Domain Rush
The practice of buying and selling domain names has become a lucrative business for many web hosting sites. A new trend is emerging called domain front running – i.e., temporarily registering searched domains for the purpose of re-selling them or earning revenue via ads placed on the domains landing page. By registering the domains, the registrar locks out other potential registrars from selling the domain to a customer.
Another trend is the buying of generic domain names and selling them for outrageous amounts of money. Take for example, www.americanplumbing.com. The domain is owned by a web hosting company who is selling it for $29,600.00.
URL availability, or unavailability, for that matter, can seriously limit the brand name development process. What kind of URL conflicts have you experienced?
By: Jessica McGrail
This post reminded me of this recent article about ICANN considering new domain extensions. Also interesting is the possibility of addresses in entirely non-English languages.