Is that name you’ve got your eye on any good?
Domain sales agency Atom dot com has long offered an appraisal service for domain names, awarding a score of between one and ten, and telling you other facts such as the age of a domain, its possible value, and how many extensions the name is registered in.
Now the service has jumped up a level. Atom’s Instant Domain Appraisal gives you written reasons why the domain is a good one or not.
WORD PLAY
The AI-powered evaluation does a pretty good job, although it can miss the subtleties and word-play of everyday language.
I tested the service on some of my own domains. Here’s what it said about Gignome: “Clever blend of gig and gnome, but feels playful rather than broadly brandable.” Okay, fair enough.
How about my BudgetSkil? “Misspelled second word weakens brand credibility and fails the phone test.” Hmm.
RADIO TEST
Let’s try a famous name that truly strains the radio or phone test: Nvidia. Atom’s appraisal tool overlooks that deficiency. “Iconic global tech brand; one of the most recognized dot com domains in existence.”
The tool can also check for Brand Alignment with your intended use of the domain. But here’s where a weird discrepancy shows itself.
I checked my domain GulchCountry for Brand Alignment and was informed that it’s “a compelling choice for a western clothing brand. . . . Overall, a perfect fit.”
Great, but when I submitted the name for an Instant Domain Appraisal, I was told it’s an unlikely fit for Atom’s Premium marketplace. “Nice geographic pairing with limited commercial brand appeal.”
MORE SOBER
This pattern is repeated over and over. The Brand Alignment test talks up the domain, as if pitching for a sale, while the Domain Appraisal offers a more sober and balanced view.
Not surprisingly, the AI assessment doesn’t grasp the metaphoric subtleties of names. My domain MealCheetah is intended for a speedy dinner delivery service. The appraisal tells me that it “has an unusual animal-food pairing with limited brand appeal.”
On that basis, I suppose it might say that Facebook undermines its brand value by linking the unrelated concepts of body and print.
Overall, though, the Instant Domain Appraisal is a fair and useful tool.