Executive summary:The secondary domain market has grown from obscure email list trades in the mid-1990s into a sophisticated global marketplace where single names can fetch eight figures. This 30-year journey can be divided into four distinct eras, each shaped by…
Today, typing a URL feels natural — a word, a dot, an extension, and you’re connected instantly. But behind this simplicity is a layered history that stretches back to the 1960s, when the first networks were being born. Understanding this…
Much of the discussion around domain valuation focuses on data: comparable sales, keyword trends, extension popularity, and now AI-driven appraisal tools. But behind every transaction is a human being making a decision. Whether it’s an entrepreneur choosing a brand name,…
The domain aftermarket has grown from a niche curiosity in the mid-1990s into a billion-dollar industry. Some domains have changed hands for prices rivaling prime real estate. But how have the biggest domain sales evolved over time? This article presents…
The decade from 2010 to 2020 marked the maturing of the secondary domain market. What began in the late 1990s as experimentation and grew in the 2000s into a recognized trade, now developed into a global digital asset class. Domains…
The first half of the 2020s has been defined by rapid change, extraordinary external shocks, and the acceleration of long-term trends in the secondary domain market. The COVID-19 pandemic, the surge of digital adoption, the explosion of .ai, and the…
The first decade of the 21st century was both a trial by fire and a breakthrough for the secondary domain market. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000–2001, many questioned whether premium domain names were truly assets or simply artifacts…
When the commercial internet opened to the public in the mid-1990s, domain names were initially treated as little more than technical addresses. Most were registered for free or for a nominal fee, and the idea that they could one day…