Domain trading
Under domain trading is defined as the commercial trade with domains , ie Internet addresses such as example.com or wikipedia.org .
Legal background
Since domains do not represent material , but ideal goods , the legal transaction in domain trading consists in the transfer of ownership of a domain from the seller to the buyer. It is all about trading the rights to a domain (address) as such; Sales of websites , internet projects or other content do not represent a domain trade in the actual sense.
In principle, domain trading is roughly comparable to property trading , even if it is not legally regulated. Often domains are also referred to as the "real estate of the Internet". As long as no third party name or trademark rights are violated, domain trading is a legal business like any other trade, according to German supreme court rulings.
Traded domains
In principle, any domain can be the subject of domain trading. Often these are generic domains such as shoes.de , american-football.com or teacher.org or fantasy names that enjoy no legal protection.
Domains that are indexed relatively well in the search engine results pages or have a wealth of links (so-called backlinks ) are particularly attractive . It is often also decisive how many search queries there are for the respective term that corresponds to the domain name. Domains with a high PageRank are also very popular. With these domains z. B. separate Internet projects can be realized or the findability of existing projects in the search engines can be increased.
Domain dealers either register domains that are still free, they buy domains that are already registered from the current owners, or they use backorder service providers to automatically register domains shortly after they have been deleted (so-called expired domains ). Many domain dealers have domains with particularly popular search engine keywords automatically monitored and registered in order to use them as additional search terms for existing projects or to offer the prospective buyer a kind of complete package.
Some domain dealers fill domains temporarily or permanently, sometimes automatically, with advertising and other content that is mostly worthless for the visitor ( domain parking ). The hope is that the income from advertising will exceed the purchase price of the domain and thus generate a profit.
Ultimately, the goal is to sell the acquired domains on for a profit. Since the number of registered domains is constantly increasing, free domains are becoming increasingly rare, so the registration of free domains is only possible in exceptional cases or for newly introduced brands.
Marketplaces
Domain transactions can come about in any way. However, the following distribution channels have established themselves:
Initiation on the part of the buyer
This is by far the most common way of getting a domain deal off the ground. A prospect wants a certain domain and realizes that it is already taken. He approaches the domain owner, who can be viewed freely via the Whois service at most registries (e.g. DENIC ) , and asks whether he is ready to sell the domain. In this way, domains are often sold that were not even registered by the original owner for the purpose of commercial sale.
Commercial domain dealers usually place a clear indication on the websites under the domains they offer that the domain is for sale and provide direct contact options.
Active marketing by the seller
The seller of a domain looks for potential buyers himself and asks them whether they are interested in the domain. This procedure is also very common, but in the case of overly aggressive or indiscriminate marketing, it is often perceived by the recipients as spam .
Brokers and domain trading platforms
These are service providers who specifically bring together sellers and buyers of domains.
The globally active German provider Sedo , a subsidiary of United Internet AG , has established itself particularly well . Sedo ( Search Engine for Domain Offers ) specializes in brokering domain deals and operates a corresponding offer platform.
Some intermediaries such as Domainconsult.de GmbH operate active marketing on behalf of the seller and thus act as brokers , but usually for very high brokerage fees .
In addition, internet auction houses such as eBay also have their own categories for domain offers.
completion
If a sales contract has been concluded between the seller and the buyer of a domain and the method of payment has been regulated, the buyer usually makes an application to change providers , which the seller accepts. This will register the buyer as the new domain owner with the responsible registry. The duration of the processing depends on the top level domain.
Trading volume
The world's most expensive domain to date is insurance.com, which was sold in 2010 for $ 35.6 million, overtaking VacationRentals.com, the most expensive domain to date, which had previously been bought in 2007 for $ 35 million.
Other domains sold very expensively (price in US dollars) are fund.com (10 million), porn.com (9.5 million), diamond.com (7.5 million), business.com (7.5 million) or the-wall-street.com (4.5 million). The sale of domains is not an invention of the last few years, as early as the late 1990s, various domain sales in the millions were made. The two domains business.com and the-wall-street.com were sold in 1999 and are still among the most expensive domains today.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ MILLION-DOLLAR URLS: The most expensive domain names of all time. Retrieved August 22, 2016 .
