I've often heard industry insiders say that the strong growth in worldwide domain registrations was heavily linked to Google's own stellar performance. As the leading provider of online advertising through its various pay-per-click (PPP) schemes like Adwords and Adsense, Google has been creating value for domain names registrants worldwide, especially domainers.

Domainers –to me the term has no derogatory overtones, it just describes the perfectly legitimate business of dealing in domain names on a professional basis – have been profiting from the success of PPP systems because as they drive traffic to their names, paid adverts mean they can monetize that traffic. Following that logic, the higher a name's traffic-generating potential, the more it's worth.

So as the PPP market leader, Google has been instrumental in putting many domainers in Ferraris and luxury waterfront properties.

But… "On the day Google starts coughing, you'll see domainers getting sick." Is this oft-bandied "expert" prediction true? We may be about to find out…