Top domain news: Big new TLD sale, Whois data and more

Thanks for subscribing to the Domain Name Wire newsletter. Know someone who might be interested in receiving this? Please have them sign up at domainnamewire.com/newsletter.

Sponsor message:

Learn how GDPR will affect your business. Click here.

Back from NamesCon

NamesCon has wrapped up in Las Vegas, and the annual get together seemed to fly by.

The highlight for me was interviewing Grammy award winner David Ellefson, co-founder of the multiplatinum group Megadeth. Megadeth was the first band to create a website.

If you missed the session, I asked David many of the same questions on my podcast a few months ago.

The mood at NamesCon this year is difficult to describe. With the new TLD rush and Chinese bubble behind us, everyone is trying to figure out what's next. What will breathe more life into the domain industry?

That's not to say that the industry is dead. It remains a great business. But flat has become the new growth, and that's never a fun thing.

Now, let's take a look back at the top posts on DNW last month, ranked by pageviews:

1. This GoDaddy Premium Domain change could help you sell a lot more domains - GoDaddy is testing a new way to display premium domain names to customers. Hopefully, it will increase sales.

2. Entrepreneur pays $500,000 to acquire Home.loans domain name - It's a record-setting price for a new TLD, at least that has been publicly reported. You can listen to an interview with the buyer in DNW Podcast #171.

3. GoDaddy to start masking some Whois data through Port 43 - The registrar made the move to cut down on spam, but some data researchers are not pleased.

4. Short seller targets Tucows with scathing report - A report from an anonymous group that previously attacked Web.com caused Tucows' stock to drop.

5. Epik takes Whois search counts to another level - The company helps you determine who is looking at Whois records for your domain names.

And if you missed any podcasts, listen now:

171 - Meet the man who spent $500k on Home.loans
170 - How to avoid UDRP - John Berryhill
169 - WordPress.com and domain names - Kellie Peterson
168 - Domain business rewind
167 - The Internet of Things

Better yet, download the back catalog on your phone's podcast app.

Get the Latest

Don't wait for this newsletter to get the latest domain name, online advertising and marketing services news. Check in on DNW daily, and join the 34,800 people who follow DNW on Twitter.

Thanks for reading,
Andrew