The Domain Monetization Seismic Shift

Over the last few years the domain monetization industry has gone through a silent seismic shift that many investors are completely oblivious about. For the last decade it’s been assumed that with the demise of Yahoo that Google was the only alternative to monetise domain traffic…..boy has that changed!

I went trawling back through the many presentations that I have conducted at various conferences around the world and a slide from May 2016 leapt out at me. It showed the relative difference between revenues generated from traditional domain parking versus direct advertisers.

What you will notice is that around 8% of the total revenue generated from domain names came from traditional parking solutions that are underpinned by Google. The numbers came from ParkLogic and given that we run a truly competitive marketplace for the traffic it means that about 92% of the time Google paid more than direct advertisers.

The second chart is from Jan 2019 and it looks completely different. It clearly shows that in a few short years direct advertising networks are now competing on a more or less equal footing with Google.

This chart has a number of ramifications for domain investors.

• If you are not exposed to this change then you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
• Since domain traffic is now being won by a LOT of different solutions versus just one domain investors should also experience more consistent returns and reduced revenue risk.
• Domain buyers that use a platform like ParkLogic’s have a massive competitive advantage over those that leave all their domains with a single monetization partner.

I wouldn’t be surprised, that by the end of the year between 60-70% of all traffic is monetised better with direct advertising networks. This is the seismic shift that has been rippling through the industry and I believe the ramifications of this will be felt over the years ahead.....so hang on to your seat!