Okay, well for some odd reason, I started to getting thinking about online marketing, which led to domain names, at 1AM. So here I am! I'll keep this short. I'm curious how companies such as GoDaddy, or HostGator legaly distribute unregistered domain names. How come these types of companies can only do it, why can't I get a domain myself for free? How would I go about doing so? Do these hosting companies have to buy the domain from someone else? Maybe you can answer all these, maybe not, but I'm very curious. Maybe you can just give me a post about the life cycle of a domain, here's an example of how I think It is done (99% sure I'm wrong) Some official internet corporation sells domain right to ---> Domain Register Company for maybe 4$---> Domain Register sells to you for 10$ ad that's how they make their profit.
Well, registrars such as Godaddy and Hostgator do NOT just get free domain names to "distribute". For .com/.net/.org ...they pay verisign $6.25 (is it?) per domain name. Other extensions are paid to different organizations. There are requirements and other fees involved in becoming a registrar. *If you want to get in on the action, the cheapest, easiest way to do so is by becoming a reseller. Any promotions you might see with registrars (or anyone else) simply giving away domain names are just that...promotions. Ultimately they are footing the bill. They do this, as with any other form of advertising/marketing, in the hopes that their efforts will pay off and when all is said and done, they get their money back + handsome returns. Most of the real money is not in domain registration per se. It is in the other services (the upsell); the hosting, the add-ons, the aftermarket, memberships,features and upgrades such as privacy shield etc. So it makes sense for some registrars to give away domains or sell them for next to nothing. They know that a certain percentage of those giveaways will result in the purchase of more profitable services. I hope this answers your Q. .
That actually answered a lot, but where do the registers buy the domain rights? Can you link me with an example of these so called 'orginizations'?
ICANN manages gTLDs by giving away contracts to registries (VeriSign, Afilias, etc). They also accredit registrars (eNom, Fabulous, Godaddy, etc) who then pay each registry they want to sell a certain amount (500/year last i checked for main ones). They all can register any available domain, costs 6.43 and 4.x i forget for com/net respectively at registry. icann also taxes at 20 or 22 cents i cant remember they flip flop so often.
I already did, before I posted this. I didn't get much out of the fancy wording that doesn't get to the point. Thanks Kohashi! That really answered all of my Q's.
Well said. I think this fills in all the gaps. ...And OP (duler700), I'm sorry if I came off sounding snide. I did not mean to. You're right about Google...searches on this subject do not readily avail as much info as one would think. . .