There's been a lot of movement in the world of domains over the past few months. Thirty-three million new domain names were registered in 2007 according to VeriSign's March 2008 Domain Name Industry Brief. This brings the number of top-level domain names (TLDs: .com, .net and .org) to 153 million worldwide - a 27% increase over Q4 2007.
Along with this growth has come a virtual explosion of services to help professional domainers maximize their portfolios. February saw the official launch of Fusu, the world's first domain stock exchange. The online service uses the concept of a traditional stock exchange and applies it to the Domain Names industry by providing a trading platform for owners, shareholders and investors. It's not all rainbows and unicorns in the domain business though. The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse released a study on drop catching - when expired domains are released into the pool of available names and are instantly re-registered by another party. Historically, drop-catching is the first step to more serious abuses such as domain tasting, domain kiting and typo-squatting.
But one thing hasn't changed. In the competitive world of the Web, you need a domain and a good one at that. That's why Website Magazine is proud to present its Third Annual Ranking of Domain Registrars, featuring 50 of the top providers online. While you may or may not see the registrar that you used to purchase or manage your domain, keep in mind that the following is a sample of one portion of the Web's traffic and does not represent how successful, ethical or economical one solution is compared to another.
Research for this report comes courtesy of Ranking.com, the Web's largest provider of website popularity metrics and detailed website information for more than one million online destinations. To suggest a Top50 category for consideration in upcoming issues of Website Magazine, please visit our online forum or send an email to Top50@WebsiteMagazine.com.
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Buying and Selling Domains on eBay: These registrars and resources may be the 50 most active, but many Web professionals are turning to eBay to buy and sell domains. Website Magazine's digital edition features the first in a three part series on Buying and Selling Domains the eBay Way. Visit www.WebsiteMagazine.com to see this valuable step-by-step guide outlining how any Web professional can leverage the world's largest auction marketplace for domain profits.