Monthly Archives: March 2009

Wed 4th March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
Pricing Strategies For Your Domains In A Recession - I’m going to talk more about this tonight on the Domain Success series, but I read this post on the Small Business Digest about pricing your product in the recession and found myself agreeing with most of it. Of course the article was not talking specifically about domaining, but about products in general. The article was written by Reed Holden and Mark Burton co-founders of Holden Advisors, a consultancy that works with business-to-business firms to design and implement value-driven pricing strategies ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Berkens or American Idol? - Well I’m up against some BIG competition tonight. You can Talk to me Live Tonight I’ll be a guest on DomainSuccess.com’s Gratitude series from 8-9PM EST I’ll share my thoughts on how you can make money in this Recession. I’ll talk about tips for buying and selling domains, building brands and domain value, domaining in a recession – and I’ll take your questions, joining the ranks of other previous guest domainers, like Mike Mann, Rob Grant and Jeff Reynolds, who’ve discussed how ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Google’s CEO Schmidt: “Economic Situation is Pretty Dire” & Mobile Search Will Surpass PC Based In A “Few Years” - Google’s Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said Tuesday the economic situation is “pretty dire,” adding that he does not expect to see improvement until 2010. “Everyone is assuming 2009 is a tough, tough year,” he said during an appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco. Schmidt went on to say while Google and other Internet advertising giants may be better positioned than offline counterparts, “we are not immune” to current economic conditions. “I view the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dynadot Recovers from Two Day Outtage - Domain registrar’s web site down for two days due to hardware failure. Domain name registrar Dynadot is recovering from a hardware failure that took dynadot.com offline for two days. Webhosting, dns servers, website forwarding, parking, and email forwarding were not affected. In an email to customers, Dynadot president Todd Han explained: …Although we had prepared for such a situation by using redundant hardware and performing frequent backups, when it actually ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The $1.65M Live Current Media Guessing Game - Which two domains did Live Current sell? Live Current Media announced today that it sold two domain names for $1.65M. Like the last time it sold a valuable domain, it didn’t say which domains it sold. But unlike last time, I’m having a hard time figuring it out. I’ve gone through Live Current’s premium domain names (on its web site here) and don’t notice anything odd about the whois records for its domain names. Perhaps the domains haven’t transferred ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Court Approves Toys.com Sale - Bankruptcy court approves landmark domain name sale. Judge Brendan Shannon of the United States Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware has approved Toys ‘R’ Us purchase of the toys.com domain name for $5.1M. The domain name was auctioned last Friday as a continuation of an auction held the first week of February. In the original auction Faculty Lounge Partners bought the domain for $1.25M. As part of the sale to Toys ‘R’ Us (bidding as Eagle, LLC), Faculty ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
“Important” Registrar Parava Gets Breach Notice - Registrar with valuable domain names receives breach notice from ICANN. Parava Networks, Inc. dba 10-Domains.com, has received a breach notice (pdf) from ICANN for some pretty serious issues: 1. Not paying its accreditation fees to ICANN 2. Not escrowing its whois information as required 3. Failure to take steps to correct inaccurate whois information You may not have heard of Parava Networks, so why does this matter? For one thing, Marc Ostrofsky (famous for selling ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Limits Submissions for Apr Domain Name Auction - Moniker limits domain submissions to 250 and provides additional guidelines. Responding to results and criticism of recent live domain name auctions, Moniker is setting a limit to auction submissions to April’s TRAFFIC auction. Domain owners may submit a maximum of 250 domains to the auction. Frankly, this number is still too high but is a step in the right direction. If they’re truly looking for the best domains, they should try limiting it to 10 or 20 per ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
I’m Now Google Analytics Qualified - New certification test available. Yesterday Google launched a new program for individuals that want to become “certified” in Google Analytics. It’s a good certification if you teach, train, or just use Google Analytics: The Google Analytics IQ program is tailored for agencies who want to retain and develop employees who are knowledgeable about Web analytics, and for individuals who seek ways to improve their job prospects or further their own personal development. ... read more ...
Tue 3rd March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Why Isn’t This Reverse Hijacking? - In a three member panel decision on Monday, we won a UDRP decision on the domain, BrassRail.com The panel found that the complaint failed to meet the first requirement of three it must meet to win Here are some relevant quotes from the decision: “”””The Complainant failed to establish enforceable rights to the “Brass Rail” mark, having reached this conclusion, the Panel declines to discuss the other elements of the Policy. Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that the Complainant must ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
First 2 Letter .mobi Awarded - .mobi announced a back in January that it would awarding 1 and 2 character domains for use, based on application, not auction. Today in the for the first time I have seen, the .mobi registry gave a 2 character domain away. The domain 53.mobi to was awarded to Cincinnati based Fifth Third Bank for its recently launched mobile banking service. The bank launched its mobile banking service in select markets in February and continues to roll out the service throughout its 12-state footprint. With Fifth ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Is Microsoft Going “Live” With Kumo.com For Search - According to report by the Wall Street Journal, tonight, it appears Microsoft has been testing it new search platform named Kumo as a replacement to its current platform, live.com It also appears according to a report by theregister.co.uk,  that the domain Kumo has recently changed hands from Dascar Samira Facendo of Venezuela, who is also owner of the edu.edu domain, which he’s held since 1989, to Microsoft. The switch of the name of  Microsoft’s search platform from live.com to Kumo, came ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Survey: Go Daddy Top Domain Name Registrar - GoDaddy tops survey for fourth year in a row, eNom continues slide. For four years running, GoDaddy has topped the list of domain name registrars in the annual Domain Name Wire Survey. GoDaddy took home top honors in this year’s survey with 43% of the vote. Below are the top 5 vote getters, followed by analysis: 1. GoDaddy 44% 2. Moniker 18% 3. Fabulous 10% 4. eNom 9% 5. 11 5% GoDaddy is popular amongst all types of domain owners. This year it even came out ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ari Goldberger Defends PropellerHead.com - Domain attorney helps registrant keep domain name in UDRP. When you think of “propeller head”, what comes to mind? I think of those beanie hats with a propeller on them. You know, the type that nerds wear. Pilots might think of the plane part. But a software company thought it should have rights to PropellerHead.com. Unfortunately for Propellerhead Holding AB, it couldn’t convince a three person panel at National Arbitration Forum. The registrant of PropellerHead.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Claim.com Domain Name Sells for $80,000 - NameMedia sells Claim.com for $80,000. NameMedia, parent company of BuyDomains and Afternic, has completed the sale of Claim.com for $80,000. The buyer is unknown but appears to have used domain financing service Domain Capital to complete the transaction. Claim.com was just one of over 400 reported domain names NameMedia sold last week. Many of the domain names the company sells are subject to non-disclosure agreements, so the total sales numbers are much higher. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
AfternicDLS to Expand Promotion, Improve Integrity - NameMedia platform getting two major improvements. NameMedia will notify customers of Afternic later today about two major enhancements to its platform. First, the company will be greatly expanding the reach of domains listed on Afternic with “Expanded Promotion”. Currently, domains listed with expanded promotion are cross listed on BuyDomains, GoDaddy Auctions, and several other sites. Although the company isn’t yet disclosing additional partnerships, it’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
FlatRate.de Sells for $200,000 - German ccTLD tops sales list for the week. Yesterday on Twitter Sedo posted some of its completed sales for the week. One in particular caught my eye: FlatRate.de sold for EUR 160,000. That’s about $200,000 USD. The buyer is Active Touch Media + Marketing of Germany. Although that was the only completed six figure sale from Sedo last week, the company tallied an impressive line up of five figure sales across TLDs: .Com bruxelles.com 28,500 EUR ilicense.com 28,000 USD belgique.com 25,000 EUR raise.com 21,000 EUR sportissimo.com 20,000 USD loi.com 16,200 USD bnw.com 15,500 USD jex.com 10,599 USD herboriste.com 10,000 EUR delivery24.com 10,000 USD ccTLDs ggg.com.br 15,000 USD Other skincare.net 22,500 USD man.org 12,500 USD bbplanet.net 10,000 USD Sedo’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
1099 Tax Form Mistakes Make Tax Time a Mess - Google, Commission Junction among this year’s screw ups. If you’re an unincorporated domainer — that includes sole proprietors and limited liability companies — in the United States, January and February are the months of 1099s. Any company that paid you non-employee income of $600 or more is required to send a 1099 form with your total compensation paid during the tax year. 1099s are sent to the Internal Revenue Service and to you, and you’re expected ... read more ...
Mon 2nd March 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
ICANN Starts Working Group On Registration Abuse Policies (WGRAP): Is Domain Parking An Abuse? - More news out of the ICANN meeting in Mexico City today. ICANN has started a “Working Group on Registration Abuse Policies (WGRAP). The Working Group mission is to define domain name registration abuse, as distinct from abuse arising solely from use of a domain name, while it is registered. The Working Group is also charged with identifying which aspects of registration abuse are within ICANN’s mission to address, including: Understanding if registration abuses are occurring, might be curtailed ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Head Of ICANN, Twomey Announces Resignation - Paul Twomey, chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In a prepared statement, Twomey did not give a reason for departing, other than to say he wants to “move on to another leadership position in the private or international sectors.” He said he declined a three-year contract renewal with ICANN last year. ICANN plans a formal announcement later Monday as part of its regular meetings this week in Mexico City. Twomey said he will stay on until a successor ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
35 More Premium .Me Going Up For Auction - The .ME Registry today announced 35 of the domains reserved by the registry will be auctioned off at Sedo.com. Online bidding for these names begins March 26, 2009 and remains open until April 02, 2009. The full list of .ME domain names available for bidding are: Add.ME Bet.ME Book.ME Clean.ME Compare.ME Discount.ME Dodaj.ME Download.ME Drink.ME Employ.ME Film.ME Join.ME Locate.ME Manage.ME Market.ME Message.ME Order.ME Pay.ME Pick.ME Power.ME Print.ME Promote.ME Remember.ME Reward.ME Ring.ME Rock.ME Sell.ME Support.ME Tell.ME Test.ME Kupi.ME Uporedi.ME Zapamti.ME Zaposli.ME Izaberi.ME Google+Michael ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
When A Domainer Becomes A Developer: The Tale Of Offers.com - Offers.com officially launched this week.  A great domain, perfectly matched with an application. What makes this story so interesting is that the developer is also a domainer and used both of his skills to launch the site. Steve Schaffer, is the Founder CEO of Vertive, Inc., a Leader in Performance Marketing the creator and developer of Offers.com. Steve was good enough to give me an exclusive interview on the launch of his site and plans for Offers.com. Steve started registering domains all ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Our SnapNames Top Picks Mar 1 Edition - Here are out top picks for domains currently at auction or available for backorder art SnapNames.com. As always you can simply click on the link to backorder or join the auction: 9g.com qms.com uneven.com 379.com qzc.com ccp.org beauticiancollege.com v7.net motivation.net geotracker.com vbz.com kjf.com uyz.com markettrends.com illustrating.com 4scores.com babysitting.org tooled.com mapped.com icondos.com newsreading.com preassembled.com celebrityposters.com socialsharing.com cleantube.com Google+Michael ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Bido Needs to Improve Domain Quality — Fast - After $2 auction, platform needs to step up quality fast or users will lose interest. I love Bido. There. I said it. Bido is an imaginative auction platform. It’s the first truly social domain auction platform. Stop by the site during auction hour and you can join a discussion. Prior to bidding you can read what other people have said about the domain. It’s fun and engaging. There’s just one problem: the domains up for auction stink. And I’m not the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dark Blue Sea Profit Down 80% - Domain company sees profit plummet as revenue slips 6%. Dark Blue Sea ASX (Code: DBS), parent company of domain parking provider and domain registrar Fabulous, reported that profits for the second half of 2008 plummeted 80.5% compared to the same period in 2007 as revenue dipped 6.3%. Revenue totaled $14.56M compared to $15.53M in the second half of 2007 (All dollar figures in Australian Dollars). The company blamed a weakening United States ad market for the revenue ... read more ...