Namebio.com restrict (more) free content?

[Domainication]

Did anyone noticed the fact that namebio only shows five search results from now on too?

I guess we will need a membership for (full) results now - which is defenetly worth it but i did not read about a statement at all (social media, etc.) - am i missing something?

 

[JB Lions]

I haven't had any other reports of resetting the password not working, and I just tried it myself and got the email a few seconds later. Usually the problem is putting the wrong email address, we don't display an error when that happens, otherwise an attacker could spam that to find out which emails have accounts. Shoot me a PM and I'll get you sorted.

Noted on the number of results, thanks for the feedback. The problem is that with sorts and other filters the number of results you can see grows exponentially pretty quickly. Just with sorting and without any extra filters 25 turns into 100 with just a few clicks. And it can turn into thousands if you check one venue at a time while also messing with the sort. There aren't a ton of searches that have more than 100 results, unless you're doing broad searches like LLLL and such, or extremely popular keywords.

All good, think it was what you said, had an account prior to 2015 before migration. New account works fine.

 

[Gorilla]

In return. I think we have also to ask them to pay us if they want us to report our sales in their platform.

At least www.DNPric.es is still free. I heard many domainers will use them instead of namebio to compare sales. You are right, namebio should pay people for our sales data that we have reported during the years, @Michael always said thanks for reporting sales, because it is good for the domaining community, but I guess it was good business for him, greed is something else.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

I have used namebio for many years and never paid a penny. Much appreciated Michael.
Guess were into a new phase now Domaining3.0

 

[Alop]

No one is working for free but you expect everything is free.

Relax your order is coming up next

 

[kam]

Or a third option that perhaps you didn't consider: it's true. Most usage-based models are implemented for things like API access

Hello Michael,

Why you removed the API access from Domainer plan?
I remember that it used to came with API access with 10000 API credits.

Kam

 

[Fayaz Ahmed]

Looks like name bio updated their count somewhat. Now:

1/ 10 results for non-logged in users.
2/ 25 results for logged-in free users.
3/ 100 results for $10/month ($60/year) users.
4/ 500 results for $25/month ($144/year) users.
5/ 2500 results for $100/month ($600/year) users.

It's much better now @Michael

 

[Michael]

Hello Michael,

Why you removed the API access from Domainer plan?
I remember that it used to came with API access with 10000 API credits.

Kam

Not many people used it, it was mostly actual businesses who signed up for Domainer instead of Business tier. Wanted to stop them from doing that. Existing Domainer members were grandfathered into API access though.

And if an individual operator on Domainer tier really wants API access they can shoot me a PM/email and tell me what they're planning to do with it. I'll probably just add it for them, but I'll have to take it on a case-by-case basis.

When we launched the memberships more than four years ago I was just taking my best guess at how to structure the benefits so people would sign up for the appropriate tier. But I didn't do a great job of it, and never adjusted them as I learned more. Things were so misaligned we had big-time brokers signing up for Collector tier, massive portfolio holders doing millions a year in sales on Domainer tier, etc.

Trying to correct it now by removing bulk searches from Collector tier and API access from Domainer tier. People also sometimes got confused by Business tier having an "unlimited" number of results, thinking that was permission to scrape us and try to take all of the data. So I added a limit to the results on Business tier as well, to make it more clear for people who don't read the TOS before agreeing to it.

 

[kor]

@Michael

Since the listings have already heavily limited, is there any harm in removing the price range and domain length restrictions for registered members?

 

[Michael]

@Michael

Since the listings have already heavily limited, is there any harm in removing the price range and domain length restrictions for registered members?

Unfortunately there would still be a harm. People were sorting by price ascending, and then seeing sales up to let's say $350. Then they'd repeat the search with "price from" $351, and see sales up to $592. Then they search sales from $593 and up, and just keep going until they see all the sales. Basically an infinite results cheat code, regardless of what the limits are on the number of results.

I'm going to be replacing the Price Range and Domain Length filters with presets, like we had to do for Date Range years ago (which used to be a from/to date picker but was also abused). So price range might have options like: < $1k, $1k - $5k, $5k - $10k, $10k - $50k, $50k - $100k, $100k to $500k, $500k+. Then it would still be pretty functional for the people who used it legitimately, while not being prone to abuse any more.

As soon as I do that I'll open it back up to free users, even guests. It's high up on my list but might take me a few weeks to get to it.

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

In return. I think we have also to ask them to pay us if they want us to report our sales in their platform.

Interesting. Because data is what many in the centralized domain industry swear by, it seems appropriate, and right, for domainers to ALSO be compensated for the data they help create/facilitate. There’s a bit of irony in expecting domainers to pay for data they undoubtedly help make possible in general. Especially in cases where “reciprocation” is relative to “the exchange” and “the benefit”.

To be absolutely clear, this is NOT to imply the folks over at Namebio don’t deserve to be compensated for working hard to “analyze” and “curate” the data they offer via their platform. People deserve to be fairly compensated, and acknowledged, for any of their constructive contributions to the betterment of an ecosystem. Namebio surely deserves to be compensated for their work. So do domainers.

As a proverbial dice-roll, Namebio might want to consider having registrars foot the bill in the long-term. This might be a sustainable way to go. After all, they are the real benefactors soon after domain buyers comb through data elsewhere. This might be a reach to orchestrate; but it’s worth considering. Especially in an era of GPT-prompt website plugins popping up left and right.

We’re definitely supportive of Namebio; and believe in the value of data. However, it might be an uphill battle convincing folks that paying for curated data is more beneficial than just asking a domainer GPT bot that draws from many existing data-pools. We have a hunch registrars are heading in this direction. Research it, buy-it and list-it all from one site is what they’re likely aiming for website-wise.

This all makes for an interesting discussion to say the least. Nevertheless, Namebio has our support. Maybe they’ll create the innovative model that allows domainers to be compensated for giving the data-catalogs of sales, drops etc their heft. This might be the best way to make the subscription model for information more beneficial, and less controversial, in the long-term.

🗣 Mel
QUAD DOMAINS

 

[HotKey]

quad, domainers already get compensated. NB reports it. They gonna pay us for them helping us?? Neigh neigh. What they provide is invaluable, far more than some random ai chat bot with a reach that ends at human intervention. Which now we are applauding. Which ironically wouldn't even be necessary if it wasn't for data harvesting automation accolades.

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

quad, domainers already get compensated. NB reports it. They gonna pay us for them helping us?? Neigh neigh. What they provide is invaluable, far more than some random ai chat bot with a reach that ends at human intervention. Which now we are applauding. Which ironically wouldn't even be necessary if it wasn't for data harvesting automation accolades.

@HotKey, we see your angle. However, we’re talking about “the irony in charging folks to access data they help create”. Granted, it’s commonplace nowadays. But is this the best way to approach growing profits in the grand scheme of things? It’s not a matter of subscription price. It’s a matter of principle and industry culture.

NameBio is ultimately their own entity. They’ve been a resource in the domainer community for some time now; so it just feels like an annual fundraising effort, similar to what Wikipedia does with its users, would’ve come before a subscription model. (Pardon us for recognizing paywalls aren’t ideal for every situation.)

Hopefully NameBio can make a strong case for their subscription model before one of the big registrars offers their own tool. After all, registrars likely have a trove of untapped proprietary data many domainers would pay to get their hands on. GoDaddy could probably tell you at what minute of the day people buy certain types of names etc.

We want NameBio to win; but we also don’t want domainers to be drowned out. The centralized domain space needs to innovate and revenue needs to generate. But on the backs of who though? NameBio is trying their hand with the domain community. Only time will tell how it all works out. We hope everyone is happy in the end.

🗣 Mel
QUAD DOMAINS

 

[Recons.Com]

I have built a large portfolio over the years without ever feeling I needed the services of namebio. I probably visited the site once or twice a year but stopped after all those monetization experiments started.

I feel like the way it is going is wrong. And will result in loss of visitors which, in turn, will also push away the advertisers.

 

[Jv1999]

i formed an opinion as to why NB got greedy all of a sudden when they posted that they sold NB 2 years ago.

Everytime a company sells out, it devaluates. Both online and irl, like Dan.com.

It's obvious the buyers want their investment back + profit... so they've made an executive order to increase monetization attempts. This is hte result.

I mean, i see that it's a small niche industry "and ads aren't cutting it" despite millions of searches daily and 350k uniques yearly... but conversion for ads is usually 1%. 10,000 is 1% of 1,000,000.

You could always apply AdSense instead of domaining ads. Domainers are people too lol and we visit normal sites and click on regular, pertinent ads.

I guess making $5,000 per month from AdSense isn't enough for the new buyers, who probably bought NB for a sum.

So now we have both ads and this premium membership tier that no one's happy about because the search results are too low... so they increased it in real time.

 

[zomainhacks]

I think that regular namebio contributors should not have to pay for the membership.

 

[Samer]

i formed an opinion as to why NB got greedy all of a sudden when they posted that they sold NB 2 years ago.

Everytime a company sells out, it devaluates. Both online and irl, like Dan.com.

It's obvious the buyers want their investment back + profit... so they've made an executive order to increase monetization attempts. This is hte result.

Interesting. Can you confirm this, @Michael? These changes have been so radical but still never occurred to me it could be an owner change. I always assumed you controlled the company, still, since you’re still involved.

 

[james2002]

I am now using www.Dnpric.es instead of namebio which I have used for years.

 

[Youyousag]

Lol, it's actually as low as $5/mo if you pay annually. Not much room to go down from there.

why i am seeing 10$ per month for me and 60$ yearly , have you doubled the price ?

 

[kor]

why i am seeing 10$ per month for me and 60$ yearly , have you doubled the price ?

What do you get when you divide $60 by 12?

 

[Sperry8]

I think that regular namebio contributors should not have to pay for the membership.

Agree, or be given some sort of incentive to list private sales (list 5 sales get 3 mos, list 10 sales get an annual membership gratis). Or something similar.