Domain Glossary
80 terms matching your filter
.ai
Anguilla's ccTLD — now the premier extension for AI companies and products.
AAAA Record
A DNS record that maps a domain to an IPv6 address — the successor to the IPv4 A record.
Acquisition Cost
The total cost to acquire a domain — purchase price plus all fees — used to calculate ROI.
Affiliate Domain
A domain hosting an affiliate site that earns commissions by referring visitors to other products or services.
Auth Code (EPP Code)
A one-time password required to transfer a domain from one registrar to another.
Bad Faith (Domain)
The intent to unfairly exploit a trademark when registering a domain — a required element in UDRP complaints.
Brokerage Service
A professional service that handles domain sale negotiations and transactions for a commission.
Cease and Desist Letter
A formal demand letter from a trademark holder asking a domain owner to stop using or transfer a domain.
Censorship-Resistant Domain
A blockchain domain that cannot be seized or taken down by any central authority.
CNAME Record
A DNS record that creates an alias from one domain name to another.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
The advertiser cost per click for a keyword — high CPC signals commercial value in domain names.
Cybersquatting
Registering a trademarked domain name in bad faith to profit from someone else's brand.
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
An organization governed by blockchain smart contracts and token-holder voting rather than central management.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
An email authentication method using cryptographic signatures to verify email legitimacy.
DNS Resolver
A server that performs recursive DNS lookups on behalf of client devices.
Domain Broker
A professional who facilitates domain sales between buyers and sellers, typically for a 10–20% commission.
Domain Closeout
A domain being sold cheaply by an owner who has decided not to renew it.
Domain Development
Building a website on a domain to generate traffic, revenue, and increase its value beyond the raw domain.
Domain Dispute
A legal or administrative challenge to the rightful ownership of a domain name.
Domain Hijacking
The unauthorized theft of a domain name through account compromise or social engineering.
Domain Leasing
Renting a domain to a business for recurring payments, without transferring ownership.
Domain Monetization
Generating revenue from domains through parking, leasing, development, or affiliate content.
Domain Negotiation
The back-and-forth price discussion between domain buyer and seller to reach a mutually agreeable deal.
Domain Push
An instant, free transfer between accounts at the same registrar — faster than a full inter-registrar transfer.
Domain Reseller
A company that buys wholesale domain registrations to resell at retail prices, often under their own brand.
Domain Seizure
Government-ordered confiscation of a domain name as part of legal or criminal enforcement action.
Domain Status Codes
EPP codes that indicate a domain's current state — locked, suspended, transferring, or active.
Domain Suspension
Temporary deactivation of a domain — causes website and email to go offline until the issue is resolved.
Drop Catch Service
A platform that uses fast automated systems to register expiring domains the moment they become available.
Drop Catching
Registering an expired domain the instant it becomes available using automated systems.
DropCatch
A competitive drop-catching service known for high success rates on expiring .com domains.
Efty
A portfolio management and landing page platform built for domain investors.
Exact Match Domain (EMD)
A domain that exactly matches a search query — once gamed for SEO, now of limited standalone value.
Gas Fee
The Ethereum transaction cost paid to register, transfer, or update an ENS domain — fluctuates with network demand.
GDPR and Domain Privacy
The EU privacy law that caused most registrars to hide registrant personal data from public WHOIS records.
Generic Domain
A domain made up of common dictionary words with no trademark significance — legally strong and highly valuable.
Grace Period
The window after expiration when a domain can still be renewed at standard cost.
ICANN
The nonprofit that oversees the global domain name system and accredits registrars.
Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)
A domain name using non-Latin characters (Arabic, Chinese, etc.) — encoded via Punycode for DNS compatibility.
Landrush Period
A new TLD launch phase where the general public can register domains, often at premium prices.
Layer 2 (L2)
A blockchain scaling solution that enables faster, cheaper transactions while inheriting base chain security.
Lease-to-Own
A payment plan where a buyer makes installments over time, with domain ownership transferring when fully paid.
Liquid Domain
A domain that can be sold quickly due to broad, consistent buyer demand.
LLL Domain
A three-letter .com domain — all 17,576 combinations are registered and trade as premium assets.
LLLL Domain
A four-letter .com domain — pronounceable combinations are especially valued as liquid assets.
Media Options
A boutique domain brokerage specializing in high-value .com transactions and acquisitions.
Mini-Site
A small content website built on a domain to generate SEO traffic and ad or affiliate revenue.
MX Record
A DNS record that specifies which server handles email for a domain.
NameJet
A domain backorder and expired domain auction platform known for premium drops.
New gTLD
The hundreds of new generic TLDs introduced after ICANN's 2012 expansion, like .shop, .app, and .club.
Numeric Domain
A domain consisting entirely of numbers — especially valued in Chinese markets.
One-Word Domain
A domain containing a single dictionary word — among the most valuable domain types on .com.
Outbound Sales
Proactively contacting potential buyers about a domain, rather than waiting for inbound inquiries.
Parking Revenue
Earnings from pay-per-click ads displayed on undeveloped parked domains.
Payment Plan
A structured installment arrangement allowing buyers to pay for a domain over multiple months.
Pending Delete
The 5-day countdown before an expired domain is released and available for re-registration.
Polygon
An Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain used by Unstoppable Domains for fast, low-cost domain transactions.
Premium Renewal
When a registry charges above-standard renewal fees on domains classified as premium — an ongoing cost to watch.
Primary ENS Name
The ENS name set as your Ethereum wallet's display name across Web3 apps.
Private Sale
A domain sale conducted directly between buyer and seller, bypassing public marketplaces.
Redemption Period
The phase after the grace period where a domain can be recovered only by the original registrant, with a large fee.
Retail Value
The price a domain commands when sold to an end user who actually needs it for their business.
Revenue Multiple
Valuing a domain as a multiple of its annual revenue or parking income.
ROI (Return on Investment)
The profit from selling a domain relative to the cost of acquiring and holding it.
Sell-Through Rate (STR)
The percentage of portfolio domains that sell in a year — typically 1–5% for most investors.
Smart Contract
Self-executing blockchain code that automatically manages domain ownership and transfers without intermediaries.
SnapNames
A domain backorder and drop-catching service that auctions expiring domains among competing backorders.
SPF Record
A DNS record that authorizes specific servers to send email for a domain — prevents spoofing.
Sunrise Period
A pre-launch registration window for new TLDs where trademark holders can register their marks first.
Three-Letter Domain (3L)
A domain with exactly three characters before the TLD — all 3L .com combinations are taken.
Trademark
A legally protected brand identifier — trademark rights are central to domain dispute claims.
Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH)
ICANN's database of verified trademarks used to protect brand owners during new TLD launches.
TTL (Time to Live)
How long (in seconds) DNS resolvers should cache a record before refreshing it.
Two-Letter Domain (2L)
A domain with only two characters before the TLD — extremely scarce and highly valued on .com.
TXT Record
A DNS record used for verification, email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and other text data.
Type-In Traffic
Visitors who reach a domain by typing it directly into their browser, with no search engine involved.
UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy)
ICANN's dispute policy allowing trademark holders to challenge infringing domain registrations through arbitration.
Verisign
The registry operator for .com and .net — maintains the authoritative database of all .com registrations.
Wholesale Value
The quick-sale price to another investor, typically well below what an end user would pay.
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The UN's IP agency and largest UDRP dispute resolution provider — its case database is essential for domain research.