Monthly Archives: January 2010

Tue 26th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Website.de Domain Name Sells for 101,500 EUR - German ccTLD leads charts. Domain broker Sedo has finalized a transaction selling German country code domain name Website.de for 101,500 EUR (about $143,000 USD at today’s exchange rates). The domain was sold be an individual in Germany. The whois record has not been updated to reflect the new owner. The top .com domain name sale for the week was Bookkeepers.com for $34,000. That would make an excellent web site name for an accounting or bookkeeping directory. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
South African Airways Blames Service Providers for Domain Expiration - SAA plays the blame game. South African Airways (SAA) is blaming service providers for letting its domain name expire, causing a web site outtage. When the domain name expired, Network Solutions followed its standard practice of changing the DNS and sending visitors to a landing page. In a note from SAA acting CEO Chris Smyth on the company’s web site, Smyth writes: …This outage was not as a result of any oversight by SAA or its personnel, nor was this due to ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
5 Questions to be Answered during DOMAINfest - Five questions to be answered this week in L.A. Last week I posed 5 questions in advance of the TRAFFIC conference, and answered them yesterday. Today I’m off to Los Angeles for DOMAINfest, so here are five questions that will be answered during this conference: 1. Will DOMAINfest attendance hit a record? I think so, but we’ll have to wait to see. 2. Which party will be better, The Getty or Playboy Mansion? If this were the first year of both parties I wouldn’t ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Now Might Be a Good Time to Buy Travel Domain Names - Search engine advertising report shows travel sector down, but hot season approaching. If you can buy direct navigation travel domain names based on a multiple of recent parking performance, now might be a good time to take the plunge. That’s one bit of insight I picked up from reading Efficient Frontier’s Q4 U.S. Search Engine Report. There are two reasons travel domains might be attractive right now. First, travel click prices have been pummeled more than ... read more ...
Mon 25th January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Quick Poll: How Much WIll The Live Premier Domainfest Auction Gross? - Its Time for your predictions on how much the The Live Premier Auction at Domainfest, which will be held on Thursday January 28th at 2pm PST, will generate. You can check out the Live auction list here. Please vote on the right and feel free to make more specific predictions below. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN To Hold Pre-Conference Security Calls on Nairobi Meeting - Calls to discuss security and logistics. ICANN is doing something different in advance of its next meeting, to be held in Nairobi: advance security and logistics teleconferences. The organization will host identical calls this Thursday and Friday to inform and educate attendees about security measures and how to come prepared. There was talk that ICANN would move the conference after recent demonstrations around Nairobi, Kenya. Apparently this was prompted because ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Hires New VP of Policy Development and Why it Matters - ICANN hires new VP for policy, which insiders say is a good move. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has hired David Olive to take over the position of Vice President of Policy Development. According to a number of insiders I’ve communicated with, and one very public blog post, this move is very welcome to both many inside and outside ICANN. The focus seems to be less on what Olive brings to the table — he was hired over from Fujitsu, where he ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Answering Five Questions about TRAFFIC Vegas - Answering last week’s questions. Last week I posed five questions that would be answered at the TRAFFIC conference in Las Vegas. We now have the answers: 1. Is Latona’s ready for primetime? Unfortunately not. Although I’m not sure why it didn’t work, I know there were internet connectivity issues with the hotel. It also appears that the web application got slammed with traffic and couldn’t handle the load. I’m sure Rick Latona will fill us in when ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Prediction: DOMAINfest Attendance Will Break Record - DOMAINfest could see record attendance. [Update: Indeed, attendance has broken a record] I’m going to make a prediction for this week’s DOMAINfest conference in Santa Monica: it will break the paid attendance record for DOMAINfest. I’m hearing whispers that 650 plus people have already registered, and that is bound to grow today and tomorrow. The original hotel sold out very quickly, and even the overflow hotel has sold out. That means guests are now being ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Big Changes for Internet Commerce Association - ICA to be replaced with new organization. This past weekend I caught word that Internet Commerce Association, the non-profit representing domainers’ interests, was effectively shutting down the overarching organization. I caught up with board member Jeremiah Johnston Saturday afternoon, and he explained what was happening. ICA members should receive an email from him later today. Essentially, the organization has experienced another funding shortfall, in particular ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Jay Westerdal Drops Most Allegations Against Thought Convergence - Parties file amended claims, with most allegations against TCI dropped. Following a mediation between Jay Westerdal and Thought Convergence over the latter’s acquisition of Name Intelligence, both parties have submitted amended complaints/counterclaims. The most notable difference in the amended filings is that Jay Westerdal has dropped most of the allegations he made against Thought Convergence (TCI) in his counterclaims. Gone are claims that TCI didn’t pay ... read more ...
 
Written by The MediaWizard's Blog in EN
ccTLDs lead from a front! - Everyone seems to have woken up to ccTLD investments all of a sudden. The big ticket sales in 2009 – 2010 have really seem to peaked an interest in ccTLDs from all over the world. Specially since these chart breaking sales are seen in the Global contenders charts now, instead of just the ccTLD charts on DNJournal. I’ve been a ccTLD evangelist ever since I started domaining back in 2007. It shows in my posts, in my purchases and also on my portfolio. It also shows in the forums I help ... read more ...
Sun 24th January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN
Internet Commerce Association: Sep 2006 – Jan 2010 R.I.P Dead, Gone & We Are On Our Own? - Is The Internet Commerce Association (the “ICA) dead? Phil Corwin who’s Washington Law firm has represented the Association at ICANN meetings, and through its various committees and workshops, and represented domainers interests in matters from the Snowe Bill to the Kentucky Domain Seizure case, to the Uniform Rapid Suspension, contract with the ICA ended on December 31, 2009. No one has been retained by the ICA to replace Phil. So currently the ICA has no one representing them. I can sum of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SmartName Launches Content Site System, Upgrades Accounts - NameMedia launches SEO-friendly content system and upgrades domain name parking accounts. Domain name parking company SmartName has launched a new content parking system, and has upgraded GoldKey and ActiveAudience accounts to take advantage of the new system. The new content system enables domain owners to create content-filled web sites on their domain names with the click of a few buttons. The content web sites pull in external news and blog feeds and create a ... read more ...
Sat 23rd January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
RickLatona.com TRAFFIC Auction Grosses $450K With a .ZA Leading The Way At $65K - The RickLatona.com auction just ended at the TRAFFIC show in Vegas with Just over $456K in sales. The auction resumed today after it stopped for techincial reasons yesterday with $90K sold. The $456K includes yesterdays sales. Here is the unofficial list of domains sold from the auction: Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Which Domain Is Worth More Macaroni.com or Ravioli.com? We Are About To FInd Out, Both Are In Auction - The domains Macaroni.com and Ravioli.com dropped yesterday. One was picked up by NameJet.com the other by SnapNames.com. One currently has a high bid of $5,555 the other has a high bid of $2,666. So which one will sell for more, Macaroni.com or Ravioli.com? Which one do you think is worth more? Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Google Founders To Sell 10 Million Shares Giving Up Controlling Interest Over Next Five Years - According to a regulatory filing submitted today the founders of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin, plan to sell off 5 million Google shares each over the next five years, which would cause them to surrender majority voting control over the company. If they followed the plan, the stock sales would reduce their voting power over Google’s stock from 59% today to around 48%, depriving them of majority control. However CEO Eric Schmidt currently holds shares accounting for almost 10% of Google’s ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Stop The Presses: Rick Latona Auction Stopped After 33 Domains Due To Online Bidding Problems - The RickLatona.com action was stopped 33 domains into the auction after the online auction software crashed. The online system seem to crash just a couple of domain into the auction and never got working properly. Rick Latona bravely took the stage after the auction for Concreteblocks.com sold for $2,000 and announced that he was stopping the auction out of fairness to his sellers and would resume the auction at 10am PST tomorrow. IMHO It took a lot of guts for Rick to stand up and admit his system ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Scenes From TRAFFIC, Day Two - Scenes and highlights from day two of the Targeted Traffic conference in Las Vegas. Yesterday was certainly an interesting one at the TRAFFIC Conference. The best moment of the conference was seeing how packed the auction room was for the start of the live auction. I haven’t seen that many buyers at a live auction in a long time. Unfortunately, we all know now that it took a turn for the worse as Latonas.com auction system was overburdened by traffic, bringing ... read more ...
Fri 22nd January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Moniker Releases It No/Low Reserve Live Auction List For Next Week - Moniker.com will be holding a no reserve/low reserve auction next week on Tuesday January 27, 2010, at DomainFest at 5pm PST and remote bidding will be available on SnapNames.com. Here is the preliminary list for the auction and is subject to change This auction is separate and in addition to the premier auction which will be held on January 28th. We will be posting with our selected picks from the auction next week: Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Here You Go: Live Auction List For DomainFest - Moniker.com will be holding a Live Domain Premier Auction as part of DomainFest.com next week in Santa Monica on Thursday January 28th at 2pm PST. Remote bidding will be available on SnapNames.com. Here is a preliminary list of the domains in the Premier Live Auction with reserve ranges. Here are the disclaimers: The list is subject to change and not in the order the auction will be held. We will be publishing our picks for the auction next week. AcnePills.com $5,001 – $10,000 Adjustable.com $10,001 ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
DomainSponsor Releases New Platform To Speed Up Optimization, Load Times and More - DomainSponsor released today, a new upgrade to its platform called the DS NextGen, “that enhances publishers’ ability to maximize the return on their global domain name assets.” According to their press release, Oversee will highlight the updated platform at the DOMAINfest Global conference, taking place January 26-28, 2010, in Santa Monica, Calif. The launch follows a year of worldwide economic difficulty that has caused publishers to carefully consider how their domain names can benefit ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Quick Poll: How Much Will RickLatona.com Auction Do? - Well the RickLatona.com auction is tomorrow so you don’t have much time to get your votes in. The auction catalog is out and now its your time to predict how much the live auction will do. Their auction at TRAFFIC NT did $1.4 Million in October The poll is on the right and you can place your predictions below if you want to identify yourself and get bragging rights. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Latonas.com Domain Name Auction Postponed - Auction postponed due to online bidding problems. The Latonas.com live domain name auction at TRAFFIC in Las Vegas has been postponed due to technical difficulties. The auction will be run Saturday at 10 am PST. Attendance at the auction was higher than many recent domain name events. However, the online Latonas.com system lagged the in room bidding. About an hour into the auction Rick Latona announced that it was necessary to postpone auction. That may be disappointing ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Scenes from Opening Night of TRAFFIC Conference - TRAFFIC gets underway in Las Vegas. I woke up this morning to a beautiful view of snow capped mountains from my hotel room at the Hard Rock. It’s beautiful today, but yesterday was one of those freak weather days in Las Vegas where it rained. That spelled trouble for airlines, and I ended up arriving after most of yesterday’s opening sessions at TRAFFIC. But the people who attended the networking sessions said they got a lot out of them, and it certainly jump ... read more ...