How Good Are Free Domain Appraisal Tools?

There are a number of free online tools out there that provide domain appraisals. These tools use a software algorithm to estimate the value of a name, but are they any good?

Some of the factors these services take into consideration are domain age, length, number of words, inbound links, and the number of search engine results for the name.

Two popular online valuation sites are Estibot and dnScoop. I’ve always been skeptical of these tools, but decided to give them a shot anyway. In an objective test, I ran five domains through both sites and compared the generated estimates to actual sales figures.

1. EuroDomains.com
Estibot: £25 ($40 USD)
dnScoop:£9004 ($14,342 USD)
May Sale Price: £662 ($1055 USD)

2. Name.tv
Estibot: £2197 ($3500 USD)
dnScoop: Estimate unavailable
May Sale Price: £1821 ($2,900 USD)

3. MontrealFlowers.com
Estibot: £1570 ($2500 USD)
dnScoop: $0
May Sale Price: £331 ($528 USD)

4. HdTvV.com
Estibot: £0
dnScoop: £0
May Sale Price: £38 ($60 USD)

5. StudentRewards.co.uk
Estibot: £13 ($20 USD)
dnScoop: £0
May Sale Price: £1256 ($2000 USD)

Based on the results obtained, it’s clear that online valuation tools don’t work. All the appraisals were crapshoots. Then again, neither site guaranteed an accurate estimate.

Photo: Flickr