Author Archives: DomainNameWire

About DomainNameWire

Domain Name Wire is a blog that deals with the domain name sector. The blog covers a range of domain related topics ranging from issues concerning expiring domains, monetization, domain registries and registrars, ICANN, policy, law etc. The blog began in March, 2005, after Mr. Allemann had dropped out of meetings to become involved in domain portfolio company, iREIT. The project began as a hobby to keep him involved in the domaining business, and then became his full-time business.

Tue 5th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
eHow-less on domain names - Check out eHow for some hilariously bad articles about domain names. Last month I wrote about eHow’s bizarre how-to article about “How to Become a Domain Broker“. It turns out eHow has a “wealth” of information on domain names. Unfortunately, it wasn’t written by eNom, which is owned by the same company as eHow. Which means most of the content is pretty bad. For example, you’ll find these three articles about the same exact thing: How to Get a Taken ... read more ...
 
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Interesting research on offered reward domain names - It can be difficult when you show alternatives available for $10. Matt Mazur of Lean Domain Search has posted an analysis of his results showing premium domain names for sale next to available-to-register domain name results. It’s an interesting read. After several months showing domains from Sedo’s inventory he has sent hundreds of targeted buyers but hasn’t made a sale. There are many possible reasons, and he points some of them out. One of the challenges ... read more ...
 
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Bob Parsons lands during #974 on Forbes Billionaires List - Parsons is on Forbes’ latest billionaires list. Go Daddy founder Bob Parsons is one of the 1,000 richest people in the world according to Forbes’ recently released Billionaires list. Parsons is tied for #974 with an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion. That’s good enough for a rank of #328 in the United States. (Parsons has disputed the $1.5 billion number with Forbes in the past.) The bulk of that wealth came from building Go Daddy into the dominant domain name ... read more ...
Mon 4th March 2013
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Domains advise Chase readying “So You Can” - Company registering domains that include “SoYouCan” and protecting it as well. JP Morgan Chase is getting ready to unveil “So You Can”. It’s not entirely clear if “So You Can” is a new slogan or an actual tool or service, but the company has gone on a domain registration and acquisition binge. It recently bought the domain “SoYouCan.com” and multiple variants. It’s even protecting the term by registering “So You Can’t” domains as well. My ... read more ...
 
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New lapsed domain manners go into outcome in August - Rules mandate practices to protect domain name registrants. The new “Expired Registration Recovery Policy” (ERRP) goes into effect August 31. This policy sets guidelines for how registrars treat expired domain names and how they must notify customers that their domains are expiring. Most notably, the rules will require expiration notices be sent at particular intervals and mandate that DNS resolution be interrupted after expiration. Domain registrars will be required ... read more ...
Thu 28th February 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Top 5 domain news stories for February - A much talked-about kiss is the biggest domain news story of the month. February is one of those months that catches you off guard. With only 28 days, things you plan to finish “by the end of the month” get pushed into March. Despite the short month, February is always a big month for domain industry buzz thanks to the Super Bowl. And that’s where we’ll start this month’s list. 1. Wow: the Bar Refaeli Go Daddy Super Bowl commercial – it had the right mix ... read more ...
 
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Domainers give curtsy to NameJet for lapsed domains - NameJet selected as best service for expired domain names. When it comes to snagging expired domain names, NameJet gets top billing amongst domain investors. 33% of respondents in Domain Name Wire’s 8th annual survey said NameJet is the best expired domain service. NameJet, a partnership between Demand Media and Web.com, has exclusive access to the expired domain stream from some of the older registrars including Web.com companies Network Solutions and Register.com. ... read more ...
Wed 27th February 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
A lot of worrying for nothing: usually 4 new TLDs are too similar - Only for top level domain applicants find themselves ensnared by string similarity. Did you hear that? It’s a collective sigh of relief from many new top level domain applicants. Today ICANN announced which domain names would be placed into string similarity contention sets, meaning they are likely to create confusion among users thanks to their similarity. There are only two contention sets involving a total of four domains: .hotels (booking.com) .hoteis (Despegar ... read more ...
 
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Ron Paul files another domain brawl targeting RonPaul.org - Ron Paul files additional domain dispute. Ron Paul has filed another domain name complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization. The new case is targeted solely at RonPaul.org. Earlier this month Paul filed a case against both RonPaul.com and RonPaul.org. So why a new case specifically for the .org? The original case against the .com and .org has not been withdrawn (at least yet), so this doesn’t appear to be a case where the parties have amicably settled ... read more ...
 
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Nominet shelves devise for shorter .uk domain names (for now) - No second level registrations — for now. .UK registry Nominet has delayed approving its own proposal for offer second level domain names. The proposal would have allowed people to register domain names at the second level (e.g. name.uk) instead of the existing third level requirement (e.g. name.co.uk). That concerned existing registrants of third level domain names, who wouldn’t necessarily be first in line to get the second level equivalent of their third level ... read more ...
 
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Home Depot buys ThrilloftheGrill.com from Mike Mann for $30,000 - A big domain sale to a big company is among Sedo’s highlights this past week. Earlier this month Mike Mann posted on his Facebook page that he sold the domain ThrillOfTheGrill.com for a sizzling $30,000. Now the sale through partner Sedo has gone through and we know who the buyer is: Home Depot. Here are other sales to end users that Sedo reported this week: Leap Legal Software bought Leap.co.uk for $5,000. J2 Global, parent company of eFax.com, bought eFax.gr for ... read more ...
 
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20 finish user domain sales from Afternic - Insurance, media, and vitamin companies among domain buyers. Here are 20 end user sales completed at Afternic last week. Last week I wrote about American Association of Young People buying YAU.us for $3,200. Now they’ve bought YPNC.com for $3,300. Advanced Healthcare Partners in Florida bought LungInstitute.com for $3,750. A site launching later this year did a much needed upgrade: iPropertyz.com bought Propertyz.com for $5,000. Now if they just did something about ... read more ...
 
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Marchex domain sales dump in Q4, $6.3 million for a year - A look at Archeo’s revenue numbers. Marchex just reported earnings for Q4 2012 and the full year. It sold just $863,000 worth of domain names last quarter, which gave it $6.3 million in domain sales for the year. Had it already been spun out, its Archeo domain name and directory business would have generated $5.5 million in revenue last quarter without domain sales, which was about the same as the prior quarter. With domain sales it would have generated $6.4 million ... read more ...
Tue 26th February 2013
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TLDH gets adult to $15 million for a singular tip turn domain name auction - TLDH and investor are going big on one top level domain. Top Level Domain Holdings Limited announced it has received up to $15 million in backing to be used to chase a single top level domain at auction. The money is strictly for bidding in an auction for one undisclosed TLD. Not disclosing which domain the funding is for was a brilliant move. Now companies in a contention set with TLDH will have to worry about which domain TLDH will have this warchest for. The money ... read more ...
 
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No surprise: Escrow.com is still your favorite escrow service - Escrow.com is most popular domain escrow service for domain investors. There’s one question on the Domain Name Wire survey that always has a predictable result: Escrow.com is selected as the best domain escrow service. This year it once again came out on top by a wide margin. Here are the results: 1. Escrow.com 66% 2. Sedo 15% 3. Afternic 7% 4. eCop 4% 5. Moniker 3% As one of few pure play escrow services, Escrow.com has constantly innovated to meet the needs of ... read more ...
 
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More sum about URS and National Arbitration Forum - Pricing not set, but technology paved the way for inexpensive service. Last week ICANN announced that it appointed The National Arbitration Forum as an administrator of the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS). URS is a faster and cheaper way to take down an infringing domain name than a UDRP. While faster and cheaper, it doesn’t result in the transfer of a domain when the complainant wins. ICANN posted the two page memorandum of understanding between it and National ... read more ...
Mon 25th February 2013
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Lead Gen association buys AutoInsurance.com domain name - Big insurance domain name changes hands. Lead generation company TZ Insurance Solutions, LLC, also known as Tranzact, appears to have purchased the domain name AutoInsurance.com. Domain investor P.A. Gordon owned the AutoInsurance.com domain. Nameserver records show that the domain name was apparently leased to OnlineAutoInsurance.com since early 2010. Tranzact recently acquired OnlineAutoInsurance.com, but a source says the AutoInsurance.com lease may not have been ... read more ...
 
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DNForum is tip domain forum again - No surprise: DNForum is your favorite. DNForum.com has once again been voted the top domain name forum in Domain Name Wire’s annual survey. The survey of over 500 domain name investors and professionals selected the long running domain forum as the clear winner. 45% of survey respondents selected DNForum as their favorite. Although that’s less than last year’s 54% share, there’s still a long gap between DNForum and its competitors. It was a close battle for ... read more ...
 
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Oakley goes after counterfeiters and their domain names - Sunglass brand fights counterfeiters with federal lawsuit. Oakley has filed UDRP cases in the past to take down sites selling fake Oakley sunglasses. Now it’s going for damages against alleged counterfeiters with a federal lawsuit (pdf) filed in Illinois on Friday. The lawsuit alleges that the owners of an unspecified number of domain names are selling counterfeit goods using the domains. The actual domain names at issue were filed under seal. Oakley is asking the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Ernst & Young finds out that code insurance is easier in .US - Company doesn’t have to pay to protect domains with the S word. I got a chuckle out of a few domain names that had a registrant change last week. The three domains were all previously registered to Ernst Young: ernstandyoungeatsshit.us ernstyoungeatsshit.us eyeatsshit.us Obviously brand protection company Mark Monitor helped the company register these domains back in 2009 for defensive purposes rather than for a new consulting practice. Which makes it somewhat ... read more ...
Fri 22nd February 2013
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Survey: GoDaddy.com is your favorite domain registrar, and here’s why - The biggest registrar is also a domain investor favorite. There may be a causal relationship there. This year’s survey of over 500 domain professionals shows that GoDaddy.com is the clear favorite registrar. You probably didn’t need a survey to tell you that given that the company registers about half of all new domain names. Nonetheless, 48% of survey respondents selected GoDaddy.com as their favorite registrar. The next highest contender had just 8%. Here are ... read more ...
 
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Neustar to lift .biz prices 10% - Cost of renewing or registering a .biz domain name will increase later this year. Neustar (NYSE: NSR) will hike the wholesale cost of .biz domain name registrations 10% this fall. Michele Neylon of Blacknight reported about the increase announcement today. The wholesale cost will increase from $7.85 to $8.63, an increase of $.78, effective September 1. Public Interest Registry recently announced plans to increase the wholesale cost of a .org registration to $8.25. While ... read more ...
Thu 21st February 2013
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.Org Project 94 kicks off subsequent month - Short .org domains go on auction block beginning next month. Next month .org registry Public Interest Registry (PIR) will begin auctioning off domain names as part of Project 94. Project 94 is the marketing name for releasing 94 one and two character .org domain names that have been reserved since the top level domain was introduced in 1985. A handful of the 94 domain names have already been allocated to users (such as country code owners) and the remaining 85 will ... read more ...
 
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When will Sony go after Playstation4.com? - Company announced new video game system but hasn’t yet secured key domain name. Sony gave the first glimpse of the capabilities of its forthcoming PlayStation 4 yesterday. You’ll find plenty of information about it at Playstation4.com, but that’s not an official site. The domain name is owned by Poise Media Inc., which forwards the domain to its PSXextreme.com web site. Sony owns Playstation.com, Playstation2.com, and Playstation3.com. It’s only a matter of ... read more ...
 
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A elementary doubt each .brand applicant should ask their consultant today - With deadline looming for partial refund, now is the time for TLD applicants to do a gut check. They aren’t quite dropping like flies, but .brand top level domain applicants are starting to pull out. GM is withdrawing all of its bids. Hasbro is gone. Eli Lilly pulled one of its drug names. Suddenly, I suspect a lot of brand owners will rethink their decision to apply for a new top level domain — especially those beyond their core brand. Although GM gave a general ... read more ...