The Domain Game (Hardcover)

by David Kesmodel (Author)
Key Phrases: applied semantics, domain investors, domain speculators, Network Solutions, Ultimate Search, Demand Media (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Almost everyone has heard a tale of someone getting rich by selling an Internet domain name for a staggering price. But few understand the secretive world of domain investing, a game that a growing number of people are playing around the globe. The Domain Game chronicles the exploits of leading domain investors and explains how this mysterious market works. Learn how an Oklahoma watermelon farmer wound up owning some of the world's most valuable Web addresses, from recipes.com to chairs.com, and how a college dropout became a multimillionaire by scooping up domains that others abandoned amid the dot-com bust. Find out how the rise of Google and Yahoo has helped boost the fortunes of domain investors. And explore the shenanigans of investors who snag names associated with corporate trademarks. Finally, read how you can jump into this exciting market with a relatively small initial investment. It's a market with high risk, but huge potential reward. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (May 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1436332281
• ISBN-13: 978-1436332286
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #510,213 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Was Hoping For...., August 3, 2008

By	An Avid Domainer "Elisabeth" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Having been in the domain name market for many years now, I am an avid domainer. Consequently, I was anxious to read this book. While the author writes well, it was "useful" content that was lacking. At minimum, the first 75% of this book is dedicated to the history of how domain names came to be today.
The subtitle for this book is "How People Get Rich From Internet Domain Names." My impression was that this book would be focused on new insights, new leads, new ways of working with my names to enhance my knowledge. But, after reading this book in its entirety, I do not feel that was the case. A great deal of this book is dedicated to the bygone days of a few successful domainers who got on board "very" early and their subsequent stories. While their stories were interesting, today those circumstances would be impossible to duplicate - which was to purchase a large inventory of "one word," exceptional names, rather inexpensively.
Additionally, there are many pointed references to those few people and companies who tried to cheat the system. It seems no matter what industry it is, there are always those that push the boundaries. While they are discussed at length, again I would have much rather read sound, constructive ideas, as implied by the books subtitle.
Lastly, I do not agree with many points of the final chapter.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Domain Game" Has The Potential To Influence And Ignite The Next Generation Of Leaders... , June 27, 2008

By	Neal R. Voron - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Domain Game: How People Get Rich From Internet Domain Names (Paperback)

Many of us have a valid excuse why we missed an early wave of opportunity to invest - or invest more heavily - in Internet domain names. We may have had no idea what was happening and what we were missing out on, or we may have had a clue but could not quite grasp how to get a handle on it. With David Kesmodel's "The Domain Game" now available, though, there are few excuses to sit on the sidelines anymore!

Some books focus on one industry but are really about so much more. They are about people, about business, about life. They are about how one's perspective, creative thinking, actions, and persistence can make a difference in his or her success. "The Domain Game" is one such book, and I highly recommend it both as an insightful view into the world of domaining and as an interesting and enlightening story that is worth reading whether you know what a domain name is or not.

Kesmodel, a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal's Chicago bureau who formerly worked as technology reporter for the Journal's online edition, expertly weaves Internet domain name industry facts and history into the context of events, sharing the true stories of successful domainers. He tells how individuals of varied educational and work backgrounds found success through foresight, smart thinking, and/or aggressive pursuit of domain names that they acquired for prices as low as under $10 to many thousands of dollars.

But Kesmodel doesn't stop there - he offers insights into opportunities that exist in domaining today, and he introduces readers to many key players and domain industry resources.

Readers who know nothing about Internet domain names beforehand will sooner or later realize that they could have hand-registered a couple of ".com" domain names for the price of the book... and know that buying the book first was a good investment because it can help them make smarter decisions.

That is not to say that you cannot have success in the world of domaining without reading Kesmodel's insightful historical look at the evolution of the domain name industry - far from it, because readers will see that many successful domainers over the past 15 years or so have done phenomenally well without Kesmodel's near 20-20 hindsight.

With over 500 Internet domain names in my own "portfolio", I am by no means a newbie to the world of Internet domain names and have had some modest successes as a domain buyer, developer, and seller... From personal experience, I can attest to the fact that names purchased for tens or hundreds of dollars can sell for thousands if you find the right buyer... I am aware enough about the domain industry to have become a geo domainer, a domain developer, a domain name reseller, the author of a blog about Fractional Domaining, and an active participant in domain industry social networks. Looking back, though, I sure wish I had the knowledge contained within "The Domain Game" years ago when I and so many others were learning on our own and guessing what we should do when opportunities were great and the very best ways to success were not always as clear as they could have been.

The good news is opportunities in domaining still abound, and Kesmodel provides insight, perspective, and direction that can benefit newbies through experienced domainers.

The knowledge you will gain from "The Domain Game" will be invaluable in framing your approach and mindset about domain names and domain name investing. Warning: You may catch yourself beginning to think of concepts, places, and things in terms of domain names! (But that could be a good thing!)

If reading "The Domain Game" generates one idea for you or gets you thinking differently about how you approach things or what you are currently doing, then its value far exceeds the price of the book.

Also, because of the relatively low price of domain names, it is easy to apply the knowledge gained from "The Domain Game" in your personal life. And while it may be possible, you do not have to achieve the astronomical successes of some of the individuals mentioned in "The Domain Game" to have success as a domain name investor yourself.

Are there risks involved with investing in domain names? Absolutely! And to his credit, in Chapter Nine when Kesmodel talks about "The Future", he is upfront about what some of those risks are. He is also clear in stating that the domain market has changed over the years and some opportunities are different now than they were previously.

"The Domain Game" has the potential to influence and ignite the next generation of Internet and business leaders. Every self-learner and every business school should make "The Domain Game" required reading because it chronicles one of the most important business evolutions of our time and tells how readers can get involved.

The sequel to "The Domain Game" will be played out in real life whether Kesmodel pens its history or not (and I hope he does)... What will the topics be next time? Geo Domaining? Fractional Domaining? Cluster Domaining? Domain Exchanges? Something else?... Who will the main players be? Will YOU be one of the players? That's a question only you can decide by your actions!

But that's jumping ahead... Read this book, and enjoy the story!

My recommendation... Buy the book. You'll want to keep "The Domain Game" handy as a reference that you can read and refer to again and again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Domains Step Into The Spotlight!, September 1, 2008

By	Tsufit, Author, Step Into The Spotlight! "Tsu... - See all my reviews

On page 83 of <a href="http://stepintothespotlight.com">Step Into The Spotlight!, </a>I admitted that I have 503 domain names. My friends are ready to send me to "Domain Names Anonymous", but I stand my ground. They're not making any more lakefront and they're not making any more .coms. But in the past few months, I let a couple of hundred of them go, scrutinizing each one and really asking myself if I was going to use 'em to market my business. That's what domain names are for...aren't they?

I wish I'd had a copy of David Kesmodel's new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Domain-Game-David-Kesmodel/dp/1436332281/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1_s9_rk?ie=UTF8&s=books&s9r=8a10809b18796943011a88e87c5a406e&itemPosition=1&qid=1220281079&sr=8-1">"The Domain Game"</a> at the time. It's a fascinating history of the high stakes game of buying and selling domain names for fun and profit, mostly profit. The characters are as colorful as Damon Runyon's gamblers (brought to life in <em>Guys and Dolls</em>) from a watermelon farmer to a young reclusive guy who's near impossible to contact. There's intrigue, drama--all the elements necessary for a Hollywood blockbuster.

Those looking for a detailed "how to" on how to get rich from domain names may walk away disappointed and I must admit at a certain point, I did "cut to the chase" by skipping straight to the last chapter, ie the <em>what can be done today</em> portion of the show. But the narrative was gripping enough that I did go back and read what I missed. And I learned a lot. I gotta congratulate this guy, Kesmodel. He's a journalist and he got people to spill their secrets, big time. And I did put the book down several times to run to the computer and renew some of my almost-expired names. Well worth the read.