Archive for the ‘afilias’ Category
Here comes 1.info.
The ICANN Board approved a resolution granting Afilias the right to register one and two character .info domain names during its Board meeting last Thursday.
.Info registry Afilias made the request in February. It plans to model the distribution of the short domain names similar to how Neustar handled the release of one and two character .biz domain names:
1. Requests for Proposal, where anyone can submit a proposal for developing a particular name. Afilias will award domains to RFPs that meet its goal of broadening awareness of .info.
2. Auction of any domain not given during the RFP
3. Open registration
Neustar’s release of the short domain names resulted in some good sales, particularly ones that could take advantage of the .biz extension. e.Biz sold for $66,001. Most one character .biz domains sold for about $5,000 to $15,000, whereas the typical two character domain sold for under $1,000.
The biggest lift in Neustar’s case was inking a deal with Overstock to launch O.biz through its RFP process. It will be interesting to see if Afilias is able to get any big name companies to sign on.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- One and Two Character .Info Domain Names on the Way
- Mortgage.info for $250? There’s a Small Catch.
- Single Letter .Biz Domains Closer to Reality
How many registrations should a new TLD expect?
A call for new top level domain name applicants to be realistic about how many domains they can sell is coming from an unlikely source: domain name registry Afilias.
In a blog post today, Afilias points out that history tells us new TLDs don’t get substantial registrations:
…Well, here we are in 2010 and the industry has now grown to over 190 million domain names. If you think it was because of new TLDs, you’d be wrong.
COM, NET and ORG have grown by over 80 million names. ccTLDs, like China’s CN and Germany’s .DE, have grown about 45 million names in total. But new TLDs have added less than 15 million names. Indeed, from a market share standpoint, new TLDs have never comprised more than 7% of the market.
As a supporter of new TLDs that will make money serving as a back end registry, Afilias’ comments should carry weight.
Afilias points out that, even though it “may not be realistic to assume millions of registrations”, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a successful and profitable top level domain name. It just means that history tells us millions of registrations for a new TLD are unlikely, at least under the current paradigm.
Keep in mind that new TLDs launched over the past decade had little competition. New ones will face hundreds of competitors. That will make it difficult to rise to the top. I expect a number of competitive measures — including very low registry prices for many of the new TLDs — as new TLDs are rolled out.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Related posts:
- Afilias Aquires DotMobi
- Tucows Sells Afilias Stake for $7.4 Million
- Are GoDaddy and Afilias The Right Combination to Run .us?
Board opts for separation of registrars and registries for new top level domain names.
ICANN’s board resolved today that there will be “strict separation of entities offering registry services and those acting as registrars. No co-ownership will be allowed.”
However, the board left the possibility open for compromise, stating that if the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) comes up with a compromise, it will consider it.
This is bad news for companies such as Demand Media, which owns registrar eNom and hoped to apply for new top level domain names. It’s good news for incumbent registries VeriSign, Neustar, and Afilias.
The issue of registry/registrar separation has been a hot topic since the start of discussions on new top level domain names. The separation of the .com registry from the registrar business opened the door to massive registrar competition. Without it, it’s fair to wonder if behemoths such as Go Daddy, eNom, and Tucows would be around today.
But proponents of allowing integration — including some of these very same registrars that benefited to separation the first time around — argue that was a different time with a different set of circumstances.
Practically speaking, I don’t think prohibiting registrars from being registries will make that much of a difference in new TLDs. It will just create a headache for registrars as they create separate legal and financial structures to side step the prohibition.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Related posts:
- Battle Erupts Between Domain Registries and Registrars
- ICANN Board to Consider “Expressions of Interest” for New TLDs at December Meeting
- Domain Registries Clarify Stance on Registry-Registrar Separation
X.info will be available soon.
.Info registry Afilias is asking ICANN to approve a plan to offer one and two character .info domain names for registration. As with other newer gTLDs, ICANN originally reserved all one and two character domains from being registered.
Afilias is modeling its plan after Neustar’s launch of one and two character .biz domain names. There will be a three step process:
1. Requests for Proposal, where anyone can submit a proposal for developing a particular name. Afilias will award domains to RFPs that meet its goal of broadening awareness of .info.
2. Auction of any domain not given during the RFP
3. Open registration
During Neustar’s one character auction, the top sale was e.biz for $66,001. Many other one character .biz domains sold for $5,000-$15,000. It is still running two character auctions, with most sales under $1,000. The biggest deal to come out of the RFP process was Overstock.com, which picked up O.biz.
ICANN has opened a comment period about Afilias’ proposal, but I see no reason it would be denied in the wake of the .biz release.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- Mortgage.info for $250? There’s a Small Catch.
- One and Two Character .Biz Domain Names Approved
- 1 and 2 Character .Biz Domain Names Face Delays
Afilias release .info domain names.
.Info registry Afilias is letting go of a number of premium domains that were originally reserved under its sunrise period. People claimed bogus rights to domains such as mortgage.info, miami.info, and Jesus.info. Now these domain names can be yours — if you have a good plan to develop them.
Afilias is accepting applications for each of the domains, and will award domain names to applicants who have a solid plan to develop the domains. The idea is to boost the .info brand, much like what Neustar did with accepting RFPs for one and two character .biz domain names. That effort resulted in a major marketing push by Overstock.com, which has launched a site a O.biz.
This is a great opportunity for people looking to develop domains. Sure, you could pay $250 to apply and get rejected. But is that such a big risk for USA.info, Stocks.info, or Soccer.info?
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- Afilias Accidentally Deletes .Info Domains from RGP
- .Info Hits 4 Million Registrations
- Get ready for the great .info drop
Afilias, PIR, and Neustar explain their position on a critical change to the domain name sales channel.
Domain registries have a lot to lose if registry/registrar separation ends with the introduction of new top level domain names. Representatives of several registries, including Afilias, Public Interest Registry, and Neustar, have sent a letter (pdf) to ICANN’s board and CEO that says ICANN is misstating the registry constituency’s position on registry/registrar separation.
The three registries say they have no problem with registrars entering the registry market, provided that they don’t sell second level domains for the TLDs they offer registry services for. In explaining the problems of integrated registries and registrars, the companies wrote:
If allowed to go forward, this proposed deregulation will facilitate “insider trading” that will open the door to abusive domain registration practices and higher domain name prices for some registrants. It will provide the affiliated registrar access to sensitive registry data that includes the entire universe of data for potential and existing domain names from all registrars that sell the TLD. A registry has the unique power to see DNS traffic in its domain; with access to this data, an affiliated registrar would be in a unique position to identify potentially high value names and monetize them through auctions, traffic sites or secondary market sales.
Here’s one point that isn’t covered in the letter: a combined registry/registrar can severely undercut other registrar’s pricing. If I run the registry for .web, I can offer .web domains through my own registrar for little more than the fees I pay ICANN on the registry side. That makes it hard for other registrars to compete.
[Update: I was just forwarded a link to a web site the registries have set up to explain registry/registrar separation and what they believe is at stake.]
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.
Related posts:
- Battle Erupts Between Domain Registries and Registrars
- ICANN Seeks Fix for Registry Failure
- ICANN’s Registry Continuity Plan Has a Big Hole
