Direct Registration Strategy Guide

Firstly lets clarify a few points.

What is the .au direct priority allocation process?

The Priority Allocation Process provides registrants who hold .au domain names, registered before the launch of .au direct on 24 March 2022, a priority to apply for the .au direct match of their existing domain name. For example, the current registrant of getyour.com.au will have the opportunity to register getyour.au through the Priority Allocation Process.

When does the Priority Allocation Process start and end?

It started on 24 March 2022, the day .au direct launched. It runs for six months and closes at 23:59 UTC 20 September 2022 (9:59AM AEST 21 September).

What happens if I don’t register for Priority Status before the end of the Priority Hold period?

If you don’t apply for Priority Status, your matching .au direct domain name will be released from Priority Hold and become available for registration by the general public at 21:00 UTC 3 Oct 2022 (8:00AM AEST 4 Oct).

What happens if more than one registrant is eligible to apply for priority status for the same .au direct domain name?

If you hold getyour.com.au and another registrant holds getyour.org.au and both parties want to register the matching .au direct domain name, then the domain name is referred to as a contested domain name.

If your domain name is contested, the matching .au direct domain name will be allocated based on the Priority Category that it belongs to.

There are only around 60,000 domains that are contested, so a very small number of registrants are affected by this. The vast majority have quick access to the .au direct domain.

What are the Priority Categories?

The Priority Category you belong to will depend on when you registered your domain name.

• Priority Category 1: domain names registered on or before 4 February 2018
• Priority Category 2: domain names registered after 4 February 2018

How do Priority Categories work?

• Category 1 applicants have priority over Category 2 applicants
• For multiple Category 1 applicants, applicants will need to determine who is allocated the .au direct name between themselves
• For multiple Category 2 applicants, the applicant with the earliest registration date will be allocated the .au direct name.

You can use the Priority Status Tool to find the Priority Category you belong to. You can access the tool here: www.auda.org.au/tools/priority-status-tool

The tool also shows matching domain names in other .au namespaces and the Priority Categories they belong to, whether other registrants have applied for priority status for the matching domain name, or, if they have declined to apply.

Are all .au direct domain names subject to the Priority Allocation Process?

Where a domain name has an exact match registered in a .au namespace before .au direct launched it is subject to the Priority Allocation Process. Otherwise, it is not. You can register a new .au direct domain name that does not have an existing match.

Do I have to take part in the Priority Allocation Process if I have an existing domain name?

No. You only have to take part in the process if you want to register the matching .au direct domain name. If you do not want to register your matching .au direct domain name, you can do nothing or decline to apply for Priority Status via the Decline to Apply tool.

Regardless of whether you apply for a new .au direct name, your existing domain name will continue to work as it does now, provided you keep your registration up-to-date.

Considerations for Domainers

Is .net.au, .com.au or .au more popular?

.com.au is still the undisputed king of the Australian namespace but second place is about to be taken over by .au direct. Historically about 10% of the .com.au number registered a .net.au equivalent, so 2.4 million .com.au meant we have about 240,000 .net.au domains. The five month old .au namespace has more that 200,000 already and it is estimated that it will grow to at least 30% of the .com.au size in the first three years. Far exceeding .net.au.

Consideration 1:

If you currently have a .net.au equivalent of your .com.au then it is a no brainer to secure the .au and you may as well consider dropping the .net.au at this point as they are going to be about as popular as a wowser in an outback pub by the end of the year.

Consideration 2:

You should be looking to identify the top 33% of your portfolio. This method varies between how you value domains. There are four main ways to value a domain name

1) Generic domains for resale, here you are looking at how popular the keyword/s are (searches) combined with how much leads in the space are worth (CPC) combined with how much competition there is for that term.

2) Short domains (three and two letter domains in the LLL and LL) are a good to secure as the shorter .au equivalent is going to be even more popular.

3) Existing traffic domains (backlinks and or type in traffic), these domains don’t have an obvious fit for their .au equivalent but if you have some high traffic ones then securing the .au for future resale might be worthwhile risk to take.

4) Brandables, these interesting sounding and easy to spell domains are perfectly suited to the .au namespace so you need to consider registering all of the .au equivalents.

Consideration 3:

Looking at demand. For this you need to secure the .au for any domains you have previously had offers on. You should also try to gauge if there are any others with competing rights and have already applied for their token. If there are other parties interested then securing your token is a must.

Consideration 4:

How old is my domain? This one is very dangerous as you need to be very careful of the sunken cost fallacy, in which we have a tendency to throw good money after bad and compound our mistakes. It is advisable to review and downsize your portfolio on an annual basis, so if you are doing this then you should be okay to register the .au equivalent of the oldest 33% of your portfolio. If you are not conducting annual reviews already then you should take the time to consider why you are keeping a domain if in the last 5 years you have not had any offers, you are not getting any converting traffic, the domain is not an LLL or LL domain, there are no longer any backlinks and/or the domain might no longer be fashionable anymore (get rid of your 3G domains, your “mobile” domains, your “tv” domain etc) as technology or social activity has moved on in the last 5 years.
NOTE: If you domain is not parked properly then that might explain your lack of visits and offers, please visit every site and see that your parking/hosting is still working. Use a service like Above.com for your parking and monetization. You need to have data here to make good decisions, so contact Above.com if you find any that are no longer working for a better parking solution.

Consideration 5:

Do you want to use your cash to secure new domains instead? Logically if only 25-30% of the exiting .com.au domain holders secure their .au rights, then it holds to reason that about 2.2 million .au domains are about to become available on a first come first serve basis. If you are frustrated that you were not around 20 years ago to hand register the equivalent of digital gold, then the 4th of October 2022 is the start of gold mining season for you. Talk with Drop.com.au staff to plan early for them to secure your lists of names. Get ready now, work on your lists as there are going to be many valuable names become available and not one investor will be able to afford to order them all, so there will be many to go around at prices that you will be happy with. So spend some time doing searches of the niches you are most familiar with.

Consideration 6:

Last but not least is the consideration of Domain Value. If your perceived valuation of the .com.au domain is over $5,000 (you can pick the cut off) we can already see many .au domain sales in the space where 10% of the .com.au value is being paid for the .au names without any real concerns from buyers. This 10% is already increasing and will continue to do so especially if the updake is strong, this may even equal the value of .com.au names. Shorter, no Company requirements, basic eligibility will make these names even more sought after. So if you have an existing portfolio, do your valuations and secure your .au for those that are above your cut off point. At the same time start working on lists of names that will drop and apply the same valuations formula to names you wish to Drop Catch. If you can pick up many names for $10 each and flip them for $500 or more, that is an easy way to generate amazing returns.

What next?

We hope this has given you some food for thought, if you are a Drop, Netfleet, Help or Domain Shield client, go to “My Domain >> Contested Domains” to order your .au domains.

To secure domains on the 4th October keep an eye out for emails from support@drop.com.au which will explain the process for the once in a lifetime opportunity to pre-order .au domains between 24th Sept and 3rd October 2022.