Something may be up, potentially another portfolio buy via GoDaddy’s NameFind division? It appears so!
Several domain names that were owned by Elite Domains Group have transferred to GoDaddy’s NameFind, LLC according to whois records. NameFind is the division of GoDaddy.com that acquired the Marchex and Worldwide Media domain name portfolios as well as the DomainSource domain portfolio which I discovered in mid February 2016.
UBG.com is one domain of mention that was owned by Elite Domains Group and is now owned by NameFind, LLC as of April 5, 2016. The domain name is listed for sale on NameFind.com at the time of this article.
UBG.com’s whois history:
Whois records are now showing NameFind, LLC as the owners:
The “other” domains transferring from Elite Domains Group to NameFind are not your common “premium domain names” IMO at this point and are a little odd currently. TommieSunshine.com is one. TheCashTeacher.com is another. USDexOnline.com is another and only a small amount more at this point.
One thing is common, the above domain names went into privacy about December 18, 2015 and as of April 4, 2016 are showing NameFind LLC as the current owners. Prior to December 18, 2015, the above mentioned domains showed Elite Domains as the owners.
I had noticed a few other things in the past that didn’t really make sense (good domains expiring and selling via GoDaddy Auctions) in general between GoDaddy and connections of the Elite Domains Group. It is still not known if this is/was related.
I reached out to GoDaddy to see if they can share any details and they stated “I can confirm that on 4/1 we acquired another portfolio” but due to sellers request, GoDaddy was not able to confirm “who” the portfolio owner was.
I think the above confirms who the portfolio owner was.
This is very fresh and I just discovered this this morning. It will be very interesting to see what domain names start transferring in to NameFind. Elite Domains Group isn’t as open as the Marchex and Worldwide Media deals. I personally found many connections to different domains that may be included in this deal, but there is no way to confirm them right now. What transfers ownership to GoDaddy will be more telling and that will happen over time.
This is the 3rd domain name portfolio that GoDaddy has confirmed they have acquired. Marchex, Worldwide Media and now this one, which presumes to be Elite Domains Group. GoDaddy has yet to confirm they acquired DomainSource’s domain name portfolio but I have about 1,000 domains to prove they did, putting it at 4 total domain portfolio purchases to date.
Update: Here is an update to the amount of domains acquired in this portfolio.
Interesting observations Jamie, and thanks for your efforts in researching these hard to find details. Many seasoned domainers have refined their portfolios over time to include more high quality keywords and fewer of the lower tier type fruit. Will be interesting to see what happens a few years from now as the new tld market catches up. There are some great acquisitions occurring under radar.
” now as the new tld market catches up.”
Are you serious?
That is never going to happen…never.
the proof is in the pudding:
.info . TV .mobi .biz .Tel etc etc far more intuitive position in our dialy lives and XX years later nothing happen (and nothing will)
You missed the big ones, namely TS.com, VT.com and WV.com which were owned by Elite. There might be 7 other 2-letter .com domain names (but the WHOIS for those ones that I have been tracking are still hidden behind a proxy). They’re all at GoDaddy, though! (I think a bunch used to be at eNom)
These 15 have potential to be in George. The bottom 3 (ones you mentioned already have changed to NameFind as you mentioned):
ak.com
bs.com
er.com
fh.com
fj.com
gh.com
gk.com
jc.com
lf.com
mw.com
nh.com
ov.com
ts.com
vt.com
wv.com
Actually, I think it’s even more than that — maybe also DV.com, EQ.com and JG.com??
Some of those name above I actually had in my spreadsheet for them (not included in my previous 8), but some I missed. Poor “find” in my spreadsheet for “Chicago”, LOL.
Interesting to see the pace of these portfolio acquisitions. They’re not just marching ahead; they’re stepping on one another’s heels.
Good to know portfolios are being bought at a swift pace. Demand for .com 2 word domains.
Great info, Jamie!
You are truly or detective-in-chief!
🙂
Go Daddy is unstopable…. I really love how go daddy SEO their website.
Thank you for sharing great information! Just wondering how many more portfolios GD is considering to purchase.
GoDaddy will award you an expiring domain and after you pay , give the domain to their Namefind division if the domain didn’t sell for much. It’s very bad behavior.