18.1 Mission and Purpose of .FORSALE
DERForsale, LLC (hereafter “DERForsale”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Enterprises (“Dominion”), has filed this application for a .FORSALE gTLD with the intention of bringing to market a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for consumers that will contain listings of vehicles, real estate, equipment and other items for sale, as well as a repository of a variety of goods and services.
18.1.1 Dominion Enterprises
Dominion is a leading marketing services company serving the wide-ranging needs of many industries including real estate, apartments, specialty vehicles, employment, automotive, and travel, with over 3,000 employees located in 145 offices in 33 states and four countries. Dominion’s websites receive more than 17 million average monthly visitors and 279 million average monthly page views. For more information, see http:⁄⁄www.dominionenterprises.com⁄main⁄do⁄Fact_Sheet. A representative sampling of Dominion’s current businesses is listed below:
Dominion Dealer Solutions: Dominion Dealer Solutions’ (DDS) technology platform provides: lead generation; mobile apps; reputation management solutions; web-based customer relationship and lead management tools; custom digital marketing tools including websites, SEO, and digital advertising; specialized data aggregation; and inventory management analytics including market reports.
- 11,000+ auto dealers use Dominion Dealer Solutions’ products.
- 150,000+ auto dealer employees log in to DDS products weekly.
- Every major OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) works with Dominion’s products.
- Dominion’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) products are certified by 16 OEMs.
- Dominion customer databases contain over 64,000,000 car purchasers.
- Dominion tracks and records 40,000 car purchases every week.
- DDS photographs over 50,000 vehicles each week, providing window stickers for those vehicles and inventory management tools to dealers.
- More than 60 percent of franchise auto dealers nationwide utilize Dominion Dealer Solutionsʹ technologies for customer relationship management, marketing, and inventory solutions.
Cycle Trader® (http:⁄⁄www.cycletrader.com⁄): Cycle Trader is the leading powersports marketplace, connecting buyers and sellers to new and used motorcycles, ATVs, PWCs, and snowmobiles. With more than 175,000 vehicles available, Cycle Trader offers the widest selection of powersports vehicles online. With more than 6 million unique visitors per year, Cycle Trader reaches more active powersports buyers and enthusiasts than any other site.
Dominion Marine
-YachtWorld.com® (http:⁄⁄www.yachtworld.com⁄): YachtWorld.com is an industry leader in delivering a full suite of cost-effective broker solutions globally, including portal advertising, inventory management, web services, lead management, and MLS (Multiple Listing Service). YachtWorld.com contains the Internet’s largest database of new and used boats for sale through brokerage houses. It boasts more than 1.5 million global visitors per month and 50 million page views, as well as 2,300 brokers globally.
Dominion Homes Media
- Homes.com® (http:⁄⁄homes.com): Homes.com is one of the premier destinations for real estate search. Over 5 million unique visitors visit Homes.com each month to search through nearly 4 million properties for sale or rent, to locate real estate agents in their area, to estimate the value of their home, and to find useful home buying and decorating tips. Leveraging its traffic and the depth of its listings, agents, and content, Homes.com is a leading provider of real estate marketing and media services reaching active homebuyers, including brand advertising, property listing exposure and syndication, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation.
-Homes.com mobile (m.homes.com): Homes.com mobile provides all the same great features as Homes.com, but is customized for web-enabled phones. Prospective customers can view photos, pricing, floor plans, and more. Homes.com mobile generates approximately 1 million unique visitors each month.
-Homes Connect by Homes.com (http:⁄⁄homesconnect.com): Homes Connect by Homes.com offers the real estate industry’s first-ever all-inclusive marketing platform for agents and brokers, featuring single-login convenience and access to all the marketing tools needed for success in today’s market. Homes Connect serves over 21,000 agents, brokers, and other real estate professionals nationwide through the new Homes Connect platform and other products, leveraging the power, traffic, and exposure of Homes.com.
Landmark Interactive
-BusinessBroker.net (http:⁄⁄businessbroker.net): BusinessBroker.net operates one of the largest marketplaces for businesses for sale, with over 30,000 listings worldwide. The company serves approximately 1,000 brokers with marketing opportunities and offers listings to individual owners.
For a comprehensive listing of Dominion’s full marketplaces and service offerings (both consumer- and business-oriented) please refer to the following web pages on the Dominion website:
http:⁄⁄www.dominionenterprises.com⁄main⁄do⁄businesses⁄id⁄12⁄category⁄For%20Businesses
http:⁄⁄www.dominionenterprises.com⁄main⁄do⁄businesses⁄id⁄5⁄category⁄For%20Consumers
18.1.2 Potential Business Models
DERForsale is still analyzing potential use case options regarding the type of domain names that will be permitted for registration and by whom. In undertaking this research, DERForsale is leveraging Dominion’s experience in bringing critical business services to its customers in a safe and trusted online environment.
The business model for the .FORSALE gTLD is currently broken into two stages, one has been confirmed and the second is under evaluation and will be implemented after DERForsale has assessed the first stage. The two stages are as follows:
1. Allocated Strings and Client Strings
At the current stage of analysis, the business model for .FORSALE is one in which generic strings (ʺnewcars,ʺ ʺusedcars,ʺ ʺhomes,ʺ ʺboats,ʺ ʺbusiness,ʺ etc.) and geographic (city⁄state) domain names would initially be reserved and⁄or allocated to one or more Dominion online properties. These domain names would provide a model for a hierarchical and intuitive framework and naming system for consumers to more easily navigate the .FORSALE namespace. This initial allocation would also provide Dominion’s and its affiliates’ IT and security personnel the time to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access using the .FORSALE gTLD domain names, and interoperability with various software and Web-based applications.
Following initial allocation, Dominion’s existing clients across the different property groups would be initially permitted to register domain names. This initial rollout is advantageous given that the identity and contact information of each prospective .FORSALE domain name registrant will be known based upon pre-existing business relationships. This allocation mechanism also minimizes DERForsale’s startup and operational costs.
2. Registration by Non-Clients
As the business model expands, sellers of many other types of goods may be potential registrants. .DERForsale is currently evaluating a validation process to allow non-Dominion clients and other domain name registrants to register domain names in the .FORSALE gTLD. However, the exact timing of this proposed expanded universe of potential .FORSALE registrants has not been determined, and will not be finalized until appropriate verification mechanisms can be put in place.
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