I'm starting to question the future of domain names and websites, especially the future of the business model called "domaining". I'm also amused by the effort of SEO's and SEM's to remain relevant, by selling people on the idea that their online presence must not focus on being friendly to AI agents, so the agents will reference their content. (So much for the days of the imperative of "long form content", to please Google and prove your worthiness for inclusion in the SERPs. Now it's "tailor your content to please the AI agents, which will work for a while and then, once you're thoroughly consumed, "It's been nice. Luv ya! Bu-Bye!")
No, I'm just kidding. There is hope, For a NY minute.
Not to be impolite but foolish money has been spent, for decades, chasing the elusive "golden ticket domain". Lord knows I've spent a bit, but somehow managed to still be in the game. That, in part, is due to a bit of (lucky) foresight.
I've also "flushed" thousands of registrations over the past 25 years, including a ton of geo+service domains, about which I'm still a bit iffy. From what I see in the wild they still work in a variety of contexts - such as small / large fixed media, where memorability counts. YMMV
However, the more I play with artificial intelligence the more I realize that the days of smallish websites - informational sites, in particular - are numbered.
My hunch, subject to further / deeper thought and analysis, is that the days of any hopeful soul coming about the domaining train are vanishing or at least heading into a dark tunnel. It was challenging for a newcomer in 2005-2020 to choose wisely, but there were metrics that smarter folks could consider when making choices - such as metrics related to search results. Metrics, marketing savvy, business savvy brought some folds enduring profitability. Today? Ummh, not so sure.
A domain forum, such as NamePros, still brings in the excited voices of self-declared domainers with forum sections like "Post your registration of the day", as if one is declaring their win in a bid for a golden ticket. So far as my review, it's the same old sad thinking, a waste of time, only getting worse as time goes by. There are better things to do "in the game" than spend time declaring one's winning ticket.
As far as I can tell the opportunity for profit and success - the very likely "future of domaining as a business model" - is shrinking faster than it has in the past. Add to that the days of "parking revenue" are over. Every effort to kill that model has been carried out. Only the bones remain. So, it's "sell or die", "delete or waste away". If you don't have the data that comes from years of experience your odds of winning grow slimmer every day. Even it one has the sales and marketability data the data may be slowly losing value.
Funny I should find myself saying that as my personal success, in the past 2-3 years, wouldn't support that sober conclusion, except for the fact that what I hold I have held for a VERY looonnng time, the domains I choose have always had a high commercial intent / were-are industry defining, my upfront costs were low as I spent time investing when others were bailing out due to the "dot come bust", and, since I have a background in business (ran a private law firm for 30+ years), I brought skills to the domain game besides clever guessing. Skills such as business cash flow management, which even in the legal profession played a role in success.
Oh, well, I likely will find myself talking to myself, but that's the reality. Domain interest / Domaining is a diminishing world. Artificial intelligence is one more nail in the coffin and it's being hammered into the culture as I type. Very real "golden domain tickets" are the last refuge of anyone who cares to consider themselves relevant to the title of "domainer".
P.S. - I first thought of posting this as NamePros but, AFAIC, for the most part they are like children and I have no desire to dampen their time for believing in Santa. They support one another in their hopes, dreams and beliefs. As has always been the case, few - now fewer than ever - will reap a benefit worth the time and effort invested in playing the game.
P.P.S. - I am imagining myself speaking in the voice of the robot in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Sad but true.
