RDNH: Real estate broker files cybersquatting claim with bogus citations Panel blasts Complainant for multiple supplemental filings and fake citations. A real estate broker in Virginia attempted to reverse hijack the domain name UpscaleAvenues.com, a UDRP panelist has ruled (pdf). Victor Adam…

D3 Global launches Doma Protocol mainnet Release allows domain registrants to add web3 capabilities to their domains. Domain name and web3 company D3 Global launched its Doma Protocol mainnet today. With the launch, domain registrants can add web3 capabilities to their domain names, including…

16 latest end user domain name sales A cargo platform, a venture studio, and a crypto company bought domain names. Sedo's top public sale this past week was 123hao .com. Baidu owns hao123.com, but the buyer of 123hao transferred the domain to Namecheap rather than to MarkMonitor, where Baidu keeps…

2025 Predictions Recap – DNW Podcast #562 Who had the best crystal ball? 2025 has been a roller coaster! Between trade wars, currency fluctuations, and Google destroying AdSense for Domains, a lot has happened. A year ago, I asked 22 people to predict what would happen in the domain industry this…

Rapper tries to reverse hijack four-letter domain name Domain was registered well before rapper SNSG used the acronym as a stage name. A rapper who goes by the stage name SNSG has been found (pdf) to have tried reverse domain name hijacking the domain snsg.com. Manuel Alex Mendoza Cabanyog's…

End user domain name sales up to $80,000 A shoe store, several AI companies, and a business that helps employers recover employment tax bought domain names. Sedo's top sale this week was solit.com for $80,000. The buyer uses a longer domain name and forwards this domain to it. Here's a list of end…

InterNetX and Sedo open survey for 2026 Global Domains Report All industry participants invited to survey for next year's report. Each year, InterNetX and Sedo publish a Global Domains Report that's full of interesting data on the primary and secondary domain name market. The report uses data…

Why wasn’t this reverse domain name hijacking? Panelist doesn't consider RDNH despite apparent false statement. A FORUM UDRP panelist has denied a cybersquatting complaint over the domain name boku.net, but I'm curious why he didn't consider reverse domain name hijacking. Payments company Boku,…

Why an AI startup paid up to acquire Eliza.com This startup chose a valuable .com over the matching .ai domain. Decades before today's artificial intelligence boom, an MIT professor created a simple chatbot program called Eliza. Now, a new AI startup has adopted the historic name and secured the…

Verisign can increase .com prices in 2026 Contract anniversary will hit late next year, giving Verisign the option to raise prices. I've long assumed that Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) couldn't raise the .com wholesale price in 2026. The thinking was this: Verisign last increased the price in September…

Insurance company tries reverse domain name hijacking Company files "Plan B" reverse domain name hijacking case. Insurance company Cake Insure, Inc. attempted to reverse hijack the domain name everpeak.com, a UDRP panelist has ruled. The company has an insurance business called EverPeak that uses…

Google wins Nano Banana dispute A cybersquatting panel disagreed with a panel's decision in a prior case. Last month, I wrote about how Google lost a UDRP it filed against the registrant of NanoBananaAI .com. In that case, the panel ruled that Google did not show common law trademark rights in the…

PIR (.org) tax return: new Identity Digital contract about $1 per domain .Org manager paid a lot less to Identity Digital for managing its registry backend under new contract. Public Interest Registry (PIR), the nonprofit that manages the .org top level domain name, has posted its annual Form 990…

Selling domains through Afternic – DNW Podcast #561 Learn which landers to use and a tip to get more out of the lease-to-own. My guest this week is Wade Smith, Director of Aftermarket Sales at Afternic. Wade talks about the new DomainNames.com initiative and how it came to be. He also shares how…

Sedo’s revenue fell 66% in Q3 as Google changes hit Google changes hit the company hard in Q3 after strong start to the year. Earlier this week, IONOS (IOS.F) announced that it plans to sell its Sedo unit. The reason was quite clear to industry observers: the traffic arbitrage business Sedo has…

NameJet and SnapNames sell $749k domains in October Platforms combine for 136 sales of $2,000 or more. Newfold Digital's two domain marketplaces, NameJet and SnapNames, combined to sell about $749k of domain names over $2,000 last month. The total does not include the many sales below that…

Blockchain company files patent application for domain parking system Application describes ways to use AI to assist with parking page creation and optimization. D3Serve, a company applying blockchain technology to domain names, has filed a sweeping patent application (pdf) covering aspects of…

What registries need to know about working with registrars New registries should enter the market with their eyes wide open. A lot of new companies will enter the domain registry business with the next round of new top level domains next year. Last time around, there was irrational exuberance…

End user domain sales including a $95k .org domain A healthcare organization, a deck builder, and a tourism marketing business bought domain names. Sedo's public sales list this week was led by a two-letter .org domain. The company also sold ado.ai to the owner of rankingCoach GmbH. This might be…

IONOS plans to sell Sedo business Company puts Sedo domain and ad monetization business up for sale. IONOS Group SE announced today that it plans to sell its Sedo domain sales and monetization business. In a release, Achim Weiß, CEO of IONOS Group SE, stated: The AdTech business faces exciting…

Google clamps down on RSOC as AdSense for Domains dies New rules make it harder for search arbitrage companies to use alternative to AdSense for Domains. With Google AdSense for Domains effectively dead, domain monetizers and search arbitrage businesses are moving to the company's Related Search…

Team Internet Group considers selling domain businesses Company considering strategic options for its entire business. Team Internet Group (AIM: TIG, OTCQX: TIGXF) is undergoing a strategic review, with active discussions for "divestment or formation of strategic partnerships for substantially all…

Online casino tries reverse domain name hijacking Company tries to upgrade to .com through UDRP. A FORUM UDRP panelist has found Sunwin Vibes Ltd to have tried reverse domain name hijacking. The online gaming business uses the domain sun .win and filed the case against sunwin .com. Unfortunately…

My thoughts on NamesCon 2025 There were a lot of new (old) faces, and organizers can improve next year's show with some tweaks. NamesCon took place in Miami last week, and I'm glad I attended. Here are my thoughts on the show. Miami was a good move It's good for conferences to move around the…

Company that owns augment.COM tries to reverse hijack augment.AI Panel denies claim against dictionary .ai domain. StayinFront, Inc., which operates an augmented reality platform marketed at augment.COM, has lost a cybersquatting case it filed against augment.AI. The panel found (pdf) this was a…

Italian supplements company tries reverse domain name hijacking Company didn't exist when domain was registered. An Italian nutritional supplements company has been found guilty (pdf) of reverse domain name hijacking. SNEP S.p.A., which uses the domain name snep.it, filed a cybersquatting…

20 end user domain name sales up to $62k Lots of crypto companies, a European company that's rebranding, and a "mouse for voice" company bought domain names. Last week's end user domain sales list is coming to you a week late. I was at NamesCon last week and didn't get a chance to review the…

On the ground at NamesCon – DNW Podcast #560 Interviews with 16 people at NamesCon. The domain name industry converged in Miami last week for NamesCon. It's the first time the show has been held in Miami. Held in conjunction with CloudFest, the event attracted nearly 1,000 people. On today's…

Elliot Noss hands over CEO duties at Tucows, company plans to sell fiber business David Woroch will take over as CEO. Elliot Noss is handing over the reins at Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX). After 25 years at the company, Noss has left the CEO role but will remain on the board of directors. Noss had been a…

October’s top domain name stories: Lambo, price increases, ChatGPT Registry domain price increases and a domain registration binge were among last month's top stories. 1. Domain price increases - stories about GoDaddy raising prices on .xxx and Identity Digital raising prices on most of its TLDs…

About those .su domain rankings… The former Soviet Union's domain traffic is driven by a botnet. Last month, Cloudflare launched a new section in Cloudflare Radar that ranks top level domains by their "DNS Magnitude", which is a measure of how many unique clients send queries to the TLD. The…

Slipknot.com owner showe up to defend domain against Slipknot band Company files with court after becoming aware of lawsuit. Not so fast! That's the message for heavy metal band Slipknot, which filed an in rem lawsuit against the domain name slipknot.com last month. Yesterday, attorney Jeffrey…

Top keywords: looking into Hub

Domain registrar shakeup: latest numbers show major shifts A look at the top 10 .com registrars for both new monthly registrations and total domains under management. ICANN has published the latest data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) covering the .com namespace. The data covers July 2025. Here are…

Scottish restaurant quarrel results in reverse domain name hijacking Panelist determines complex dispute is about IP licensing, not cybersquatting. A fight over a domain name related to a restaurant in Scotland has resulted in a finding of reverse domain name hijacking (pdf). The somewhat…

Atom’s domain name registrar is live (sort of) Initial functionality will be limited to aftermarket domains purchased at Atom. Domain marketplace Atom announced plans for its own domain name registrar this summer, and it has now launched the first phase of it. Starting now, domain aftermarket…

DrivenData tries reverse hijacking .com domain Company frustrated by .org/.com confusion filed a UDRP that was dead on arrival. There might be a new poster child for egregious UDRP filings. DrivenData, Inc., which uses the domain name drivendata.ORG, filed a cybersquatting dispute against the…

UDRP decisions up 10% in Q3

Inside Squarespace Domains – DNW Podcast #559 Kevin Doerr discusses Squarespace's domain name business. Squarespace is one of the biggest domain name registrars in the world after acquiring Google's domain name business. On today's show, I'm joined by Kevin Doerr, who oversees the company's domain…

Court orders former Epik CEO Rob Monster to repay close to $2 million Judgment is for $1.37 million and 5.19 bitcoin. A U.S. Federal District Court in Western Washington has ordered (pdf) former Epik CEO Rob Monster to pay $1.37 million and return 5.19 bitcoin to a domain investor. Luigi Marruso…

Health insurance company tries reverse domain name hijacking Panelist ruled in favor of Italian registrant who hasn't started using domain name. A company that provides health insurance plans in the United States tried to reverse hijack a domain name, a UDRP panelist has ruled. Centene…

Dharmesh Shah transfers trademark.ai to Trademarkia Trademarkia's claims against Atom and others will continue. Trademarkia has dismissed Dharmesh Shah's company, OnStartups LLC, from a trademark lawsuit after Shah apparently transferred a domain at issue to Trademarkia. The trademark business…

Seville, Muscat, and Vancouver added to ICANN meeting schedule ICANN announces locations for upcoming meetings. Mark your calendars — ICANN now has locations for its next five meetings. It had previously announced that ICANN85, the Community Forum, will take place in Mumbai, March 7-12, 2026.…

Holy aftermarket! Domain Aftermarket revenue at GoDaddy surges 28% YoY

Company files cybersquatting lawsuit, alleges Atom logo is similar to its own Medical interview platform uses the term for part of the brain as its brand. A medical education interview platform has sued to get the domain thalamus.com, citing a logo used on an Atom.com listing as evidence of…

Domain Days closes books on 2025, sets date for 2026 event With three annual conferences in the books, Domain Days plans for 2026 event. Ambitious travelers in the domain name business are hopscotching the globe right now: Dubai last week for Domain Days, Dublin this week for ICANN, and Miami next…

Bananas! Google stumbles in cybersquatting case against Nano-Banana domain Company loses the first of three cybersquatting disputes it has filed against Nano-Banana domains. Google has lost a UDRP cybersquatting case it filed against the domain name NanoBananaAI .com, with the panel finding that…

This week’s end user domain name sales A fintech business, a metals company, and a local discussion platform bought domain names. Sedo's top sale this week was tuning.com for €72,000. It's not clear who bought the domain, but it is hosted with a Lithuanian company. Another interesting sale was…

Only 70% of top domains use Registry Lock to protect against hackers Even after high-profile domain hijackings, many companies don't use this low-cost service for added protection. In 2013, a hacker gained access to The New York Times' domain registrar account and changed the nameservers. It was…

New Cloudflare Radar data ranks .su ahead of .com DNS Magnitude rankings are a surprising way to look at top level domain popularity. Cloudflare announced today that it is publishing new data related to top level domains and their popularity. The new section in Cloudflare Radar ranks top level…