Domain Name Wire Podcast

Domain sales platform Atom recently announced it had become an ICANN-accredited registrar. On today's show, Atom founder and CEO Darpan Munjal joins me to talk about three overarching missions Darpan wants to achieve by becoming a registrar.

He also discusses new features available on Atom, as well as new data…including that 25% of sales revenue at Atom now comes from .ai domain names! It's a great discussion, so tune in.

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Brett Farmiloe joined me on the podcast in 2023 after his company rebranded from Terkel to Featured using the domain Featured.com.

On today's show, Brett explains how the new domain and brand has helped his company since then.

Featured also recently acquired Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a popular service that connects journalists with guests. Brett explains how the deal came about and what Featured's plans are for the service.

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It's finally happening.

ICANN has published its Draft Applicant Guidebook for the next round of new top level domain expansion. Other than adding some deadlines, it's likely to be more or less the final rulebook when applications open starting this time next year.

The Guidebook weighs in at a whopping 400 pages. So on today's show, Christa Taylor of TLDz and I unpack the changes from the last round. Christa also talks about where demand will come from in the 2026 round and what we can expect from applicants.

Also: GoDaddy's new Pro plan, Tesla, .Cloud changes, and more.

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One of my favorite interviews on the Domain Name Wire Podcast was from 2016, when I interviewed DNS inventor Paul Mockapetris.

On today's show I'm replaying that interview. You'll hear about the early days of the DNS, including why it was created. Paul also confirmed that some people thought .com would be a failure as a top level domain.

Also: Atom becomes a registrar, new domain keyword data, and more.

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The next application window for top level domain names opens next year.

It's been more than a decade since the last round, and a lot has changed in both the domain name industry and the broader internet landscape.

On today's podcast, I'm joined by Theresa Swinehart, ICANN's SVP of Global Domains and Strategy, to discuss one key category of applicants: brands applying for so-called dot-brand domains.

In the 2012 round, dot-brand applications accounted for 44% of all submissions. What should we expect this time?

See results of a recent survey about dot-brands here.

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This month, Encirca became the first registrar I'm aware of to announce integration with D3's Doma Protocol, which allows registrars to add blockchain enhancements to domain names. Encirca also announced MyPublicWallet.

I'm joined by Encirca President Tom Barrett on today's show. Tom has been an early pioneer in web3 as it relates to domain names. Today, we discuss the challenges early efforts to bring blockchain to domains have faced and where he thinks the future opportunity is.

Also: HBO Max, top domain brokers, DNS hijack and more

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Sometimes, agreeing on a price is the simple part of a domain name transaction. There can be all sorts of hurdles to completing the deal.

For example, what if one of the parties doesn't want to complete Know Your Customer requirements for escrow? What if a seller is in the middle of bankruptcy or a divorce? How can you handle complicated payment plans? And what if the buyer or seller wants to meet in person for an all-cash deal? (Hey, it happens!)

Bill Sweetman of Name Ninja has seen it all. On today's show, he talks about some of these tricky complications and how to resolve them.

Also: BigCommerce's big buy, domain investor sentenced, Tucows earnings and more

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Every year, InterNetX and Sedo release a Global Domain Report. On this week's show, I speak with representatives of the two companies to understand more about the 2025 report.

First, Simone Catania of InterNetX joins me to explain what goes into developing the report and provide background.

Then, Semra Körner and Dave Evanson of Sedo discuss what the report reveals about the domain name aftermarket.

Download the 2025 Global Domain Report.

Also: GoDaddy and NameSilo earnings, domain transfers, expired domains and more.

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On this week's show, I run through some of the big news stories from the past week. This includes an explanation of why Verisign's stock popped on Friday, how a domain seller is in in hot water after backing out of a deal, which law firm filed its FIFTH reverse domain name hijacking case, and an interesting lawsuit involving a premium domain under a new top level domain.

Then, I discuss a new domain valuation tool that shows both the promise and perils of AI. I conclude by sharing my domain sales results so far this year.

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Above.com has played an integral role in domain name monetization since the early days of parking. It has navigated many changes in monetization, and sees both challenges and opportunities in Google's recent changes to its parking business.

On today's show, Above.com and Trillion founder David Warmuz talks about how direct advertising will play a bigger role in monetization. He also recounts the long road he went on to acquired Trillion.com.

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