Morning Folks!
You may laugh, but this is no joke. I am serious. This is an idea that I have carried with me for well over 3 years. Ask around and see.
In 2006 we were in Silicon Valley when I
first had this idea. I shared it the last night of the show with folks like Larry and Ari
and Marc and others like Franky and Kevin and all that would listen. I
explained it is easier to make a $5 billion sale than it is a $5 Million
sale at this level because it is
more meaningful. More impactful because of the instant marketshare. Who wants
to negotiate 100,000 separate contracts? But bring the big group of domain
investors to the table and that becomes a much easier job. A much easier sale. A much more attractive package.
Hey Microsoft, wanna buy the whole Domain Industry for $8 Billion?
Microsoft, Give me one hour of
your time and I will show you mathematically how to grab the biggest piece of
market share you can buy for the bucks and at the same time take the best most
potent traffic away from the competition and secure the future. Why rent when you can own? Why pay out
billions year after year after year leasing the traffic when you can own the
asset and those mineral rights?
How much is 1% more of the market worth?? How much do you think you will spend to get that 1%? Then on to 2%, 3% etc. How many YEARS or DECADES will that take?
So Microsoft, let me sell you the
domain Industry for $8 billion. Let me sell you the most prized collection of
keywords on the planet. Let me organize the biggest domain sale in history. Let's change the dynamics.
Call me. Email me. Not one other
thing that you can do to take so much of the market away overnight. Nothing. If there was, you would have done it. Not even 1.5% or you would have done it. Keep trying or secure that
market forever. Bing is great but
it needs a booster rocket and the domains can do that in such a way that boosts
yourselves and hurts the competition with one stoke of the pen. It will take
years and decades to do what you want to do. Maybe. Nothing to write home about so far and as my past posts suggest, I am a big fan. But with this deal, I can
show you with numbers how you can turn the tide…..NOW….TODAY……GAME CHANGER.
It took a lot of years to get
Microsoft to TRAFFIC. I sure am glad some of them ended in the limo withMike.
Your only risk is a great success beyond anything those meetings will be
producing. Give me a few minutes and a spreadsheet. Business is tough, why not focus on the obvious? Numbers don’t lie. Even in a depressed market the numbers work.
Have a GREAT Day
Rick Schwartz
Kevin
LOL, you must have missed one of Bill Gate’s most infamous quotes Rick.
From the year 1993 . . .
“The Internet? We are not interested in it.”
Bill Gates
CEO
Microsoft
Farid Mammadov
Sometimes, I think what will be if someone will buy and hold all available premium (and may be nonpremium) domains? This guy will own the Internet and all traffic over the world.
Allen
Hey like you sold candy.com to a rising company why dont you sale your vision to a company that is a fraction the size of microsoft like time wasner, comcast, a company with 8 billion on books but isnt necessary out there also can be a person who has that much cash and do it for your self.Also you could start your company. From what I am seeing the trully big people in domain game are not the guys who are making the million dollar sales it is guys who are buying. realistically if the package of domains you are looking to sale are going worth more than 8 billion dollars it is good dream but I really think it is a small dream. From what you could be in a position to do
EM @ KING.NET
Very interesting post Rick. Question is how you will initiate consolidating all the domain names and approach to sell this to Microsoft?
Steve Fox
instead microsoft spends 5 billion on bing and gains 2 percent market share.
Tim Davids
sounds good as long as they don’t ask MCHX how their investment is doing.
Javier Zaffaroni
It is for sure a great idea, Microsoft should listen to you!
M. Menius
Yes, but many of marchex’s names are low quality – low traffic and no brandability. It’s quality generic keywords that impact the consumer. Thousands of obscure, nonsensical domains do not an investment make. Quality, not quantity.
Adam
Is Owen guest blogging here today ? If there is any bit of non-linkbaiting seriousness to this post you know you’d be herding cats here right ?
Ron Wells
Great post!
If this quote from Mr. Gates is any indication…maybe he is already considering buying into the Domain Industry:
”Domains have and will continue to go up in value faster than any other commodity ever known to man”. Bill Gates – Microsoft Corporation
Maybe Microsoft just need some of the largest players in the industry to present the facts!
Michael Castello
Rick, you’re selling this industry way short. I’d rather leave the Internet to ceative types that have a purpose and desire for change. Besides, it’s too late for Microsoft anyway. This idea would gave made sense in 1997. Bill Gates’ 20 year vision played out and he is retired. That being said, they should heavily invest in category killer brands. The markets are ready for them. Everything is timing.
rjb
It is such a simple idea they wouldn’t be able to see it. Something like this would be done by an outsider to break in to search or the internet – like a Russian oligarch, China tech company (with backing of Chinese wealth fund), Arabian oil sheik, or a last ditch effort by a large Media company. Think what all the money that evaporated over the last year in poor investments could have done if those people had invested in domains instead.
ScottM
Great forward thinking Rick! Microsoft bought the domain CASHBACK.COM last year and now they are using it on Bing.com/CashBack.
You’d think Microsoft would of also had the foresight to try and obtain the rights for the matching vanity phone number 1-800-CASHBACK, and there is also a related domain CASHBACK.NET which is currently listed in the Moniker Extended Auction but was not in their live auction for some reason.
Microsoft really ought to be concerned that their competitors first don’t get the other domain and the vanity phone number.
Gordon
Ron – I hope you really don’t believe Bill Gates said that…
UFO
Isn’t going to happen on a number of basis…
1) Competition law would step in.
2) Website owners would start using a different URL like .us and that would become the new .com
3) The sum total of the domains is not more valuable than their individual values. Per point 2) the market val would drop and on a cashflow basis they would not provide sufficient return.
There will be more reasons… but this whole concept is a non starter.
Yaron
Great idea!
take all the liquidity out of the market and make me (with my small portfolio) a millionaire.
UFO
Another reason…(as example)
Any holder of such a portfolio would become a captive licence holder to ICANN. The licence fees could be continually ramped up.
anunt
Good thinking Rick…good time to sell out…within 5 yrs, nobody will be typing domain names…they will instead use google search…i goto computer labs all the time and watch people surfing the internet and most people are just using google search and not typing in the domain names…go out to computer labs and see for yourselves what people are doing…you´ll be surprised!
Ron Wells
Gordon – I did at one point, but after a little research…I can’t say that I believe it at all now (I just read an old DN Forum post from March ’09…with a little debate on the origination of that quote). Thanks for clearing that up! :-)
Daniel rueda
Better they find the”greatest” strategic natural language domain portfolio and buy it. Somebody out there owns it.
cheap domain names
Thats a good idea for Microsoft but not for online community.
Kevin
Wonder how much Ruden will charge us for the purchase agreement on that deal.
:)
Graham
An internet with millions of top tier websites all programmed by Microsoft? Are you sure you thought this through? That’s worse than having thousands of people each day searching for a hotel at hotels.com and landing on a Hilton site.
Where did $8 billion come from? There’s only a handful of million dollar sales, that’s 8,000 million dollar domains, or 80,000 $100K domains. Or millions of twodwollop.
What price will he give me for NAME REMOVED? NAME REMOVED makes 20 times business.com which sold for $350 million, I’ll take 20 times that, or $7 billion for NAME REMOVED!
They might get more value with a few billion dollar sites with billions of hits per month.
Stephen Douglas
Hi Rick,
How about selling the domain industry to the business sector and the public first? I’m talking to businesses everyday that don’t understand the value of a domain name that even describes their category-killing prodservs domain.
We discussed this almost 4 years ago, now is the time for you to hook up with the power players and start a PR campaign across the internet.
Will the power players like yourself put up some portion of your blessed profits on the line to do this across the board to make thousands of domain holders reap profits?
It’s complicated, and no expectations… but if you’re going for the Big Burrito, why not start first at the home base?
I like your idea anyway, it’s fantastic and crazy and just what is needed to spark excitement. Good job.
Kevin
@ Stephen
After all this time, outreach, publicity, promotion, and on and on, I really don’t think the business sector is ever going to come to the party in droves like many thought they would one day.
We’re going to be stuck with a one by one trek to them with an individual pitch in hand.
wanda
Kevin | November 03, 2009 at 02:28 AM
At last something interesting to note,guess that must be: Law Firm: Ruden McClosky;Miller Nash
If I make the cut they will be the tried & tested firm to use then !! Thanks
Danny Pryor
Frankly, I would be scared if Microsoft had such a market share. They don’t know how to build operating systems well, at least not any longer. And they’re so Orwellian, at times. Imagine if you had to have a special”OS” to access certain sites … or certain software to access the Internet, period. I won’t even go to sights that require Silverlight. MS just pisses me off. But you could always take the money, invest in Apple and then give Microsoft a run for the money – or go to the guys at Sun and develop a better open-source platform that trips both of ’em up! HA!!!
Joe Saladino
Aaaa nice idea but Microsoft would not be allowed to create such a monopoly! Not happening! Try again!
http://www.internetfirm.com
X
Rick, you’ve just confirmed what we all thought; that you’re a greedy ugly jew boy who’d sell his own mother for money.
People like you are one of the reasons America is in the shit it is in today.
Just remember, what you do comes back to you. What goes around, comes around. There’s no escaping it. One day you’ll be rubbing your grubby little hands together and the next moment, BANG your taken down.
Rick Schwartz
Response from Rick:
I’ll leave the post stand. I have dealt with ugly comments like this all my life. You just showed the entire industry what type person you are. I am sure others share that view. That’s life. Reflects a lot about you and those other lowlifes that agree with you.
Your IP 67.159.45.53 if anyone cares to try and find…..probably fake too. Guys like you never have the balls to sign your name. Pretty weak.
Howard
Idiots like X don’t have the balls to stand up and make their stupidity known for the world to see. I hope that someone unveils this trash for what he (or she) is.
Steve Cheatham
I’m in. What’s my share?
Saso
Wery interested view in your idea.
Dan
If Microsoft would like to outrun their rivals Apple and Google, this is one vehicle that would get them there.
Jude
GO
RICK
GO!
That’s a hell of a post.
AIM HIGH.
Richard St Cyr
Hi Rick,
Do you really want one company to control the internet.
Think about it.
Look what the Democrats are doing and they are in control.
Richard St Cyr
AltD
UFO has made good points.
Curtis Neeley
Domain industry might want to keep their eyes on a United States Federal Court case in the Western District of Arkansas w/NameMedia for cybersquatting.
http://www.NameMedias.com
NameMedia’s actions detailed at the above protest url will impact the Internet universe.
How long till candy.com is the next bailout? A candy-coated bailout? We should have heard rejoicing after Halloween.
A one sentence addition to TM law will be all it takes to finally do what Congress intended. Just one bill is needed.
Stephen Douglas
@ X
Man, are you a PUSSY! You think you said something”tough”, and then you post it anonymously. Right at that point, unless you’re in China, shows everyone you’re a chickensh*t.
When you send a racist, baiting, ugly comment that makes us all worry that there are still ignorant freaks like you still around, I’m sad for your soul, and I’ll fight for Rick like a polar bear when I see something like that sent to him. I’m sure I don’t need to ask anyone in this industry to stand up for Rick. They’re already standing.
Rick, I think I’m speaking for all legit domainers when I say”you’re the King, and that doesn’t have anything to do with anything but your hard work and success.” Sorry you had to read that comment by”X”.
I thought I had it bad being teased for being a”redhead” when I was young. (I just kicked their asses and that stopped it by 8th grade.)
;-)
D Good
Rick do i have any rights when a big company is trying to take generic domains away from me that i created with their trademark in them. I knowingly did this in hopes that they would be interested in buying them in the auction market. I put time and effort to research and formulate their name with great demand keyword traffic phrases. They want me to turn them over to them for free and today filed a dispute…I reached out to them to offer the names to their company because their webmaster missed them. They have great keyword phrase value. After investigating further it appears I inadvertently bought them in bad faith because i bought them with intentions of selling them to the owner of the trademark. Can you contact me asap at my email address? please i need some guidance here.
CurtisNeeley
A domain used in commerce establishes a valid claim as a trademark and its expiration date must be recorded in whois but it is a right of the registrar EXCLUSIVELY to advertise and publish the expiration date.
A registrar who advertises an expiration date as if it were a lottery ticket violates the copyright of the business that failed to renew the domain.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
When no domain expiration date is EVER advertised the domain industry ceases to exist INSTANTLY.
http://www.NameMedias.com
2gb micro sd
maybe you should reread the atricle… i believe he valued his domains far below other top domain portfolios. his point was that the bulk of the whole domain industry could be had for around 8 billion dollars.