NameMedia Acquires Afternic

[DotComGod]

Acquisition Adds 1.8 Million Domain Names to Industry’s Leading Premium Resale Marketplace

Full Details are here:

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...62&newsLang=en

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[GoPC]

Another indicator that the bottom is falling out of the PPC market I think. BIg Time players realize that the loss will only be made up through volume. The closer the PPC market is to finding its low, the greater the buying frenzy consolidations will be.

All the signs are there.

GoPC

[hugegrowth]

"bottom is falling out..." do you mean advertisers are not placing ads online, or less people are using the internet?

Everything I read says more advertising dollars are moving online, and more people are spending more time online, so advertising and ppc should be going up, or am I missing something?

I don't see this sale as a sign of weakness in domains, but rather the opposite.

[DotComGod]

Originally Posted by GoPC

Another indicator that the bottom is falling out of the PPC market I think. BIg Time players realize that the loss will only be made up through volume. The closer the PPC market is to finding its low, the greater the buying frenzy consolidations will be.

All the signs are there.

GoPC

Disagree strongly, Namemedia is a very respectable company that will only add credibility to this industry.

The bottom is hardly falling out of the industry, but if you feel so, I would gladly look at aquiring any names you have so you can get out fast.

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[duceman]

IMO, this is just another step in the continued growth of our business. Namemedia is not buying Afternic for their brokerage(IMO) they are buying them because the of the number of unique visitors they control.

I'm in real estate, and we always ask ourselves " Is it cheaper to buy their real estate holdings, or to just buy them" something like that

[SuccessClick]

Think Afternic will undergo another facelift with BD's interface imbedded within its pages, or will things remain the same?

[ClassicNames.com]

I disagree also. Afternic has been growing and doing well. I'm sure Mr. Collins got an offer he could not refuse. There is nothing wrong with setting up your family for life. Congrats.

[GoPC]

Well, if nothing else... I'm certainly good for sparking conversation

Seriously, I'm looking at the steady decline of PPC per click revenues, the continued negative press regarding the supposed "click fraud", the posturing and suggestions from within the marketplace to shift from pay per click to pay per sale, the ENDLESS grumblings on this and other forums about how their CPC is going down the crapper, SEDO ripping the 2nd and after clicks from their customers to keep the 1st click CPC high, type-in value and activity declining while search traffic increases (according to some), the dilution of domain extensions, the increased awareness and irritation of the general public regarding ppc web pages and the virtual extinction of generics.

I guess I just got mired down in the negativity.

Forgive me.



GoPC

[CashCowDomains]

There are a combination of paradigm shifts in the industry. In the end, it will be solid generics that prevail via various avenues of monetization.

[DotComGod]

Originally Posted by CashCowDomains

There are a combination of paradigm shifts in the industry. In the end, it will be solid generics that prevail via various avenues of monetization.

Agreed.

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[Mr. Deleted]

Originally Posted by CashCowDomains

There are a combination of paradigm shifts in the industry. In the end, it will be solid generics that prevail via various avenues of monetization.

Actualy, tm typos are good too, as they are the real "direct navigation" names, the generics are good in their own right, but in order to get traffic, almost everyone is doing tm names. But noone wants to talk about it.

Afternic enjoys a strong following in the domain name resale and service marketplace, and is recognized for superior customer service and innovative sales strategies.

Really? Like that case with denny and Skyp.com, The owner was nice to post on here, but the employee did not provide customer service in that case.

[GoPC]

Originally Posted by CashCowDomains

There are a combination of paradigm shifts in the industry. In the end, it will be solid generics that prevail via various avenues of monetization.

In other words...

Things are in flux and we really don't know where it will land except that those that are making good money in Generic PPC will continue to do so.

Is that about it?

LOL!

GoPC

[cybertonic]

Consolidations often outline an industry is becoming mature.

For many reasons it makes sense for NameMedia to acquire Afternic.

I share with Adam about the high respectability of NameMedia.

And I guess it's not the last big move we will see within a near future.

[ParkQuick.com]

I think that NameMedia is positioning themselves as an alternative to Sedo in all phases of their business. With a little integration they will have a platform that competes with Sedo across their product line.

[dolansco]

On a different but related note...
how will domainSponsor fare after being dropped by afternic ?

[Mr. Deleted]

Originally Posted by dolansco

On a different but related note...
how will domainSponsor fare after being dropped by afternic ?

who said they were being dropped? I would understand if they were, as NameMedia has it's own feed, but noone said anything like that, yet.

I have respect for the big guys buying everything they can, but the industry is disappearing before our eyes. What will be left of direct navigation in 2 years?

(EDIT: by that i mean as guys earning a living from PPC on a monthly basis)

[DomainEngineer]

Originally Posted by CashCowDomains

There are a combination of paradigm shifts in the industry. In the end, it will be solid generics that prevail via various avenues of monetization.

Agreed 100%.

I have never bought a domain such as ad4-divided-by-5.com just because its owner says it has 2000 links and gets 100 uniques a day and makes $5/day.
Sooner or later traffic will die down...earnings will be almost zero....and I will be holding a garbage domain that I won't be able to sell to anyone.

Generics are the future.....no or low traffic right now is fine.....traffic is going up on generics and they sell for thousands to end users. Good brandable are my second choice.

GoPC: I have seen record last 2 month ppc earnings....I disagee with your comments.....I think we are enjoying the best times ever and its only going to get better from here.

Fasten your belts folks....we are going for a ride of thrill

[GoPC]

Originally Posted by rickkumar

Generics are the future.....no or low traffic right now is fine.....traffic is going up on generics and they sell for thousands to end users. Good brandable are my second choice.

GoPC: I have seen record last 2 month ppc earnings....I disagee with your comments.....I think we are enjoying the best times ever and its only going to get better from here.

I agree as well... Generics ARE the money packing mule of this industy... know where I can GET ANY for say LESS than the cost of new car? LOL!

Also, I'm not specifically referring to my own earnings... there are numerous threads on this forum about the nose dive of PPC revenues from Sedo users. I can post a few links if you like but I think you know the ones of which I speak.

So what I am hearing is there is clearly a divide between those enjoying the good life of the unatainable generics and those seeking to carve out an income through whatever domains are left over.

So perhaps it's a shift to paying well for generics while everything else falls?

I'm just trying to understand all this... There seems to be SO MUCH negativity from so many people. And yet SO MUCH positivity from so many others.

Why the disparity? Is the gap crowing?

GoPC

[DomainEngineer]

GoPC: I think you do have valid points about disparity.

All I know is one should buy the domains that one can actually sell.....the domains that the end users will buy.......most end users never ask for traffic.

PPC earings should be icing on the cake......ppc is good to pay renewal fees but big pay days happen with generic domains' sale even if they are 2 to 4 words long. Most non-dictionary generic domains will get very low traffic but they get good income per click.

I have stopped buying domains as of Nov 1 as I think I have enough now but let me tell you there are still good generics left .... some in dot com but most in other TLDs such as info, us, net, etc.

We own mostly dot com (stayed away from other extensions for almsot 9 years) but we recently changed mind and about couple of months ago acquired almost 2000 other TLDs such as LoanGuide.us, DomainJournal.us, GolfJournal.us, MoneyService.us, MedicareGuide.us, RetirementTips.us, DiscountTrading.Info, WallStreetGuide.us, WineDigest.us etc etc....all very nice keywords. All the recently acquired non dot com TLDs are of similar quality domains. They are not dotcoms, but give then some time and they will be good domains. They do get little traffic and recover registration fees.....the best thing is the traffic is getting better slowly.

Just look for them.

[ParkQuick.com]

I have read that Afternic *is* replacing their DomainSponsor PPC feed with an ActiveAudience feed. As you say - it only makes sense.

DomainSponsor has their own plans. It looks like they are going direct to domainers with their DOMAINfest conferences, while continuing to sponsor TRAFFIC conferences.

I don't see the industry disappearing, but it is certainly being shaken up.

Originally Posted by Mr. Deleted

who said they were being dropped? I would understand if they were, as NameMedia has it's own feed, but noone said anything like that, yet. I have respect for the big guys buying everything they can, but the industry is disappearing before our eyes. What will be left of direct navigation in 2 years? (EDIT: by that i mean as guys earning a living from PPC on a monthly basis)