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The key players in emoji domains and the current status

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Granted I've not been involved in emoji domains for long but have been involved in emoji domains heavily lately. There are a few key players who are taking the lead in promoting these cute colorful domains (in alphabetical order): Alvin Brown, Erwin Groen, Jon Roig, John Harrison, Matan Israeli, Max Guerin, Michael Cyger, Page Howe, Steven Glick, World Emoji Brand, etc. If I'm missing somebody let me know!

I'm a observer and student of people, and let me tell you the individuals above continue to amaze me. If there was a good business case on how to do it right, there it is. Way to go guys! I don't know with certainty where emoji domains will go, but I am certain that emoji domains make it easier for people to get to a product page from their cell phones. Emojis are everywhere and aren't going anywhere since their debut in the late 90s. They are great for marketers because emojis are more of an attention getter than regular text URLs and thus the conversion rates are higher with emojis. Because of that, I'm confident they will break through sooner than later. I feel we are at the cusp of it all, and you can thank those I listed for getting us here.

Let's see where we go from here.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Also at this time, I don't think anyone can make an argument that companies should use emoji domains alone for their company's name, but rather as a complementary element to their strategy. When computers and browsers all agree to display the pictograph fully without punycode equivalents ("xn--", mostly due to security concerns) then companies can reasonably be assured they can go full emoji. Now that would be exciting.

A lot of the character and emoji standardization work is done by Unicode, which I am a member and wholehearted support.
 
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While I haven't had much of a presence here, EmojiName.com is actually half owned by myself, Steven Glick, and my business partner John Harrison. I actually started purchasing emoji domains just before this past NamesCon, where Matan met Michael Cyger, which helped to kick off the emoji domain craze.
While at NamesCon, I actually met Matan, and bought a few emoji domains from him as investments. I also met John Harrison there, and brought him into the knowledge of the emoji domain thing about a month after meeting him; we quickly became business partners and have been working on EmojiName ever since.
I'm proud to say though, that I'm probably the biggest player in the game, and have the largest portfolio of emoji domain names. I haven't made a big deal about it though, I'm waiting for the market to rise a little bit and word to spread some before I start selling.
 
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While I haven't had much of a presence here, EmojiName.com is actually half owned by myself, Steven Glick, and my business partner John Harrison. I actually started purchasing emoji domains just before this past NamesCon, where Matan met Michael Cyger, which helped to kick off the emoji domain craze.
While at NamesCon, I actually met Matan, and bought a few emoji domains from him as investments. I also met John Harrison there, and brought him into the knowledge of the emoji domain thing about a month after meeting him; we quickly became business partners and have been working on EmojiName ever since.
I'm proud to say though, that I'm probably the biggest player in the game, and have the largest portfolio of emoji domain names. I haven't made a big deal about it though, I'm waiting for the market to rise a little bit and word to spread some before I start selling.

Oh absolutely. You both wrote some of the best arguments for emoji domains I've seen. Doing it from the reverse point of view (worst case scenarios) was very convincing. I think you have the right strategy to wait until the end users see the light which a few of the elite marketers at Coke, Budweiser, MGM, MailChimp, etc have seen already.
 
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I have had some interaction with @Jon Roig he has been brilliant and very helpful :xf.smile: and Thank You @StevenG for your contribution :xf.smile:
 
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I have had some interaction with @Jon Roig he has been brilliant and very helpful :xf.smile: and Thank You @StevenG for your contribution :xf.smile:

Not only are they brilliant, they are so very nice and supportive, even though we don't always agree. It's really a good situation.
 
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I like this thread, I will tell you some of the secret history of emoji domains.

First though, a little necessary backstory. While I had been interested in domain investing for years, it wasn't until I scored video.game at the very first moment of availability, that I really started taking domain investing much more seriously. In order to get it, I had to pay the max price in the first phase of availability, and even then it was a gamble at that point; but I went for it and got it. Frank Schilling actually e-mailed me a little note congratulating me on it (.game is one of his endings). It felt really good, because Frank was actually one of the guys whom I read about and inspired me to get into domain investing in the first place. While he wasn't the first guy in the game, he had vision and saw where this domain thing was going.

A while later, I came across this article: https://qz.com/828436/the-land-rush-for-emoji-domains-is-coming/
When I read it, I tried checking the availability of a bunch of really awesome names, and I noticed every single I tried was taken. Then I tried a bunch of combinations and saw many taken... but still many that were amazing and somehow open. I kind of went a little nuts and started hunting for everything I could, I came up with patterns, a system, and I found amazing names that I had to go for. I eventually went a little nuts in buying, but then I thought about Frank, and how he saw this thing coming, and how he bought till he hurt, and now he's on an entirely different level. While I doubt emoji domains could ever hit that peak level, I knew that there is something valuable here, and that it was at the time an overlooked opportunity (it still is, but hardly anyone was talking about it then).

It was actually only a couple weeks after I started buying these names, that I went to NamesCon in Las Vegas. It was actually almost kind of surreal, when I got there the first day, I was very quite about introducing myself to people and I just kind of floated along to see what was going on. I went all the way into the back of the hall area, where they had a temporary booth area set up, and the very first booth I stopped at was the EmojiURL booth. At this time, I had bought a bunch of names hand reg, but I hadn't seen anyone really selling them. But then I met Matan right there, and I said to myself "Not only is this a real business, but I'm not even the first guy to this party".

I didn't buy a name right there, but I told Matan that I was interested in getting a few, and that I would buy some from him soon. I went off and saw the rest of the show and it was good for then. Eventually Frank Schilling gave his keynote address and I hung out and introduced myself. We talked for just a moment, he was obviously busy, and I went on my way.

Several days later, I reconnected with Matan I decided to buy some names from him. It took us a little bit to get it going, since there were a few technical issues in getting the auth codes exchanged and everything. But while we were sitting there, hanging out in the lobby area doing this deal, Frank walks by and says "Hey guys! Whats up!" while we were wrapping things up. While Frank doesn't really know me at all, it was strange and almost archetypal, in how he was the guy that inspired me to go big on these things, and here he was walking by and saying "Hi" while I'm cutting my first deal on getting them. I'm not sure what other to say, that somewhere in my gut, I felt that this was very right, and that these things are going somewhere.
 

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Also at this time, I don't think anyone can make an argument that companies should use emoji domains alone for their company's name, but rather as a complementary element to their strategy. When computers and browsers all agree to display the pictograph fully without punycode equivalents ("xn--", mostly due to security concerns) then companies can reasonably be assured they can go full emoji. Now that would be exciting.

A lot of the character and emoji standardization work is done by Unicode, which I am a member and wholehearted support.
For your Glyphs try downloading Aegyptus Hiero fonts.
 
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For your Glyphs try downloading Aegyptus Hiero fonts.
Ok thank you. It was really silly that even I can't see it without some help from Unicode, so how can I expect normal consumers to see it, right? We'll get there. No doubt all the big players are adoping Unicode standards but they are simply slow and conservative (Silicon Valley?) because of security issues.
 
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I like this thread, I will tell you some of the secret history of emoji domains.

First though, a little necessary backstory. While I had been interested in domain investing for years, it wasn't until I scored video.game at the very first moment of availability, that I really started taking domain investing much more seriously. In order to get it, I had to pay the max price in the first phase of availability, and even then it was a gamble at that point; but I went for it and got it. Frank Schilling actually e-mailed me a little note congratulating me on it (.game is one of his endings). It felt really good, because Frank was actually one of the guys whom I read about and inspired me to get into domain investing in the first place. While he wasn't the first guy in the game, he had vision and saw where this domain thing was going.

A while later, I came across this article: https://qz.com/828436/the-land-rush-for-emoji-domains-is-coming/
When I read it, I tried checking the availability of a bunch of really awesome names, and I noticed every single I tried was taken. Then I tried a bunch of combinations and saw many taken... but still many that were amazing and somehow open. I kind of went a little nuts and started hunting for everything I could, I came up with patterns, a system, and I found amazing names that I had to go for. I eventually went a little nuts in buying, but then I thought about Frank, and how he saw this thing coming, and how he bought till he hurt, and now he's on an entirely different level. While I doubt emoji domains could ever hit that peak level, I knew that there is something valuable here, and that it was at the time an overlooked opportunity (it still is, but hardly anyone was talking about it then).

It was actually only a couple weeks after I started buying these names, that I went to NamesCon in Las Vegas. It was actually almost kind of surreal, when I got there the first day, I was very quite about introducing myself to people and I just kind of floated along to see what was going on. I went all the way into the back of the hall area, where they had a temporary booth area set up, and the very first booth I stopped at was the EmojiURL booth. At this time, I had bought a bunch of names hand reg, but I hadn't seen anyone really selling them. But then I met Matan right there, and I said to myself "Not only is this a real business, but I'm not even the first guy to this party".

I didn't buy a name right there, but I told Matan that I was interested in getting a few, and that I would buy some from him soon. I went off and saw the rest of the show and it was good for then. Eventually Frank Schilling gave his keynote address and I hung out and introduced myself. We talked for just a moment, he was obviously busy, and I went on my way.

Several days later, I reconnected with Matan I decided to buy some names from him. It took us a little bit to get it going, since there were a few technical issues in getting the auth codes exchanged and everything. But while we were sitting there, hanging out in the lobby area doing this deal, Frank walks by and says "Hey guys! Whats up!" while we were wrapping things up. While Frank doesn't really know me at all, it was strange and almost archetypal, in how he was the guy that inspired me to go big on these things, and here he was walking by and saying "Hi" while I'm cutting my first deal on getting them. I'm not sure what other to say, that somewhere in my gut, I felt that this was very right, and that these things are going somewhere.

That was such a cool story. Frank seems like a great guy! You said, "While I doubt emoji domains could ever hit that peak level," well, we can neither be too optimistic nor too doubtful about what is in store for emoji domains. Even though I own a couple of emoji dot coms, you can see I've invested in several .ws as well. Like you, I believe in it because I believe in the people behind it, as I outlined in this thread. Simple as that. No matter what you make or service in business, we are ALL in the PEOPLE business.

And let me tell you about the basis or foundation of emoji domains: Unicode. They are THE standard and has a lot of cred in tech. See the big guns with voting rights in their consortium (Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe, etc) and you can bet they will adopt whatever THEY voted on. That is why you hear Microsoft fixing emoji problems with their latest patch. That is why you see Google allowing emojis in their search. In addition, there is actually a rigorous process to how emojis are accepted. Of course Unicode is MUCH more than emoji (like underserved languages) but I'm speaking to what is relevant to us domainers.

Since we all don't have a crystal ball (an emoji Mark Davis the founder of Unicode usually jokes about), investing in emoji domains is a solid play, a cost effective option in the hopes for big rewards. My head and heart are both in agreement where I sit, and probably the same for you.
 
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Ok I just received a tweet from one emoji portfolio that claims to be the largest in the world. And last night I was talking with a gentleman who has some heavyweight domains, some of the best I've seen. So there might be some more key players but they are like huge armies starting to join us in battle. ;)
 
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Just a quick word from me to thank you @xn--v4h.com for the mention. The articles have sprung from the hours and hours Steven and I have spent on Skype talking emoji! The reverse engineering article, or, what would HAVE to happen for emoji domains not to grow, was inspired by a conversation with @sitehq
I hope we can all continue to work together to see what we can make of the emoji domain space. Remember, we over-estimate what can be done in a day, but under-estimate what can be done in a year. (not my quote, can't remember where I heard it though but it rings true for me!)
 
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Just a quick word from me to thank you @xn--v4h.com for the mention. The articles have sprung from the hours and hours Steven and I have spent on Skype talking emoji! The reverse engineering article, or, what would HAVE to happen for emoji domains not to grow, was inspired by a conversation with @sitehq
I hope we can all continue to work together to see what we can make of the emoji domain space. Remember, we over-estimate what can be done in a day, but under-estimate what can be done in a year. (not my quote, can't remember where I heard it though but it rings true for me!)

Page Howe @sitehq is one of the smartest businessman I know, so I can imagine the conversation. The quote you mention is something well worn in the tech industry, and i've been preaching that for some time. You can overestimate the progress of new things short-term but in the long-term we tend to underestimate. Meaning, regarding emoji domains, we can create a grand future about it now but not all have been educated and have adopted fully, but once everyone does (it'll be a like flood gate opening up) then watch out! Everyone would demand e.g., browsers, to work for them.
 
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Hi there.... nice to be a key player in... something. Anything, really.

Anyway, hello from Scottsdale, AZ! I'm Jon Roig, the Developer of i❤️.ws.

I'm a Developer at GoDaddy, which is where my interest in unusual domains began, but I don't work on anything directly related to domains. (I work on email-related products.) I'm also a relatively new dad, with a one-year old son named Asher who's turning into quite the little adventurer and explorer. He definitely keeps my wife and I on our toes...

Basically, about a year ago, right as I was about to begin paternity leave (3 months! Holy cow!), I was prepping to work on a project called "OfficePoltergeist," a Chrome extension which allows you to take over a person's browser for all kinds of hijinks. (Still unfinished...I gotta work on that.) At the time, I was like, "there's no way an app like this is going to be approved for the iOS app store," so I developed it as a mobile website. I was like, "How can I make this project stand out from the crowd?" and I hit on the idea of using an Emoji Domain.

As I went through the registration process, punycoding... checking availability... etc... I realized, "This is a pain the butt. I should make a little web app for this!"

In October of 2016, I threw together a basic site for GoDaddy's 24 hour hackathon, went to bed at 2:00 AM and awoke at 6:00 to get set to do my presentation... I quickly looked at my logs and saw something totally unexpected: I was already getting tons of traffic. In the intervening hours, the project had gotten picked up by ProductHunt and generated unexpected enthusiasm.

I won the Hackathon -- turns out, "I'm already making you money!" is a compelling pitch -- and brought home a shiny new laptop for my wife.

From there, it took me awhile to secure the full rights to the project, but GoDaddy is a super cool place to work. Since we're all about small business and whatnot -- many of my coworkers have interesting side projects -- they decided to let me see where I can take it on my own. (GoDaddy's domain biz is literally a billion dollar enterprise. To gain traction in that group, a project has to earn several million dollars annually to really even begin to move the needle.)

So, that brings us to today... It's been an exciting ride. I just want to take a moment to thank all the folks who've helped along the way! I appreciate the feedback... more to come!
 
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You've sold me many an emoji domains from with your nice website i❤.ws but of course I personally purchased i❤u.ws from you in an auction. You've been a professional throughout. Like I said before, it doesn't matter what a business makes or services, it's in the people business. That is key to winning the battle and breakthrough full adoption of emoji domains.
 
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Thank you guys for the Thread here.
Steven, ive liked what youve wrote so thanks for sharing your story.
John, your contribution is super powerful and important. thank you for that.
as i said, there is no doubt that Jon was the one to "explode the bubble".
THERE ARE MORE SURPRISES THAT EMOJIURL.COM IS WORKING ON.
 
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Hi there.... nice to be a key player in... something. Anything, really.

Anyway, hello from Scottsdale, AZ! I'm Jon Roig, the Developer of i❤️.ws.

I'm a Developer at GoDaddy, which is where my interest in unusual domains began, but I don't work on anything directly related to domains. (I work on email-related products.) I'm also a relatively new dad, with a one-year old son named Asher who's turning into quite the little adventurer and explorer. He definitely keeps my wife and I on our toes...

Basically, about a year ago, right as I was about to begin paternity leave (3 months! Holy cow!), I was prepping to work on a project called "OfficePoltergeist," a Chrome extension which allows you to take over a person's browser for all kinds of hijinks. (Still unfinished...I gotta work on that.) At the time, I was like, "there's no way an app like this is going to be approved for the iOS app store," so I developed it as a mobile website. I was like, "How can I make this project stand out from the crowd?" and I hit on the idea of using an Emoji Domain.

As I went through the registration process, punycoding... checking availability... etc... I realized, "This is a pain the butt. I should make a little web app for this!"

In October of 2016, I threw together a basic site for GoDaddy's 24 hour hackathon, went to bed at 2:00 AM and awoke at 6:00 to get set to do my presentation... I quickly looked at my logs and saw something totally unexpected: I was already getting tons of traffic. In the intervening hours, the project had gotten picked up by ProductHunt and generated unexpected enthusiasm.

I won the Hackathon -- turns out, "I'm already making you money!" is a compelling pitch -- and brought home a shiny new laptop for my wife.

From there, it took me awhile to secure the full rights to the project, but GoDaddy is a super cool place to work. Since we're all about small business and whatnot -- many of my coworkers have interesting side projects -- they decided to let me see where I can take it on my own. (GoDaddy's domain biz is literally a billion dollar enterprise. To gain traction in that group, a project has to earn several million dollars annually to really even begin to move the needle.)

So, that brings us to today... It's been an exciting ride. I just want to take a moment to thank all the folks who've helped along the way! I appreciate the feedback... more to come!

🙌 @Jon Roig

 
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