Monthly Archives: January 2015

Wed 14th January 2015
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Thoughts on yesterday’s $1 million domain name auction - A strong auction with a headline-grabbing .club sale but dominated by .com. By now you’ve probably read a bit about yesterday’s Right of the Dot domain name auction at NamesCon. Here are my takeaways: 1. The auction sold just shy of $1 million worth of domain names. It’s not the glory years of 7 or 8 years ago, but that’s a total I don’t think we’ve seen in a while at a domainer conference auction. 2. The sell-through rate of about 65% is excellent. ROTD ... read more ...
Tue 13th January 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Auction Day At NamesCon: All You Need to Know + How To Bid If You’re In Vegas Or Not - Today is the live domain name auction at Namescon.com that will be conducted by RightoftheDot.com with online bidding and viewing on SnapNames.com So here is all of the information you need to know: If you’re in Vegas the Event starts at 4:30 PST with drinks and food and social networking. The actual auction should start around 5:15-5:30 PST which is 8:15-8:30pm EST 1:30 am GMT (Wednesday),  but can start a few minutes earlier or later so if you’re not in Vegas log into SnapNames by 5:15 and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
Google Domains Launches Public Beta in US, Offers Over 60 New TLDs - The much anticipated Google Domains launched to public US availability in beta on Tuesday. The beta launch also includes several new features and improvements, as Google tries to muscle in on registrars like VeriSign and Sedo and even SMB one-stop shops like GoDaddy and Web.com. The service was originally launched to invite-only beta in June, shortly after GoDaddy filed documents for an IPO. Google’s announcement seemed to at least delay that plan, though Google may have more motivation to ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Google Domains Now Open to All in The U.S. – Over 60 new gtlds now accessible for registration - Google Domains is now opened to anyone in the U.S. they are also offering over 60 new gtlds for registration. TechCrunch is reporting that Google Domains is now available to anyone who wants an account From the article: Google said at the time its service also includes phone support, indicating Google’s intention to market it more to business customers. To date, thousands of testers have signed up and registered domains during the private testing, but Google didn’t release exact numbers. Additionally, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
The New gTLDs and SEO - Roland LaPlante wrote a piece on Circle ID about new gtlds and SEO. Roland works at Afilias and it is safe to say he is an advocate of the new gtlds with Afilias having a vested interest. There are readers who are trying their hand at developing a new gtld or two so this article may be helpful for those who have questions and concerns with regards to SEO. From the article: With the arrival of hundreds of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), many marketers are excited that they can now get a web ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
NamesCon Auction This Afternoon - As you’ve likely heard by now, NamesCon will be conducting its first domain name auction later on this afternoon. The auction was organized by Right of the Dot (ROTD), and there is a big focus on the new gTLD domain names. Just about every time I’ve seen ROTD founders Monte Cahn and Mike Berkens at NamesCon, the duo seem to be huddling together over a laptop, most likely working on the auction. I am most curious to see how the bidding goes on the new gTLD domain names. Although I have ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
Internet Advertising Pioneer, Rick Boyce, Joins .green Board of Directors - LARKSPUR, CA, Jan. 13 /CSRwire/ - DotGreen Community, Inc., the steward of the world’s first environmental Top Level Domain (TLD) for corporate social responsibility, is pleased to announce that Internet advertising pioneer and “Hall of Famer,” Rick Boyce, has joined its Board of Directors. Mr. Boyce was formerly VP of Advertising Sales for Monster Worldwide and is currently Head of Corporate Sales with Quantcast. Mr. Boyce brings to the .green Board extensive experience in the Internet ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
Confusion, fear and growing pains: ICANN bigwig spells out gTLD headaches - It's not easy being global DNS overseer ICANN right now. The addition of hundreds of new generic top-level domains – gTLDs from .book to .ninja – has been an operational headache; the transition of the key IANA contract is put it under an unfavorable spotlight; and a recent hack of its staff admin systems has raised questions over its technical competence. But everything is fine, and terrible, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
Opening Day Photos and Highlights from the 2nd Annual NamesCon … - The 2015 NamesCon conference got underway Sunday (Jan. 11) at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas with a day christened Domainfest at Namescon following the show's ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
.brands – Nobody Said It Was Easy - I've got enormous respect and admiration for the passionate individuals who are still championing .brands for their organisations in the new Top-Level Domain (TLD) program. I have the pleasure of assisting quite a few of these on a daily basis and I'm sure their experiences aren't isolated with other applicants across the globe. Put yourself in their shoes. Delays, some stupid process called Digital Archery, GAC Advice, names collisions and negative media — just to name a few of the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Vegas.club changes hands in $100k deal - Vegas.club site plans unveiled during NamesCon. .Club has a second $100,000 deal under its belt as part of its Startup.club initiative. One Degree World Systems, Inc. acquired the domain name Vegas.Club and plans to launch a members-only site for deals, concierge services and more. One Degree CEO Howard Lefkowitz unveiled plans for the site today at NamesCon in Las Vegas. You can see video of the presentation here. Although the $100,000 price is nice for .Club, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Buzz domain names to be featured on Wheel of Fortune - Multiple sites on .buzz domain names will be promoted on popular game show. .Buzz domain names are about to get a lot more buzz. Howard Lefkowitz presented his plans for almost 400 .buzz domain names today during a NamesCon presentation. The majority of his domain names are city names, but also include travel.buzz. For two weeks starting February 2, particular .buzz domain names will be the prize sponsors for Wheel of Fortune, one of the most-watched TV shows in America. Lefkowitz ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
[Video] An sparkling speak during NamesCon - Howard Lefkowitz wakes up hungover crowd at NamesCon. Let’s face it, sessions at domain name conferences are usually less than stimulating. Sure, there’s good information, stuff you can learn…but they usually feature a couple people sitting down holding a mic. Not today at NamesCon. Howard Lefkowitz’s talk about what he’s doing with new TLDs featured showgirls, lighting effects and confetti cannons. Lefkowitz is doing some bold things with new top level ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy SVP explains because new TLDs are struggling - Head of domains at largest domain name registrar says new TLD registries are failing small business owners. Why are new top level domain names struggling to grow their registration bases? GoDaddy Senior Vice President of Domains Mike McLaughlin told a large audience at NamesCon today that registries are making it difficult for small businesses to buy their domain names. Registries need to focus on accessibility and usability if they want to see their domains succeed, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company creates Magical Mystery claims, loses UDRP - Motive behind creating ad agency website and trademark claims are questioned. San Francisco company Hippie Tours LLC has lost a UDRP against the domain name HippieBus.com. It made a number of Magical Mystery claims in its UDRP. John Berryhill represented domain name owner Mansour Elseify in the case. On the surface, this case appeared to be one where a clueless complainant went after a domain name registered many years before the complainant started its business. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
$55k Stolen domain name CIN.com returned around UDRP - Company paid $55,000 for domain name before it was stolen. Corporação Industrial do Norte, S.A (CIN) has recovered the domain name CIN.com, a domain name it says was stolen from it, through a UDRP. The company acquired CIN.com for $55,000 last summer. It alleges the domain name was then stolen and transferred to domain name registrar eName. (eName has apparently become a favorite registrar for domain name thieves. I see lots of allegedly stolen domain names ending ... read more ...
Mon 12th January 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Worst URS Decision of 2015: Telethon.Club Ordered Suspended On Complaint Of French TM Holder - The Association Francaise Contre Les Myopathies of Evry, France has won a Uniform Rapid Suspension on the seemingly very generic domain name Telethon.Club The Examiner Ahmet Akguloglu, who received the Complaint on January 6th issued the decision today January 12th although the domain was just registered on December 9th. Here are the finding of Facts: The Complainant claimed that TELETHON is a French fund-raising event which takes place the first week-end of December every year with the help of hundreds ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
B2B Digital Marketing Trends for 2015 - In a post on BDB.co.uk the author Rachael took a look at digital marketing trends for the upcoming year, the changing or possible extinction of the homepage was number two on that list. The premise behind the end of the homepage stems from our mulit device universe. How sites act and react with smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc… Personally I think the homepage will stay in tact, I do agree about using certain naming conventions or new gtlds for specific campaigns. I think this is how the new gtlds ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainHack.er in EN and tagged
ICANN’s New Global TLDs Might Get Scrapped - ICANN’s New Global TLDs Might Get Scrapped Naseem Javed wrote us some feedback on the article “Reasons Why Nobody Uses Tailored Top Level Domain Names“, posted a few days ago, to inform us of ICANN’s new Global Top-Level Domain names, and why they may get scrapped before they even become available: The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names Numbers, ICANN, is up against the wall, and here are the top five reasons for which ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
.World Gets 285 Registrations On Day 5 OF Early Access Making Donuts $45K In Just EAP Fees - At least 285 domain names were registered on day 5 of the Early Access Program for the new gTLD .World. At Godaddy.com a day 5 EAP registration for a .World domain has a rack rate of $179.99 That’s around  $45,000 just in Early Access Fees that Donuts collected on Sunday based off of Godaddy’s price. The regular price to register a .World domain name is $23.99 at Godaddy.com once it opens up for general availability on Wednesday. Of course many of the domain name registered on day five were ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Google Sees Its Search Share Slip and Yahoo Sees A Rise On Mozilla Deal - StatCounter reports that Google has seen its search share slip to its lowest level ever in the U.S. In the meantime Yahoo is being buoyed by their new deall with Mozilla that makes them the default search engine. NewsEveryday reported: Google search share has slipped to lowest ever in U.S. – 75.2 percent from 79.3 percent last year, according to an independent analytics firm. On the other hand, Yahoo Search has managed to score its highest share in five years – 10.4 percent, up by 3 percent ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
This week in new TLDs: We are a .World - .World among this week’s new top level domain launches. A few new top level domain names hit general availability this Wednesday, and an intriguing domain name enters the early access program. On Wednesday, Donuts’ .world exits the early access program and becomes available at regular prices. There are lots of good SLD-TLD combos on this one, similar to .place, .zone and similar generics. Also on Wednesday, two of Rightside’s domain names hit general availability: ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Heritage Auctions finalizes list for disdainful Feb Auction - Auction will have just 30 lots. Heritage Auctions has finalized the list of 30 lots it will auction off in next month’s domain name auction. This is probably the smallest number of domain names to be auctioned in a live auction event, and it will be interesting to see how this approach works. Some of the more interesting domain names include: NL.com AT.com Future.com SmartWatches.com Quick.com Import.com Equity.com Arcade.com Classic.com Corn.com An LLL .net Portfolio ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
eBay takes down over 1,000 domain names with a singular UDRP - eBay wins a massive UDRP case. eBay has successfully taken down over 1,000 domain names containing its trademark, many of which were set up as commerce sites. The online auction company filed a UDRP against the owner of 1,153 .com and .net domain names. All of the domain names contained “ebay” followed by a series of numbers, such as ebay962.com, ebay623.net and ebay389.com. The domain names were protected by a privacy service. When the privacy was removed, the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
2015 Domain Name Predictions – DNW Podcast #015 - Domain name industry experts predict what will happen in 2015. In this special episode of the Domain Name Wire Podcast, 9 domain name industry experts look into the crystal ball and make predictions for what will happen in the industry in 2015. You’ll hear from representatives of Escrow.com, Rightside, Donuts, Sedo, DirectNic, .Club, dotTBA and InternetX and ParkLogic. Also: GoDaddy adds bidder verification, Afilias cancels IPO and an existing TLD goes to the auction ... read more ...