.CO.UK article...Good Read!
The following article which I have posted below was originally posted on SEDO on 30/09/04 (4 1/2 years ago)
It's still a good read, and by my observations... very correct in predicting a strong market for .co.uk! 4 years later,and .co.uk sales at sedo are showing some pretty hefty $$$$'s for good .co.uk names!
Domains around the World: .CO.UK
A strong secondary market with a ccTLD that has not quite caught up; this means bargains and good investments for domainers!
The United Kingdom is a vibrant economy with a well educated and Internet savvy population, which makes it one of the strongest Internet markets worldwide. Despite widespread Internet use and domain registrations, some of the best bargains in the aftermarket are still to be found in the UK, especially among .co.uk domains. In this article, we will take a look at the reasons for this and also at the UK domain name market in general.
Overall Structure
The .uk ccTLD (including .me.uk, org.uk, .gov.uk) is operated by Nominet, a private, non-profit company, limited by guarantee. Registrations are handled more centrally than for other TLDs, with owners being registered both with a registrar (TAG holder) and Nominet.
Primary Market
The primary market (i.e. registrations) is finally out of its slump and industry growth has reached levels last seen during the 90s .com boom. This recovery and strong upturn in growth is not just limited to the TLD "king" .com--.co.uk is also showing significant growth in new registration. Nominet has indicated that it expects 2004 to be its most successful year since starting operations. Total .co.uk registrations have now reached around 4.5 million.
UK Market Share
The domain name market in the UK is well developed and is one of the top three markets worldwide along with Germany and the US. Statistics from Zooknic show that British registrants have the second highest number of domains registered (after US registrants) across all TLDs. The overall strength and growth of the UK primary market and especially the high UK market share (relative to other countries), also makes the UK one of the most important secondary markets.
Secondary Market
Sedo's recent experience shows that the aftermarket has picked up dramatically and is now in a strong growth period. Unlike its competitors, Sedo fortunately never experienced a "slump" period and expanded mainly due to its strong international position. This continual growth and recent strong upswing in the market is also occurring in the British aftermarket.
Many, and often the best, sales go unmentioned as they are between private parties and\or subject to confidentiality agreements. This is especially true in the .co.uk market where many players are unwilling to divulge details of sales in an effort to keep market prices down.
However, for all the recent strong.co.uk sales there have been an equally high amount of bargain .co.uk sales so far this year. Sales like Subculture.co.uk for £400, Ann.co.uk for £400 and Amatuer.co.uk for £2,500 are typical of large discrepancy between value and price in the .co.uk market, and show that there are still a lot of bargains to be had.
.Co.Uk Lags Behind
Sedo has been a key part of the recent boom in the secondary market and this success has been broad-based across all international markets. The UK market has grown proportionally with the rest of the aftermarket. The UK represents an important segment of Sedo's customer base, however, .co.uk domain sales have some way to go to catch up to sales of other TLDs.
This "catching up" becomes even more apparent when you compare the success of the .de ccTLD with that of .co.uk. The .de market in Germany mirrors that of .com elsewhere, including some strong 6-figure sales. Sales in volume roughly equal those of .coms at Sedo (this at over $5 million in sales year-to-date) and have a promising future. So why is the .de so much more successful than the .co.uk?
Why the lag?
There could be a myriad of reasons for the .co.uk sales lagging behind other TLD sales in the UK market, and significantly behind the analogous .de in Germany. Here we take a look at the most plausible reasons for the discrepancies, which we see as:
* Market size
* TLD preference - ".com distraction"
* Paperwork intensive and costly transfers
*Lack of focused marketplace and community
Germany's larger population could be a major reason for the difference. However, recent studies show that the UK Internet market overall equals or exceeds that of Germany. These results seem to indicate that market size is not as large of a factor as population would have you believe.
Recent studies have shown some distraction from .co.uk to .com, but seem to indicate that UK users prefer .co.uk over .com to a higher degree even than German users' preference for .de. However, the UK does have a larger share of registered gTLDs than Germany. Also, the low percentage of .co.uk sales at Sedo, when compared with the total number of sales involving UK-based users, seems to indicate a preference in the UK for other TLDs over the .co.uk ccTLD. So there does seem to be a significant degree of ".com distraction" in the UK domain market.
One major barrier to domain speculation and a vibrant aftermarket in the .co.uk TLD is the paperwork-intensive transfer process imposed by Nominet. Additional fees (GBP 35) for a transfer levied by Nominet depress "low-end" sales. Furthermore, UK privacy laws allow individual users to leave the WHOIS registry blank for their domains. This anonymity restricts the acquisition of domains and makes a sales platform such as Sedo all the more critical for secondary market success.
Finally, the fragmented nature of the UK domain name secondary market contributes to the current UK aftermarket. Currently no pure UK-based domain forum or online domain journal exists to exclusively cater to the UK market. Sedo has no major competitors in the UK, and was able to fairly quickly consolidate majority market share as an outsider. These factors all play a role in creating a strong secondary market. More involvement from a UK domain name community is certainly one the keys to realizing this market's potential in the future.
The Future!
Sedo has been working hard to expand into the UK aftermarket and raise the awareness of British domainers to the opportunities in the UK and more specifically the .co.uk market. Sedo is continually working with many of its UK partners to build a true community and network of domainers of all levels from professional to small market. This effort culminated recently in the Sedo-sponsored Domain Conference in London this past July[2004]. Overall the current growth seems likely to continue and increase, eventually leading to a maturing of the market where .co.uk sales will fall in line with their potential. Of course as long as the current situation still exists there are many bargains for domainers in the UK market, especially when hunting for .co.uk names! So get out there and find that bargain .co.uk!
http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1000&language=e[/url]
Go .co.uk!
Saucey :gn:
But here is my questions:
