[article] The economics of .org domain names

[Ayden Férdeline]

I found this article worth reading:

The economics of .org domain names
Domain Name Wire, 14 November 2019
https://domainnamewire.com/2019/11/14/the-economics-of-org-domain-names/

(an extract from the full article)

Let’s look at the economics of the .org namespace.

To start, round down to 10 million domains. At $9.93 per domain, it brings in about $100 million in revenue at today’s wholesale price.

Costs are minimal. About $18 million to backend registry Afilias (which will be negotiated down again in the future), a few million to ICANN, some marketing budget to registrars and staff to help push the name. Call the staffing element about $3-4 million, but it could be lowered. Especially if you fold it into Donuts or another registry.

But Ethos Capital wasn’t paying just for this $100 million a year. ICANN has removed pricing caps on .org, so the company can charge whatever it wants for .org domains.

To maximize profits, it should wait a year until things quiet down and then implement an increase. Raise it 50% to $15? Double it to $20?

Let’s go with the $20 price tag. This would have only a slight impact on total .org registrations. A company using a .org isn’t going to switch domains over five or ten bucks a year. It’s too much work. Some people will drop excess domains and domainers will think twice. But I believe .org would lose no more than 10% of registrations.

-- Ayden
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