Domains are big business and are about to get even bigger!
Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure you know what a domain name is by now, but did you ever think about how big a business domains actually are? Everywhere you go, you see domains. Whether it’s a movie preview, a television commercial or a roadside billboard, somebody is advertising a product or service and touting their domains to get the best bang for their buck. The majority of magazines, television and radio stations and other news media are all on-line and have their own domains. Most of the retail stores, food chains and many other small businesses are also on-line using their own domains. Many municipalities, educational facilities and other government agencies are all on-line and all utilize there own domains. Are you getting the picture. Domains aren’t free (although they once were early on) and as I write this article, there are over an astonishing 225 million domains worldwide and that number continues to grow rapidly. Keep in mind, there are also approximately 2.5 billion people using the internet for commercial, educational, social, and cultural purposes.
Imagine if domains had not expired and been deleted over the years. Data from late 2011 suggests that a staggering 328,456,608 .com domains have been deleted since the Top Level Domain (TLD) was first created along with 36,196,098 .net domains and these numbers are much bigger today. Actually, domains which expire are added to the deleted column and removed from the active, but are available for re-registration immediately. So the deleted column is a cumulative total over the decades.
Anyway, with these kinds of numbers, it is easy to understand why domains can be valuable. Take some time to watch this next video to understand why more and more people are buying and selling domains.
Domains
Another way to gain an understanding on how big the domain name market is to visit DNJournal, which publishes the top known domain name sales on a weekly basis. This is the easiest way to see that domains are big business and when I show the average Joe this, they are typically blown away. Don’t get me wrong, while domains are big business, it is not easy and like anything else, success requires a lot of hard work, a bit of education and research and perhaps some luck too. If you are considering getting started in this business, I urge you to do your homework first! The great majority of folks who dive into this business headfirst, give a lot of money away and never really see a return on their investment. Educate yourself and take the time to see what others have done before you. Formulate relationships and learn something new every day!
As you can probably now understand, vying for domain name space in this virtual real estate market has become increasingly difficult at a cost-effective level for new businesses, entrepreneurs, and even individuals. To break out from the limited space provided by current TLD extensions, ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – a private sector, non-profit corporation created in 1998 to assume responsibility for Internet Protocol address spaces) has begun the process of releasing over 1,000 new extensions, which will quickly multiply the number of existing domains. By adding to the internet’s list of extensions, ICANN intends not only to allow more domains, but intends to create a safer, more efficient internet that has instant significance of a website’s content in regards to its extension.
The next stage in the Internet’s revolution is upon us, with new domain name extensions (right of the dot) such as .bank .shop .music .nyc .money .hotel .sport .love .web .gay .real .horse .free .california .skate .eco .paris .wine and many more are expected to be available in early 2013. Many say this will only make .coms more valuable and I tend to agree with that, especially since the general public isn’t even really aware that these new internet destinations are being created. One thing is for sure, like myself, there are many domainers (people that buy and sell domains) that are anxious to see what happens as these new changes are rolled out. Regardless of the outcome, there will be a lot of money exchanging hands, only making the domains business even bigger!
