The .BIZ web address was released in 2002 and has steadily risen in registration numbers since then. It is currently closing in on 2.15 million worldwide registrations and shown consistent year over year growth as a leading top level domain.
“Biz” has long been a common abbreviation for business in the finance and investment realms, and particularly in the broader world of business in general. Biz has become a well-recognized part of the English vernacular. It is seen daily in newspapers & magazines, on television, throughout the internet, and used repeatedly by professionals when referring to almost any kind of industry.
My own research of the .biz web address reveals that it has been adopted by many companies around the globe from small local stores to major international corporations. For business purposes and business branding, .BIZ is a major player. The .biz extension is managed by the Neustar Registry and marketed by them as …
The Internet’s Home For Business
Below is brief informational video by NTC Hosting on the .BIZ web address …
There was an interesting post today by Andrew Allemann of DomainNameWire. He wrote about having gone to visit a relative near St. Louis, Missouri and driving for some distance on I-70 away from St. Louis.
Dotted along the highway were numerous billboards owned by Porlier Outdoor Advertising. Billboard advertising has become a mainstay in the advertising world as they offer a unique opportunity for companies to reach drivers while they cruise the open road.
Of interest to me was Porlier’s use of the .BIZ domain name for their official website at www.Porlier.biz. The .biz extension was originally released and successfully branded as the official business web address of the internet. Porlier’s use of .biz is certainly a perfect fit for the .biz domain’s intended use.
The company’s billboards are focused on roads between St. Louis and Kansas City, and they have over 440 available billboards for local and national advertisers to use. Several of these are of the electronic type with colorful messages that rotate every 10 seconds.
Porlier can utilize a customer’s own creative designs or develop something unique in-house to suit a customer’s taste.
I have written periodically about various applications of the .biz (Business) web address having seen some impressive real life uses by different companies in North Carolina. From local florists to commercial real estate firms. From medical service providers to global retailers.
Here’s a unique one. Several days ago I viewed on a major highway close to Greensboro, NC a large billboard for ForkIt.biz. Yes, “Fork It”. ForkIt.biz is a promotional campaign for hospitality careers in North Carolina sponsored by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. The Association is based out of Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital city, and operates its website on NCRLA.biz. A very good .biz fit.
For the uninitiated, North Carolina is a tourist & vacation state with it’s mountains, beaches, and incredible college sports dynasties. These attractions feed the hotel, hospitality, restaurant, and general tourism industry across the state.
Another local billboard for Northstate Communications uses TurnThePages.biz to invite local businesses to switch away from their current telecom provider to North State’s communication technology.
The .biz address currently has over 2.1 million worldwide registrations.
Neustar, who manage the .US and .biz domain name extensions, are now offering a unique .US blog and .US discussion forum for those interested in the dotUS namespace.
Neustar appear to be growing their services and raising their own profile. Their domain name registry services have been a leading product for years although Neustar are now offering web performance and risk management services too.
Forbes’ survey of the fastest growing tech firms in America placed Neustar in the Top 25 in 2009. To make the list, companies had to meet certain revenue and sales gains milestones. Neustar trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol: NSR.
My favorite .US premium domain names are United States cities. Geo domains are such good fits for the extension and provide lots of website development angles. Two cities I worked on last year were Charlotte .US and Detroit.US, both leading cities in their respective states and also with good national recognition ranking in America’s top 20 cities for population.
Belgard is a leading interlocking pavers manufacturer who make high-quality materials used in the construction of beautiful walkways, driveways, gardens, pools & patio environments. You have likely seen their hardscape materials used in retaining walls and what is referred to as “outdoor rooms” often found in luxury estates.
Belgard is owned by Oldcastle who are a leading international materials company with 1900 locations and 40,000 employees worldwide.
Belgard have an extensive presence in both the United States and Canada with their products having been successfully used in thousands of residential and commercial projects.
The company are utilizing the .BIZ (Business) web address at Belgard.biz, and have designed an attractive website containing plenty of colorful photos of their many projects. Belgard have independent contractors in every state who are well versed on the various Belgard products. The company hosts ongoing training sessions across the country and provide several certifications as well as business development & expansion courses.
Poker.org was just purchased for $1 million by PokerCompany.com (source DNJournal). Sedo is reported to have brokered the deal. Pure poker, casino, and gambling domain names are high interest keywords, and generally have sold for substantial amounts in recent years. Poker.org is the highest ever “publicized” .org domain name sale.
Also of special interest is a post at DomainNameWire regarding Afilias. The entry reports that Afilias has requested approval from ICANN to release 1 and 2 character .info domain names from their reserved list. The Neustar Registry did something similar several months ago with the .BIZ web address resulting in a number of 5-figure sales for 1 character .biz domain names.
Lastly, consider this a public service announcement -> Avoid automated domain name appraisals. Like the ones you find advertised & sold on domain name registration websites. Sadly, I have noticed a new wave of people selling (pushing) automated domain appraisals, quoting them in domain forums, and referencing them in email inquiries.
Quality domain names in particular cannot be properly appraised using the simple metrics that automated appraisals employ. Those who sell automated domain appraisals are looking to cash in on the gullibility of new domain investors and buyers. An experienced domain professional will never make reference to automated domain appraisals as they are uniformly understood to be nothing more than a gimmick or toy.
There may come a day when automated appraisal algorithms are sophisticated enough to tap into real value and produce a defensible price range for premium domain names. At the current time, nothing comes close to doing this. All automated appraisals have enormous margins of error such that they consistently fail tests for validity and reliability.
I have been writing for some time about the corporate world gaining increased awareness of the .biz (business) web space. The trend appears to be occurring in both the United States and abroad (on a truly global basis).
A number of large corporations are operating parallel websites on both the .com and the .biz web address while some companies are solely establishing their primary website on the .biz domain. This makes sense in that dotBIZ is recognized globally for “Business”. Dotcom has the largest footprint, but is not necessarily representative of “business” on a world wide basis.
Below are examples of both international corporations operating with a .biz presence, and also a few privately held companies doing the same.
DSI.biz – A leading provider of management & consulting services offering business valuation & acquisition, forensic accounting, and corporate restructuring.
TheNCAA.biz – The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
DollarCar.biz – Dollar Rent A Car Inc. was founded in 1965, has over 640 worldwide locations, is in 53 countries, and has maintained a fleet of over 185,000 vehicles in the USA & Canada.
Sedo’s 2009 market study is out and summarizes sales data from all of last year. Sedo reported that their company comprised 64% of the top 100 domain sales for 2009.
The 4th quarter of 2009 was marked by a 5% sales increase. Increases were attributed to a surge in geographical and descriptive domains. These types of domains have long been considered the gold bullion of the domain name industry.
Of particular interest was Sedo’s specific mention of the internet’s official .BIZ (Business) web address in the study. They indicated …
In terms of the best-performing extensions for average sales price, Sedo’s study saw the sharpest rise in .biz domains. This growth can be attributed in part to the growth in sales of one character .biz domains, which first became available through the .biz registrar in September 2009.
Jeremiah Johnston, COO of Sedo, said that he expects to see ongoing demand for premium domains as marketers & businesses leverage domain names to meet their goals.
Among some of the hottest categories of domain sales from 2009 were city domain names and employment domain names. Getting more into the game are marketing and advertising firms who are beginning to realize the power that generic, quality domain names have in attracting consumers.
Sedo’s Johnston is quoted as saying that domain names which match the search terms of a particular business are in demand. An example of this would be a domain like DenverRealEstate.biz which was just sold by my company a day ago. The buyer being a real estate company located in Denver. Get the picture?
High-quality domain names are becoming a new asset class having demonstrated appreciation during market ups, and an ability to retain value through market downturns.
Domainers
Domainer is the term used to describe those who invest in and monetize internet domain names. Some domainers are full scale business entrepreneurs while many are enthusiasts who enjoy internet technology.
Portfolio Development
Assembling a domain name portfolio can be accomplished using several approaches. Like all investing, research and strategy are essential to success and achieving a substantial return on investment (ROI).
Generic Domain Names
Generic domain names are the bread and butter of domain name investing. Generic domains are typically immune to federal trademark registration on the principal register, and consequently represent the safest and most lucrative business opportunity for the domain investment community.
Geo Domains
Geo domains, or alternatively geodomains, are geographical internet addresses: cities (Miami), states (North Carolina), countries (Canada), or locations (Grand Canyon). Pure geodomains are elite premium domain names.
Geo-targeted domains are a combination of a location + business category as in:
NewYorkCondos.biz
Cybersquatting
Cybersquatting is registering or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.
Cybersquatting is ethically wrong, a Federal offense, and looked down upon by legitimate domain investors.
The .BIZ web address was released in 2002 and has steadily risen in registration numbers since then. It is currently closing in on 2.15 million worldwide registrations and shown consistent year over year growth as a leading top level domain.
My favorite .US premium domain names are United States cities. Geo domains are such good fits for the extension and provide lots of website development angles. Two cities I worked on last year were 
Belgard
The company are utilizing the 
Poker.org
Sedo’s 2009 
