Domain Names – the Hidden Value Behind Every Digital Business

Would You Run a Billion-Dollar Business on a $20 Asset?

In the engineering world, if someone said to you that they ran a multi-national $1bn+ project using a rented $20 widget, then you would quite rightly question their sanity, let alone their judgement.

Yet for those of us in the domain name world, this is something that happens on a daily basis. It is totally normal for businesses to channel all their digital business through a single domain name (their brandname.com). That principal domain represents a single point of failure for the sales, marketing, customer service, email, booking engine and payment gateway capabilities. Take it away for a day, and the impact is immediate and severe. Lost revenue, broken trust, damaged reputation - all because of a low-cost, poorly managed asset.

“Some domains have sold for hundreds of millions, yet businesses still treat their most critical digital asset like a $20 widget."

 

A Common Corporate “Blind Spot”

Recently, I sat in a meeting with a large global company that left me scratching my head. They described to me how domain names had no “internal home”:

• No-one wanted to pay for them
• No-one wanted the responsibility of managing the portfolio
• Everyone viewed them as a nuisance rather than an asset.

No-one wanted to take responsibility for a company’s asset that is central in generating billions of dollars, and yet, in the same meeting, every department confirmed that online is the biggest growth driver in the company. It seems that everyone understands the upsides and enjoys the benefits for digital performance, yet nobody wants to “own” the domains or the cost that underpins it.

How interesting that a business can recognise the strategic importance of its brand, data and customer relationships, but can overlook the digital address that drives all of them.

Reframing the Conversation: From Cost Centre to Core Asset

I decided to turn the conversation around.

What if the business looks at that domain, and the rest of the portfolio, not as a cost or a compliance task, but rather as an asset, a strategic enabler and a revenue generator. After all, without a domain it would not be possible to do business online. That single line of text in a browser bar represents the foundation of digital identity.

I politely suggested that the brandname.com was worth far more than face value - it’s a gateway to revenue, trust, and visibility. It deserves to be treated with the same care as any other critical business asset.

No-one wanted to take the kudos for running the biggest revenue channel in the business? Really? The penny dropped, the value was seen, and a plan was put in place. However, it doesn’t always end like that.

“Would you risk your most profitable shop closing because you forgot to pay the rent? Domains are no different.”

Why Neglecting Domains Is Like Leaving the Shop Door Open

What truly astonishes me is that there are many businesses that still consider domains as background noise, technical details best left to IT or legal teams.

However, what if businesses would think of it this way: would you risk your highest earning and most productive shop being closed because it didn’t pay the rent or lock the door at night? Of course not, and domains are no different.

Domains are the digital storefronts of your business and neglecting them exposes you to risks far greater than their modest renewal fee.

dotBrands: The Ultimate Digital Asset

As we approach the time for business to make the strategic decisions about adopting dotBrands, it is worth reflecting on what they represent:

•  For Legal, the truest expression of your trade marks in digital format
•  For marketing, the purest expression of your brand in the digital channel
•  For Security, the most secure expression of your online presence
•  For a business, a piece of digital real estate that you can own outright, not just rent.

dotBrands aren’t just a branding exercise, they are long-term investments that will only accrue value as digital trust and ownership become more important.

How Much Could that IP Asset be Worth in the Future?

It’s evident that there is still an education gap when it comes to the true value of domains and the opportunity that dotBrands represent. After all, .com domains still change hands for millions of dollars and the domain aftermarket is well over a billion-dollar annual business. For example, Cars.com was valued at $872 million, Business.com sold for $345 million, and LasVegas.com for $90 million. Even niche domains like CarInsurance.com fetched $49.7 million, while Voice.com sold for $30 million. These are not just domains, they’re high-value digital properties.

We are effectively running the digital economy on $20 products because, for decades, there was no alternative. That was the only model available: rent a cheap, centralised .com and build a billion-dollar channel on top of it. But like everywhere else in life, things mature. More stable, secure and ownership-based options emerge - and a dotBrand TLD is exactly that.

So how much is that $20 domain name actually worth when valued as an IP asset? How much will a dotBrand be worth in the future, as a central pillar of online revenue generation?

Those that know, know and are already seeing the benefits of treating domain names and their potential as central to their future business success. For those that are curious and still view domains as a ‘cost centre’ rather than a key part of their business infrastructure, the opportunity is still there to positively evolve.

A dotBrand has the potential to be one of the most valuable assets within your business. When you think about it like that, the price tag and the effort to acquire such an asset becomes less arduous, almost to a point where it is a must have, rather than a nice to have.

In many cases, the status quo needs to be broken. And I, for one, am happy to take on the challenge of changing that mindset.