The Five Pillars of a Successful Registry

As I move on to a new career with Afilias, I want to share my thoughts on what makes a registry successful. I became interested in domain names in 1999, while working as a National Accounts Manager for AT&T Wireless. My Manager told me that he registered a bunch of “domain names” that described cities and the word “restaurants” (.com). I became intrigued and remain so to this day. Over the years, I have;

– been active in the domain investment community.
– worked for a registry that went from a few domains per day to several million.
– helped prepare/file 60 new gTLD applications including .xyz, .club, .blog, and .law*.
– worked for a registrar focused on ccTLDs and the digital brand management business.

These experiences have given me many perspectives and a view of the industry from all angles.

So what makes a registry successful? It starts by recognizing a registry has two types of clients. The first are partner types, your sales channel, like registrars and resellers. The second are end user types like all of the various kinds of domain name buyers. It’s an ecosystem that includes domain investors, enterprise and brand management types, small and medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, non-profits, and personal users or hobbyists interested in sharing ideas online.

Below are the five pillars. They spell out TRUST. I view trust as the currency of success in this business:

Transparency

Merriam Webster describes a registry as an “official record book”. In today’s world that means a database. To be official, the record must be open and trusted. By their very nature, domain name registries need to be open. They need to operate in a manner that allows registrars, resellers, and end users to understand what is going on in a domain zone and what the registry offers. Your sales channel and the public both need to know what is registered and what is available. Your registry WHOIS record is a tool that can be used to do business (check which domain names are available and which are taken) and to keep the Internet running well (find out who is behind fraud, spam, phishing, and other online malevolence).

The Internet has made communication so easy. You can’t hide information easily anyway, so why force your clients to guess about what you are doing? Eventually everything gets out. Operating in an open and transparent fashion makes a huge difference. Operating transparently takes preparation. I run across registries from time to time who have not decided fully on their pricing and premium domain name structures. This harms their chances for success and should be worked out fully before a registry opens for business.

Rules

Rules of engagement should be clear, concise, and documented. The idea is to play fair. Rules should include the ways that you offer your domains, who offers them, a complete domain name life-cycle that goes from registration through deletion with time frames, and how disputes are dealt with at various stages in time. There’s more than that; plenty of examples exist for reference.

Rules for your Sales Channel

Your sales channel wants to know that there is an equal playing field, that they have an equal chance to succeed in the market. Establishing clear rules from the start will go far in helping them to feel that way. What channels will you use to sell your domains? Will you have a direct channel, and if so will your prices undercut your partners? There is nothing wrong with having a direct channel but competing with your partners based on price will likely sow distrust among partners. This is one of the oldest rules in a channel playbook but is sometimes ignored.

Rules for End Users

How will you deal with trademarks? Will you work with dispute mechanisms such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the ADR Forum? How will you handle abuse, fraud, spam, and phishing when it is found and reported? These questions need to be addressed in your rules; your Terms and Conditions. This stuff will come up and the reputation of your zone file will depend on how you handle this. DomainTools recently put out a white paper and reported one new gTLD as “Pure Evil and the #1 Hotspot of Badness” in terms of spam, phishing, botnets, and malware. That can’t be valuable to that registry and will surely hurt their reputation for some time to come.

The good news is that the most important rules and processes are already established through ICANN’s deliberations. This makes that job much easier. But there is some wiggle room and things are often overlooked. A registry needs to be diligent and ask of themselves, “How do we want to be perceived by our clients? Will we be prepared to go to market?”

Reach

There are a lot of ways to reach markets, but a full cadre of accredited registrars is vital. Part of success is having a strong and supportive channel, most importantly the registrar channel.  Many ccTLDs rely only on a direct channel (their own website) or a group of local registrars and ISPs within their countries.  They lose opportunity because there is often much more demand from the larger out-of-country markets.

Experience shows over and over, that if you have more registrars you will sell more.  This is cash flow that can be used to expand or (if you are a non-profit or government operator), to subsidize other valuable and important programs.  Some registries charge a smaller fee to in-country registrants and a larger amount to registrars that are out of the country; it’s a good way to be supportive of your own citizens while enjoying the financial benefit of larger markets.

Don’t underestimate the demand for your string.  Many registries, gTLDs and ccTLDs have succeeded beyond their dreams through proper execution and sometimes through luck.  Some of these were thought to be hopeless before moving forward. Think .XYZ; many said they would fail, “Who would want to register .XYZ?  What does it mean?” – They proved their critics wrong.  Who would have thought that .ws would do as well as they have?  Who would have expected .bz or .io to become as big as they have?  Your ccTLD is no different.  You just have to put it out there and look for where the growth will come and take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.

Another advantage of reach is that buyers, whether in your country or not, want to do business with large and stable registries.  I’ve spoken to many ccTLD operators who wonder why people from within their own countries buy .com instead of their ccTLD.  The reason is often that those registrants want to go with the bigger guy; the one who they can trust to be around forever.  It’s just human nature.  Getting bigger sooner is a good way to ensure continued and long-lasting success for your ccTLD.

Looking at the history of sponsored domain names, you often see that (usually due to business pressure) they loosen their restrictions.  Over and over, the payoff is a huge boost in registrations and revenues.  This is more proof that reach matters.  That brings us to… keeping your market…

Unhindered (Let Your Market Do What Markets Do)

There is a domain name market ecosystem that is quite beautiful to watch if you allow it to happen. A successful registry will not be a hindrance to the market.

If you are a new registry, domain investors (“domainers”) along with large corporations that own trademarks are likely to be your first supporters. Domain investors are commonly lumped in with cyber-squatters and this they are not. This is a common large mistake.  There is a large, important, and legitimate industry sector represented by domainers. By investing in your domain names, these types become stakeholders with an interest in seeing your domain registry succeed. I dare say that domain investors along with enterprise and brand-conscious end users are a key component in a fragile market ecosystem for new registries. They are the ones who are intensely interested in your new products and initiatives and who will support you when you need business the most.

Small businesses and other kinds of end users simply are not aware nor interested in domain names regardless of whether they should be. At times in the growth of your business when you need buyers the most, only those who are intimately acquainted with the industry have an interest. These are important clients (domainers and corporate).

Another thing to remember is that domains are subscription products. Every day that goes by without a domain name registered is lost income. Years can go by very quickly and every day that a potential name is unregistered equals lost time and money that will most likely never be recovered. “Saving” a domain for a higher price later doesn’t usually bring added value to a registry.

Finally, even if you try to sell your domain(s) for a premium price, it’s important to consider the market’s perception of your actions. If you think your clients become happy when they hear you sold a premium domain name for high dollars, you are simply mistaken. In fact, their perception is generally one that causes mistrust and suspicion of the registry. The market chatter about this is not positive nor relatable to them because the premium revenue goes directly to the registry. It may be helpful and necessary in the short run.  I just don’t think it helps long term.

It’s much different than when the market hears about an end user selling one of your domain names for a significant price. That is relatable to them. It is encouraging to them. It causes them to want to invest in your TLD. The news of a high-priced sale in the aftermarket is very valuable to a registry, likely the cause of significant increases in registrations for some time afterwards. People begin to feel like “Maybe this can happen to me!” Your domain string becomes valuable in the market. This is healthy long term revenue and growth for your TLD.

Secure

How secure is your registry? Are your zone files signed? I like to tell people that your Internet connection is like your front door, except that troublemakers are constantly trying to get in using a multitude of tricky methods, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. If you are trying to wing it about security, you put, not only your own business at risk, but you potentially put hundreds of thousands of others at risk too. You simply must take every precaution and implement all possible systems to ensure the security of your TLD. Delaying these procedures can be much more costly in the long term. Security Programs should include multi-level security enhancements such as:

DNSSEC – Many registries now sign their zone file, thereby offering registrants a more secure way to build their online presence.
Cyber Crime Analytics – There are many tools today that can help you fight cyber crime in your TLD.
Security Tools, Firewalls, and DNS Security Expertise – You need to use the best tools available and qualified security personnel to make sure your systems are safe.
Server Security – Servers must be protected on all levels.
Cooperation and Coordination with Authorities – Authorities world-wide are anxious to work with registries to fight spam, phishing, and all kinds of online fraud.
Continuing Education for Staff – an educated workforce is as important as any tools.

Security is a deep topic and there are many more issues that need discussion here. But those details are beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that security is of paramount importance and very difficult to achieve on your own unless you are a technical and security expert. In today’s security environment, scaling while securing your registry may require outsourcing. Only the largest registry service providers can scale at the rates necessary to keep up with the crooks online today.

Stability

Stability is a result of strong security but I add it here because the word transcends technology and expertise.  Registrants need to know that they can depend on you as their registry.  Someone once compared ICANN to a glacier, they pointed out that although a glacier is unstoppable, at least you have time to get out of its way.  I appreciated that.  Everything we do as a registry says something about our stability.  If we are changing policies and pricing as fast as a jackrabbit changes direction, that says something about our character and doesn’t go unnoticed.  Your clients will do better if you make decisions deliberately and thoughtfully.

Technology

The vast majority of domain registrants expect domain names to be registered instantly. The domain industry is highly automated and highly transactional. There are a few registries with nexus rules or qualifications for registration but it is always important to be timely in our industry. We’re in an unusual business where products are actually not created until a customer is ready to buy. If you think about it, that is very unusual. Customers check domain names that they are not sure even exist (because they may already be taken). When they see that the domain name they want is available, they become very anxious to buy it. Patience is naturally very thin.

Your technology for qualifying registrants and helping them secure and manage their domains needs to be quick and dependable. Although you may see yourself as the only place they can buy your particular domain name, you are competing in a world where other registries stand very close and competitive. If someone can’t get their .law domain for example, there is a .lawyer and .attorney domain name as a quick backup (this is just an example and I’m a fan of .law – they are a unique and generally efficient registry). The point I make here is that with over 600 generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), and 250 or so country-code TLDs, there is a lot of competition today. Every registry needs to consider that and ensure that their technology makes the grade (allows registrars and registrants to secure and manage domains quickly and dependably).

Blocking and tackling in the domain industry consists of the following:

Domain Lookups – Domain Registrations – Domain Renewals – Domain Transfers (inbound) – Domain Transfer (outbound) – Domain Registrant Changes (Internal) – Bulk Domain Lookups – Bulk Domain Registrations – Bulk Domain Renewals – Bulk Domain Transfers (Inbound) – Bulk Domain Transfers (Outbound) – Bulk Registrant Changes (Internal) – Name Server Setup – Name Server Changes – Registering Name Servers – Domain Forwarding – Masked Domain Forwarding – Bulk Domain Forwarding – Bulk Masked Domain Forwarding – Email Forwarding – WHOIS Identity Protection – Bulk WHOIS Identity Protection – Default Settings Capability (Name Servers, Auto Renew, etc.) – Auto Renew Systems – Domain Locking Systems – Advanced Domain Lookups – DNS – DNS Setup – DNS Changes

Many / most of these functions need APIs and EPP handles that registrars will use to automate things. It is no small task. I know this part is jargon to some readers here but this article is intended for a Registry audience. These are critical functions that registrars and registrants (your clients and end users) need to do almost every day if you are to succeed. This is another area where automation is important. Many of these functions fall upon Registrars but they will depend on you to help them make things happen. Here again, a registrar needs to be prepared. Outsourcing can be helpful or critical to the successful growth of your registry.

Should You Use a Registry Services Provider (RSP)?

After eighteen years of observation and study, one thing I know for sure about the domain name industry is that trust is more important than price as a factor for buying (or investing) in a domain name. Registrars and registrants are looking for a foundation to build their businesses on. A domain name is that foundation. They need to know that you can be trusted and each of the five pillars matter. If they lose confidence in you, they will choose a different foundation and there is no shortage of choice today. An RSP can help you fast-track each of these initiatives so you can get them in place much more quickly and, since time is always of the essence, it may be the best way to get it done. An RSP can also give you near instant access to a world-wide channel of registrars.

As a final note, these pillars are a summary.  I recognize that there are many other factors involved in the success of a registry.  My goal was to put together some of the main points and to emphasize the importance of that one, often overlooked factor, trust.

Wishing you the best!





Notes
– *some subsequently acquired
– gTLD – generic Top Level Domains
– ccTLD – country-code Top Level Domains
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Could New gTLDs be the Next Digital Investment Category?

I had the privilege of speaking at Domain Summit in London last month and discussing the possibility that new top-level domains could be the next big digital investment category.

Here are some of the main points made…

Thank you again to Helmuts and everyone who helped organize this event. It’s always a pleasure to be surrounded by people who understand the value and opportunity of the domain name space.

When I first encountered it.com Domains, it felt like a full-circle moment. I began my career in this industry with CentralNic, where I helped sell us.com domains in the early 2000s. Back then, we were thrilled to register five or ten names a day. Things have changed—a lot.

A Personal Journey Through the Domain Industry

Like many of you, I got into domain names because I saw the potential. Around 2000, I heard people were buying and selling domains and making money. I loved the internet, and I wanted in. I started investing, met amazing people (some of whom are still around today), and even had a few wins—prescriptionmed.com, duckeggs.com (which I sold for $60,000 in 2007 or 2008), among others.

Domainers, brokers, trademark experts, registries, registrars, developers, advertisers—this community is rich with talent and experience. However, when we discuss new top-level domains (TLDs), many domainers are skeptical.

And I get it. Most of us are deeply invested in legacy domains, especially .com. We know what works. We understand the resale market. So why take a chance on something new?

A Challenge to Think Differently

I want to challenge that thinking. Yes, applying for a new TLD is expensive—$227,000 is just the starting point. Yes, ICANN isn’t making it easy this time around. And yes, there are real risks. But let’s rewind.

Remember registering your first domain? Remember trying to explain what a “domain name” was to your family? Remember how crazy it all sounded back then?

This is like that—again.

New TLDs are where .com domains were 25 years ago: misunderstood, underappreciated, and wide open for opportunity. The next round, set for launch within the next 6–8 months, could be your second chance to be an early adopter.

The Case for Rarity

There are approximately 386 million second-level domain names registered. Of those, maybe 100,000–300,000 have true value—short, memorable, brandable names. And just a tiny fraction sell for millions.

Now compare that with top-level domains. As of now, there are fewer than 1600 TLDs in existence—including legacy, country code, and new TLDs.

Let that sink in.

We regularly buy and sell second-level domains for five or six figures—yet there are hundreds of thousands of those. TLDs? Fewer than 1,600 exist globally. That’s true digital scarcity.

This next application window is only the second time in history that individuals and businesses can apply to operate their own TLD. It might be the last. We don’t know if ICANN will reopen this process.

The Business Opportunity

There are three key reasons someone might pursue their own TLD:

  1. It’s a great business.
    Whether you’re a domainer, broker, registrar, or consultant—this is a natural extension of your work. Inventory control, low overhead, global reach, and digital-only operations make this one of the most efficient online businesses available.
  2. It’s the ultimate branding move.
    For companies, owning a TLD is the pinnacle of brand control. In 2012, I wrote about how owning a TLD could help reduce cybersquatting and consolidate trust. Instead of promoting “.com,” all of your advertising supports your brand and your brand alone.
  3. You can help others.
    There are clients, startups, and global companies that are unaware of this possibility. You can be the one who shows them the way—whether you’re a consultant, advisor, or investor.

We’ve Been Here Before

When we helped over 60 applicants obtain their own TLDs in the 2012 round, none of them incurred a loss. Every single one did well. That’s a track record I’m proud of. Yes, this new round is different, and yes, there are more complexities. But the opportunity is just as real.

If you understand domains—if you’re one of the few who “gets it”—this is your moment.

Final Thoughts

There’s a whole world outside the domain name conference circuit that is unaware of this opportunity. That’s your edge. Whether for your own venture or helping others, I challenge you to consider the possibility: What if new TLDs are your next big play?

If you’d like to discuss it further, I’m happy to connect. This is what I love, and I’m here to help

Posted in Aftermarket, ccTLDs, Country Code People, Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, INTA, New gTld Auctions, New Top Level Domains, Registrars, Registries | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Domain Articles Probably Not True

Scrolling through my Google News feed today, a headline stopped me cold: “12-Year-Old Secur es ‘Zuck.net’ and Is Paid $1 Million and a Free VR Headset.”

The source? A user-generated site called Vocal.media—a platform that it seems, lets just about anyone post “news.” Google syndicates it, so it popped into my feed. Whether or not this particular story is true (it seems more like fiction and I could find no corroboration), it highlights a bigger issue: we are entering an age where AI and automation are flooding the internet with content that looks like news but isn’t.

Why Domains Still Matter in an AI-Fueled Media World

And when that happens often enough, people stop trusting the channel. That’s the real danger of AI: it doesn’t just generate words, it can erode credibility.


When Channels Get Abused

We’ve seen this movie before. Telemarketing was once a legitimate sales channel. But after decades of relentless abuse, most of us don’t answer calls from numbers we don’t recognize. At my in-laws’ house last weekend, their phone rang over ten times in one afternoon—they didn’t even bother looking at the screen. That’s what happens when a channel gets poisoned: people tune it out.

AI risks doing the same thing to news feeds. When junk is mixed with truth, trust collapses.


The Case for Domains

This is why domain names remain essential. If I want reliable information about domain sales, I don’t rely on whatever Google feeds me. I type in trusted outlets like DNJournal.com, NameBio.com, or DomainNameWire.com. The domain itself becomes a marker of credibility.

The same logic applies to email. Phishing thrives because people click on links in a rush. The best defense? Don’t click—type. Teaching people to type in domains rather than follow links is one of the simplest, most effective cybersecurity habits we can pass on.

QR codes make the problem worse. Fraudsters can print & paste a malicious QR code sticker right over a legitimate one, and nobody can tell by looking. It’s only a matter of time before this becomes a major scandal. That’s why I rarely use them—they’re too easy to exploit.


This isn’t to say everything is hopeless. Trusted outlets and domain-based journalism are still alive and well. But the responsibility is shifting to readers: question feeds, resist blind clicks, and type in domains you know.

In the end, the defense against fraud, phishing, and misinformation isn’t complicated:
Don’t just trust the channel. Trust the domain..

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Another Reason We Need Domain Names

According to The Wall Street Journal, chatbots are fast becoming the go-to source for online answers. As consumers turn to AI tools like ChatGPT, we’re seeing a steady erosion of traditional web search—and with it, one of the most important ways businesses connect with customers.

Since January 2024, the percentage of traffic heading to AI chats like OpenAI’s has quadrupled. That’s not a minor trend.

The biggest difference between large language models (LLMs) and search engines is simple: LLMs give you one answer. Not a list of ten blue links. Just one. That means fewer chances for your business to appear in front of potential customers.

This shift makes it clearer than ever: your domain name needs to be the center of your marketing galaxy.

Just like search engines and social networks before them, AI services are gatekeepers. They’ll try to control the messaging—your messaging. But brands that want to retain control of their voice and value proposition can’t afford to hand that over.

You may not be able to control massive tech trends like AI, but you cancontrol how you respond. The smartest move? Start collecting direct data—email addresses, form fills, conversations—from your website visitors. Don’t rely on Google, Facebook, or OpenAI to look out for your best interests.

Instead, tap into the traffic that AI and social platforms generate, then give people an off-ramp to a direct conversation with you. Build your email list. Optimize your landing pages. Make it easy to connect.

Despite what some people say, email isn’t dead. It’s alive and well—and still the most direct and effective way to reach your audience. Think about it: the same folks who claim email is outdated ask for your email address the second you sign up for anything. That’s no accident.

Treat AI, social, and search like what they are: tools for acquisition. Use them to attract attention, then shift that attention to your domain—your ecosystem—where you have control.

The truth is, these platforms often lose their edge over time. Just look at Facebook. Lately, the content I see is filled with clickbait thumbnails and bait-and-switch videos. It’s eroding trust. And that’s not unique to Facebook—these cycles repeat themselves.

So here’s the bottom line: keep your domain name and your email list at the center of your marketing strategy. That’s your home base. That’s where your messaging belongs. 

Posted in ccTLDs, Country Code People, Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, INTA, Registrars, Registries, Tech News and Views | Comments Off on Another Reason We Need Domain Names

My Little New Buddy

On Saturday morning, I found this little guy walking on Edison about a half mile east of Euclid. If you know this area, you know he would have been a goner. The speed limit on this two-lane farm road is 55 MPH, and there are 18-wheelers on it all the time.

He would surely have been run over if I didn’t stop and coax him to come to me. Well, I caught him. I took him to the vet, and he has an abscess on the back of his leg, and I’m pretty sure that’s why he’s so listless. He was scanned, and there is no chip. He had no collar. I have the impression that he’s some kind of farm dog. He’s not neutered.

If somebody wants to claim him, I’m very happy to return him. He’s very nice-natured. He’s not mean at all, and I hate to see him go down. But when I found him, I think he had less than an hour to live because he was listlessly wandering in the middle of the street, and there were trucks and cars stopping and beeping, and he did not seem to want to get out of the middle of the street.

Anyway, since I’ve had him, he’s had many ups and downs. The first few days, all he would do was lie down. He wouldn’t walk. And I could hardly get him to stand.

After a short time on the antibiotic, he began to look like he was returning to normal. He started eating. He started doing his duty both ways. But then, yesterday, he started throwing up everything he ate, so he went back downhill again.

The other thing is every time I bandage him, he chews off the bandage and starts licking it. He’s basically cannibalizing that little wound on his back leg. I have a doughnut on order for his neck today to try to get him to stop because the bandages don’t last more than 10 or 15 minutes.

Anyway, just wanted to share this little adventure I’m having. Hopefully I’ll be able to mend him and keep him because I really like this guy. I’ll update this as we move along. Right now, I’m just waiting for his neck donut. If he eats today (not his own leg), I’m going to try to get him a bath somewhere. 🙂

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