Grok is a generative AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company, xAI. Grok has been promoted within the X / Twitter ecosystem, and X users who subscribe to X Premium are able to access Grok. Over the weekend, domain investor and developer Peter Askew shared Grok's response to a query about selecting a domain name […]

Dynadot just announced that it now offers customers the ability to make payments using cryptocurrency. The offering is made via Bitpay, which supports more than 100 crypto wallets and coin options. Customers can pay with Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency options. Payments using cryptocurrency are available in USD. Supplementing ...

.AI domain names have become a popular topic of late. Some of the most popular domain industry auctions these days are the monthly expiry auctions operated by the .AI ccTLD registry. Sedo just announced it will be hosting its own auction featuring .AI domain names: .AI #domains are more in demand than ever, because nobody […]

Sedos Senior Broker Dave Evanson reported the sale of Scaffolding.com yesterday. The domain name sold for $46,666, and it was the largest domain name of the week publicly reported at Sedo. Just sold https://t.co/oVaGP96hD4 for $46,666. Congrats to buyer and seller! It is already being used quite effectively. See for yourself …. https://t.co/o...

According to a press release that was published this morning, the Gold.com domain name was acquired by JM Bullion, a subsidiary of publicly traded A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. Gold.com was brokered by Andrew Miller of ATM Holdings, Inc., in conjunction with Hilco Digital Assets. Gold.com had been registered under Whois privacy, so I am unsure [R...

Some deals take a very long time to finalize. I have had acquisition and sale negotiations that have gone on for years. Some deals get done and others die on the vine. If you don't receive a response to an email you sent to a contact at a company, it is a good idea to […]

If you have adult-related domain names monetized with pay per click links at Bodis, you may not to consider changing where you point them. According to an email from the parking service, the company's upstream advertising provider will no longer allow the monetization of domain names classified as adult. I suspect this may impact other […]...

Last year, I had a bit of a curt exchange with someone who wanted to buy one of my one word .com domain names. His offer was very low, and I think I told him he would need a time machine to buy this domain name for his 3 figure offer. He didn't love that […]

Millions of dollars are spent each year acquiring expired and expiring domain names at auctions. Domain name registrants let their domain names expire, and people – including domain investors – will bid on them when they are offered for sale via auction or drop catching platform. There is a segment of domain name buyers who […]

BrandLabs shared a warning post on Twitter this afternoon. While the email appears to be targeting Squadhelp sellers who utilize their White Label Marketplace (WLM), it is something anyone should be wary about: .@squadhelp @GoDaddyHelp @DInvesting New scam targeting sellers on Squadhelp who link their email to a WLM. Faked Godaddy email says your a...

Andrew Miller, Managing Director of Hilco Digital Assets, is someone I chat with on a regular basis. In addition to general discussions about domain names and the industry at-large, I will occasionally connect with Andrew to do a sanity check when acquiring a valuable domain name or when I am evaluating a substantial offer. Andrew […]

Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall has always spoken his mind freely. The other day, I replied to someone who asked about why domain registries raise their fees. I think it's pretty clear that they raise their fees because they can and because the want to increase their revenue. Richard's response to this was better than mine: […]

The New York Post published a real estate article that caught my attention. The article discussed an upcoming online auction of 130 acres of undeveloped land in Malibu, California. The land is owned by none other than domain industry veteran, Frank Schilling. According to the article, the 130 acres of land is divided amongst three […]

On Sunday, the Washington Post published an article about how the adult entertainment business is being transformed by artificial intelligence. Notably, the article mentioned three domain names that were acquired by a company operating in the business for approximately $550,000: "Then the tides of fate turned again for Jones. His love for technolog...

The ICANN 79 Community Forum Meeting is coming up in a couple of weeks. The meeting will be held in Puerto Rico from March 2-7, 2024. From what I understand, the Community Forum meetings are usually the most well attended ICANN meetings of the year. I went to the ICANN meeting in Barcelona several years […]

When looking at domain investor Twitter, I've noticed a few promoted/advertising tweets mentioning Rob Schutz and/or Snagged.com. I recently wrote about Rob and his domain name brokerage after seeing a tweet from Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian recommending Snagged.com. Yesterday on X (formerly Twitter), the corporate XBusiness account mentioned the ...

Last Summer, NameJet made some "big changes" to its platform. In essence, NameJet appears to have become a clone of Snapnames, its sister auction platform, with the difference being the NameJet branding. There were numerous features about the former platform I appreciated more once they were taken away. It looks like NameJet has made a […]...

When I agree to a negotiated deal on a platform like Dan or Sedo, I have always held the expectation that the payment will be made ASAP. If a buyer did not pay within a couple of days – maybe a day or two longer if it was a large sale – I would ask […]

If you have visited a Squadhelp landing page, chances are good that you have seen their advertising when you visit other websites that have Google advertising banners on display. I regularly see Squadhelp advertising banners with the logos of domain names I visited on their platform. Squadhelp CEO Darpan Munjal shared that Google Ads recently [R...

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has existed as a business for more than 80 years and is publicly traded under the RS ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has a market capitalization of more than $19 billion USD. The company just announced a small but important rebrand. It is now known […]

A person who has long owned a 3 letter .com domain name reached out to me to try and sell it. It's a nice domain name and has a great history, but I told her I wouldn't insult her with what would likely be perceived as a lowball offer. Instead, I shared some advice to […]

There are multiple platforms and brokerages that represent buyers seeking to acquire domain names. Two of those with the widest profile due to their partnerships or market position are GoDaddy and Domain Agents. Both of these platforms offer broker services in exchange for a fee plus a commission on a successful deal. I have seen […]

This morning, Escrow.com released its quarterly Domain Investment Index for the Third Quarter of 2023. This report offers a broad overview of the domain name aftermarket with data from transactions closed via Escrow.com. The entire (free) report can be accessed via this Google Drive link shared with me by Escrow.com. A few of the datapoints […...

Something I find quite frustrating in a negotiation is when I learn the buyer is not ready to purchase the domain name. It is incredibly annoying to spend time exchanging emails, texts, or WhatsApps to come to terms on a deal, and learn there is someone else or another group that has to approve the […]

The Internet Commerce Association shared its list of nominees for the 2024 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award. I was nominated (by Francois), and I appreciate him for thinking of me. I also nominated someone for the award, and I thought I would share who I nominated and why. Many years ago, I shared the story about […]

Hilco Digital's Andrew Miller announced that he will be doing an Ask Me Anything (AMA) livestream with domain industry veteran Larry Fischer today at noon (Eastern). The announcement was made on Hilco Digital's Twitter page, and a corrected link was shared in a subsequent tweet: Tomorrow, Thursday,12PM EST Random Thoughts Live Stream Podcast Episod...

The BBC published an article discussing the rising sale prices of select .AI domain names. In 2023 alone, NameBio has archived nearly $5 million worth of publicly reported .AI domain name sales, which is a substantial increase over the prior years which have hovered in the $1m/year range. Within the last year, there has been […]

Throughout the past couple of years, there have been numerous tech companies that laid off staff. Discussion about these tech layoffs amongst domain investors centered around the idea that these laid off employees would start new businesses and acquire domain names via the aftermarket to jumpstart their business. CNN shared a video interview with A...

For as long as I can recall, the minimum and opening bid for domain names in expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions has been $12 + the renewal fee. The minimum bid amount has changed to $25 for domain names entering into auction at GoDaddy Auctions. The change was announced in a blog post on GoDaddy's […]

NamesCon Global emailed past attendees this afternoon to announce that registration is now open for next year's conference. NamesCon Global will be held June 5-8, 2024 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown in Austin, Texas. Tickets can be purchased via EventBrite. NamesCon is currently offering a "Super Early Bird Special" for those who purchase a [...

Nearly two and a half years ago, WooCommerce acquired the Woo.com domain name for an undisclosed price. Since that time, the company has continued operating under the WooCommerce brand, and the shorter Woo.com domain name has been used as a forwarder. WooCommerce is owned by Automattic, the company that operates the WordPress platform. As of [̷...

A UDRP was filed against the generic one word Playhouse.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The sole panelist, Robert A. Badgley, found in favor of the domain registrant and also ruled that this was Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH). The decision was published this morning on the WIPO website. Zak Muscovitch represen...

I had to be a soccer dad on Friday afternoon, and I missed the close of the Accelerator.com expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions. When I returned, I saw the domain name had sold for $145,050, according to NameBio. When I clicked the auction page link, however, I saw a message that said "Auction cancelled," which […]

I learned there was a round of layoffs this week involving GoDaddy's Domains, Registrars, and Investors (DRI) Group. This is the team that interacts with domain investors and partner domain registrars. I do not know the scope of the layoff, nor do I know if employees who work directly with domain investors were impacted by […]

Many people confuse domain squatting with domain investing. Some use the "squatter" term pejoratively, but others simply refer to people who hold portfolios of domain names as domain squatters. They're not trying to be rude, but they don't understand the difference between the perfectly legal business of investing in generic domain names vs. the bu...

This morning, domain name parking service provider ParkingCrew announced a new user interface was launched in beta. The company made it clear that the UI is still under development, and it is not the final version that will ultimately be released. Instead, the company is seeking user input to optimize the utility of its UI […]

In July, Rick Schwartz announced that he reached a deal to sell the LUV.com domain name for seven figures. The announcement was made on Rick's private Twitter/X account, and he shared the value of the deal. Using DomainTools' Domain Monitor tool, I was able to see the domain name status changed as it was unlocked […]