Domain vs Search: The coming wars

There is a war coming to the Internet, but most people simply haven't noticed yet, and may not for some time. On one side, everyone has heard of Google and Yahoo! They are constantly trying to keep their search algorithms up to date and beat people trying to cheat the rules. They deliver millions of eyeballs to advertisers. They make a lot of money.

On the opposing side, and estimated to be getting almost as much traffic as Google and Yahoo! are the big domain name holders. These guys hold MILLIONS of domain names. They get traffic not by having good algorithms, or content rich sites, or any other whizz-bang features. They get traffic by having very good, generic names, which millions of people a month just type in, bypassing all search engines. And this worries Google and Yahoo!

There are only a small number of large name holders; maybe 7 or 8 - certainly below 10, and these guys, with hundreds of thousands of generic .coms each are starting to ramp up the PR machine, and trying to get the smaller domainers - of which there are thousands - on-side before the battle proper commences.

Now let me first nail my colours to the mast: I'm all for holding domain names - I've got a few hundred of my own. Some bad, some good. I'm certainly not of the opinion that anyone holding domain names must be a cyber-squatter, as some people do. If a good generic name is available to register then it's fair game - and there are still names available in either .com or huge numbers in .co.uk. If it's a generic name you want , and someone else has it, then tough - you either have to pay the price to buy it, or think of a new domain name.

Domaining isn't a dirty business. It's not something to be ashamed of. It's an area of the Internet that will continue to make money for the quick and creative, who can spot trends and gamble on new generic terms. And it's where all the fun will be for the next few years.