$8.95 Domain Names Transfers from Dotster

.name Domains Offered Free (for 60 Days)

The operator of the .name registry is offering a "free trial" on its domains, and appears to be encouraging registrars to mass-register .name URLs for existing customers. The Global Name Registry, which oversees .name, is limiting the freebie to a 60-day trial period, after which the registrant must pay for the name or return it to the registry.

The promotion refines Afilias' offer of free .info domains, but places a shorter time frame (60 days versus one year) before the domain fees must be paid. "All Free Trial Names are registered in bulk, i.e. an ISP/Registrar can allocate a free trial name to each of its customers at no charge," the offer notes. eNom affiliate Sipence used the Afilias offer last year as an opportunity to bulk register 1 million .info domains for customers who owned the same name in .com or .net.

The idea in both free domain name promotions is to use the FREE factor to put the domains into use, and then start generating revenue when the owners who are actually using the domains have to renew. The strategy has put a huge number of .info names into play. Prior to the freebies, Afilias had registered 1.5 million .info names in three years. Nine months later, that number has jumped to 3.6 million, making .info nearly as common as the much older .org TLD. As we noted in our previous item, a large number of .info domains are currently parked and displaying pay-per-click ads. But if the names are generating parking revenue, the owners are likely to pay the renewal fee.

Does a similar future await .name? We'll soon find out. GNR is deferring revenue for a much shorter time frame than Afilias, and the "trial" language will likely dissuade some folks. But it will be interesting to see if registrars make landgrabs similar to those seen with .info.

    •   Posted by RichM July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

    RELATED ENTRIES
    .name Domains Offered Free (for 60 Days) - Jul 07, 2005


    Trackback Pings

    TrackBack URL for this entry:
    http://www.njwebworks.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/miller60/mt333/mt-tb.cgi/38