Unlocking Value Through BIG Data

In this article, I’m going to let you into a little secret. You may not have heard of anyone else approaching domains the way I’m about to outline but in my opinion, it’s the future. These ideas are what keep me so entranced by domains.

If you are wanting to extract the maximum amount of value from your domain names then the answer is in the data. It really doesn’t make a difference whether you are a buyer, seller, developer or traffic monetizer, the key to generating additional revenue always comes back to the numbers.

As I’ve spoken at conferences or written different blogs I’ve been accused of many things but there has been one consistent accusation that I’m actually quite proud. “You’re always banging on about the numbers!” I love my numbers and more than that, I love trying to interpret what they are telling me.

Over the past 10 years, my ParkLogic business partner and I have continued to be fascinated by domain names because the data tells so many different stories. We’ve taken this to the extreme level by tracking around 250 different metrics for every domain on our platform each day. This leads to hundreds of millions of data points that can be algorithmically analyzed and trend curves plotted over time to see where the next seam of gold will come from.

This is all well and good for traffic monetization but how about development? Isn’t Google analytics the ideal free solution? Not a chance! For the last six months, I’ve been building a content management platform that tracks and scores millions of data points from literally millions of domains every day.

Every action that a user can do on a page is scored. Whether this is searching, clicking a link, moving their mouse or even selecting a video. We then pull together all this mass of data into a single report by domain that displays a single number that represents all of the analysis. Our clients that utilize this service can then instantly take actions at the click of a button.

I must admit that there are a lot of additional features that I would like to add to the development platform over the coming months…..no shortage of ideas here! I can see that it won’t be long before we add this solution into the larger ParkLogic competitive optimization mix. What it’s going to come down to is the numbers.

There are several other key metrics that I would love to add to our pool of data. Weather being one. Why is this? I want to know if there is more a propensity to buy a domain if it’s raining than if it’s sunny outside. Or are people more likely to click on an advertisement when it’s cold versus send the traffic directly to a zero-click solution.

How can we add this data into the switching algorithms is a big question on my mind? These questions add to the tracked data points and seeing if there is a correlation between them represents big money…..but it will require BIG data.

Here’s another one, the exchange rate. Should you send traffic through to a European solution versus a USA based monetization provider? I’ve seen so many people do analytical comparisons of the performance of their traffic portfolios and completely disregard the impact the exchange may have on the numbers……how crazy is that!

If I have traffic coming into my system and I know that I can get 10% more by sending it through to a European advertiser due to the exchange rate then this MUST be added into the algorithmic mix….either that or I’m willing to accept sub-optimal results. Nothing like a bit more data for systems to munch away on.

These are the sorts of questions that keep me awake at night. I’m constantly pondering what influences people to buy, click search, browse or do anything online and then see if we can capture and use that data for our clients benefit.

The endless quest for answers to these types of questions is what has allowed ParkLogic to thrive for the last ten years. So don’t forget…..domains are all about the data.