YNOT – One month after launching a search engine devoted to the adult-content-only .xxx domain space, .xxx overseer ICM Registry has released more than 1,000 generic domain names it previously held in reserve.
The list of names, which range from $330 to $220,000 for the first year’s registration, is available here. Among the least expensive are DDD.xxx, FreeLivePorn.xxx and Provide.xxx; the most expensive include Girls.xxx, Fuck.xxx and Cum.xxx.
According to ICM Registry Chief Executive Officer Stuart Lawley, registration fees for the domains are based in part on the domains’ popularity on Search.xxx, a dedicated public search engine operated by the registrar. The creation of the porn search engine immediately drove high volumes of traffic to some .xxx domains, Lawley noted, including those the company reserved for later sale. The reserved domains are related to specific keywords ICM expected to be popular with consumers.
“In the first week [after Search.xxx launched] we saw over one million unique viewers who searched through eight million pages of content,” Lawley said. “This meant a huge spike in our .xxx registrants’ traffic. Now people have heard of Search.xxx, and we’re responding to this sense of urgency and answering a demand for more domain names.”
The algorithm Search.xxx uses to determine results considers not only exact matches for search terms, but also includes a factor based on the level of content development on the subject sites. Sites with more “highly developed” content feature more prominently than others, according to a statement ICM distributed on Wednesday. Therefore, “these newly released names, once developed and listed, will feature prominently in search results for the most popular keywords,” the statement noted.
According to the data displayed with the names on the for-sale list, the newly released domains bear search ranks of 1-160 at Search.xxx. Most of them bear traffic ranks of 3 or 4, with a relative few ranking as high as 1 or 2 and the lowest showing a rank of 5.
“For years we’ve studied keywords, but in the last few weeks we have had the ability to know exactly what is currently driving consumers’ interests,” Lawley said. “Search allows us to provide real-time industry insight while protecting individual consumer privacy.”
Lawley also said his company held onto the reserved domain names as part of an “on-going mission to build the strength and vitality of the .xxx ecosystem with ICM registrants who develop quality sites. We want our community to prosper from high levels of traffic.”
All of the domains on the list are available on a first-come, first-served basis; all will receive the standard MetaCert electronic Family Safety label and be subject to daily malware scans under a domain-space-wide contract with antivirus software developer McAfee.
In addition, like every other .xxx domain registrant, new registrants “will come with entitlement under our grandfathering program,” Lawley averred. “This means if we are successful in obtaining the rights for .sex, .porn and .adult via our pending applications to ICANN in the new [generic Top Level Domain] round, the premium names available in .xxx will entitle the registrants automatically to the matching name in the three new strings at no extra premium.”
Early this year, ICM submitted applications to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers under ICANN’s new gTLD program, often called “the kitchen sink program” because it theoretically allows any entity to apply for any domain string for any reason. The move represented a departure from Lawley’s previously stated belief that ICANN would not approve any more adult-content-specific TLDs. Nevertheless, ICM’s application faces head-to-head competition for .sex.
None of the three gTLDs for which ICM applied is guaranteed a green light, as ICANN stakeholders are allowed to object to controversial gTLDs, forcing those applications to receive additional scrutiny and, presumably, some form of international consensus prior to going live.
Lawley said he believes the world will accept additional adult TLDs. After all, he noted, the launch of .xxx generated an even larger flood of registrations than he anticipated.
“This general release of premium domain names follows ICM’s prior sales of over $5 million in premium domain names,” he said. “Over the last year, we have sold approximately 200 [domain names]. Many [premium] sites — such as Gay.xxx at $500,000, Fetish.xxx at $300,000 and Shemales.xxx, which was part of a $200,000 deal — are developed, live and attracting visitors daily.”
