Monthly Archives: April 2009

Thu 30th April 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Moniker Live TRAFFIC Auction Nets $2.1 Million - The Live Moniker TRAFFIC auction just concluded with a total of $2.1 Million dollars in sales. The domain Ad.com, lead the pack selling for $1.4 Million,  after having a reserve range of just $250K-$500K. It appears the domain was purchased by Directi. The next highest priced domain sale was bottledwater.com, for $45K, Athletic.com came in at $40K, and then Vixen.com at $32K. In all 90 domains sold, or  just under 50%,  a great sell through rate, in a bad economy. As I have said all along there ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Disses .TV and What it Says About a Echo Chamber - The echo chamber about GoDaddy’s diss of .tv shows that new and old media can get it wrong. GoDaddy is taking its diss of the .tv domain name a step further. How people are reacting to and writing about it shows that it’s hard to know who the “authoritative source” is. In November I wrote an article about how if the country of Tuvalu (which has the .tv country code) ceased to exist, .tv would technically go away. GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons later joked about ... read more ...
Wed 29th April 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Why Minnesota’s Action Today May Not Work - According to a press release today, The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) served written notice to 11 national and regional telephone and Internet service providers (ISPs) instructing them to prohibit access of all Minnesota-based computers to nearly 200 online gambling websites. Written notice was served to ATT Internet Services, San Antonio; Charter Communications, St. Louis; Comcast Cable, Moorestown, N.J.; Direct TV, Los Angeles; Dish ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
**Updated** Our Picks From The Moniker Slient Auction - Moniker.com is holding its silent auction as part of the TRAFFIC show. There are over 5,500 domains in the silent auction, that’s a lot of inventory. The silent auction will be held through SnapNames.com.  Bidding closes on May 7 at 3:15 EST, 12:15 PST, and are subject to all of SnapNames.com normal bidding rules. We went through the extremely long list and picked the gems out for you, and broke them out into our own categories. We believe our selections offer the best domains, at the best prices. There ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
How Much Is a 17 year Old Domain Worth & How Would You Like To Own It? - Your eyes are not deceiving you. The question is how much is a domain with a creation date of 3/27/1992 worth to you? The domain is reticular.com and its up for auction on Godaddy’s expired domain auction. So what does reticular mean you ask? According to Wikipedia: “””The reticular formation is a part of the brain that is involved in actions such as awaking/sleeping cycle, and filtering incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli. It is essential for governing some of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Minnesota Wants to Block Gambling Domain Names - State tries to cut off gambling sites from the communication providers instead of domain names. The state of Minnesota as informed 11 internet service providers that they must block access to about 200 gambling web sites. Sound familiar? Kentucky also tried to block online gambling but by seizing domain names that belonged to the gambling sites instead of cutting off ISPs. Much like the case in Kentucky, Minnesota seems to be financially motivated. The Minneapolis ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Network Solutions Settles Class Action from Frontrunning Practice - Company to provide cash and coupons to class. Network Solutions has settled a class action lawsuit stemming from its controversial practice of reserving domain names queried on its web site. The settlement provides coupons or cash depending on what type of customer you are. If you searched for a domain name at Network Solutions while it used its reservation practice and subsequently registered it during the same session, you will receive a $6 coupon per domain toward ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Cadbury Wants a New Ocean on Web for Swedish Fish - Candy manufacturer wants domain name SwedishFish.com. Cadbury Adams, maker of the tasty red Swedish Fish candy, has filed for arbitration with World Intellectual Property Organization to get the domain name SwedishFish.com. Cadbury Adams currently uses the not-so-memorable domain name AfriendYouCanEat.com for its Swedish Fish web site. It also owns OriginalSwedishFish.com. The SwedishFish.com domain name’s whois record is currently protected by whois privacy, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Handicapping Today’s Moniker Live Domain Auction - Many high quality domain names in today’s auction. Today’s live domain name auction by Moniker at the TRAFFIC conference is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. local time (6 p.m. EDT). Moniker did a good job getting some high quality domain names at low reserves. Will it be enough? Attendance at this show is down considerably from past TRAFFIC shows. Word is that about 250 people registered for the show but fewer may actually be there. Thankfully, bidders can ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
NameDrive Domain Name Aftermarket Goes Live - NDX open for business as of minutes ago. NameDrive’s new domain name marketplace, called NDX, is now live. NDX allows sellers to list domain names either as “make offer” or place the domain name directly in an auction. There are no specific requirements for domains listed at auction, and sellers can choose the day and time they wish the auction to end. Auctions last from 3-14 days and can also include “BuyNow” prices. Commissions are only 7% for most ... read more ...
Tue 28th April 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Rick Latona Live TRAFFIC Auction Nets $375K - The Rick Latona Live Auction from the TRAFFIC show just finished and grossed about $375K in sales. No big surprises on domains that sold. Shows.com which we predicted $125K for, sold for $102K making it the highest priced sale. SmartPhones.com sold for $95K. The combo of Mortuary.com and Mortuaries.com which we predicted would sell did for the reserve of $25K. FLR.com which was first thought to have sold at $16K, sounded like it did not in fact sell, as it was bought back at the end without a buyer. Several ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Next Big NameJet.com Domain: Toxic.com - The next big dollar domain to hit NameJet.com is Toxic.com (also Toxic.net). The backorder deadline is April 30th and there are already 175 bidders in the auction. With all the talk of toxic assets and the economy, the domain is certain timely. The domain is at $4,000 pre-auction. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Our Picks and Pans From The Moniker TRAFFIC Auction - Moniker will be holding a live auction from the TRAFFIC show in California Tomorrow, Wednesday April 29th, at 3pm PST, 6pm EST. Remote bidding will be permitted through Snapnames.com, for those not in attendance or for those just wanting to bid online rather than by raising your paddle. Overall the list is quite good but here are our favorites (except for the ones we are planning on bidding on, and the one’s we own that we have in the auction) FindJobs.com, Reserve Range $100K-$250K.  You certainly ... read more ...
 
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GeoDomain Auction Gets More Sales - Longhorn.com and Ponce.com snag bids in extended auction. I learned something important when I went to Las Vegas for DomainConsultant’s live domain auction: the initial results are just the beginning. DomainConsultant does a great job closing sales after the auction ends. But they also make sure that no one has an incentive to hold off on buying domains in the live auction domains with the hope that they’ll be available for less: they never lower prices after ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Businessman Sets Up UDRPfail.com After Losing Domain Dispute - Man loses DEACOM.com despite overwhelming evidence of rights and fair use. Businessman Ben Dean lost a UDRP this month for deacom.com, a domain name he’s owned since 1997 and used for his business. He says he can’t afford to fight the action in court, but set up UDRPfail.com to tell the world about his predicament. A company filed a trademark for DEACOM in 2006, claiming first use in commerce in 1995. It decided to file the arbitration case to get the corresponding ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Salesforce.com Registers 21 Trademarked Domain Names - Direct navigation with a potential timebomb. Online CRM and application provider Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) just made an interesting direct navigation move that could potentially land it in hot water. Realizing that it can be difficult finding particular pages on its site and its channels on social networking sites, it registered over 20 direct navigation domain names to make it easier. For example, it registered FeatureComparisionChart.com to direct visitors to ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
90.com Domain Name Sells for $73,000 - Two number domain name leads weekly sales list. Sedo’s top completed sale for the past week was 90.com, which sold for EUR 56,000 (about $73,000 USD) to a buyer in China. The seller of 90.com may have missed an earlier opportunity. According to a March 19 email from Sedo’s Great Domains group, 90.com received a $123,456 bid during a February auction but did not reach its reserve. Sedo had some other solid .com sales. Concept.com sold for EUR 40,000, TeamFeed.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Parked.com Acquires WhyPark - Domain name parking company acquires parking alternative. Domain name parking company Parked.com has acquired WhyPark, a domain building service. Financial details were not disclosed. Yesterday WhyPark announced it was scrapping its $99 set up fee and moving to a free model. This is part of the transition to Parked.com. “Now that we have Parked.com’s expertise in monetizing traffic as part of WhyPark, we were able to change our business model to allow free ... read more ...
Mon 27th April 2009
Written by The Domains in EN
Microsoft’s Kumo.com To Launch On Jun 2nd? - According to a report in blorge.com, Microsoft is going to launch Kumo.com on June 2nd. Kumo.com according to many reports will eventually replace the Live.com search engine for Microsoft. The Search Marketing Expo, an industry conference, is also starting in Seattle on June 2. Here is some info about Kumo from the blog: “””The concept behind it appears to be that results are listed with a toolbar making it easier to refine results into different categories. Unlike the options on Google (images, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
The Fastest Way To Register A Domain? TweetName.com: Lets You Register Your Domain Through Twitter - Tech Crunch just published a post about TweetName, the service that lets you register any .com, .net, org or .biz, by just sending a Tweet. “”Once you log into Tweetname for the first time, the site uses OAuth to connect to your Twitter account. You fill out your credentials, including name, address, credit card info, billing info and then Tweetname automatically follows you and arranges for you to follow Tweetname. After this is set up, you can Tweet a potential domain name via a direct message ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Our Picks, Pans and Predictions For The Rick Latona TRAFFIC Auction & Why SmartPhones.com Is NOT “The Deal Of The Century” - Tomorrow Tuesday April 28, Rick Latona will be holding his live domain auction, from the TRAFFIC show in California at 3:30 PST, 6:30 EST. Remote bidding will be allowed for those not in attendance. So it’s time for our picks, pans, and predictions for the auction. So with all our stats and figures we find that these are the best buys from the auction: Shows.com at no reserve.  A great one word domain with an Estibot Appraisal of $190K. Our prediction is that this domain will sell for between ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Newspaper Companies’ Most Valuable Asset: Land - Value of newspapers plummets to point that real estate is most valuable asset. An article in the Boston Business Journal suggests that the most valuable asset of The Boston Globe is the land it owns. The Boston Globe is anticipated to lose $80M in 2009, but its real estate holdings may be worth $65M. This is a common story. Because they need to be close to the action, many newspapers set up their headquarters near downtown. As city populations swelled and urban ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Bonuses Tied to New Top Level Domain Rollout - Slips in schedule could result in reduced staff bonuses. ICANN has clear short term economic incentives to roll out new top level domain names, and bonuses are one of those reasons. Read this exchange at the Cairo ICANN meeting between ICANN Senior Vice President of Services Kurt Pritz and former ICANN board member Michael Palage: MICHAEL PALAGE: Mike Palage. Kurt, as you can appreciate, there are a number of attendees here today that have a vested financial ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Intellectual Property Group Suggests Protections for New Domains - Implementation Recommendation Team suggests drastic changes to existing protections for IP holders. The Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT), formed by ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency, has released its preliminary report (pdf) of suggested safeguards for trademark holders in light of the introduction of new top level domain names. The closed door and controversial group suggested a number of drastic changed from current trademark policy for domain ... read more ...