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Blog-related Domains Fetch Huge Premiums

Blog-related domain names are hot these days. Last week it was announced that  Blogster.com had sold for $100,000, confirming the value of blogging domains in the wake of the surprising sale of MyBlog.com for $400,000. These prices appear to be driven by recent deals in which blog-related businesses have sold for surprising prices, including the AOL's purchase of Weblogs Inc. and VeriSign's deal for Dave Winer's blogs.com ping service. As blogging matures as a revenue-generating business, folks with money are starting to notice and step in with significant offers. Will this trend continue? I'm not a completely disinterested bystander,  as I have Blogworks.net for sale at the moment.

  Posted by RichM December 22, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

December 8, 2005

Domain Rookie today notes several excellent research and data analysis tools at DomainsBot Labs, which explore how domain name value is affected by the length of a name and the number of keywords. The data is based on an analysis of more than 4,304 domain sales on AfterNIC from January 2003 to September 2005. The DomainsBot study supports common assumptions about the value of shorter names, but the analysis surfaces some underlying trends that could be useful in buying domains. Definitely worth a visit.

  Posted by RichM December 8, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

December 7, 2005

Things have been quiet here at DomainWorks, but we're back with a new name and focus. With the Domain Name Pricing Guide, I'll be featuring news and research that affects the price of domains. That includes a chart on our home page tracking pricing for first-time domain name registrations, which ranks registrars and major resellers by the price for a one-year .com domain. Note: this doesn't include bundles or multi-year registrations, which will be tracked separately. We'll also highlight promotions and trends in domain pricing, secondary market sales of existing domains, and look at the pay-per-click advertising business and how trends at domain parking services affect valuations.

You'll also see lots of "quick-linking" posts that feature interesting stories but are lighter on commentary. I found myself posting fewer items because I didn't have time to write a "full post." As a result, there were lots of intersting links I was seeing but not posting for readers. My goal is to share more links and not worry so much about saying something profound about each one. Thanks for coming, and I hope you find the site useful.

  Posted by RichM December 7, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

December 6, 2005

Dotster announced that it has Dotster Offers $6.99 Domain Names" href="http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/120605_Dotster_Offers_6.99_Domain_Names.cfm">cut its pricing by half, and is now selling one-year .com domains for $6.99 a name. The promotion, which lasts through Dec. 31, is a reduction from Dotster's standard pricing of $14.95 per year. Dotster.com">Dotster is one of the largest and fastest-growing domain registrars, and has recently expanded into web hosting.

  Posted by RichM December 6, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

December 4, 2005

IPower, which recently lowered its domain price to $2.95 per name, has now announced that it will offer WHOIS privacy at no additional cost. This follows the lead of 1&1 Internet, which in October began offering private registration for free, in what appears to be an effort to undersell Go Daddy, which has a substantial business selling WHOIS privacy for $9 a name.

The pricing war between major hosting companies is good news for domain buyers, who can now get private domains for $2.95 a year. IPower is not widely known outside the hosting industry, but has a substantial shared hosting operation.

  Posted by RichM December 4, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter