Then, as a service to his readers, he put forth that the term “Domaining” itself has yet to be defined. For a practice that’s as old as the web, one would think this is either a naive assumption or a bold statement.

But, frankly, he’s right. Most folks know about the internet now, they know what a web site is and they don’t scrunch up their eyebrows anymore if you tell them you are a “Web Developer.” They might even think they need a website.

But tell them you are a Domainer and their eyebrows furrow as the words, “What the heck is that,” slide past their lips.

What is a Domainer?

The term “domainer” can best be understood first, by understanding what a Real Estate Investor does (although there are probably a slew of Trademark Attorneys who would disagree) and then by understanding how the real estate investor differs from a Real Estate Developer.

A real estate investor buys real property for profit. When the investor finds a willing buyer, the investor sells the property. If making a profit on the property entails “squatting” on the property (i.e., holding title to the property until a profit can be made), then a real estate investor squats. Note that this is not considered illegal in real estate.

Similarly, a domainer buys domain names to make a profit. Like a real estate investor, sometimes, most times, a domainer must hold on to the domain name for some time before finding a buyer. Some erroneously refer to this as cybersquatting. It’s not. Buying a domain name and holding it instead of developing it is not cybersquatting.

Some Domainers are also Developers But Not All Developers are Domainers

Going back to the Real Estate Investor analogy, some real estate investors are also real estate developers. They have a vision of profitability based on putting the real estate to some use and developing it for that use. The intention is to buy the land, develop it then sell it for a profit.

Some Domainers are also Web Developers but not all Web Developers are Domainers.

A web developer typically builds sites on domains owned by others using the tools of the web development trade: HTML, CSS, XML, php, Ruby, Perl, Dreamweaver, PhotoShop, a text editor. The goal of the web developer is to produce a website.

Some web developers are also domainers. They buy domain names and develop websites for that domain. The goal of the web developing Domainer, however, has not changed: buy a domain name and sell it for more than s/he bought it for. If building that site creates a stream of steady, verifiable traffic or revenue from product sales, all other things being equal, this should increase the attractiveness of the domain name and the profitability at sale.

At this point, I think it is safe to define a domainer and the industry of Domaining.

Domainers buy domain names to make a profit; some make a profit only at sale, some profit along the way through development. Domaining is the practice of buying domain names for profit. Like real estate investors, domainers purchase with the intention of profiting.

Perhaps if industry folks referred to themselves as Domain Name Investors, the nature of the business would be clearer to others.

As it is, the term, “domainer” has taken root in the industry.

Domaining Philosophies

Domainers appear to be separated into two “camps” or philosophies. Some domainers buy and park their domain names, banking on type-in traffic or simply making a profit at sale. Rick Schwartz and Frank Schilling have a bit to say about buying and holding domain names.

Others buy and develop their domain names, banking on selling a product online, making money with affiliate advertising, generating revenue with PPC (pay-per-click) advertising and increasing the perceived value of the domain by creating a stream of traffic.

As a domainer, this is my personal philosophy as well: the money is in the developing and for good reason.

You’ll find Domainers on both sides of the fence; some of us develop, some simply park their domains. Most of us probably do a bit of both with the distinction being only our initial intentions. For sound explanation of the reasons behind developing versus parking, have a look at Shane Pike’s article How To Really Make Money with Domain Names at AskShane.org.

All of us, as Domainers, want to make a profit selling our domain names. So, whether we buy and park or buy and develop, the end goal is the same: Sell the Domain Name for a profit.

That is what separates us from web developers and defines us as Domainers.

My mailbox – never sacred ground – passively accepts printed junk touting the newest web site of a business that I never cared for in the first place. The food I purchase from the grocery store comes packaged in advertising material listing the lucky company’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) along with a perky request to “visit” their site. Even my television set acts as a hawker for some “cool site” that I must, without a doubt, “check out” if I am to remain up with the times. Indeed. It may appear to us that the Web sprung up out of nowhere, sunk its teeth into our wallets and refuses to go away. Only part of this is true.

The World Wide Web exists as a component of a much larger infrastructure known as the Internet.

This Internet has, comparatively speaking, been a long time in the making.

In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik and the U.S. found itself in the unenviable position of “second place” in the race for space. Fueled by cold war concerns, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which was charged with improving the military’s use of computer technology.

Twelve years later, the Agency produced ARPANET.

ARPANET was the first Wide Area Network (WAN) and consisted of “links” between computers in California and Utah. Designed for the military, this experimental network is largely responsible for developing the technology upon which our current Internet is based. One example of this technology is TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which grew out of ARPANET.

It should be noted that while ARPANET was developed for the U.S. Military, many of its designers and developers were from the academic community.

Use of ARPANET was restricted to the Military, and its designers found themselves lacking an effective means of communication. Fifteen years after the start of ARPANET, the National Science Foundation, in conjunction with IBM, MCI and the University of Michigan, launched NSFNET.

Access to NSFNET was granted to Military, Academic and Government Agencies with the sporadically enforced restriction that use be limited to educational endeavors and non-commercial research. By 1988, the NSFNET was the preferred network – the Internet had arrived. ARPANET, slow and cumbersome, hobbled along for two more years and quietly shut down.

Commercial use of NSFNET began in 1991.

It wasn’t until 1993, however, that the general public had access to the software of the World Wide Web. By this time, the Internet supported Email, as well as File Transfer (FTP). Telnet – the ability to use a remote or distant machine – was in full swing and people were “chatting” in real time using a program called Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Netnews was available and the “Web” made its debut.

The Internet, on its NSFNET “backbone” supported all of these functions which contributed to data “traffic.”

In June 1993, approximately 43% of the “traffic” on the Internet was due to the transfer of files (FTP); netnews, email and telnet accounted for the second largest percentage of traffic. With only 130 Web Sites, Web traffic comprised a mere 0.5% of backbone usage. When the National Science Foundation stopped running the backbone in June, 1995, these figures were drastically different. Vying for first place in the traffic war was FTP and the Web. The transfer of files accounted for 24% of backbone traffic while the use of the Web accounted for 23%. The number of Web Sites had climbed to 23,500. Email, telnet, IRC and netnews collectively comprised the balance of the traffic figures.

At the time of this writing (1997), it was estimated that at least half of the Web sites on the Internet were commercial sites. The number of Internet users, approximately 40 million strong, had doubled every year for the past eight years. It was expected to double again in 1997.

I sometimes wonder what President Eisenhower would say if he could see the spawn of ARPANET. Perhaps his only response would be, “Come visit my homepage at www.eisenhower.gov!”

REFERENCES

The Quintessential
History of the Internet *** makes history come to life with his engaging
writing style, humour and grasp of the subject matter. Be forewarned: the
article is lengthy. Bookmark it – it is well worth it.

An
Internet Timeline Albeit a bit technical for the novice, Robert Zakon
presents a well-organized and well-linked timeline.

Internet Background
and Basics A good, well-rounded site consisting of links to Search
Engine basics and reviews, a History of the Internet, Communications Protocols,
Internet Service Providers and more.

6th
Georgia Institute of Technology Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center
WWW Survey Offers raw data, text summaries and graphs of Internet demographics.

Matthew Gray of the Massachussetts
Institute of Technology has compiled statistics on backbone usage over
the last several years.