Monthly Archives: January 2006

Tue 31st January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Follow a Money - Domain names are only a small part of the internet money trail. A large number of domainers are active in the market because they want to strike it rich (OK, just about all of us). This is especially true after the coverage in Business 2.0 last month that gave a simple “how to” explanation of domain parking. Alas, it’s not as simple as buying some random domain names and setting up parking pages. You won’t be able to quit your day job doing that! Since ... read more ...
Mon 30th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign’s Big Dreams - An article in Red Herring talks about Verisign, its Network Solutions disaster, and where it’s headed. The article in the January 30 print edition discusses CEO Stratton Sclavos’ vision to make the company last into the future. But its past isn’t so rosy. Verisign hit a market peak of $255 per share during the dot.com bubble and has struggled since then. Here are two excerpts relevant to the domain name industry: On acquiring domain registrar Network Solutions, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Brown.com sells for $300,000 - DNJournal is reporting that Brown.com sold for $300,000. DNJournal is not releasing a sales report this week because Ron Jackson is in Silicon Valley for the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference, but it has released news about a big sale: Brown.com for $300,000. Details are limited right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the buyer is UPS, the international shipper that asks “What can Brown do for you?” If not, it might be an investor that hopes to cashout to UPS in ... read more ...
Fri 27th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Test Masters squabble - Here’s a real life example of the consequences of not securing your company’s domain name. If you were signing up for a standardized test prep course, would you realize that TestMasters is not the same company as Test Masters? Apparently there’s a big difference between the two–more than just a space. People think they’re signing up for a course from California-based TestMasters and are actually signing up with Houston-based company Test Masters. The ... read more ...
Thu 26th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Fools Rush In - People are flocking to the domain name market as a result of Business 2.0’s article in December. I anxiously waited for the latest Business 2.0 to read the letters to the editor that would inevitably result from December’s “Masters of Their Domains” article. The first letter about the article was from a man in Rochester, NY: “My wife and I truly enjoyed your article on people who are making millions investing in Internet domain names. I had read other ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
midPhase ups storage space for webhosting - My favorite web host, midPhase, has increased its storage allotment. As the owner of over 500 domain names and more than 50 web sites, I require a dependable web host. Domain name owners need webhosting that allows for unlimited domain names to be hosted for the same price. This allows domainers to create a number of mini sites that monetize quickly–without setting up an expensive hosting account for each domain. Domainers also need great support. A while back ... read more ...
Wed 25th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Business 2.0: GoDaddy wins Smartest Ad Campaign - Domain registrar GoDaddy made Business 2.0’s 2006 Smart List. The list is in the January/February issue of Business 2.0. The magazine selected GoDaddy as the winner of the “Smartest Ad Campaign”: “Cynics scoffed when the then-unknown Web hosting provider agreed to pay $4.8 million to air a 30-second spot twice during the Super Bowl. GoDaddy’s ad, a spoof of Janet Jackson’s “wadrobe malfunction,” ran during the first quarter, but Fox pulled it before ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pool.com: I’ll eat my words - Pool.com has auctioned off expired domain Vegans.com for $73,000. This news comes courtesy of DNJournal, and just a day after I wrote about how Pool’s independent drop service was becoming irrelevant. I stand behind my statements, but Pool deserves a pat on the back for this catch! Incidently, Vegans.com was previously registered through registrar Joker.com, which does not have an exclusive drop arrangement with any of the domain catching services. Other sales ... read more ...
Tue 24th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Acceptance as Affiliate might uncover Good Faith - An interesting WIPO decision suggests that acceptance into a company’s affiliate program while using a confusing similar domain might prove that the trademark holder recognizes the affiliate’s rights to the domain. Out-Law picked up on the case of Skyp.com, a domain similar to internet telephony company Skype. A WIPO decision brought by Skype against the owner of Skyp.com found in favor of the respondent. Normally this would be a no-brainer decision in favor ... read more ...
Mon 23rd January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Enom to auction of the failing domains - Joining the likes of most major registrars, Enom is now auctioning off expired domains previously owned by its customers. Network Solutions kicked off this “exclusive drop” idea when it signed an exclusive deal with SnapNames. Others quickly followed. Now it’s almost impossible to get a good expiring domain unless it’s through an exclusive drop arrangement. As I’ve discussed in the past, this makes independent drop services like Pool a relic of the past. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo sells 1,125 domains in December - Domain name aftermarket Sedo closed out 2005 with a bang. The company announced it sold 1,125 domains for a total price of $2,878,279. That averages out to $2,558, but that’s misleading. Take a look at the big sales that skew that number: Recycling.com $300k, ProShop.com $100k, etc. Sedo completed 18 six-figure sales in 2005 including their website.com at $750k and Annuity.com at $600k. The company announced that it snatched up 100,000 new members in 2005. Hold ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Brandweek to GoDaddy: Enough is Enough - Branding publication Brandweek has had enough of GoDaddy’s silly Super Bowl advertising antics. GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons knows how to play the media. He’s received millions of dollars worth of free publicity for his commercials. Not because they’re good commercials, but because they’re just edgy enough to get banned from the Super Bowl. He did it last year and is repeating the magic again this year. He claims that his advertising submissions for this month’s ... read more ...
Fri 20th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Domain Name Survey Results - Results of the 2006 Domain Name Wire Survey will be released soon. Here’s a preview. First, I’d like to thank all 582 of you that completed the survey. I will be releasing complete results soon. This survey was truly international. Although the United States had more respondents than any other country, it still represented only 17% of the total. 81 countries were represented. Respondents were all either domain name owners or service providers: -53% of respondents ... read more ...
Thu 19th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
My-Childs-Name.com – a prohibited new trend - Parents are snapping up the domain names of their kids. If only celebrities were so smart. A story in The New York Times discusses how parents are starting to register their childrens’ domain names while they’re still infants. For example, a baby is born as “Samuel Wilkerson”, so parents register the domain samuelwilkerson.com. This is great foresight. It’s especially important if the kid turns into a celebrity. Most of the youngsters on American Idle ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sex.com sells for $14M - One of– if not the– most coveted domain names of all time has changed hands for $14M. The Sex.com domain name was reportedly sold to Boston-based Escom LLC. I was under the impression that Internet Real Estate Group (IREG), formerly Deal Jam, had an option to buy this domain (or was at least in talks). Is Escom related to IREG? There is speculation (note: link contains adult content) but IREG denies any connection. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer in ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LiveDoor executive found dead - An executive linked to Domain registrar and portfolio owner LiveDoor, under investigation by Japanese authorities, was found dead. The LiveDoor case is starting to look more and more like the fallout from Enron, although LiveDoor’s businesses aren’t shams. LiveDoor owns an ICANN-accredited domain registrar. Last year it purchased the ClickDario network of domain names, including Spanish-language domains such as Deportes.com (Sports), Salud.com (Health), Mujer.com ... read more ...
Wed 18th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LiveDoor Raided - Domain registrar and portfolio owner LiveDoor has been raided by Japanese authorities. LiveDoor, a large internet company based in Tokyo, was raided by Japanese authorities on suspicion of violation of securities laws by giving false information. This development is a large part of the story behind the massive two day drop in Japan’s stock market. A recent DNJournal cover story discusses Matias de Tezanos, a Guatemala resident who sold a portfolio of domains (through ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo surpasses 3 million domain listings - Domain sales and parking company Sedo announced that it now has over 3 million sales listings. Sedo went live in 1999 and has grown quickly by anyone’s standards. It helped put international domain name sales on the map. In fact, the first domain ever sold by the company was tulpen.de (tulips in German) for 300 EUR. But it also records some of the highest .com sales in the industry. I recall the first time I visited Sedo. At that point it seemed like “just ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Jew.us sells for $29,500 - Jew.us sold for $29,500, the highest “New TLD” sale ever publicly disclosed to DNJournal. Jew.us topped the previous high of $28,086 set by NewYork.info. This sale was big enough to compete with .com domains in the DNJournal sales charts this week. The highest reported sale was Registro.com at $38,000. This domain was grabbed by Pool. It’s nice to see Pool back in the mix. Their drop catching prowess has little effect now that so many registrars have exclusive ... read more ...
Tue 17th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
NFL to examination GoDaddy ads? - GoDaddy doesn’t need to place an ad in the Super Bowl. It’s already getting the publicity it wants. Credit GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons with mastering the media. Placing an ad in the Super Bowl last year garnered much more publicity than the 30 seconds of airtime. The media picked the story up as “dot.coms returning to Super Bowl”. Before the commercial even aired, GoDaddy was covered on TV shows, in print, and on the airwaves. Then Parsons decided to make ... read more ...
Mon 16th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Free domain name – register for Beta - Sign up for the Microsoft Office Live beta to get a free domain name. Microsoft Office Live, a suite of small business tools that will help companies get on the web, is accepting registrations for its beta program. The Microsoft Office Live service includes a free domain name, free webhosting, free web site, and more. Microsoft caught the ears of domainers with its original announcement of the service. But domain investors looking to snap up free domains need not ... read more ...
Fri 13th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Politicians and domain names – reticent and dumber - Are politicians who don’t know the first thing about registering domain names fit to govern? This case in Pittsburgh is one of the funniest political domain name faux paus of all time. Here are the players: -State Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Shaler, incumbent. -Funeral director Frank Perman, bidding to unseat Habay The domain name hilarity started when Perman decided to register Perman-Now.com for use in a mailing in his bid to unseat Habay. Why Perman registered a domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Deceased man’s name tied adult in domain name dispute - Country music star Conway Twitty died in 1993, but ownership of the ConwayTwitty.com domain name lives on. Now the question is who has rights to the domain name. Royce Inman registered the domain and operated the domain as a fan site. But Conway Twitty’s estate claims it should be the rightful owner of the domain. The estate is suing Inman and asking for $250,000 in punitive damages. But this isn’t a straightforward case. Apparently in 1997 the estate allowed ... read more ...
Thu 12th January 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Cheap Domains for High Prices - First it was CheapGifts.com selling for a not-so-cheap $90,000. Now CheapGames.com has sold for $30,000. I was amazed to hear about the CheapGifts.com on DNJournal’s sales report this week. But I was even more amazed to see that Sedo recently sold CheapGames.com for $30,000. The domains might say cheap, but the prices are expensive! It’s too late to register most domains in the Cheap-Product.com format, but here are some domains you might consider on the aftermarket ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SnapNames DNS Hacked - The nameserver where expired domain heavyweight SnapNames resides was temporarily hijacked Wednesday night. Depending on how the nameserver was cached at your ISP, you may have seen a page like this. The page showed an Iranian flag with the sentence “This Site Has Been Hacked For Some Fraud Selling(1)”. It also had an e-mail address DNJournal2005@yahoo.com and mentioned Monte Cahn of Moniker. Of course, neither DNJournal nor Monte had any involvement in the ... read more ...