Webnames.ca Staff
Auctions have been used for years in the aftermarket, pioneered by the .com and .net domain extensions. Many domain extensions go to auction once they have expired (except for .ca which uses the first-come, first-served method, where the first registration request received secures the domain).
Then came .MOBI. The first domain extension to allocate first-release domains through auction. The registry held-back a list of premium domains (those domains deemed the most popular and in the highest demand) and sent them to auction. At auction they fetched anywhere between several hundred dollars to more than a $100k with names like poker.mobi ($150,000) and ringtones.mobi ($145,000).
Now the .Asia registry is taking this a step further. Not only are they sending premium names to auction, but they are basing their entire landrush registration period on the auction model. If more than one registration request is received for a .Asia domain during landrush it will automatically go to auction. The opening bid on all domains is $0 with bidding increments of $10. This is the first time auction has been used to determine who will win a domain during the startup of a global top level domain registry.
Is this method fair? Yes, according to economic principles of supply and demand. Domain names, especially short descriptive ones are increasingly scarce. This is part of the reason behind .Asia, as most desirable .cn, .jp and .au domains have already been registered. However, who really wins under this model? Definitely Pool.com who runs the auction, as well as the registry who must be receiving commissions. The registrars also win, earning small commission of between 2-5%, win or lose, for domain registration requests that go to auction.
Tell us what you think.