Monthly Archives: February 2009

Sat 28th February 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
Warren Buffett: “The Economy Will Be In Shambles In 2009 & Probably Well Beyond” - Warren Buffett, in an open letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway as part of the companies 2008 report, had plenty to say about the economy. Famed as one of the great investors of all time, his opinion is sought by governmental leaders, businessman and economists and why not.  Shares of his company have averaged an annual growth of over  20% in each of its 44 years of operation, rising from $19 a share to $70,530 on December 31. Buffett noted that 2008 was the companies worst year. Here are ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Toys.com Sells For $5.1M, After Selling For $1.25M: What Does This Mean For Domain Valuation & Auctions - So as we all know by now Toys.com, which sold literally just days ago, for $1,250,000 as part of a bankruptcy court proceeding, sold today for $5,100,000 after a re-auction was ordered by the bankruptcy court. What does that say about the value of domains or domain auctions? How does a domain at auction sell one week for $1.25 million and the next week for over $5 Million. Simple. The first auction only a few people knew about or participated in, causing the end price to be below market value. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Top Domain News Stories of Feb 2009 - eToys stories most popular in February. Toys, toys, toys. That’s a theme in the top stories on Domain Name Wire in February, as ranked by views. 1. Toys.com, Birthdays.com, Hobbies.com Sold at Auction – after getting a tip, Domain Name Wire uncovers the details behind a multi-million dollar domain name auction. If only the tip came in before the auction. In some ways it did, since Toys.com was reauctioned in the month. 2. GoDaddy.com Purchases Second Super ... read more ...
Fri 27th February 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
Another Exampe Of A Great Domain: Oscar.com Traffic Up 87% From Last Year - According to online research firm Omniture, Oscar.com saw its unique visitors and page views increase 87% and 91%, respectively, on Oscar Sunday compared to last year. Users spent a average of 14.5 minutes on the site per visit, up 42% from last year. Oscar.com had 18 million video views on Sunday and Monday, an increase of more than 500% compared to 2008 and up nearly 675% from 2007. Oscar.com has been up only since on Jan. 22, more than 26.3 million videos were viewed. The traffic continued on ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Toys ‘R’ Us Buys Toys.com Domain Name for $5.1M - Reauction of Toys.com goes for $5.1M. It’s not over yet (subject to court approval), but it looks like Toys ‘R’ Us will be purchasing the Toys.com domain name for $5.1M. The company outbid National A-1 Advertising in an auction that was live blogged on DirectNavigation.com. (DirectNavigation.com is written by Larry Fischer, who attended the teleconference auction in his role with Faculty Lounge Partners.) The domain originally sold for $1.25M in an auction ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Joe Biden’s Domain Name Blunders - Joe Biden joins Ted Stevens in web hall of shame. Vice President Joe Biden is having difficulty with this whole interweb thing. When asked for the web address for a government web site, he looked to an aide and said he didn’t know what it was followed by “do you know the web site number?”. He also pulled a Dick Cheney, referring to Recovery.gov as Recovery.com. During vice-presidential debates four years ago Cheney referred to FactCheck.org as FactCheck.com, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
More Domains Sell in Aftermarket.com Extended Auction - Auction ends today at 4 PM CST. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings. Aftermarket.com’s Domainer Mardi Gras auction is still going, and some of the domains that didn’t sell during the live auction last Saturday are getting bids. That includes Credenzas.com, at $13,500, and GolfSets.com at $4,500. The extended auction also includes new domains that weren’t in the original auction and have no reserve. These include Engrossing.com, HealthyMenu.com, PhotoPapers.com, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Survey: WhyPark Best Domain Parking Alternative - Domain name parking alternatives vary in approach, but one is a clear favorite. In light of falling domain parking revenue a number of services have popped up that offer to develop your domain names or monetize domains without pay-per-click ads. For the first time ever, the 2009 Domain Name Wire Survey asked “Which domain parking alternative is best?” WhyPark, a service that makes it easy to develop web sites and add content, came out on top with 49% of the vote. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN’s Registry Continuity Plan Has a Big Hole - Guidelines for new registries doesn’t make sense; but therein lies a business opportunity. If you want to apply for a new top level domain from ICANN, you need to provide lots of financial documentation about your ability to run the TLD. ICANN is mum on how much money you need on the balance sheet, but that’s not all. The new TLD guidebook states that your company must provide: documentary evidence of ability to fund ongoing basic registry operations for registrants ... read more ...
Thu 26th February 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
ICANN is Hiring: Make Money On The New gTLD’s - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced in a press release that it is soliciting Expressions of Interest from firms interested in and capable of performing any number of independent evaluation roles as part of the new gTLD process. These entities, to be retained by ICANN, will provide independent evaluation services, evaluating applications for new top-level domains (gTLDs). This is an opportunity to play an important role in the next significant evolution of the ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Yahoo: “Not Opposed” To Selling Our Search Business - There have been a few stories in the last days that seem to indicate that Microsoft is still interested in Yahoo or at least its search business. Today Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen of Yahoo said it was “not opposed” to doing a deal that would potentially sell its search business. However, he went on to say that the search business is deeply intertwined with Yahoo’s other online products and properties, and so any deal, whether a partnership or a sale, would be done for the right ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Toys ‘R’ Us, Frank Schilling Among Bidders to Pay $1.35M or More for Toys.com - 6 companies to bid in Friday’s Toys.com auction. In a review of qualified bid documents, Domain Name Wire has discovered some familiar faces in Friday’s auction of Toys.com: Frank Schilling, National A-1 Advertising, and Toys ‘R’ Us to name a few. It’s clear that the press coverage of the original auction brought more bidders out of the woodwork. Most of the bidders submitted an initial bid of $1.35M, as I predicted. But it’s clear the auction will ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Comwired Geo-Optimizes your Domain Traffic - Service sends traffic to best parking company based on visitor’s location. It’s no secret that certain domain parking companies perform better with traffic from different countries. Some do better with U.S. traffic while others do better in Germany, India, etc. But splitting domain traffic amongst domain parking companies has always been a challenge. Most people end up sending all traffic for each domain to one parking company. That’s where Comwired, a new ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How to Survive in Mexico City - Your unofficial guide to staying safe en route to ICANN’s meeting. Do as I say. I’ve written before about the dangerous situation in Mexico. But I realize a lot of people in the industry are still heading down to Mexico City next week for the ICANN meeting. So I reached out to former co-workers who travel to Mexico City to get their tips on staying safe. The attitude ranged from “stay the heck out” to “just be smart and you’ll stay safe”. I’ve compiled ... read more ...
Wed 25th February 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
IDS: Internet Ad Spending To Fall For 1st Time Since 2001 - Market research group IDC said today that internet advertising could fall by as much as 5% in the 1st quarter of 2009, which would be the first contraction in online ad spending, since the dot com bubble burst in 2001. IDC analyst Karsten Weide also said the U.S. Internet ad market could get worse in the second quarter before the situation improves in the second half of the year. IDC previously forecast a 10% growth in online ads for 2009. Weide said IDC’s revised outlook reflects results from ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Mobile Ad Market “Skyrocketing” - According to the Kelsey Group, mobile advertising revenues are expected to skyrocket to $3.1 billion in five years, especially local mobile activity. The group says, mobile advertising will have an annual compounded growth rate of over 80%. Currently, mobile advertising sits at $160 million in 2008. In looking at mobile local search alone, the group says its expected revenues will soar over 130% per year to $1.3 billion. Current local search totals sit at $20 million in revenue. Currently, Kelsey ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
The New Phone Books Are Here!: Why Traditional Print Media Continues To Die - The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here, a phrase burnt into everyone’s memory by Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk. That’s what came to mind a week ago when I saw a stack of “the real yellow pages” sitting in the mail room of the condo i live in. Now as you look at the picture keep in mind that my condo is pretty small, by Florida standards, only 76 units. Right off the bat, you can see there might be a slight oversupply left. Moreover this follows last month when the ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Enom Offering Discounts On .TV Renewal Premium Pricing - My representative at Enom.com informs me that they are offering discounts on any premium .tv domains you may have, if your willing to renew them now. I just renewed one of my few premium .tv domains, great.tv for 2 years.  With interest rates at 2% you could save a lot more by renewing any premium .tv domains now. For rates and information you should contact Deborah Burditt at enom: deborah.burditt@enom.com Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN to Study Price Caps on Domain Registrations - As part of new TLD process, ICANN commissions study on pricing restrictions for registries. After receiving a number of comments about lack of pricing limits in new TLD registry agreements, Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has commissioned a study to determine if price caps should be implemented. A number of domain owners were concerned that the first draft registry agreement for new top level domains did not have price caps, and that existing ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Forums.com Sells for $400,000 - A look back at last week’s top sales on Sedo and SnapNames. Domain Name Wire will now publish newsworthy information about sales from SnapNames in addition to its coverage of Sedo sales. But before discussing expired domain sales, there is a big .com sale to report from Sedo: Forums.com has sold for $399,990. The seller was DNForum owner and GoDaddy VP Adam Dicker. Other noteworthy sales at Sedo from the past week include: primus.com 33,000 USD enterprisegroup.com 17,500 USD delamaison.com 15,000 USD tai.com 13,000 EUR parisfrance.com 12,100 EUR cheetahs.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Survey: Sedo and Parked.com Top Domain Parking Companies - Sedo and Parked.com selected as top domain parking companies. For the third year in a row, Sedo has topped Domain Name Wire’s survey for best domain name parking company. Here are the top 7 vote getters including percentage of the vote: 1. Sedo/SedoPro 33% 2. Parked.com 17% 3. NameDrive 11% 4. Fabulous 6% 5. GoDaddy 5% 6. Google Adsense for Domains 4% 7. DomainSponsor 4% Compared to last year, Parked and NameDrive switched places, Fabulous jumped up a spot, and ... read more ...
Tue 24th February 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
Volvo Loses A Domain “Trademark” Dispute On Domain Used In Commerce - The car maker Volvo, filed a case under the dispute resolution panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), against  the owner of a spare parts seller, for control of the domain volvospares.com. The panel found that the owner of volvospares.com was found to have legitimate interests in the name. The panel said that although the domain was confusingly similar to Volvo’s trademarks it was not registered and used in bad faith. You do not always have to be a trade mark holder or have ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Yahoo Rolls Out New Targeted Ad Products For PPC and Display: Will It Effect Your Bottom Line? - Yahoo announced today the launch of three new targeting products for advertisers. Two of the products are for display advertising, and one if for the PPC channel. The new products include: Search Retargeting, which gives advertisers the ability to target display advertising based on user search activities; Enhanced Retargeting, which allows advertisers to deliver dynamically generated display ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Getty Images Acquires Photos.com - Jupitermedia Corporation (“Jupitermedia”) (NASDAQ: JUPM) announced today that it completed the sale of Jupiterimages Corporation (“Jupiterimages”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jupitermedia, to Getty Images, Inc. for $96 million in cash. Included in the assets acquired by Getty Images is the prized domain name Photos.com Jupitermedia meantime announced that it will change its name to “WebMediaBrands Inc.” and its NASDAQ symbol to WEBM, effective February 24, 2009. WebMediaBrands will ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Q&A With Sam Nunez about Sedo and RevenueDirect - Sam Nunez explains the RevenueDirect acquisition and the potential for future acquisitions. Sam Nunez, VP of Product Management for Sedo, answers some questions about the companies acquisition of RevenueDirect. Domain Name Wire: When did Sedo first enter into discussions with RevenueDirect/Dotster about acquiring the parking company? Nunez: The successful round of negotiations started last December. We had some on-off discussions with Dotster for more than a year ... read more ...