It's all about domain names
In July 2019, I brokered the sale of Pay.com.au between two long standing clients (and friends) of mine. To this day, it is still a record price for a 3 Letter domain in Australia.
Fast forward to today, and the site is in “beta” mode with a lot of interest from both institutional investors and SME’s.
If you are a good operator, this is what a premium domain name can do for any business. Gravitas and credibility!
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As someone who has been a domain investor for nearly two decades, 2020 was my absolute best year in terms of domain sales. Due to Covid-19, people and businesses have realised that an online presence is essential. And that starts with a good domain name.
I have also seen many changes in the .au domain name space over the years. None more so than recent times! So here’s what I would like to see going forward. How about you?
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On Saturday just past, anyone observing the expired auctions at Drop.com.au would have been gobsmacked to see some absolutely premium one-word domain names on their list.
One thing is for certain though. As the sole drop-catcher, Drop had a good payday – and there are some very happy domain investors. Santa came early!
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Going through some old research, I happened to re-read this excellent interview that the well-respected Giuseppe Graziano from GGRG.com did with industry legend Nat Cohen earlier this year.
This is just one of Nat’s observations: “Speculation and investment occur in every asset class and domain name investors should not be singled out for criticism. There are many domain registrants besides domain investors who want to take advantage of the domain aftermarket and who engage in the profitable resale of domain names, from a huge corporation who no longer needs domain names obtained through the acquisition of other companies, to a small business owner who is retiring and wants to cash out of a valuable domain name.
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With all the contemplated and anticipated changes that auDA have basically committed to, the big one is of course Direct Registration. That is the ability to register a domain such as Domainer.au.
But there are some prior rights afforded to existing registrants, and these are governed by what is known as the cut-off date. I have it on good authority that this date may be changed.
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If any affected person in Australia feels aggrieved by a decision of auDA, who can they turn to for an independent assessment and adjudication?
As I wrote back in 2017, the big daddy of regulators (ICANN) has their own Omdudsman. Why not auDA? What better way to offer transparency and accountability? Beats self-assessment hands down!
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I’ve done this every year for a long time!
Many people have benefitted greatly from my generosity at this time of the year. đŸ™‚
So if you are looking for some absolute bargains on domain names, please hit me up privately until Monday 7th December.
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In auDA’s 2020 Annual Report, they affirmed that ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) principles are important to them as an organisation.
In the opinion of our Guest Contributor (Scott Long), auDA are failing their Members when it comes to remuneration transparency and accountability.
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In the latest round of international musical chairs (acquisitions and takeovers), Donuts,Inc has acquired Afilias, Inc. Afilias, Inc is the parent company of the Australian Registry Operator “Afilias Australia”. auDA has issued a statement this morning saying that they have “commenced a formal due diligence process to inform its decision regarding consent”.
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A couple of days ago, I wrote this article about people and businesses rorting the system by registering .org.au domain names when they were not entitled to do so. I urged auDA to take action by doing an audit (just like they sometimes do to us domain investors when they get an anonymous complaint).
Well, I got so many calls and emails and LinkedIn messages in support about this. Absolutely amazing.
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There is a rort going on, and it involves ineligible entities and people registering .org.au domain names when they are not supposed to. They are not following auDA rules, and the regulator seems to be letting them get away with it.
auDA needs to concentrate their compliance weapons on those doing the most damage.
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