Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts

Thursday, August 9, 2018

A Domain Name that is Pure Gold

The NameBio daily domain sales report for Aug. 6, 2018 indicated that the domain name pure.gold sold on Flippa for $980.  To my knowledge there has been no official sales announcement, so I decided to try to see who was the buyer, as well as do a short comparative analysis. Along the way I looked at some existing companies  that use the term pure gold in their business name or product line.

Some Possibilities


The name "pure gold" is widely used by a number of different products and companies. At least for me here in Canada, Google search on the term is dominated by sites that relate to the Pure Gold Mining, a major gold mining company headquartered at Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Their signature project is the Madsen Mine that you can read about here.

While the name pure gold is an obvious for gold mining companies, it also finds its way into a wealth of other products.  For example a US based cosmetics reseller has a whole line of products that use the term pure gold. You can read about Pure Gold Cosmetics here.

One of the main uses of gold is in jewelry, so it is not surprising that the name finds use in that field as well.  For example, a Singapore based buyer and seller of gold and silver jewellery operates at the website https://www.puregold.com.sg/.

A jewelry reseller with 150 locations mainly in the Middle East and Singapore operate under the name Pure Gold with a website at the domain name https://www.pugold.com/. Yes, you read that right, no r in the word.  They sometimes show this on icons with the r in a dark gold colour, but it does, to me at least, seem contrived, and if I was giving them advice it would be to upgrade their domain name.

Pure gold is also used in ways you would never guess.  For example, a travelling exhibition by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen shows how rubbish can be repurposed into valuable products. They use the title "Pure Gold".  It operates at this website - check them out!

Why is Pure Gold so Popular?


The purity of gold is measured in karats (carat spelling in some jurisdictions). The karat (carat) unit means 1/24 part gold by weight, so something that is pure gold would be 24 karat (carat). Due to rounding, actually anything between 99.95 and 100% would be considered 24 karat and pure gold (even though not 100% purity).

The term pure gold, that literally means gold above 99.95% pure, is more broadly used to represent that a product is genuine.  As such, it could be creatively used in many contexts. The term "pure gold" (without quotes) brings up more than 770 million results on Google search. As the expression is so popular in everyday speech, and with a positive connotation as well as easily spelled and spoken, it is an ideal branding term.

I did a Google Books Ngram Viewer search to see how popular the term "pure gold" was used in books over the years.  The term was more common in 1900 than currently, although after reaching a minimum in 1986 the term has seen an increase in use in the most recent decade.

Was the Sales Price Reasonable?


It is almost always difficult to estimate the value of a domain name.  This is one of the reasons that the automated expressions of worth (such as GoValue and Estibot) frequently give very different results. Those results also frequently do not agree even approximately with actual sales prices.  Always remember that any domain name has a value equal to its worth to a potential purchaser.  As pointed out above, multiple potential purchasers could significantly benefit from owning this digital asset.  While past sales data may help to determine whether a domain name price is reasonable, it is only one component to consider.

Somewhat surprisingly the term "puregold" has only sold once, at least as listed in the NameBio database.  In 2016 CBDPureGold.com  sold on Flippa for $100.  If we look at exact match words 'pure', it has sold 5 times (only 4 different domain names since one sold twice) for an average price of just over $3000. Interestingly, pure in the .io extension sold in January of 2018 on Flippa for $918, but then  sold at the end of May, 2018 for $8500 on  ParkIO, a very nice turn around for the domain name investor!

If we look at sales in the .gold new domain extension, there have been 11 sales with an average price of $1464. Stay.gold sold for $7000 and liquid.gold for $1500.  It seems to me that pure.gold is at least as good as these names, and therefore a somewhat higher price would have been justified.While I think the domain name probably sold for less than its intrinsic value,  in the context of still somewhat slow sales of new domain extensions, it is probably a reasonable price. I was surprised that the GoDaddy GoValue estimate of worth of pure.gold was only $288 (these values vary so it may show differently when you check).  In my opinion this is significantly less than the domain name is really worth.

The Likely Buyer


So who purchased the domain name pure.gold? With privacy protected Whois it is now much harder to identify a new owner unless there is a public statement or the domain name is rapidly put into use. The Whois record for pure.gold indicates that the owner is from Singapore, and I immediately thought that the likely purchaser was PureGold of Singapore, and that they had upgraded from a third level com in a country code to a generic global second level domain name.  I see this would be smart business move for promoting themselves to international sellers. However, when I checked today the domain name redirects to an Undeveloped.com for sale page, implying that the domain name has been purchased by a domain name investor. This domain investor seems to be based in Singapore.  So it is possible that the domain name is still available and could be acquired by an end user.

Reflections on the Sale


I think this an example of using a new domain extension to obtain a more direct, memorable and descriptive domain name. A direct match of a company or product line and the domain name is the ideal situation. As I have indicated, the domain name would work perfectly for several different end users.  It is important that the branding and marketing services employed by organizations are well informed with all domain extension options, and that they are vigilant and let their clients know when a direct match domain name is available. In the same way that businesses and organizations must be vigilant about reputation and new business trends and opportunities, they should also stay informed about new branding and domain possibilities.  This task is made more challenging by the plethora of new extensions, but it is important.  If you feel  I can help you with this, in one of the niche areas I have expertise in, please do get in touch.

If it is true that this domain name is still for sale, I hope that it will soon be utilized by an end user as it is a superb domain name. Indeed the name is pure gold!

Links:


Original post Aug 9, 2018.

Disclosure:  I am not associated with the buyer or seller or any of the companies listed here.  I do not hold any domain names in the .gold extension.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you.

In a few cases there may be affiliate links will on this blog. This means I receive a small amount if users visit or make purchases via the link. You do not pay any additional charge due to using an affiliate link, and in some cases below the normal price. I receive no identifying information about who clicks, or does not click, any link. I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  As disclosure, I do have a domain portfolio that is predominantly ngTLD domain names, although I do also own a number of .com, .ca, .co and a few other country code extension domains..

The text of this posting is ©R.L. Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

The images used are either those associated with a product or service, or Pixabay images believed to be available for use without attribution. If you see any image that you believe is problematic, please let us know and we will immediately correct the situation.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Prices for .News Domain Package Names Uncovered

History


Donuts announced a  "six figure" price for the sale of a group of platinum .news domain names.  The package contained the domain names cancer.news, climate.news, food.news, health.news, medicine.news, pollution.news and science.news. While originally a false name was used in the announcement of the sale, after research by DomainIncite, it was subsequently disclosed by Donuts that the purchaser was in fact WebSeed, a company founded by Mike Adams. Mike Adams is known as Health Ranger for his previous content at Natural News.

As has been pointed out by others, the actual content on the sites is at best highly questionable. There is certainly not balanced coverage of scientific content on the sites in my opinion.  For example, my examination of the sites reveals frequent anti-vaccine content that has been well debunked by medical and scientific experts, as well as extensive climate change criticism that is contrary to the evidence amassed by respected scientists over decades. The writing on the sites is frequently alarmist and sensationalistic, with strong political undertones.

While the sites may appeal to alternate truth advocates of various conspiracy theories, they certainly do not, in my opinion, provide a scientific view. The Genetic Literacy project looked at the types of information spread by Mike Adams through the complex wet of Natural News sites prior to his move into these domain names.  Fortunately, I think the bias on these sites is so obvious that most will not consider them authoritative information sources.

I have been  able to uncover the prices paid for 5 of the 6 domain names in the package.  I share that information in the next section, along with a look at some comparator sales for reference.

Prices Uncovered


By accident I stumbled across the exact price for one of the domains during a GoValue search looking at a similar name when one of the six names in the package came up as a comparator.  For prices up to $25,000 GoDaddy GoValue show the exact price, while above that they only show >$25,000.  A bit of searching in GoValue quickly revealed the purchase prices for all but one of the domain names (for some reason no price appears for the medicine.news name).  I give that information below.

  • cancer.news $19,167
  • climate.news $19,166
  • food.news $19,166
  • health.news $19,167
  • pollution.news $19,167
  • science.news $19,167

If the medicine.news domain name sold  for $19,166 as well (but see update below), that brings the total price of the six domain package to $115,001, confirming the six figure package price reported in the press release.  As of today, none of the domain names show up on the NameBio sales database. You can see the prices for yourself by going to GoValue and entering one of the names in the search.

UPDATE: I have now done a little more research on the domain name medicine.news trying to figure out why it does not have a price given like the others.  While contact details are hidden under privacy, the ICANN Whois shows that the domain name was first registered on July 10, 2015. It was most recently renewed in July of 2018. I then used the Wayback Machine to confirm that the website has indeed been active since mid 2015, for example this is how it looked in 2016.  While  no contact information or ownership was provided, one of two ads on each page seems to be for a Ranger related item, and the content seems so similar to the sites operating today in tone and coverage, it seems almost certain that Mike Adams has long owned and operated medicine.news.

Now if the domain name medicine.news was not really part of the sales package, despite its inclusion in the press release, then the combined sales price of the other 5 domain names is just $95,835 and the press release description of a package of 6 domain names selling for six figures is inaccurate.  In the first DomainIncite post it was stated "It appears that the same buyer has acquired several other presumably non-platinum .news domains, including vaccines.news, nutrients.news, menshealth.news and emergencymedicine.news."  While these names have been registered, I could not obtain any price information via NameBio or GoValue. The name EmergencyMedicine.news, does resolve to an operating website that is clearly part of the same group as other six sites, full of articles against the scientific and medical 'establishment' and favouring various alternative treatments. My first thought was that this had been purchased as part of the package, and its price pushed the total over the $100,000 mark.  However, an ICANN Whois indicates that name was first registered on July 15, 2015, so it seems that it can't have been part of the package either. Another of the names, vaccines.news, also is operational at a site clearly linked to the others, but again the registry data on ICANN seems to preclude it being part of the current package.  We therefore are left unclear on the total price of the 2017 package deal between Donuts and WebSeed, and indeed how many domain names are in the package. 

Comparator Prices


I think that a premium was paid for these domain names when one compares to previous sales that have been recorded at NameBio.  There have been, not counting these six, 12 sales of .news extension domain names on NameBio with an average price of just over $3700.  Only one of the sales was for more than the prices above, the single letter name i.news sold for $35,000 at Rightside in June of 2016.  All of the other sales are for about 1/10 (or less) of the prices paid for each of the .news names in the package. You can browse the full NameBio comparator list at this link.

GoValue automated estimates of worth for each domain name are a few thousand dollars for each name in the sale.  The highest when I checked was food.news valued at $4100.  It is true that the word food sold in the .club new domain extension for $9000.  I would say that while the prices are on the high side for the six domain names in the package, they are not completely unreasonable.  Clearly names like science.news and health.news are premium domain names and are worth a lot.

If these prices were to be placed on the NameBio sales database they would be placed in 25th place in the highest new domain extension sales so far in 2018.  You can browse the list at this link.

Closing Notes


In researching this article I also had a look at ICANN Whois data, most of which is didacted under privacy.   However, it is interesting to note that the domain names have different registration and  expiry dates, and several are earlier than is implied in some of the press information on the sale.  For example the domain name food.news was registered on Oct. 24, 2017.  I also found it somewhat surprising that multiple years were not registered, as is frequently done for premium digital assets.  The current registrations in fall  of 2018.

The press release discloses that the sales occurred late in 2017, but the announcement was delayed until the sites are fully operational. The six sites are linked, with navigation at the top of each quickly taking you to one of the others.  Some content is also shared across the sites.  The prices paid for the domain names are somewhat high even for these premium names, and it seems that what WebSeed was purchasing, in addition to the memorable domain names, was an attempt to get respect and authority. The press release for the sale says in describing the content at the sites "quality and authenticity are top priorities" but in my humble opinion that is not supported by an objective evaluation of the sites.

At least on the day that I looked on the sites, they contained only a small amount of niche advertising. While the press release says that there will be minimal advertising, an  alternative explanation suggests that the sites are off to a rocky start in terms off broad acceptance. I also evaluated each site using the VisitRank site that gives the popularity of a site depending on web traffic. The sites generally ranked  somewhere in the 3 million to 10 million range. While this is not insignificant, the sites are not yet on the Alexa 1M.  Science news was the most popular of the new sites, at just over 3 million.  When I did a Google search on the words 'science news' (without quotes), at least  here in Canada, the WebSeed site is on page four. By comparison the real science news site, ScienceNews.org, a highly respected nonprofit that has been operating for decades offering high quality information, places about 7000 on VisitRank and on the top of the first page of Google.  I am surprised that the real Science News site does not issue a UDRP challenge for science.news, as it seems clear to me that it results in dilution of the long established name Science News.

While the initial announcement seemed to give momentum to Donuts and the .news extension in particular, the association with websites promoting alternative 'truth' and conspiracy theories (admittedly mixed with occasional snippets of authentic content) will hurt the adoption of the .news extension by many. As was said by DomainIncite "I can’t help but feel that .news has the potential to take a big credibility hit due to the content of these sites." Nevertheless, the registries cannot, and should not, police what content is placed on domain names they sell. From the number and  content of advertisements on the sites when I recently checked, it would appear to me that most understand  the true nature of the sites.

To my knowledge the price information revealed here has not previously been reported.  If in fact it was reported elsewhere, I am happy to give credit to those sites, so please do let me know.

Original post Aug 7, 2018

Update Aug 8, 2018 with additional research on medicine.news added, along with associated uncertainty on what names were  really in the package.  The title was changed slightly to reflect this uncertainty of package price. 

Links:

Original post Aug 7, 2018.


Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  As disclosure, I do have a domain portfolio that is predominantly ngTLD domain names, although I do also own a number of .com, .ca, .co and a few other country code extension domains..

In a few cases there may be affiliate links will on this blog. This means I receive a small amount if users visit or make purchases via the link. You do not pay any additional charge due to using an affiliate link, and in some cases below the normal price. I receive no identifying information about who clicks, or does not click, any link. I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R.L. Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

The images used are either those associated with a product or service, or Pixabay images believed to be available for use without attribution. If you see any image that you believe is problematic, please let us know and we will immediately correct the situation.

Monday, January 15, 2018

New Sections for the Catalog

We have recently added some new sections to our catalog. Please check them out, and we hope you find what you are looking for!

Catalog image for NamesThat.win domain names

New Sections

  • Blockchain and crypto-currencies (okay we finally got on the blockchain and crypto bandwagon, at least with a few domain names!)
  • Family Life (most of these domain names are also in another section, but we wanted a section promoting family activities)
  • Fun (every website needs a section devoted to good family-friendly fun, right!)
  • Makerspaces (for those who are members of the vibrant maker community, and those who support them)
  • Psychology (especially positive psychology and mental health)
  • Shopping (for both store owners and shoppers)
  • Startups (this used to be our Names section, but now expanded and revised)
  • Writers (names for authors, publishers and avid readers; some of these are general, and some are suggestions for book titles and sites)
  • Other (a set of miscellaneous domain names that don’t quite fit in the other categories)
We have expanded most of our other sections. Note that the segment that was called investment is now called finance. The discounted price name section is now called Special Offer; while these are some of our most deeply discounted domain names, we feel that we offer good value in all of our domain names - see the complete list here. Thanks for checking out the new sections, and all of our catalog!


Why Is A Catalog Important?

When you purchase shoes you don't expect to have to paw through them in a pile of different sizes and types; when you buy a house or car you expect the salesperson to efficiently and attractively present the property or vehicle, when you buy online you expect objects to be presented in a way that you can quickly find what you want – why should domain names be different?  We have put a lot of effort into our domain name catalog.  Thanks for checking it out, and as always we welcome your comments and advice.

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