discuss Where do you see domaining in 5 years?

[dave321]

Just interested in people's perspective on this. I realize it's a broad question.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Interesting question. Here are some thoughts off top of my head.

1. I think it is possible those currently holding portfolios will partially move to a service model, providing help to those needing to name something, in finding the right domain name, not necessarily one of theirs. Will get more like real estate, part of cut to owner part to one bringing the buyer.
2. Domain names outside the centralized DNS system may cause major disruption. e.g. Handshake
3. I think domain rental and lease to own will dominate. Most domains will be bought on payment plans.
4. Brandable marketplaces will continue to expand, and there will emerge specialized sector specific domain marketplaces.
5. I think more TLDs will find significant global use, but hard to predict which.

Bob

 

[RogueWriter]

I think there is a whole generation of investors coming that will will see domains as investment opportunities. As they get used to bitcoin, purchasing everything online, managing their portfolios online, etc., they will start seeing domains as assets and paying out good money for them. The populations response to online purchasing during the pandemic was a tipping point, imo.

I think they will eventually be more open minded in terms of extension, and those extensions combined with strong keywords or brandables will sell well - but .com will always be top dog. There is just trillions of dollars in development invested in .com, and it is not going to go away, people will always think of .com first because the majority of the businesses they engage in are .coms .

What I am waiting for is the corporate adoption of extensions. That might be a way to move away from .com to a degree. For example, a ".NFL" extension owned by the nfl would create a standardized structure for each team, where they could build their brand in a thousand different ways, so players could have their own page manning.colts.nfl or whatever. They would not have to worry about someone beating them to the dot com for a new player, etc. It would be a private extension, open only to teams, players, maybe some media, etc. .NFL, .NBA, .MLB, etc., could change perception a lot.

 

[infosec3]

It will only get better: More sales, higher value... The future of the world is virtual and domains will continue to rule the virtual world for at least the next few decades. Of course, I would not be surprised if, after that, a new technology emerges that completely transforms the virtual space and makes domains less relevant or even worthless. But, I would give it 30 to 50 years.

 

[Samer]

More liquidity abolishment of anti-liquidity rule “60 day registrar lock” or “5-7 day transfer”

Lifetime registration, instead of the stupid 10 yr

These all things which would increase value. Cant wait for that Paradigm shift!!

 

[Matt Morgan]

• The value of domains will continue to rise, .coms, .cos etc, as more and more individuals will come online to make money online.

• More businesses will see the value of domains, so this will also push the demand of domains higher

• There will be more domainers in the industry, as that is increasing every year.

• Possibly more TLDs will emerge.

• .Namepros might be one such new TLD in 5 years

 

[CraigD]

Lets see if the Reddit stock-market mob short squeeze domains...

 

[TheBaldOne]

Huge topic as ever. Here are just a quick few points that I think are likely to occur:

1) General domains will continue to be dominated by .com suffix
2) Short domains will remain on a pinnacle of their own
3) Geo domains will become used as 'hubs' for advertising and local businesses, groups, etc.
4) Political entities will try to control local domains for political clout
5) Domain hacks will by their very scarcity become more valuable
6) Domains in general will become seen as more mainstream investments
7) As @Bob Hawkes posts above "I think domain rental and lease to own will dominate."
8) Even small businesses will start acquiring portfolios of domains to support their main domain website marketing
9) Domain Lawyers will be much more in demand! LOL

and

10) We will see the top domains start to be valued in the high $xx - $xxx million bracket (many will have just basic sites on them to increase traffic and publicity so still in essence be a 'domain' rather than a fully developed business)

 

[TCK]

It is possible that social media sites have reached a bubble. With all the interest in government oversight and regulations they won't have free rein anymore. This will be good news for domain names. No more closed ecosystems, hopefully. And a more open Internet where domains are used for navigation and branding. I am seeing more and more small business owners wanting to create a brand on a wholly-owned domain and website. That's good news. It will allow them to separate their brand from any negative press that social sites may receive in the future and at the same time leverage those sites to drive traffic to their branded website. I see this trend continuing.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I think apps will take over and domains will be redundant.

Only joking, these platforms have shown themselves that they can't be trusted now as well as all of the platforms that decide whether you can or cannot reach the followers that have decided to connect with you.

I really do think that domains will be more important than ever and domain registrars that respect the opinions of their customers instead of "the mob" will be more important than ever. I think that you won't be able to run a successful domain name registrar if you're going to start imposing your ideology on your customers - the internet is a place for all people and a variety of opinions within the laws and customs of each country respectively. Guess what - not everyone has the same opinion as you and that's OK.

Nobody will trust domain name registrars if they continue to edge closer towards the behaviour of social networks and "app stores" because you can't hinge your entire business on the whims and ever changing ideology of your domain name registrar and expect to sustain it.

 

[SuperBrander]

@ReallyBigIdea.com It was established later that the tweets by YT's founder were cynical. He was just trolling.

 

[DuDD]

• With the popularization of 5G technology, the demand for mobile Internet will be much higher than APP.
• However, the Internet could not live without domain names,so ...

 

[thomaspall]

• The value of domains will continue to rise, .coms, .cos etc, as more and more individuals will come online to make money online.

• More businesses will see the value of domains, so this will also push the demand of domains higher

• There will be more domainers in the industry, as that is increasing every year.

• Possibly more TLDs will emerge.

• .Namepros might be one such new TLD in 5 years

More TLDs means more supply. More supply result in value dilution resulting in market collapse.

 

[TCK]

China is becoming the most powerful country in the long term. Because people buy Chinese products. Success of Chinese products with weak or no branding, even without websites and domains names is a good proof how my points are valid in the real life.

Once China becomes most powerful country, they can potentially change many things on the internet, including domain names, ICAAN, domain names, trade marks, etc. So after 5 years domain names will likely less valuable IMO. Also new developments can potentially remove the technical need for domain names. Websites could be browsed without domain names by non-technical people with search engines or compatible browsers/devices. In short, I am pessimist for the future of domain names.

Gotcha. So this may not be the most ideal forum for you. LOL. But you have to keep in mind that China makes products and components for some of the biggest brands in the world. They also make alternative versions which are sold under lesser-known brand names with their own domains and websites. Just because people use Amazon, eBay and Etsy to sell their products, does not change the fact that they also have branded domains and websites where they promote and sell their products.

BTW, I used to feel the same way about the Internet in general many years ago. But everything is going in the opposite direction. So I hope you will become optimistic about domains.

 

[King]

My 5 predictions for the next 5 years are:

1. As small businesses realize the importance of an online presence, sales of domains will continue to rise.
2. With the ever-increasing renewal prices of nTLDs, fewer domainers will invest in them, there are already a lot of nice nTLDs investors owned dropping every day.
3. .com demand will grow as those businesses that had nTLDs will want to upgrade to the better known and respected .com Thus further pushing the value of aftermarket .com domains (STOP UNDER SELLING)
4. Blockchain-based domains will gain more traction.
5. Paying with cryptocurrency for domains will become a popular option.

 

[rightdomains.net]

My point of view:

- Value of .com will grow and .com will be more prestigious than now,
- Good combinations of gTLDs will be desired alternatives for buyers with limited budget,
- Lockdowns shows that if you have a business you must be visible online. More operating locally companies will invest in their online brand,
- Startups with limited budget will mostly choose other tlds. When they grow up some of them will try to get .com versions for mark their postion in brand,
- There will be more players in industry so start in domaining will be harder than now. More serious investors will believe in this industry. On other way many amateurs with dream about golden eggs for registry fee will come too. Here winners will be registrars, because more newbies = more worthless registrations than now,
- With more number of newbies there will be more people who will try to sell their knowledge about domaining in courses etc,
- Cryptocurrency will be more popular in domain transactions,
- Renting of good names will be more popular because of growing prices,
- Maybe some of middle level players will join powers for grab more quality names.

 

[Future Sensors]

Their will be a transition from IPV4 to IPV6, meaning VPN by default, which is necessary for IOT infrastructure to strive.

Nice words, but please read https://blog.apnic.net/2019/03/18/common-misconceptions-about-ipv6-security/

 

[krishmk]

With no surprise - .com will still dominate the Market.
The domains currently been sold in the range of $1000-$2000 in Expired Auctions - will be sold in the range of $4-$5K mark.

.ai, .co extensions will end up with similar stories like .mobi and .ws
Again new extensions will be introduced - newbies will be excited bidding names during the Landrush period.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

YouTube Founder and his recent twits:

Want to change the world? Register a sweet domain.

Domains are the original digital store of value.

Startups don’t need capital or experience, they just need sweet domains. I’m setting up a fund that focuses on a domain first strategy. And don’t tell me they don’t matter because of apps... don’t believe the hype!

Source https://domaininvesting.com/youtube...vesting+(DomainInvesting.com+(Elliot's+Blog))

 

[TCK]

All we prefer mybrandeddomain dot com instead of something that we don't own. The question is how much we want this, how much we are willing to pay for this. You will determine price of your brand based on the extra profit generated purely by your brand. I say, brand is not a great profit generator. This also explains the reason of why most domains are sold for less than $1k and most of them are dropped. You can build a powerful new brand on anybrandeddomain dot com. So, the domain or brand which will be choosen is not really important. As you say, only promotion efforts or promotion budget matters. But even if you build a powerful brand it may not repay your investment. In the end, buyers pay for products. Powerful brand can't help a poor quality product. Brand is overvalued, especially in domainers World.

Interesting point of view. I would counter with this. What are your goals? If they are short-term then you have a solid point. If your goals are long-term then your brand will overshadow the products or services you sell. Because people will identify your brand with the products and services. So they automatically associate quality and high standards with your brand. Building a strong brand behind quality products and services is priceless.

And yes, most domains are sold for xxx-x,xxx. And many are dropped. There are many reasons for that. Domains are also sold for 5 to 6 figures. So quality in domains is a factor. Also your vision is even a bigger factor. There are many moving parts in building a strong brand.

 

[TauseefKhan]

A very good question. Thanks, @Bob Hawkes for tweeting it.

 

[biggie]

Hi

the "pick and shovel" services, will have dominant possession over new entrants mind and money.

like those who offer paid peripheral domaining products, like appraisals, domain courses, ebooks, etc

and since a lot of solicitors like to tell endusers about comparable pricing in their sales pitch's ,
then one can assume a percentage of those endusers will find domaining too.

so, there will be new money to reap from the pockets of the naive`, the gullibles' and any others who swallow the hype and propaganda being peddled to the wide-eyed and mystified.
on other side though, that new money, also means more competition in auctions, which precipitates higher bidding.

meaning some may get sqaz.com out the game, if they don't upyo.com, their game.

and that leads to -
will some of the same folks still be around, that are here today,
that were not here, five years ago?

and those that were here five years ago, does five years in the future make you think about changing what you are doing now?

if so, better get with it then

puff puff.... ahhh

imo...

 

[HotKey]

What I am waiting for is the corporate adoption of extensions. That might be a way to move away from .com to a degree. For example, a ".NFL" extension owned by the nfl would create a standardized structure for each team, where they could build their brand in a thousand different ways, so players could have their own page manning.colts.nfl or whatever. They would not have to worry about someone beating them to the dot com for a new player, etc. It would be a private extension, open only to teams, players, maybe some media, etc. .NFL, .NBA, .MLB, etc., could change perception a lot.

They are on top of it already, called "branded" extensions. Though, the professional sports area hasn't been tapped into yet, and I think you might be on to something. Especially we're looking at 3 character extensions there, which always seem favorable.
For the most part, company branded extensions haven't been successful. Kate had kept a thread on the ones that met their doom:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/list-of-retired-new-extensions.991424/

More TLDs means more supply. More supply result in value dilution resulting in market collapse.

Something to watch out for. Only the strong names will survive, in terms of investing. And if registry's keep trying to be domainers, they will end up shutting out a large part of their business base.

 

[poweredbyme]

This is an argument you should have with a branding expert. All I can say is when I want to go Amazon to order something or to eBay, Uber, Walmart, etc., I don't use Google. But that is just me.

People sort products based on price, specs and #of comments on online shopping websites. Only brand-loyal buyers search based on a particular brand. But most of those people don't make a decision on merely brand.

Amazon, uber, ebay, walmart, etc are functioning like search engines. When you don't use google, you use just another search engine in a way without domain names and websites of the sellers. In fact each product page on those online shopping websites as well as personal pages on social media websites, even our profile pages and posts on forum websites like here at NP forums are functioning like individual websites without domain names of the owner.

 

[TCK]

People sort products based on price, specs and #of comments on online shopping websites. Only brand-loyal buyers search based on a particular brand. But most of those people don't make a decision on merely brand.

Amazon, uber, ebay, walmart, etc are functioning like search engines. When you don't use google, you use just another search engine in a way without domain names and websites of the sellers. In fact each product page on those online shopping websites as well as personal pages on social media websites, even our profile pages and posts on forum websites like here at NP forums are functioning like individual websites without domain names of the owner.

I see where you are going with this. What you are describing are ecosystems. But they still are based on a domain name. If I have a business card to share with you I would rather have mybrandeddomain.com rather than somesocialsite/mybrand on it. Even if the domain is not immediately recognized, if it is an exact match of my brand then it promotes that brand. Not all businesses are good at promoting their brands or even coming up with a good brand.