Domain Name Wire Podcast

I get a lot of feedback about the Domain Name Wire Podcast, and one episode this year got more accolades than usual.

In episode #585, naming expert Phil Davis explained how he built a portfolio of over 20,000 domains, almost exclusively through hand registrations.

Today, he returns to provide more details and an update on his sales this year. Grab a pen and paper; we're talking about keywords and strategy.

Yes, it's two episodes in a row about hand registrations! But even if you participate in expired domain auctions, the same data and suggestions apply.

Sponsor: Sell your domains with Sav.com domain landers

The numbers don't lie: people are hand registering more domains now than ever before. In the third quarter, people registered 13.1 million new .com and .net domains. That was a record for Verisign, beating the previous record set just three months earlier. Sure, some were expired domain backorders, but many weren't.

Earlier this year, domain investor Josh Reason came on the show to talk about his formula for hand registering 7,500 domains and his early results. Today, Josh returns to provide an update. He shares his results and discusses which keywords have been winners — and which haven't panned out.

We also discuss the launch of the DNX domain registrar.

Also: .Web, Escrow.com sales, ccTLD rule changes

Sponsor: Spaceship

For Barbara Povše and her team at Slovenia's .si domain registry, things have always moved at a deliberate pace. That changed last month when Donald Trump triggered a frenzy of domain registrations.

During a speech to the United Nations, Trump announced that his administration would start referring to artificial intelligence as "super intelligence." He followed up with an executive order.

This led to a surge in registrations that doubled the size of the .si namespace in just a few weeks.

On today's show, Barbara takes us behind the scenes of this unexpected boom. She explains how the registry handled the sudden influx of registrations, why some registrants ran into problems, and what changes the registry is considering to accommodate its newfound popularity.

Also: Registrars pushback on auDA, .org awards, and AI impact on web development speed

Sponsor: Sav.com domain transfers

For three decades, Rick Schwartz has been building a portfolio of super-valuable domain names, and he sells them from time to time at eye-watering prices.

This year, something changed. Rick decided to put domains like property.com, tryouts.com, and stud.com into the hands of builders.

He organized the Beanstalk Challenge, giving people the opportunity to use his domains as the basis for new businesses. Rick brings the domain, the builders bring their business expertise.

There are now 60 builders developing businesses on Rick's domains. And next month at NamesCon, Rick will hand the keys to his Bentley to one of these builders.

On today's show, learn why the "Domain King" decided to start the Beanstalk Challenge and how you can get involved.

To see Rick's domains available for investment, visit DomainKing.com and iCombinator.com.

Sponsor: Spaceship

AI changes everything, and that includes domain names and the web presence business.

As Wall Street tries to figure out the winners and losers, many incumbent large tech companies, including GoDaddy, have seen their share prices fall.

This week, I chat with Vinod Suresh, VP of Product Management at GoDaddy. Vinod explains how AI is impacting businesses through democratization, compression, and delegation.

Democratization means more people will become builders. Compression refers to how quickly things get done. As for delegation: bring on the agents.

Beyond creating AI products, GoDaddy uses AI internally. Democratization, compression, and delegation are on display at the company, too.

Vinod also opines on what AI means for the importance of domain names going forward.

Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions

Many top level domains applied for this year have a connection to web3: think .crypto and .nft.

But for many years, web3 companies have offered alt-root "domains" matching these top level domains on blockchain-based systems. What happens if one of those alt-root systems wants to integrate with the matching real top level domain? And how can TLDs add web3 functionality within ICANN's rules?

That's the question an ICANN technical study group sought to answer this year.

On today's show, one of the group's members discusses what the group determined. Don Ruiz is general manager of Orange Domains. Orange operates .locker, a domain from the 2012 expansion round, and offers web3 integrations.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out as some of these new domains hit the root.

Also: EasyGroup threat, new TLDs, Known, and a GoDaddy takeover?

Sponsor: Spaceship

Verisign is introducing .web this year, but the idea for the domain dates back more than three decades. Today's guest was there at the beginning.

Chris Ambler, Director of Domains for Registered Agents, Inc., discusses the long and winding history of .web and his role in proposing the domain years ago.

Nah, he's not bitter at all about not getting the domain.

Even though Chris isn't involved with Verisign's .web, he is participating in this year's round of new top level domain expansion. Registered Agents, Inc. applied for six domains, including .epic, .identity, .mark, .private, .registeredagent, and .verified.

Chris explains the thinking behind these strings, updates listeners on domain registrar Epik, and discusses why the company decided to build its own Registry Service Provider, Astronym Registry.

Sponsor: Sell your domains with Sav.com domain landers

The board of auDA, the group that oversees the .au namespace, just voted to make a sweeping change to registration rules for .com.au domains. It could mean a million or more domains lose their eligibility in a namespace of 3.3 million.

On today's show, Erhan Karabardak, a former auDA board member and IP attorney, joins me. He was one of the seven people on the panel that came up with the recommended rule change, and one of three who voted against it.

Erhan explains what happened and what it means for domain registrants.

Also: Verisign pricing lawsuit, Aruba and ShortDot new TLD plans, IONOS layoffs, drop time changes

Sponsor: Namecheap

Two-thirds of the year is in the books, and what a year it has been. Technology is changing quickly, and this is impacting the domain business.

On today's show, I discuss my domain results so far this year and dig into some of the changes I'm making to my investing. I also discuss how I'm using the GoDaddy Auctions API to make bidding easier.

Also: .Net prices, GoValue, Radix, Unstoppable [Domains], D3, and more

Sponsor: Sav.com backorders

.AI is hot, but what do business owners think about them? On this show, I speak with two business owners who switched their businesses to .ai domains. One started with a .so and quickly realized the extension's limitations. The other started on a .com domain that ended up pigeonholing this business.

First, I chat with Felix Ingla of Pedra. He launched his business on a .so domain and immediately ran into problems. He knew he needed to choose a different domain, and considered getPedra.com, which he could have hand registered. But 'get' works best as a prefix for English speakers, and his primary customers are in Spain and Germany. He ended up getting Pedra.ai.

Next, I speak with Angeli Angelos of Swipe. When his company first launched its product, it went with the name Post Protect, and that ended up limiting its ambitions. So he looked for a broader name and landed on Swipe. He discusses buying the domain swipe.ai, and how lease-to-own made it possible.

Also: Top level domain applications and more top level domain applications

Sponsor: Spaceship