NEW YORK, NY – The domain industry saw a notable identity shift recently with the announcement that Prime Loyalty has officially rebranded to URLs.com, a move that, in my view, represents one of the clearest examples in years of a company adopting a brand that truly reflects what it does. The change was revealed by owner Jeff Garbutt, whom I’ve met at several domain conferences over the years. Garbutt announced the shift with the line: “We said loyalty must be … [Read more...]
AI Search May Be Biggest Shift in Domain Industry Since Fall of Exact-Match Boom
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - For more than two decades, the domain-name market has largely moved in step with Google’s search systems. Investors based valuations on keyword demand, search volume, and the longstanding assumption that visibility in Google ultimately dictated what made a digital asset valuable. But the rapid rise of AI-driven “answer engines” - including ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Claude (just saw first referral from it today), and others is creating a new reality. … [Read more...]
Domains, Not Hype: Insights from Andrew Rosener’s Conversation on Miss Understood
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - This week I took some time to watch an episode of Miss Understood hosted by Rachel Uchitel featuring Andrew Rosener, founder and CEO of MediaOptions, one of the best-known domain brokerages in the world. While I’ve been in this business for a long time, I thought the conversation offered a lot of good perspective — especially for people who may be newer to the industry or still wrapping their heads around digital asset value. The episode was titled … [Read more...]
Slipknot Files Lawsuit Over Two-Decade Battle for Slipknot.com Domain Name
RICHMOND, VA - Slipknot, one of heavy metal’s most commercially successful and enduring acts, has launched a new legal campaign to reclaim control of a domain name if it feels belongs to them more than twenty years after the web address was registered. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Slipknot, Inc. v. slipknot.com), targets the long-time registrant of Slipknot.com, a domain the band says has misled fans and profited from its … [Read more...]
Breaking Down the Q3 2025 Domain Name Industry Brief: What the Latest Data Means
RESTON, VA - Every quarter, Verisign releases its Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB) - a data-packed snapshot of the global domain landscape. The Q3 2025 report just dropped, revealing how domain registrations, renewals, and growth trends are shifting across .com, .net, country-code extensions, and hundreds of new generic TLDs. For professionals running digital projects from startups and online stores to marketers, web developers, and SEO specialists, these numbers are more … [Read more...]
“Ultra-Premium” Invite-Only Domain Marketplace Unveiled by GoDaddy
TEMPE, AZ - GoDaddy has launched a new, invite-only marketplace for high-value domain names at the incredible web address: DomainNames.com, positioning it as a curated showroom for one-word .com and .ai domains, rare two-letter names, and short numerics typically valued in the six-figures and up. The rollout follows industry teasers earlier this month and formal launch coverage this past week. This is a distinct, curated tier within GoDaddy’s aftermarket universe-separate … [Read more...]
.HipHop Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign In “Testing the Waters” Phase
POMPANO BEACH, FL - Dot Hip Hop, LLC - the registry operator for the .hiphop top-level domain - has announced plans to raise capital through an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder. The initiative, currently in the “Testing the Waters” phase allowed under U.S. securities law, is designed to measure investor interest before the company formally files its required Form C disclosure and begins accepting funds. .hiphop was first delegated in 2014 as part of ICANN’s new … [Read more...]
Great Brand, Even Greater Domain: The Power of Owning Tommy.com
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Tommy Hilfiger is a global fashion icon - or how they describe themselves, "a leading global corporation" known for bold styles, timeless designs, and worldwide influence. But beyond the clothing racks and runway shows, the company also holds one of the cleanest, most powerful digital assets a brand can own: Tommy.com. In the world of domain names, this isn’t good branding - it’s the ultimate branding. Having a single, memorable, and perfectly aligned … [Read more...]
Bluehost & HostGator Expired Domains to be Auctioned on NameJet, SnapNames
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - In a notable development within the domain name aftermarket industry, NameJet has announced that expired domain names from two major hosting providers - Bluehost.com and HostGator.com - will now be auctioned exclusively on its platform and that of its sister site, SnapNames. This move expands NameJet’s reach in the expired domain space by adding even more high-volume inventory from some of the internet's largest hosting brands. Bluehost and HostGator, … [Read more...]
Hidden Gems: Some Ultra-Premium Domains I Discovered at MediaOptions
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Earlier today, I found myself browsing the MediaOptions website after being referred there by a YouTube video that mentioned the company and spotlighted one of their domain names. That particular name immediately caught my attention because it’s an exact match - or a very close variation - of one of my client’s business names. I think it could be an ideal fit for them. As I continued exploring, I was struck by the impressive number of ultra-premium … [Read more...]
Hypothetically: Inflated Domain Name Valuations Driven by AI Tools
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – I recently tested a domain name valuation tool powered by artificial intelligence, and I was struck by how inflated the appraisals were. The estimated values seemed wildly generous—far beyond what the current market would realistically support. It reminded me of a time, 10 to 15 years ago, when domains were often priced based on hypothetical potential rather than actual sales data or revenue performance. It seems like the prices are based more on … [Read more...]
Success Stories: Entrepreneurs Who Scored Big With the Right .Com Domain Name
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - In today’s fast-growing and highly competitive digital landscape, a domain name is far more than just a web address—it’s a critical asset that shapes brand identity, builds trust, and often serves as the first impression customers have of a business. A strong domain name can enhance marketing efforts, drive organic search traffic, improve click-through rates, and establish long-term brand authority. With millions of websites launched every year, the … [Read more...]
“A Domain Name Is Born” But Never Grew Up; Reserved at Birth, Forgotten by Time
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Nearly two decades ago, my local newspaper at the time, Newsday, ran a front-page story in its Money & Careers section titled “A Domain Name Is Born.” The article spotlighted a fascinating emerging trend: forward-thinking parents reserving web addresses for their newborns - sometimes before the child was even born. I snapped a photo of the front cover back in 2007, struck by how the digital world was starting to influence even baby names. I grabbed … [Read more...]
Increasing Corporate Confidence Equals Bull Market for Premium Domain Names
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The domain name industry is experiencing a surge in high-value sales this year, likely driven by renewed corporate spending confidence and increased demand for premium digital assets. Industry data and market activity suggest that 2025 could be one of the most active and lucrative years ever recorded in the secondary domain market. According to DNJournal, pretty-much 'the' single leading authority on publicly reported domain name … [Read more...]
Domain Names as Digital Real Estate: The Parallels of Scarcity and Value
PALM BEACH, FL - In the modern business landscape, owning a premium domain name can be as valuable as holding a prime piece of physical real estate. Just as with prime properties in desirable locations, premium domain names—short, memorable, and industry-specific web addresses—are in limited supply, which drives up their value over time. These digital assets, much like their physical counterparts, are scarce commodities, and their importance has only increased in an era where … [Read more...]