The Domainer
Domaining is the business of buying, selling, developing and monetizing Internet domain names not for primary use as a website, but with the goal of profit generation with the intent of resale, like real estate. The noun form is domainer. A domainer is a person who engages in domaining. A person engaging in "domaining" is alternatively referred to as a "domaineer" and the activity is labelled "domaineering".
Domaining often involves building up of domain name portfolios, or collections of domain names, according to a variety of criteria. Such domain name portfolios often include marketable generic dictionary-word domain names, or domains whose registrations had lapsed yet still retain reasonable traffic. Domain names are the addresses of the web and come in a wide variety of extensions with .com being the most popular in part due to web browsers filling in .com as the default extension when none is given. Although domain reselling may involve a domain used for a website or mail system or else a domainer may generate advertising revenue through domain parking.
Domain appraisal services emerged as a result of increasing practice of domaining and cybersquatting.
Domainer is a term for referring to individuals, companies, or organizations whose business model includes accumulating a portfolio of generic internet domain names. They consider their conduct in buying, selling, and developing domain names to be in the same spirit as real estate investing. Domainers generate revenue via domain parking as well as through the resale of domain names and by developing domain names into fully functioning websites The large domainers are also sometimes referred to as domain investors and commercial registrants and bulk registrants.
The large investors buy for resell and park the name while they own it to generate revenue. Most smaller domainers buy their domains for development. Both groups buy unregistered names from registrars and from drop sources like auctions. Some large domainers are able to purchase domains more cheaply from Domain name resellers than the average consumer due to purchases in bulk. They are saving about 3-4 dollars per name. However most domainers own relatively small portfolios and pay the same price as the public.
As of December 2006, there are an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 individuals globally who make buying and selling domain names a part of their business. USA Today reported that many Domainers prefer to remain anonymous due to the competitive and controversial nature of their business. In the same report, it was stated that known sales of 5,851 domain names generated $29 million in 2005, compared with known sales of 3,813 names for $15 million in 2004.
Due to the cybersquatters that used to inhabit the ranks of domainers the marketing industry tries to separate themselves from the domainers by coining a different term to refer to the practice of buying domains, building out content upon them and monetizing them: domaineering. Most domainers and domaineers buy names to develop them. The domainers trade organization, the Internet Commerce Association is open to anyone that owns domains.
A prime example of domaining would be: Free-Ads-Online.com This domain will soon be placed in an open format for sale to the highest bidder. If one chose to do some extensive keyword research there, you would find that this is definitely a prime domain for purchase.
