Domain Name Wire Podcast

We all have our war stories about trying to acquire domains from stubborn sellers. But Rob Schutz of Snagged has a story that might just top them all. Rob helped a company acquire a name from a domain seller who was, let's just call him, a bit erratic. To get the deal done, Rob had to deliver the money in gold coins, in person, at a neutral location. He even hired an off-duty police officer to be...

On this week's show, Nadya Frost of domain and hosting analytics company ShareShift shares interesting data about the .AI namespace , as well as other trends related to artificial intelligence. We discuss how AI is changing the technologies people use for building websites and how sites are optimizing for large language models. ShareShift focuses on the European market, so we also explore how that...

Last week, Internet Commerce Association announced changes to its board. Longtime board member Nat Cohen stepped up to the role of president, and Ryan McKegney is the new vice president. On today's show, both Nat and Ryan will join me, along with executive director Kamila Sekiewicz. We discuss the recent ICA meetup in New York and what the organization is working on this year. Also: Anti-trust cla...

Anand Vora, who oversees Namecheap's and Spaceship's domain businesses, joins me on the show this week.   We discuss Anand's history in the domain business, what it's like to move from the registry side to the registrar side, and what's in store for both Namecheap and Spaceship.   Also: Web3 integration technical group, NIXI nixes domain investors   Sponsor: Namecheap .AI auctions  

Human rights organization Article19 recently released a report titled Damming a river to catch a fish , examining how governments and other entities are increasingly turning to the DNS layer to censor content.   On today's show, Michaela Nakayama Shapiro of Article19 explains what the organization found and what can be done about it, including recommendations for registries, registrars, ICANN, and...

Nordic Domain Days took place in Stockholm, Sweden, last week. It was my first time attending the event, and the trip was very worthwhile. Not only was the content good, but the networking was solid as well, with many people I had never met. On today's show, you'll hear from five people who were at the conference, including a conversation with the event's founder, LG Forsberg. Also: Domain renewal...

Very few domain name investors ever reach the point where they do it full-time. It's even rarer when they primarily invest in non-.com domains. One investor who went full-time is Nikul Sanghvi. He was a part-time investor when the pandemic hit, and as his consulting work dried up, he took the plunge. On today's show, Nikul talks about some of the pros and cons of investing in domains full-time. We...

Artificial intelligence is having a huge impact on the domain name industry. One area it could help grow the business is if agents use the DNS for identity. Today, Identity Digital CEO Akram Atallah discusses the company's new DNSid , which it bills as "birth certificates for agents." We discuss the need for a standard and how Identity Digital's initiative differs from the one GoDaddy is building....

Top level domain company ShortDot didn't apply for any top level domains in the 2012 round, but it later acquired TLDs and has grown its portfolio to millions of second level registrations. On today's show, ShortDot CEO Lars Jensen explains why ShortDot was founded and how it has grown its registrations. He also talks about his expectations for the next round, in which ShortDot will likely be amon...

Phil Davis has named 750 companies and brands, such as PODS, since he started his naming agency, Tungsten Branding . The process led him to get into domain investing.   Grab a pencil and paper as Phil explains how he built his portfolio to 22,000 domains, almost solely with hand registrations.   He explains how the processes of naming companies and investing in domains are distinct. Phil also disc...

ICANN is opening applications for new top level domain names this week, 14 years after the last round of TLD expansion.   The rules have changed: Fees are higher this time around, and applicants can't coordinate to settle string contentions after applications are revealed.   On today's show, Ray King discusses some of these changes and why he built Early Warning Report to help applicants.   Ray is...

Most domain investors know the lifecycle of domain names, but the same can't be said for entrepreneurs, businesses, and individuals who have their eyes on a domain.   Mike Cyger's latest creation solves that problem. Notify.domains is like Google Alerts for Domains. It tracks domain names and notifies users whenever there is a change: the domain expires, it's listed for sale, a nameserver changes,...

I've been a fan of Instant Domain Search for many years. The domain search tool has been around for over two decades, but it's expanding its ambitions this year.   Under the umbrella of Instant Labs, the company is introducing new search features, an API for its data, and its own domain name registrar.   On today's show, Instant Labs CEO Matt Maiale fills us in on the details, and tells the story...

Most domain transactions go smoothly. When they don't, people turn to attorney John Berryhill for help.   On today's show, John shares stories about some of the things he's seen happen: a UDRP filed during a long-term payment plan, a bankruptcy impacting a previous domain sale, and habitually late payers on LTOs.   Thankfully, John also suggests a fairly simple way to protect yourself.   Sponsor:...

One of the fastest-innovating companies in the domain space is Atom. Some might say it releases new features too fast, making it difficult to keep up.   But some of the features and tweaks it has made this year are examples of why you need to try new things.    On today's show, Atom CEO Darpan Munjal discusses some things the company has tried this year and the results so far. He also shares what...

Is it possible to hand register domain names and turn a profit? Or are all of the good domains already taken?   On today's show, domain investor Josh Reason walks through the process he used to register 7,500 domain names last year. He's already turned a profit on the domains, proving there are still opportunities to hand-register domains.   It took some elbow grease, though. Grab a pen and paper...

This week, I sit down to chat with Michael Reidl, CEO of Team Internet Group (London AIM; TIG).   You might not know that company by name, but you've probably heard of some of its brands. The company owns domain registrars including Moniker, traffic monetization businesses such as ParkingCrew, and provides backend registry services for TLDs such as .co and .xyz.   We have a wide-ranging discussion...

It's back! Two of our most popular guests on the Domain Name Wire podcast are domain investors Mark Levine and Logan Flatt.    On today's show, Mark and Logan provide details about their domain investing results in 2025. You'll learn where they are acquiring domains, what type they are buying, how they're pricing them and how they're selling them.    Grab a pencil and paper, because you'll want to...

A year ago Nova Registry, the company behind .link, announced that it planned to apply for 200 top level domain names in the round that opens this year.   Today, Vaughn Liley, general manager of Nova Registry, comes on the show to give an update about the company's plans. We have a wide ranging conversation about running top level domains, how the 2026 round will be different from last time, the p...

By now, you've surely heard about the record-shattering $70 million sale of ai.com. After the sale was announced, there were many erroneous news reports claiming that the seller had purchased the domain decades ago for $100. This isn't true, and anyone who pays attention to the domain business knows this. About five years ago, Saw.com brokered the sale of the domain, and this was widely reported i...

This month's Super Bowl featured a lot of great commercials, including one that the entire domain name industry can get behind. Squarespace's commercial featured actress Emma Stone, who searches and finds out that EmmaStone.com is taken. The ad tells people to get their domain before it's gone.   While EmmaStone.com was taken, Stone acquired the domain late last year.    On today's show, the domai...

About one year after retiring from GoDaddy, Bob Mountain is back in the domain industry as the Chief Commercial and Revenue Officer for D3 Global.   On today's show, Bob explains why he believes in D3's mission of marrying the DNS with blockchain technology. He discusses how this can benefit both domain investors and registrars.   Also: Verisign's plans, Emma Stone, Bed Bath & Beyond, .ai price in...

After a year of strong growth at its domain name registrar, Unstoppable Domains is looking forward to building on the momentum in 2026.   On today's show, Unstoppable CEO Matthew Gould explains the company's strategy, and why he Unstoppable Domains will continue to attract domain investors.   Matthew also discussed the Unstoppable's plans to apply for new top level domain names with ICANN this yea...

Earlier this month, Internet Commerce Association held its annual meeting in Las Vegas. As I often do at domain events, I walked around with a recorder to get peoples' thoughts about domain names.   On today's show, you'll hear from people about the state of the market, giving their thoughts about the meeting, and talking about new domain services.   Also: Domain parking, hidden gems, and cybersqu...

On recent episodes, domain investors Doron Vermaat and Braden Pollock have shared their domain sales results from the past year. There will be more episodes like this in the future. But this week, I'm going to share my sales results for 2025.   The year ended well for me, but I have high goals for 2026. I also share how I plan to do things differently in my portfolio going forward. Sponsor: Sav.co...