a term that describes what they do, so in that category harder to find consensus, but who do we think has a great name. I always liked Dan, both because short and simple, but also acronym had relevance, and a personal name can feel memorable and ranking. But what of current companies?

-Bob

 

[Digital Universe]

If we flipped the script of this interesting discussion, and said that the name industry has some of the best names, what would we use as examples of great names?

I mean if looking for a name that describes what it does, hard to imagine much better than Name.com and NamePros.com. Both memorable, descriptive and direct.

But most brands don't use a term that describes what they do, so in that category harder to find consensus, but who do we think has a great name. I always liked Dan, both because short and simple, but also acronym had relevance, and a personal name can feel memorable and ranking. But what of current companies?

-Bob

Bob.com would be a great name for domain name research/advise/sales and all. I don't know why

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Bob.com would be a great name for domain name research/advise/sales and all. I don't know why

I see that domain name has a "Service Termination Notice" - probably not a good omen for me?

On a more serious note, it might be an interesting exercise sometime to do a little analysis on the domain names being used by registrars, marketplaces, etc. within the industry, just to see the breakdown by type, etc.

People can come to love a name that on the face of it probably does not seem great in the abstract, so that it makes it difficult to think of ever changing it. I would think both GoDaddy and Porkbun are like that. Still, name changes can work, as we saw with Undeveloped moving to Dan. SquadHelp to Atom not only gave them a shorter higher quality name, but also allowed a name not as tied to their service roots. Nevertheless, so many things called Atom, it takes some effort to be known as THE Atom company – e.g. their Atom Pay service can be confused by an existing service of the same name. I personally like Spaceship as a metaphor for their services and name.

-Bob

 

[johnn]

Why do you care so much about the name? And it’s not your business.
Must have too much time and nothing to do?

 

[Digital Universe]

On a more serious note, it might be an interesting exercise sometime to do a little analysis on the domain names being used by registrars, marketplaces, etc. within the industry, just to see the breakdown by type, etc.

What is also great to know is how many of all the total domain names on the internet (sorted by extensions etc.) are developed by companies, and how many are parked by investors or with landing pages etc.

 

[NameGroove]

If we flipped the script of this interesting discussion, and said that the name industry has some of the best names, what would we use as examples of great names?

I mean if looking for a name that describes what it does, hard to imagine much better than Name.com and NamePros.com. Both memorable, descriptive and direct.

But most brands don't use a term that describes what they do, so in that category harder to find consensus, but who do we think has a great name. I always liked Dan, both because short and simple, but also acronym had relevance, and a personal name can feel memorable and ranking. But what of current companies?

-Bob

I agree, Spaceship is a great name. NameCheap (similar to Budget car rental) is not. Pigeonholed when you use a name like that.

 

[Eminent Domain Names]

I’m partial to Eminent Domain Names.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

What is also great to know is how many of all the total domain names on the internet (sorted by extensions etc.) are developed by companies, and how many are parked by investors or with landing pages etc.

Agreed, but difficult to separate truly developed from sophisticated landers in an automated process.

@jmcc does data runs for certain extensions that provide data related to this.

Bob

 

[BrandingGo]

Gname!

What say you?

Terrible name worse than pork bun

 

[Eminent Domain Names]

How about a newbie Fruits.co !

Fruits?

Just sold fanbase.com for over $400k

 

[pokerbro]

Why do so many domaining companies use terrible domain names?
e.g. GoDaddy (should be an adult site), spaceship, porkbun, domaineasy etc.

Also, many domain brokers use such bad domains that my soul hurts.

spaceship is an amazing name for a registrar

great imagery of starting a long journey

 

[pokerbro]

Agree

Good names:
Aftermarket.com
Dan.con
Afternic.com
Sedo.com
Enom.com
Moniker.com

Bad ones
DomainEasy.com
Daaz.com
Porkbun.com
Namesilo.com
Gandi.net
Internet.bs
Bodis.com

afternic sucks, what is that?
what's a enom?
domaineasy.com is descriptive and fine
porkbun is unique and memorable

 

[BrandingGo]

How about a newbie Fruits.co !

Fruits?

I think the idea comes from Donuts.co

If you are selling dotcom killer domains better to get a dotcom domain.

 

[atleti]

HostGator.com

".. Between HostGator and GatorHost. I was torn on which domain to choose. I didn't know which one sounded better and couldn't afford both domain..." - Brent Oxley (founded HostGator back in 2002 before sold it for $220 million)