With the rise of internet in the early mid 90’s the business of domain names and its aftermarket has been viewed as the new Gold Rush in modern times , something that can be compared to the gold rush in wild west before some centuries.People registered domains and sold them for millions and watchers were simply awestruck. This phenomenon made more people buy domains and sell them in aftermarket as time passed. People generated a lot of money even in type squatting and other ways like that. today infact almost every word in the dictionary is registered as a .com and yet those domains sell at comparatively good prices. Domain name industry has came a long way since then.we do not see any million deals every day anymore ,but  there’s still plenty to be excited about in our industry. A lot of new  new TLDs and ccTLDs, geo-targeting of IP addresses, local search, the possibility of new IP-enabled devices.  The industry is changing quickly, and opportunities are emerging with every new  shift in the domain market. The domain market is growing and it is also maturing now. Domaineering has become a significant and a mature business now. There are over 10000 active domaineers and above 150 millions of registered domains and a great secondary market for them. Advertisers are becoming more intelligent and are demanding better results and more information about consumers. Companies are getting smarter and more strategic about how they work together to maximize their share of the advertising dollars. New key players are entering the market, bringing new and efficient business models and totally fresh perspectives. Most importantly, legal and regulatory issues are now a big part of the conversation.   As an active domaineer myself  I am tasked with helping my co-domaineers team of  and other industry professionals navigate these often rocky waters so we can continue to build on our successes from the past decade. As part of that effort, we spend a lot of time talking about how shifts in the market landscape will affect the domain community. This article examines important  key areas of significant industry change that domainers should be watching closely in order to inform their future strategies and thrive in this dynamic market and make best out of it.  Consolidation  One of the most significant shift we’re seeing today is domain industry consolidation, which is having a fission reaction effect on both the advertising value chain and domain valuations.  As the market has matured and experience with direct navigation has increased, advertisers are becoming increasingly focused on traffic quality and ROI rather than just page veiws or clicks.  Changes in Google and Yahoo! advertising models, such as “Smart Pricing”, are facilitating these changes.  In addition, we are seeing more direct deals with advertisers and more technology-based advertising solutions that improve monetization rates.   In order to effectively serve more demanding advertisers, domainers will need to invest in good content development, better keyword optimization and other Web analytics. This shift naturally favors large domainers who are consolidating properties and investing in staff with the relevant expertise. With the resources to invest in infrastructure and apply sophisticated techniques to increase PPC, large domainers can often improve the monetization of particular sites more effectively than a smaller player. Big domainers may also be in a position to remove the middlemen in the value chain and deal directly with advertisers once they have the volume to support this model, further improving the monetization of any given site.  The good news for the industry is that, this improvement in efficiency may have the effect of driving up valuations for everyone.  Why?  If a larger player can make 5% more on a domain than the current owner because they can more effectively monetize the property, the owner will be in a position to sell an underperforming domain for a premium: it is worth more to someone else than it is to him.  It’s a win-win all around.   Valuations  As the domain market matures, valuations are becoming less about speculation and more about proven performance. At Sahil Creations, we look at quality of assets, quality of earnings, the extent to which monetization and development activities have already been proven, and about twenty other metrics – both soft and hard -  in determining the value of a domainWith market maturity also comes a greater need for price predictability, which is putting the value of certain types of domain name portfolios at risk.  For instance, sometimes  we see lower valuations on the horizon for anything trademark-related; portfolios with a majority of “at risk” categories (gambling, XXX, etc.) and portfolios with a high percentage of unprofitable domain names or high suspected click fraud activities are also less desirable in today’s market.  Legal and Regulatory Issues  Like every  other fast growing technology industries, the domain industry too has evolved largely beyond the scope of existing regulations. The most critical legal issue which has not been resolved is whether domain names are “property” or “trademarks.”  Why is this important?  If domain names are trademarks, any domain remotely resembling a company’s trademark could be taken away from you.  There are no federal or international rulings. Even the criteria for deciding what constitutes a trademark are highly subjective.  While “macdonalds” may closely resemble the name of a major food company, what of “macdolls”?  Any rulings or legislation on this issue will clearly have a major impact on the industry, and new rulings are no doubt on the horizon. Unfortunately, while trademark holders have been given huge latitude to prosecute, the domain industry does not have a common voice with which to offer an opinion or lobby for our rights. Hence there is a great need for the domain industry to come together and form a global association to protect our business rights and strength to its growth.