NuDoms stepping on each others' toes. Geez Louise!

Late last year, we reported on the discovery that Dean Kilworth, a co-founder, investor and partner of WordDial, had registered a block of domains that included monikers that one would associate with a numeric domain professional association AND a dedicated forum. Those domains, including Numericdomainersforum.com and Numericdomainersassociation.com, have given hope - at least to me - that there will one day be a superb forum and industry association for numeric domainers that will be launched by the WordDial founders, pioneers in the numeric domain and wordnumber fields.

It would appear that numeric domainers would respectfully exhibit patience for WordDial to launch - in due time - their well-thought-out association, and related forum, as with a daily-periodical, etc... Numeric domainers are such a small crowd and there are still so many good numeric domain properties that aren't bought up, so why the need to step on each others' toes?

One NuDom, Matt Asher, has beat Dean to the cookie jar - shame shame - and launched his own numeric domain forum. Via Top Cola Inc., Matt registered on March 2, 2008, the following domains: Numericdomainforum.com, Numericdomainforums.com, Numericdomainsforum.com and Numericdomainsforums.com; they all go to Matt's very own forum for us numeric domainers. The tagline for Matt's magnificent NuDom discussion board, which he branded 'NDF', is 'Exclusive web forum for numeric domain name holders'. His forum is brand new...there's not even a post on it... but at this early stage it already boasts 2 members and apparently there are people lurking already since I noticed 3 users were online when I was checking it out. The newest and 2nd member to the forum website, located at NumericDomainForums.com, is 'sevent', the 'handle' Matt uses on other forums.

I guess I find NDF is in poor taste. Okay, maybe there's enough of 'us' to have 2 forums, but why not pick a different URL, like nudomforum.com, or seventsforum.com? I am convinced that Dean and the WordDial folks have the enterprising and forward-thinking qualities to do a first-class job with their Numeric Domain Association and affiliated Forum, the latter located at Numericdomainersforum.com, now parked (for now). These TWO 'forum' URLs, however, are AWFULLY similar and NuDoms will undoubtedly get them mixed up quite often. Say what you will, comment what you like, but I think this is not the way we should be putting our collective best NuDom foot forward (by stepping on each others' toes).

When will the numeric domain industry follow suit?

The International Herald Tribune's February 2nd article 'In Web domain name game, players gain some respect' discusses the domain industry's transformation from the highly secretive - and oft illegal - 'game' dominated by offshore players to a booming field that is increasingly characterized by respect and professionalism.

New developments in the domain industry's transition:

More money is at stake. In 2007, 106 domain names drew more than $100,000 each.

VC money is in play. ' ...over the last few months, private equity and venture capital firms have poured money into the largest companies in the field. Last year, Demand Media and Oversee.net...raised nearly $400 million from investors'

Domain REITs are going public. 'Last September, NameMedia, a company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, which has a huge portfolio of generic domain names, filed to go public on the Nasdaq stock market.'

Financing is available. 'specialized financiers who will lend money and accept domain names as collateral.'

Domainers have their own trade group (although it's staffed by only one person)

Although the numeric domain industry has a way to go before one sees stellar sales, VC investment, REIT IPOs and niche financing, the formation of a trade group could be right around the corner.

During the last week of 2007, we reported on the idea of a professional association for numeric domainers, which was prompted by the discovery of several recently registered domains by a WordDial co-founder. The block of registered domains includes monikers that you'd associate with a professional association including the actual phrase 'Numeric Domain(ers) Association' and also 'forum' and newsletter.

Professional or industry associations generally serve to elevate the skill sets, networks, ideas exchange, and careers of its members and also promote trade and good business practices (ethics) in the marketplace. An industry association is the first place the public often goes to seek general information, consultant or business referrals, jobs, learning opportunities, license verifications, and even position statements. All of these services increase the visibility, professionalism and stature of the field.

A numeric domain association would help by educating the public about all the reasons why one ought to invest in numeric domain properties. It also could help match buyers and sellers via an online marketplace or auction events.

If numeric domainers want investors to realize the utility and worth of their properties or products and raise their industry's visibility, professionalism and stature, they should push for the obvious solution: a numeric domain association.

A numeric domainers association as a means of raising industry stature

Last week we reported on the idea of a professional association for numeric domainers, which was prompted by the discovery of several recently registered domains by a WordDial co-founder. The block of registered domains includes monikers that you'd associate with a professional association including the actual phrase 'Numeric Domain(ers) Association' and also 'forum' and newsletter (we discovered another domain in the block, DailyNumericDomainer.com).

Professional or industry associations generally serve to elevate the skill sets, networks, ideas exchange, and careers of its members and also promote trade and good business practices (ethics) in the marketplace. An industry association is the first place the public often goes to seek general information, consultant or business referrals, jobs, learning opportunities, license verifications, and even position statements. All of these services increase the visibility, professionalism and stature of the field.

Visibility, professionalism and stature is what the numeric domain industry needs most and for two main reasons.

First, the visibility (and stature) of the numeric domain industry needs to be raised because a significant amount of investment and web development related to numeric domains has occurred yet it hasn't been enough to garner the attention or interest of news outlets, large internet companies and wireless carriers. Of great concern to numeric domainers is the lackluster marketplace and lack of liquidity for numeric domain properties in general.

A second reason the numeric domain industry needs added visibility, professionalism and stature is that numeric domainers automatically inherit the lack of trust the public places on all members of the domain industry, which has a tarnished image from the actions of cybersquatters and trademark violators. Numeric domainers ought to be viewed as upstanding businesspersons who follow best business practices, business ethics and all applicable laws. This is one of the core goals of the DNOA (Domain Name Owners Association): 'the building of trust and professionalism of its members.' DNOA's webpage is littered with confidence-inspiring words and phrases such as honesty, integrity, ethics, scoundrel-free and professionalism. Although a few nice-sounding adjectives on a website won't build trust, a code of ethics abided by all members would help. So would a dispute resolution service. Another way to significantly boost the numeric domain industry's image is by emphasizing the fact that numeric domainers have immunity from copyright and trademark violations - this would add much needed legitimacy to the efforts of current and prospective numeric domain owners and web developers.

Certainly a numeric domain association would help by educating the public about all the reasons why one ought to invest in numeric domain properties. It also could help match buyers and sellers via an online marketplace or auction events.

If numeric domainers want investors to realize the utility and worth of their properties or products, it will help to raise the industry's visibility, professionalism and stature. An industry association is the obvious means to those ends.

WordDial co-founder poised to start dedicated numeric domain forum and association: domains registered

Dean Kilworth, a co-founder and director of New Zealand-based WordDial, recently became the registrant of several domains that imply that there may one day be a forum and industry association for numeric domainers.

The domains in mention, Numericdomainersforum.com, Numericdomainersassociation.com and Numericdomainassociation.com, were registered earlier this month via Dotster on December 12 and 13. Although the domains - seven in all including .net and .org tlds - are parked, there is one thing we learned about the WordDial folks: they've bought more domains than perhaps any entity on this earth and they don't register domains for no or little reason. These domains were apparently registered for their intended purpose.

Is there a sufficiently large interest group out there to take advantage of a dedicated numeric domain forum or association? The discussing and posting of sales listings of numeric domains already takes place daily on various domain forum websites including DNForum.com, however serious analysis of the industry only occurs here at Jamptap and at Numericdomains.com run by Scott Smith, a numeric domain name investor and blogger. From our perspective, there are two categories of numeric domain investors: those who hold dotcom wordnumbers and those who own numeric domains that don't spell common brands and generic words (often these are NN.tld, NNN.tld, and NNNN.tld domains). Potentially these two types of investors may be in large enough numbers that a centralized forum - where discussion is centered on news, issues and most importantly buying, selling, trading and also appraising numeric domains - would be worthwhile.

The idea of an association for numeric domainers, however, is even more interesting. Think power in numbers. If the constituent 'forces' came together within the numeric domain industry, which comprises investors and internet companies like WordDial and others whose existence depends on the successful uptake of the wordnumber idea, perhaps they could break down the walls of resistance. Mobile users, wireless carriers and internet companies might be convinced to shed their addiction to lengthy web addresses (e.g., URLs requiring tapping 10 or more times for the combined 2nd and 3rd level domains) and instead take advantage of numeric domains if all numeric domainers were on the same page. For instance, press releases and other communications could be coordinated within a cohesive strategy of marketing the idea of wordnumbers (including dotcom wordnumbers) and the ease of its application to the mobile web. Membership dues could be put towards advertisements on mobile content news sites and blogs. The association could serve as a trusted third-party for overseeing contracts, negotiations and disputes for lease and partial ownership deals between companies whose numeric domain portfolios are far from complete and numeric domain investor members.


Data from website ranking company Compete shows that WordDial, which has waited a very long time for the market to ripen, is experiencing declining unique visitor counts since this past summer. In light of this disappointing statistic, perhaps WordDial's decision to seek new alliances is a step in the right direction. Collaborate and together numeric domainers will find success.