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Recently, I came into possession of a domain name registered in 1991. This domain has been continuously renewed for 17 years. (its almost old enough to vote!). However, Ive run into a few question marks, specifically in regards to determining value. Clearly older domain names have Value, they are garbled up at the expired domain auctions quite consistently, and although most caliber domainers will say that “age is but a small factor” when it comes to a VERY old domain, it can certainly become one of the most important factors.

Why is age so desired? Primarily because all the good domains were taken first, thus in theory all of the quality domain names, should be old. I find this too be a reasonably accurate statement, with exceptions on both ends. Yes, some new domains are quite valuable (new technologies, new trends) and some old domains really have nothing to offer but a history of continuous renewal.

However, when we start talking about the very beginning of the Internet, thats when things get interesting. Think about this for a moment; this 17  year old domain was registered 3 years before sex.com.

Finally, aged domain names have advantages when it comes to Search engines. Google had acknowledged that they in fact take a domains age into its massive algorithm to help determine rank placement. How much of an impact this has on rankings is really debatable.

Unfortunately, its a bit complicated to sort domains and sales prices by the age of the domain name, which is another reason the feature is not currently included on NameBio. Perhaps in later versions this technology will be added, but until then. I may just have to let the domain market itself determine value.