Beginning October 26 in New York City the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domain conference will get underway. Two separate live auctions will be held during the week. The Rick Latona auction will occur on Tuesday, October 27 and the Moniker auction will be held Wednesday, October 28.

The Moniker auction has had some interesting late additions in cooperation with the .biz Neustar Registry. Of particular interest is the two letter domain name ->NY.biz.

This is perfect for New York based businesses. The real question is just how effectively the Moniker auction staff will be able to advertise and promote the availability of this premium domain name to the local business community. The pool of potential New York buyers is astronomical, but it will be impossible to notify such a large group without mass media advertising.

The Rick Latona auction has several top notch domains up for grabs. Rio.com is an incredible geodomain portal in waiting. Would love to see that sold for $500,000 or more. Other Latona listed domains which caught my eye were Detroit.info, Coed.com, GolfClubs.com (which is a fantastic domain but overpriced and likely will not sell).

In addition to NY.biz, other Moniker listed domains I will watch are: NYC.info, Arizona.info, Photo.com, SanBernardino.com, and OfficeSupply.com.

My chief criticism of both auctions is the continuing inclusion of lower quality domains in the LIVE auction while much better quality domains get relegated to the bargain basement online silent auction. For example, such Moniker names as Flatulance.com, ConciergeDoctor.com, GraduateClasses.com, and NewCarQuotes.com will be LIVE auctioned while these better domain names were placed into the silent auction: Accountant.info, America.US, Concerts.info, Jets.biz, and NewYork.biz.

With a limited number of LIVE auction slots available in a New York auction, NewYork.biz should be at the top of the LIVE list, not Flatulance.com! Looking forward to the auction results.

.BIZ Domain Names, .COM Domains .biz, Moniker, Rick Latona

Domain name verticals refer to a collection of related domain names that represent business sectors. A particular type of portfolio-building can be based on acquiring geodomains that cover unrelated niche industries: automotive, real estate, insurance, travel, legal … or related parts within a niche industry such as: real estate, homes, condos, apartments, rentals, properties, etc.

These verticals can be city-specific (DallasHotels), state-specific (TexasInsurance), or even country-specific (CanadaJobs). There is added value in possessing all of the major vertical domains within a particular domain extension.

Another type of monopoly (though often difficult to assemble) is to have a business-centric domain in all the top extensions. Major corporations do this routinely to protect their brand and to build on the appeal of each unique domain extension. As in: verizon.com, verizon.biz, verizon.us, verizon.net, verizon.co.uk. Acquiring top generic domains in multiple extensions is extremely difficult particularly for high value keywords (like “hotels”) since such keywords are so rare.

A strategy I adopted some time ago was to focus on a particular geodomain and to then acquire the vertical market domains (and related subsets) around that geodomain location. For example …

California.biz 

• CaliforniaAutos.biz
• CaliforniaHotels.biz
• CaliforniaHomes.biz
• CaliforniaRealEstate.biz
• CaliforniaCondos.biz
• CaliforniaApartments.biz
• CaliforniaLoans.biz
• CaliforniaJobs.biz
• CaliforniaRestaurants.biz

Assembling all of the major verticals around a single locality is typically accomplished through drop-catch and direct purchases on the open market. On rare occasions, you may find a geo-specific vertical available via direct registration (if the city or locality is comparatively small). Major metro locations are rarely available for obvious reasons.

The advantage of securing vertical industries around a locality is that one has the opportunity to create a “brand network” with interconnected businesses and services aimed at the surrounding geographic community. The synergistic value of such geo verticals is far more than the sum of its parts.

From a development perspective, acquiring multiple verticals allows for gradual content building in small steps. One vertical can be short-term monetized while another undergoes development and launch.

From an investment perspective, high-quality domain verticals will retain value long-term which allows the investor to examine his or her options over a longer time horizon. Like most assets, the higher the quality of the initial investment, the greater the likelihood that the asset will appreciate in value and bring substantial return on investment.

Internet Domains domain portfolio, vertical market