SEATTLE -- Domain name registration sites have it rough. First of all, they're running out of desirable properties to sell in the lucrative ".com" top-level domain. Secondly, they can't participate in the aftermarket: when eCompanies bought business.com in a deal reputed to be worth $1 million, how much of that did any registry business see? Zip.
Plus, given the prior Internet land rush and the low cost of registering open domains, most decent domain names are taken, and name-shopping trips yield little. Paying customers turned away from registration sites head over to name resellers, like GreatDomains and Afternic (and even eBay).
SnapNames's CEO, Ron Wiener, wants to make it possible for registrars to take a cut of the aftermarket by providing services they can resell, allowing buyers to put orders on names so that when a registration expires, a new customer can snap it up. The company will also organize auctions. And for name holders, SnapNames can automatically reregister a domain, should the record change for any reason.
This new focus on monitoring existing names is unique, leverages existing registration sites, and could potentially increase their revenues as the domain-name market continues to move from original registrations to the aftermarket.
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