Monthly Archives: March 2009

Fri 13th March 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Name.com Launches Domain Name Sales Newsletter - Registrar will send list of domains for sale 5 days a week. Domain name registrar Name.com is joining a growing list of organizations offering “domains for sale” newsletters. The first newsletter was sent today. The newsletter is sent Monday through Friday and includes domain names owned by Name.com’s brokerage and managed clients. Prices will range anywhere from $20 to tens of thousands of dollars. Sign up information is on Name.com’s web site. Domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
A Green Blog Understands Top Level Domain Names - Good analysis of new top level domains comes from an unexpected source. I’ve read a lot of bad analysis about new top level domains. You know, the type where the reported takes spoon fed information from a new TLD promoter and just publishes it without any thought. So it was refreshing to see good analysis of .eco, and new top level domains in general, from an unlikely source: a green entrepreneur blog. Katie Fehrenbacher of Earth2Tech wrote a story about the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
We’re Still a Cash Society - Despite years of promises, hard cash still trumps electronic payments. I had a somewhat comical evening yesterday that shows how we’re still a cash-based society. My wife and I went to see Spamalot and were running a bit late. I was out of cash, but didn’t have time to stop at an ATM. I asked my wife how much cash she had and she counted only eight dollars. “That should be enough to park, and then we can go to the ATM inside the theater,” I told her. When ... read more ...
Thu 12th March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
OnlineNic Settles With Microsoft: Appeals Verizon Decision - According to reports, Microsoft Corp. and OnlineNic have reached a settlement in a case where Microsoft accused OnlineNic of registering numerous domain names that infringe Microsoft trademarks. The Judge of the Microsoft case, Marilyn Hall Patel, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California signed off Monday on a joint stipulation of dismissal without prejudice that the two companies submitted in February. An attorney for Microsoft said Wednesday that the parties had reached ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
CareerInstitute.com Sells For $30K On NameJet.com - CareerInstitute.com sold yesterday at NameJet.com for a healthy $30,100 on NameJet.com. In this economy, you can’t get get a much better domain than one dealing with jobs and career’s. This auction had 98 bidders. Other notable domain sales from a pretty slow week at NameJet.com include: iscslp2006.org  $3,600 Jza.com  $3,100 marketingbusiness.com  $2,801 oldwine.com  $2,650 eleganttouch.com  $2,600 accidentcases.com $1,655 Logobook.com $1,274 Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Billion Dollar Company Loses Key Domain Name - Silicon Labs loses domain name, fights to get it back. Austin, Texas-based Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) has lost control of a key domain name, SiliconLabs.com. The company has filed for arbitration with National Arbitration Forum to regain control of the domain. Silicon Labs’ main domain name is SiLabs.com. But I suspect most people trying to find the company’s web site for the first time type in SiliconLabs.com, and a lot of e-mails are accidentally addressed ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Bernie Madoff Lessons for a Domain Name Industry - What we can learn from the Bernie Madoff scandal. If there’s one thing lacking in the business world these days, it’s trust. You can thank a lot of people for that, including Bernie Madoff. Madoff stole over $50 billion of his clients’ money. Here are some lessons from the Madoff scandal that can be applied to the domain name world. Even the best registrars should be watched. Madoff managed to push aside any attacks on his investment operations. He was ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google Adsense for Domains, Three Months Later - Looking back on Google’s AFD Direct move. It was three months ago that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) dropped a bombshell: it would start offering domain parking services directly to Adsense clients. Now that a few months have passed, I’ve had more time to reflect on this move and what it means for the industry. The short term effect has been more of wonderment than actual impact. What are Google’s long run plans? Does it intend to cut out the middleman? We won’t ... read more ...
Wed 11th March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
New Report: Fortune 500 Companies Waste $40 Million Every Day on SEO - In a new report by a Conductor, a New York Company, that analyzes paid and organic search strategies of Fortune 500 companies they found that Fortune 500 companies spend $51 million per day in aggregate on 88,792 keywords, and only 20.82% rank in the top 100 of natural search result.  This means that 80% of the $51 million a day, $40M a day is completely waste. The study, measures the maturity of natural search efforts in comparison with the pay-per-click (PPC) spending. The study also examines ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Google’s US Search Share Hit’s 72% - According to Hitwise, Google accounted for 72% of all Internet searches in the U.S. in Feburary. Yahoo  came in a distant 2nd, at 17%, Microsoft at 6% and Ask.com to 4%. Hitwise, which sampled 10 million U.S. Internet users, showns Google usage grew from a last year when its accounted for 66% of all U.S. searches. Hitwise figures show search engines continue to be the main way Internet users navigate to industry categories. Comparing February numbers with a year earlier, business and finance, sports, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SnapNames Server Outage Brings Down 50 Domain Registrars - Outage of (perhaps only one) server takes down 50 registrars. A reader just informed me about an interesting situation affecting about 50 ICANN accredited registrars. If you visit any of the 50 domain registrars you will see this error message: Downtime Notice We have been dealing with a major hardware failure that has necessitated replacement of hardware and restoration of data. This is a long and tedious process and is expected to finish around 08:00 AM GMT on ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google Now Targeting Ads to Users, Not Just Content - Domain name related ads may follow you to your favorite automotive site. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is introducing a new type of behavioral tracking to Google Adsense ads, the company announced on its Inside Adsense blog. Currently, content network ads served by Google include geo-targeting but the content is based solely on the content of the web page your are viewing. For example, Google Adsense ads on Domain Name Wire would likely be for domain name registration and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Internet Commerce Association Has Busy Agenda - Domainer’s group has busy schedule fighting for domain owners’ rights. Over the past month Internet Commerce Association (ICA) has stepped up efforts to inform the domain community about its activities. Current issues and updates are available on the home page of its web site. Here’s a quick summary: Representing domainers in Mexico City – ICA Counsel Philip Corwin made remarks on behalf of domainers during a discussion of new top level domains. The video ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Another Webmaster-Holds-Domain-Name-Hostage Case - How can we educate lay people to register domain names in their own name? The typical domainer lives and breathes domain names. It’s understandable that non-domainers who hire a web designer to create a web site don’t realize the importance of registering and owning the domain name themselves. How can we teach them? I was reminded of this issue today when reading about an author who is having trouble getting control of her domain name. It was registered in ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Name Industry Acquisition Watch - 2009 could include more mergers, acquisitions, and outright closings. Domain name companies including registrars, parking companies, and portfolio holders are considering their strategic options in 2009. Domain Name Wire has learned that Dark Blue Sea (ASX: DBS) has been shopping its services businesses, including Fabulous parking and registration. Dark Blue Sea CEO Richard Moore wouldn’t comment directly on what the company is considering, but he did refer me ... read more ...
Tue 10th March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
.XXX Extension Off To Arbitration - A report today in an adult industry blog, talks about ICM Registry the applicant for the .xxx extension that at one time was approved  by ICANN only to be later derailed the US Commerce Department. ICM Registry, has appealed the whole matter to the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and a decision is due sometime this year. If the dispute resolution panel rules for ICM Registry, the decision would be certain to cause pandemonium with the online adult industry. “Whatever the arbitrators ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New Rules Considered for Domain Name Registrars - GNSO approves motion for changes to registrar accreditation agreement. At the Mexico City ICANN meeting, Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) approved a motion to adopt changes to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) including new amendments. These changes are now open for public comment, after which the ICANN board of directors will vote on the changes. These changes will have major effect on domain registrars that have found ways to slip through ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
1 Million Tweets: Clever Twitter Idea - Domain broker launches Twitter service. Sure, Mystery Domain Auction shut down and no one has been able to replicate the success of the original Million Dollar Homepage concept. But one entrepreneur is trying his hand at raising $1 million through Twitter. 1MillionTweets.com charges users $1 to submit a tweet through it’s account. It hopes to sell one million tweets to people trying to advertise their services and web sites. It may work, if people follow @1milliontweets ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo Sells $1.25M Domains in One Week, Top.com Tops Them All - The domain name aftermarket is back with a vengeance. Perhaps it’s just a blip on the radar, but the domain name aftermarket appears to be popping back into action. Last week online broker Sedo closed nearly $1.25M USD in disclosed transactions (you can bet the non-disclosed transactions tacks on quite a bit). The top sale was Top.com for $357,500 EUR (about $455,000 USD), an auction Domain Name Wire reported on in January. The buyer was in Russia. The seller’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Survey: Sedo Top Online Domain Sales Site - No surprise in online domain sales category. Once again, Sedo has taken top honors for “Best Online Domain Name Sales Site” in the annual Domain Name Wire Survey. 48% of respondents to the fourth annual survey selected Sedo as the top site, roughly equal to last year. In second place, with only 14% of the vote, were domain name forums. Here are the rankings: 1. Sedo 48% 2. Forums 14% 3. GoDaddy (TDNAM) 8% 4. SnapNames (Non-expired) 7% 5. Afternic 6% Domain Distribution ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Adds IP Tracking Security - Domain name registrar adds new security check. Domain name registrar Moniker has added a new security tool to track potentially unauthorized account activity. The new tool allows account holders to view the IP addresses of all logins to their accounts. Using the login history, account holders can check for IP addresses that do not appear to be authorized. This can be used to launch an investigation, or to signal the need to change your password if there is suspicious ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Survey: Escrow.com Still Top Domain Escrow Service - Escrow.com comes out top in survey once again. Escrow.com is the best domain name escrow service, according Domain Name Wire’s survey of 400 domain name owners. Escrow.com took nearly half of the vote. 1. Escrow.com 46% 2. Sedo 34% 3. Moniker 11% 4. EscrowDNS 5% 5. Afternic 4% Escrow.com is fully licensed in all 50 United States to perform escrow transactions. The company was founded in 1999 by Fidelity National Financial, but has been privately held since May 2004. ... read more ...
Mon 9th March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
US Governments Still Trying To Regulate a Internet - Two actions taken last week, in two separate jurisdictions, show that governments around the US are still intent on individually regulating the Internet. According to Media Post, on Friday, the Utah House of Representatives, narrowly passed H.B. 450, which would bar companies from using rivals’ trademarks to trigger ads on search engines, directories or other Web sites. The measure, approved by a vote of 38-36, now moves to the state Senate. This new bill attempts to limit its impact to within ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Warren Buffett: U.S. Economy Has Fallen Off A Cliff - Today Warren Buffett came out with his take on the economy: “”The U.S. economy had fallen off a cliff”,  but he went on to say it will “eventually recover, although a rebound could kindle inflation worse than that experienced in the late 1970s.”” “”The economy was mere hours away from collapse last September when credit markets seized up, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc went bankrupt and insurer American International Group Inc got its first bailout. “The world almost did come to ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
MarkMonitor.com: There Are 450,000 CyberSquatting Sites - According to MarkMonitor,  there were almost 450,000 cyber-squatting sites active at the end of 2008 an increase of 18%. MarkMonitor.com now has a new term for these types of sites, brandjacking. Further findings from Markmonitor.com Abuse of apparel brands rose fastest in 2008, growing by 28 percent. High-tech and automotive brand abuse grew the second fastest, at 21 percent each, food and beverage and media brand abuse growing at 17 percent and 11 percent, respectively. About 70 percent of sites ... read more ...