The desk's dated findings. These are internal research notes — the findings are summarised here, not published as downloads.
The .com-pool exhaustion sweep
Two verification sweeps — roughly 750 candidates across 2026-07-03..05, then a further ~2,250 on 2026-07-06 — tested whether any free real-word .com remains. The result is a closed door: every candidate that clicks is registered or parked, and everything left free is linguistically empty mush. The sweep establishes the free-real-word-.com lane does not exist and redirects the hunt toward the distant-leap blend and the aftermarket.
Full findings summarised in the related pages below — no separate download.
TLD policy revision
The old ".com-only forever" rule was retired in favour of a ranked, buyer-matched hierarchy. The impetus is measured, not aesthetic: .com has fallen to ~46% of YC startups, and the recall/type-in evidence is what still justifies .com where it holds. This revision governs only the TLD once a great name already exists — the name-quality bar is unchanged — and blacklists .xyz, .org, .net, and novelty TLDs as a brand.
Full findings summarised in the related pages below — no separate download.
The construction-quadrant measurement (Round 13)
Round 13 measured the previously unmined quadrant — lexically empty yet phonologically dense — against the two exhausted ones. Candidates constructed there measured 18 of 26 free on .ai, against 24 of 25 taken for real words, the first measured proof that the domain wall dissolves in this quadrant. The finding formalises the construction doctrine as the default generation path where real words are all occupied.
Full findings summarised in the related pages below — no separate download.
Aftermarket pricing distribution
Ground truth from 480,667 recorded .com sales spanning Jan-2024 to May-2026: 99.4% of all sales close under $10,000, with a median of $57 in the <$100 band and $1,975 in the $1k–9,999 band. The report corrects the asking-price folklore — a decent one-word brandable .com trades low-to-mid four figures, not six — and lays out the anonymity, walk-away, and escrow rules that hold the price there.
Full findings summarised in the related pages below — no separate download.
Primary sources for these notes
The head-line statement
The free .com pool for good names is ~EXHAUSTED. ~750 candidates checked 2026-07-03..05: ALL real dictionary words, ALL first-order A1 compounds (gold/top/star/king/echo/spark × word/talk/rank/say), ALL iconic phrases (namedrop, pageone, lastword, hearsay), ALL Latin single words = registered or parked ($20k-$39M asks). Re-confirmed 2026-07-06 with ~2,250 MORE .com checks: every name that CLICKS is taken; every FREE one is mush (prowroar/keelleap/answermade). The free-real-word-.com door does NOT exist.
The construction quadrant
18/26 free on .ai
Lexically-empty + phonologically-dense coinages (round 13) vs 24/25 TAKEN for real words — the domain wall is gone in this quadrant.
The TLD policy revision
SUPERSEDES the old ".com-only forever" rule (relaxed 2026-08-27): .com fell to ~46% of YC startups and Placek calls .com just an area code. The NAME-quality bar (gate 0) is unchanged — this governs ONLY the TLD once a great name exists, and it is BUYER-MATCHED.
Aftermarket ground truth
GROUND TRUTH = Bishopi's 480,667 .com sales Jan-2024 → May-2026 ($491M): 99.4% of ALL .com sales close UNDER $10,000. Distribution: <$100 = 31% (median $57) · $100-999 = 56% (median $255) · $1k-9,999 = 12% (median $1,975) · $10k-99k = 0.6% (median $15,508) · $100k+ = 0.04%. A decent one-word brandable .com realistically trades LOW-TO-MID FOUR FIGURES.