Domain Name News

Posted: 07 Jan 2013 06:03 AM PST

Demand Media just announced this morning that the are acquiring the retail registrar name.com. name.com was founded by Bill Mushkin in 2003. Demand Media also owns eNom and BulkRegistrar.com and is an active player in the new gTLD space. The acquisition will increase their reach into direct domain sales.

Santa Monica, California – January 7, 2013 – Demand Media® (NYSE: DMD), a leading digital media company, today announced the acquisition of Denver-based Name.com, a domain name registrar known for its strong retail footprint, award-winning customer service and creative spirit. The acquisition is intended to expand Demand Media's platform as it prepares for the historic release of new Top Level Domains (TLDs) this year.

Founded in 2003, Name.com customers have registered nearly 1.5 million domains, and use the company's tools and services to grow their online presence. As the second largest registrar in the world, Demand Media's eNom subsidiary has over 13.5 million domain names on its platform registered by over 8,800 resellers and partners. "Name.com will provide a direct channel for us to reach consumers and small businesses as they develop and manage their online identities," said Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO, Demand Media. "This becomes even more valuable as over one thousand new domain extensions are expected to become available for registration in the years ahead."

In 2011, ICANN initiated the process for creating new domain extensions as a way to increase domain name choices for memorable or descriptive web addresses (for example, integritymortgagesolutions.com can become integrity.mortgage or integritymortgage.solutions) and help organize websites and information better (for example, gwathmey-siegel.com could end in a domain extension that maps to the nature of the business, such as .law, .architect or .cpa). Last June, ICANN announced it had received 1,930 applications for new TLDs that were submitted by entrepreneurs, businesses, governments and communities around the world looking to operate a TLD registry of their own choosing.

Demand Media will retain the Denver-based team and the business will report to Taryn Naidu, executive vice president, Registrar Services. "Our strategy is to provide an end-to-end solution for all things domains — whether you are looking to consume or distribute names and services," said Naidu. "Name.com brings innovation, creativity and a deep commitment to their customers – factors which we believe are essential in the environment of new gTLDs."

[via Press Release]