What do with your unused domains?
Ivan | Mon, 2009-04-27 22:18Several of my friends own many domain names. These assets are usually sitting unused in their domain registrar accounts. If you also have such domains or planning to register a few for future use read on.
With relatively little time you can start making a bit of money from these domains. Get a Google Adsense account, make up a fake page with some relevant text full of valuable keywords and put up a large google ad. Make sure you provide a contact email on the page in case somebody wants to offer to buy the domain.
If you have no time, another way to make use of these unused domains is to park them. Parking companies like sedo allow you to do two things: they display ads that you profit from and provide potential buyers with an escrow system in case somebody wants to buy your domains. You can set the prices and you pay 10% for the transaction. If the domain is popular enough, you can easily make up the price of the yearly registration or even more with the ads even if your domain doesn't get sold.
Another advantage of using a parking service is that parked domains show up as available to buy in domain registrar searches.
Here is how one of my parked domains look like: Theme Fair.
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If you have a good one MS will buy it for millions!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
I am not Steve Ballmer pretending not to be me!
Would you buy my domain for millions so that I can retire in my twenties?
A.B.
http://www.insidethatad.blogspot.com/
First I have to know what it is!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
I am not Steve Ballmer pretending not to be me!
Ivan-
Is the Theme Fair domain making money for you? Also, isn't this just another form of domain squating?
A.B.
www.insidethatad.blogspot.com
Yes, if somebody clicks on the ads on that page it makes money for me. It's not domain squatting because I do have the intention of using this domain in the future. I'm planning to put up Drupal themes on it. But don't have time for it right now.
...you could do the ethical thing and release the domain.
F.
Do you feel its unethical to own stuff that you don't use? Seriously.
If I were a kapitalist, I wouldn't, if I were a socialist, I would.
On a more practical note: selling on a domain with no added value is squatting. It is a practice you should not propagate.
Holding on to it for later use is a different matter. I have no problem with that. Hold on for it to long, and you might become a squatter anyway.
Monetizing it in the meanwhile is a bad idea in my opinion. Those who stumble upon your webpage get no proper content (in your own words: 'a fake page with some relevant text full of valuable keywords') and will mostly be annoyed.
As for your own domain: you probably bought it with the best intentions, but you made a u-turn, and became a squatter (your site has a 'buy this domain' ad on it). You shouldn't do this, but especially shouldn't advice it.
So here is my advice:
If you have unused domains hanging around, why don't you put the domain to good use and make a webpage about your favorite charity. You could refer to the Red Cross, or write a moving appeal to donate to your local children's hospital. If you plan to use the domain later, add a little note telling the visitor what your plans are. If you don't plan to use the domain, release it, and give somebody else the chance to do something amazing with it.
F.
I'm not a bleeding heart but this works for me.
Think through what you're proposing here.
What you're attacking is one of the most basic principles of free man. The right of ownership.
A domain is an asset with a value. It's like shares, land, a car, etc. There is no difference morally between these. By your reasoning I'm not morally allowed to own a land I don't use.
I can only buy stuff that I need right here and right now. And, to be perfectly moral I have to give all extra value (my cash) to somebody else who needs it more than me. I don't have a moral right to it, correct?
Without the right of ownership there is no motivation for people to save, because they can't buy anything beyond what they immediately consume. Without savings there is no accumulation of capital, therefore nobody will be able to take a loan to start a business and create jobs.
Without businesses there is no industry, no modern world. Everybody falls back to basic standards of life of farming by hand producing as much as one needs for survival.
However even in this measly existence there will be someone, who walks by and tells you from a morally higher ground to give him some of your carrots since you don't need them right now, and he on the other hand is hungry now. And, you won't have a moral ground to reject him.
Again, please think a little before making such statements.
Your ideology put millions to starvation during communism, socialism and other altruist dictatorships. Trust me it's the saddest thing in the world to see able man reduced to animals, while some moral ideologist feast on the corpses as long as they could consume goods produced in the non-socialist era.
I agree completely. I am all in favor of private ownership. I could not exist without it. But ownership does not go without responsibility. Holding on to resources with the sole purpose to drive up prices is seen as immoral. Even by capitalists. This is why anti trust laws exist. To get back on topic: cybersquatters scoop up loads of domains, just to sell them on, without any added value. Maybe you're fine with that, but I am not. It feels like the domains are kept hostage by someone with no legitimate claim to them. And I am not alone. Judges have forced some of these companies to release their domains. Let met get this straight: I know you are not one of those. Do with your domain what you like. But I do think it is bad advise you gave, since you are in the eye of the public.
F.
ps, I do not support communism, socialism, altruist dictators, nor do I feast on corpses. (Well, maybe I do like the latter, but only in Peter Jackson movies.)
I'm glad to see we're on the same page.
ok question.. is this... "theme fair" or "the me fair"?? lol..
That's a good one pokie! :)