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- Issue #19: September 8, 2025
Issue #19: September 8, 2025
State of domains; Just the f.aqs; Founder feelings; Your reminder; You zig, I zag
Michael Cyger
September 08, 2025
Hi there, New week, let's grind! Here are the most interesting 5️⃣ domain tweets from last week. Have a great week, Mike P.S. I publish my best posts and opinions in Cyger Says every Friday morning. #1️⃣ State of domains
The state of domains (August 2025 cheat sheet): • 368.4M total domains (+2.2M in Q1’25) • .com = 157.2M; .com + .net together 169.8M • ngTLDs +13.5% YoY (~37.8M) — fastest growing • ccTLDs 142.9M (+2.4% YoY); .cn = 21M (top ccTLD) • Aftermarket → $1.17B by 2033 (projected) • icon.com sold for $12M (2025’s biggest) • Trust still favors .com; younger buyers care about handle/domain match Takeaway: the pie keeps growing, but trust + security + brand alignment decide who wins the slice. (From Hostinger’s 2025 domain stats roundup): www.hostinger.com/tutorials/domain-name-statistics#
Loving how niche digital identities keep growing. Those .now, .ventures, and other small TLDs are up 13.5% to 37.8 million, showing the internet continues to adopt them. Slowly. The aftermarket’s still rocking it with that $12 million icon.com sale. Many deals I hear about make me feel like it's a strong market. .com’s still king at 157.2 million. #2️⃣ Just the f.aqs
One of the rarest domains you can possibly get on the internet is also free to register! .aq is the TLD for Antartica. Domains are free to register, but you can only have one. There is no website or WHOIS server for the registry. Years ago I found an email address for the guy who runs it from the IANA website and I sent him an email asking if I could register a .aq name. He sent me this FAQ:
Interesting thread started by Mike Carson. Be sure to read the second post to his original. Full of interesting, "throwback Thursday" tidbits on this Monday. And I love how seasoned investors like Adam cut straight to one of the most valuable domain hacks available with his suggestion of reserving F.AQ. 🤣 #3️⃣ Founder feelings
this hits, AI may be copyable, but a memorable domain isn’t
I love when I see founders/developers/entrepreneurs talking about domain names on 𝕏. Here's one example. #4️⃣ Your reminder
A warning to other entrepreneurs. Domainers for your ICP is tough. Not because small TAM (it is small). It was the demise of Dofo(.)com. (A not-that-long-ago web app that helped you find hidden gems.) If you've read Seth Godin, he talks about Sneezers. What are they?
Early adopters who spread the word about your product. So the toughest part about marketing to domainers? There are no Sneezers. They don't exist. But Domainers aren't assholes. Game Theory is the asshole. It's like any trading. If someone finds an edge
The thread finishes off with: They MUST keep their edge secret. If everyone knows the secret, no more edge. So if a tool or app gives you that edge, you aren't going to blabber about it. You keep it, to yourself. Dofo was smart to pivot to a cybersecurity company. (See where it, redirects now.) Because they wanted to make actual money. I don't know the angle for the domainer market. Or any investor ICP for that matter. I can only conclude: If you don't have sneezers, find another market. --- I put this here not for you. But for me. I realize that building for the domain name industry is not the best use of my time. But I build for me. And if I like it, I'm happy. At least that's what I tell myself as I continue to work on @Nerveio. 🤣 You zig, I zag I'm always trying to look where others aren't. It's tough to always look in new places because it's time consuming. And frustrating when you don't find anything day after day. But when you do... oh my goodness!
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