Domain Name Wire Podcast

Domain name investors fear bogus UDRP cybersquatting cases. How can you protect yourself against the cost of having to defend against a UDRP? On today's show attorney John Berryhill discusses common perceptions about trademarks to help you avoid risky domains, how to protect your domains once you own them (park them or not?), and how to be careful when dealing with inquiries about your domains tha...

WordPress.com operates a domain name registrar with a unique characteristic: almost all of the domain names it registers are for end users that put them to use with a live website. Kellie Peterson, who manages the registrar, explains what she is seeing with both new top level domains and .com and discusses user behavior. Also: .Web is (maybe) a go, GoDaddy changes Whois, Equifax domains and more.

This week I run down the top stories on DNW from last year. Top stories include GDPR, new top level domain pricing, emoji domains, dot-brands and more. Also: WordPress hosting company gets lots of dough, no more RegistrarStats and Syria.net dispute.

Stacey Higginbotham joins me on the show to talk about the Internet of Things. Understand what it is, what industries it impacts, the easiest way to get started with the smart home, and how the internet of things might impact web usage and domain names.

It's time for the annual DNW predictions episode! You'll hear from 17 people across the domain name industry about what they predict in the domain name space in 2018. You'll hear from: Brian Cute (PIR/.org), Christa Taylor (dot TBA), Michele Neylon (Blacknight), Shane Cultra (DSAD.com), Lori Anne Wardi (Neustar), Giuseppe Graziano (GGRG.com), Zak Muscovitch (Muscovitch Law Firm), Jochen Kieler (Br...

The domain industry's biggest conference is just a month away as NamesCon comes to Las Vegas in late January. Today we talk to NamesCon president Soeren von Varchmin about what to expect this year and if any changes are being made now that the conference is under new ownership. Also: country code warning, escrow updates, Radix's revenue, Tucows votes for GoDaddy Auctions, cryptocurrency domain cra...

This week we check with Shane Cultra, aka Domain Shane, who runs the blog DSAD.com. Shane talks about his three favorite domain buys this year, what he's investing in (and not) and more. It's an informative show. Also: GoDaddy eats some Yummy domains, how to use automated domain appraisals, Neustar moves to a .brand, and welcoming Alvin Brown.

A lot of domainers try to create businesses on their good domain names but run into challenges. This week's guest, Peter Askew, has developed three great domain names into businesses. He explains some of the challenges and successes he's had. Each of his businesses is unique, too: a directory biz model on DudeRanch.com, ecommerce shipping a fresh product on VidaliaOnions.com and now a software as...

What was it like having a website in the early days of the web? On today's show, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson explains how Megadeth go on the internet and why it started with the domain name MegadethArizona.com instead of Megadeth.com. He also talks about changes in the music business model, and some of the upheaval is relevant to the domain business. Ellefson also explains why he started his m...

Every year I have a predictions episode that includes predictions for the upcoming year from many people in the domain business. The 2018 predictions episode is coming in about a month, but I thought it would be a good time to go back and review predictions people made for this year. How accurate were they? This episode of the podcast replays the predictions for this year. Who do you think hit the...

This week we talk with Paul Nicks, GM and SVP of Aftermarket at GoDaddy. GoDaddy has become a domain investor by purchasing large portfolios of domain names. The company has learned a lot about selling domain names in this role, and Nicks will share some data and tips to help you sell more domains. We also discuss GoDaddy's roadmap with Afternic/GoDaddy and how it plans to create a seamless experi...

Everyone is talking about blockchain. Can it have a major impact on the domain name aftermarket? On today's show I talk with Reza Sardeha, a co-founder of domain name aftermarket service Undeveloped.com to get to the bottom of it. Reza believes Blockchain can transform the industry to everyone's benefit. We dig into it to try to separate hype from reality.

This week we talk with domain name investor Adam Strong. Strong, who owns about 15,000 domain names, explains how he has been able to increase his sales in recent months. He also discusses pricing your domain names and why he avoids zero click domain parking. Domain investors will learn a lot in this episode. Also: GoDaddy buys more domains, domaining in Europe, WooCommerce extensions, Escrow.com...

This week we catch up with five people in the domain name industry with interviews from last week's Merge conference. You'll hear from Dr. Hani Armstrong with protected parking about typo domains, Jonathan Tenenbaum about Tucows' domain inventory and new lower prices, Ryan Colby about blockchain, Brandon Abbey with the latest updates from Payoneer, and Jothan Frakes, the new interim executive dire...

You might know Ken Hansen from the domain name industry, but he's also very involved with spreading the gospel of blockchain. On today's show, Ken explains blockchain in language that you can understand. He also discusses how blockchain technology might be applied to domain names. Also: lots of donuts, Escrow.com price drop, GoDaddy fixes the glitch and MicroStrategy faces another domain challenge...

Tom Schumacher co-founded Sedo, one of the largest domain name marketplaces and parking companies. He also served as CEO until six years ago. Now he's moved to the other side: ad blocking. He is Chairman of Eyeo, maker of the popular Ad Block Plus program. On today's show we'll discuss the irony of this, and also how web publishers and domain parking companies can ensure their ads still show to pe...

Chad Folkening has been a domain investor for over 20 years. On this week's show he discusses what he sees happening in the domain industry, how he thinks we can get more liquidity for domains, and how his company is building out domains. Also: Police raid, SSL woes, lower expired domain prices, $75k domain lost in UDRP and a good laugh.

Everyone is talking about Chatbots. This week I talk to chatbot expert Peter Lisoskie about how business can use chatbots and how they might change our interaction with the web. There's an interesting use case for domain registrars, too. Also: Trending names, a $275k value, Hurrican Irma, Topcoin, strong new TLD sales and more.

Whether you're a domain investor, registrar or registry, the EU's new GDPR privacy regulations will affect you. On this episode we chat with Michele Neylon of Blacknight to understand the potential impact. Also: domain peeps on the move, CentralNic's premium sales, Namecheap sues Enom and more.

This week we talk with Matthias Meyer-Schönherr, the Chief Sales Officer at Sedo. Matthias comes armed with data to discuss sales trends including .ai domain names. He also talks about options for selling domains and the best way to sell domains in today's market. Also: how to help Harvey's victims, Beijing finally gets on board and two domain industry veterans move to a new company.

Jothan Frakes comes on the show to discuss the upcoming MERGE! Show in Orlando. It includes The Domain Conference plus other conferences (Blockchain, bitcoin, content management systems and more) all wrapped up in one. Be sure to listen to the end for your chance to get free or discounted tickets.

Domain investor and Uniregistry founder Frank Schilling comes back on the program to talk about what's going on in the domain world: new top level domains, Donuts taking over Rightside, and your .com domain investments. Also: GDPR, DailyStormer.com backlash and Broadcast.com.

What do end users think about before deciding to buy your domain name? It goes beyond just price. Bill Sweetman of Name Ninja discusses about a dozen factors that companies will consider before pulling the trigger. This is valuable information for domain investors to consider. Also: Capital One Arena scoop, GoDaddy and Tucows earnings, a deal for brand owners, and conference news.

Vince Harasymiak with DomainCapital talks about how his firm lends money against domain names to help domain investors leverage their domain investments. Find out what kinds of domains the company backs, how it works with domain investors and what terms you can expect. DomainCapital plays the role of a large domain investor due to the nature of its business, and Vince also discusses what he sees i...

This week I chat with Jesper Knudsen and Jochen Kieler of BrandIT. BrandIT is a corporate domain and brand management company that bought domain brokerage Igloo.com earlier this year. I speak with Jesper and Jochen about the surprising differences between domain names in Europe and the U.S. and why it can be harder to pick a company's domain when you're in Europe. We also discuss portfolio consoli...