Domain Name Network
Reborn in 2000: Winning the Heart of My Campus Belle Deskmate
Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Domain Name Network |
| Original Name | 域名网 |
| Organization Type | Online domain-name trading platform structured as a forum 14 |
| Founder / Operator | Chen Fan, who built the website and maintained its backend 14 36 49 |
| Occupation/Role | Facilitating domain-name purchases, sales, auctions, and valuations 14 |
| Principal Rival | Easy Domain Network, founded by Yao Jinbo 23 |
| Status | Operating and substantially ahead of its rival; acquisition offers rejected, with no sale completed in the provided chapters 48 49 |
| First Appearance | Named and launched in Chapter 14; the trading-platform plan is introduced in Chapter 9 9 14 |
Platform Features
- Forum-based trading: Users can register accounts, create posts, offer bounties, and buy or sell domain names 14.
- Specialized sections: The launch version includes a “Trading marketplace,” “Auction hall,” “Purchase inquiries,” and “Collection valuations” 14.
- Interface and layout: Chen Fan draws on successful website designs from the future, producing a clean, attractive interface with practical navigation 14 23.
- Community activity: Users also chat and gossip on the forums; even visitors unfamiliar with domain names register to participate 28 33.
- Launch limitations: Despite Zhou Honghai’s praise, Chen Fan considers the initial forum a bare foundation requiring further features 14.
History
Conception and Launch
Chen Fan initially attempts to register valuable domains using his memories of famous websites, but every domain he tries is already taken. He instead decides to build a marketplace for domain owners, borrowing the idea from Yao Jinbo’s Easy Domain Network in his previous life 7 9.
His objective is to attract enough traffic to sell the platform and finance future businesses. Remembering that HiChina acquired Easy Domain Network around September 2000 in his previous life, he treats that acquisition window as a deadline rather than planning to operate the website indefinitely 9 38 48.
Chen Fan completes and launches Domain Name Network at Honghai Computer School. Zhou Honghai praises its design and asks to become its first customer. The initial response is small but encouraging: after three or four days, the site has roughly 100–200 page views and more than fifty registered users 14 22.
Advertising Competition
Chen Fan discovers that Easy Domain Network has launched only three or four days apart from his own platform. He judges his site substantially better in design and functionality, but recognizes that Yao Jinbo has far more money available for promotion 22 23.
After the Gaokao, Chen Fan commits nearly all his savings to Sina.com advertisements. The campaign produces a sharp rise in traffic, while Easy Domain Network purchases prominent placements on Sohu and NetEase 26 27 28.
| Funding / Campaign | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial advertising funds | Chen Fan obtains 5,000 yuan from his parents by claiming it is for computer lessons; with earlier repair earnings, his savings total slightly over 5,500 yuan 26 27. |
| First Sina.com contract | Three advertising placements cost 5,400 yuan, effectively exhausting his savings 27. |
| Second Sina.com contract | Guo Shuai lends 8,000 yuan. Chen Fan negotiates three days of homepage advertising and one week on two secondary pages for that amount 28. |
| Continued promotion | Chen Fan and Guo Shuai visit Luo City’s internet cafés and computer shops for repair work; Chen Fan reinvests the proceeds in advertising 28. |
| Su Ruochu’s loan | She offers her 6,782 yuan in savings. Chen Fan initially refuses because it cannot match the rival’s budget, but subsequently accepts the money 32 33. |
Better optimization and usability initially preserve Domain Name Network’s slight lead. By August, however, Easy Domain Network’s heavier spending overtakes it. Local computer-repair work cannot generate enough money for Chen Fan to sustain the advertising contest 28 31.
Paid-Commenter Campaign
After his advertisement expires, Chen Fan finds that Sina.com has replaced it with an Easy Domain Network advertisement. He also notices newly created accounts posting coordinated attacks on his own forum. He responds by recruiting internet café customers into QQ groups for paid promotional work 33 34.
- Recruitment: Café attendants receive fifty cents for each customer brought into a group 33 34.
- Organization: Twenty-four QQ groups form the initial network, each selecting three administrators; Chen Fan gathers those administrators into a separate coordination group 34.
- Posting rules: Comments must contain at least ten characters and promote Domain Name Network. Chen Fan supplies more than a dozen templates 34.
- Payment: Ordinary members receive five cents per comment; administrators receive ten cents, with no upper limit 34.
- Settlement: Guo Shuai handles accounts and payments to the cafés. Game cards and game credits prove especially attractive to participants 35.
The posters flood Easy Domain Network’s forum with criticism and recommendations for Domain Name Network. Deletions and bans become grounds for further attacks, and repeated forum shutdowns drive users away. Posters then move to comments beneath the rival’s portal advertisements, turning those placements into publicity for Chen Fan’s website 36.
Within half a month, Domain Name Network decisively reverses the traffic standings. The rival’s attempt to organize its own paid commenters fails against Guo Shuai’s larger force. Chen Fan’s comeback costs less than half as much as his earlier promotion and attracts discussion on business forums 36.
High-Value Transactions and Hacker Conflict
A mystery buyer purchases tudou.com for 50,000 yuan, setting a new single-transaction record on Domain Name Network. The announcement draws curious visitors and brings the competing platforms to investors’ attention 36.
Easy Domain Network’s owner then hires Desert North Swordsman for 10,000 yuan to attack Domain Name Network, taking the site offline. Chen Fan retaliates against Easy Domain Network and defeats a subsequent attack: the hacker cannot penetrate his defenses in ten minutes, while Chen Fan breaks through the opposing defenses in three 36 37.
Through Desert North Swordsman, the rival offers a truce and 10,000 yuan in compensation. Chen Fan demands 50,000 yuan and a mutual commitment to fair competition without hacker attacks. After the payment arrives, he withdraws his attack and erases its traces; Easy Domain Network returns to normal by noon 37 38.
Acquisition Offers
By the time university begins, Domain Name Network has a substantial traffic advantage and several successful high-priced transactions. Chen Fan nevertheless plans to maintain its position through September, or even the end of the year, while waiting for investors 38.
During military training, he discovers that the platform’s figures have at least doubled in less than half a month. Its first prospective buyer contacts him by email, but the resulting offer falls far below his expectations 48 49.
| Buyer / Offer | Outcome |
|---|---|
| First technology company: 300,000 yuan | Chen Fan demands at least 5 million yuan and blocks the company after an argument 49. |
| Three subsequent companies | All negotiations fail; one offer reaches 880,000 yuan, which Chen Fan still rejects 49. |
| HiChina | Chen Fan’s preferred buyer based on his previous-life knowledge; it has not contacted him in the provided chapters 49. |
Reported Growth
| Period | Reported Figures |
|---|---|
| Three or four days after launch | Roughly 100–200 page views and more than 50 registrations 22. |
| Before the first advertising campaign | More than 2,000 views and over 100 registered users 27. |
| First day of Sina.com advertising | Traffic increases by 50,000; the reported registration rate is 40–50% 28. |
| Second day of advertising | Traffic exceeds 100,000, with registrations approaching 50,000 28. |
| After the hacker conflict | Registered membership is reported as over 2,000 38. |
| Shortly before university begins | Over 5,000 registered members, an average of more than 10,000 users online daily, and over 150,000 posts 38. |
| During university military training | Dashboard figures have at least doubled in less than half a month 48. |
- Continuity discrepancy: Chapter 28 reports nearly 50,000 registrations, while Chapter 38 later reports membership passing 2,000 and then 5,000. The provided passages do not explain the difference 28 38.
Relationships
- Chen Fan — Founder, developer, backend maintainer, and acquisition negotiator; views the platform as a product to sell for startup capital 14 36 48 49.
- Zhou Honghai / Honghai Computer School — Provides the setting for the launch and a private office and computer for Chen Fan’s response to the hacker attack 14 37.
- Guo Shuai — Financial supporter and operational partner; helps with repair work and leads the paid-commenter network 28 35 36.
- Su Ruochu — Supports the project with her personal savings after learning of its financial difficulties 32 33.
- Yao Jinbo / Easy Domain Network — Direct competitor in traffic, advertising, and investor attention; later agrees to compensation and a hacker truce 23 37 38.
- Sina.com — Principal paid advertising outlet; later carries the rival’s advertisement after Chen Fan’s contract expires 27 28 33.
- Desert North Swordsman — Hacker hired against the platform who becomes the intermediary for compensation and the truce 37 38.
- HiChina — Anticipated acquisition target, not a confirmed buyer or affiliate 9 49.
Notable Quotes
“You're only one good domain name away from success.”
— Sina.com advertising copy 28
“Whether there's money in it isn't for me to say. I'm only providing a trading platform for people who believe there is.”
— Chen Fan explaining the website to Zhou Honghai 14