“Domaining Is Dead” – AI Edition

Spoiler: it’s not.

On the contrary, perhaps, as I will try to explain throughout this article.

And I will start with my main worry: the fact that more and more, our experience on this planet is becoming dependent on an ever-decreasing number of mega-corporations. Consolidation of power and resources on steroids.

On the surface, this statement might seem ludicrous.

After all, we have so many choices nowadays that it becomes downright overwhelming. What to watch when there are gazillions of programs competing for our attention? What to eat when supermarket shelves are full of so many cereal boxes, for example… which one to go with?

Yet when you start peeling the layers of ownership, you cannot help but realize that while we do indeed have so many cereal boxes to choose from that we get dizzy, 70% of those if not more trace back to the same mega-corporation. With the same principle being valid across sectors:

1. Mainstream media outlets that trace back to ownership structures similar to the cereal example
2. Alternative media options may seem more decentralized but the platforms you consume content on are yet again the usual suspect mega-corporations
3. Not even real estate is safe anymore, especially over in the States, where yet again mega-corporations are on an epic buying spree, including (or especially) things like single-family homes

To jump on a meme that used to be quite popular… isn’t this concerning?

And leaving jokes aside, it is indeed. Especially if you value the freedom of the proverbial little guy who wants to start a business, have his voice heard and generally speaking leave his mark on the world. Easier said than done when the barrier to entry goes up across sectors.

But plain old domains + website represent an oasis.

For example, why am I writing on this blog when I have a YouTube channel with 187,000 subscribers?

Simple, because it’s MY blog. On my domain, my WordPress setup and my servers. At least for the sake of diversity in a world where we are becoming increasingly reliant on mega-corporations for our livelihood, it’s refreshing to know that you can still have a “thing” that’s yours without middlemen.

And don’t get me wrong, these middlemen offer extremely tempting benefits.

As far as my One Minute Economics YouTube channel is concerned, Google gives you access to both traffic and hassle-free monetization. Whereas with your personal blog or any website, you’re on your own and have to get creative… like what I’ve done by hopping on Domaining.com so as to tap into an existing traffic source.

The same way, of course it’s more convenient to create content on TikTok or other social media platforms, where they handle the annoying part (keeping servers online, for example) for you and not only that, provide various awesome free tools that help you create content.

But what if you’re a US content creator with an US audience on TikTok and end up essentially losing it all due to something like the ban that is being discussed, even if you personally never did anything wrong?

While I think this won’t happen and some kind of a solution will be found for TikTok, whether divestment or something else, it does go to show you that even seemingly rock-solid venues such as social media platforms with over a billion active users do not and cannot put any guarantees on the table.

Treat them as such and understand that despite the technobabble which is becoming increasingly intense, there is still very much so room for the digital sovereignty a domain name can provide.

Thus, like in every cycle before this one, domains as an asset class will be fine.

Yes, even post-AI.

In fact, as alluded to at the very beginning of this article, you should not be surprised to actually see domain names become more appealing as a “healthy” destination in a world increasingly saturated with “fast food” content. While fast-food content like TIkTok videos will always be more easily accessible, there’s only so much you can consume until you eventually get sick.

Will the AI landscape end up dominated by a few mega-corporations as well?

Probably, it’s not like it isn’t already.

But alternatives exist and not only will AI not kill “old school” domains, its mega-corporations may very well be the final drop that makes the glass overflow, as not all but certainly “enough” consumers start understanding that there is room in our lives for sovereignty

And the digital version thereof represents the simplest and perhaps most logical starting point.