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.

Fri 19th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
That offer we only got for your domain is a top you’ll ever get - Ever reject an offer that you wish you would have accepted? Have you ever turned down an offer on one of your domain names only to kick yourself later? Domain investors often talk about “domain sales regret“, when you sell a domain that ends up selling for more later. But I think the opposite is more often the case. You turn down an offer on a domain, only to wish later that you would have accepted it. I can think of a couple cases off the top of my head. One ... read more ...
Thu 18th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Deutsch to furnish dual Super Bowl commercials for Go Daddy - Go Daddy to use ad agency for Super Bowl commercials for first time since 2005. Go Daddy announced today that ad agency Deutsch, which is hired earlier this year, will produce its two Super Bowl commercials for 2013. The domain name registrar and web hosting company hired Duetsch to change its image from just being about girls to showing its technology side. The first commercials Duetsch produced for Go Daddy ran during the Olympics. Go Daddy produced its early ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DOMAINfest rebrands as Webfest Global - DOMAINfest gets a new name as it branches out from domains. It was only a matter of time. Oversee.net’s DOMAINfest has new name beginning with next year’s show: Webfest Global. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Although the conference is run by Oversee.net’s DomainSponsor division, the subject matter has shifted in recent years. It’s not all about domains any more; it’s about lead gen, search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, mobile and web ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawsuits opposite ICANN and new TLDs start to hurl in - Two prior TLD applicants sue over specific top level domains. As plans for a 2013 rollout of new top level domains marches forward, two companies have sued ICANN to stop it from issuing certain top level domain names. Both lawsuits come courtesy of companies that applied in the “proof of concept” round back in 2000. Earlier this week DomainIncite reported about a suit filed by Name.Space against ICANN. Name.space runs an alternative root with 482 top level domains. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
RAA traffic updates and how it affects domainers - Get ready for whois verification. Maybe. Huge changes might be coming to the way you register a domain name, and domain investors need to pay attention. Negotiations for a new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), the agreement between registrars and ICANN, are ongoing. Meetings are taking place at ICANN’s meeting in Toronto this week. I’ve talked to multiple people close to the negotiations, including James Bladel, Senior Director, ICANN Policy and Planning ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Monte Cahn on ROTD, Televisions.com, and more - Right of the Dot founder discusses his company’s latest brokerage deal and more. A couple weeks ago Right of the Dot, a company formed by Monte Cahn and Michael Berkens, announced that it was the broker for Televisions.com and related domains. I reached out to Cahn to understand the latest on why Right of the Dot is selling left of the dot, how much the domains might sell for, and more. DNW: I understood what sale.com had to do with “right of the dot” since ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo’s Jeremiah Johnston gets curtsy for SXSW - Johnston to give the lone domain name related talk at SXSW. This week SXSW announced the panels and talks that made the cut for its 2013 conference in Austin. Sedo’s Jeremiah Johnston has been selected two years in a row to give a talk about new top level domains. Johnston will give a “Future15″ talk titled “New Domains Have Landed – Now What!?“. Of course, new TLDs won’t have exactly landed by the time he gives his talk in March. But they will be imminent. Next ... read more ...
Wed 17th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
WalMart loses web site conflict opposite United Food & Commercial Workers International Union - Arbitration panel rules union can keep domain names used to criticize retailer. Wal-Mart has failed to take down a United Food Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) web site critical of Walmart. A single member World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration panel has ruled that the UFCW can retain its domain names Walmartat50.com, walmartat50.com, walmartat50.net and walmartat50.org. Walmartat50.com is a web site that seeks to give the union’s take ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google Offers has 50% off during Go Daddy - “Daily” deal offers half off at Go Daddy. Google Offers — Google’s answer to Groupon — has a deal going on right now that will be interesting to domainers. I just got an email from the service about an offer for Go Daddy. You can see it here. The offer is $10 for $20 toward domain names, hosting, and other services at Go Daddy. The 50% discount offer must be purchased within the next 10 days. It can be redeemed anytime between now and April 1, 2013 and must ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company blames competitor’s use of domain name for 40% dump in business - It really should have registered the domain name earlier. A Boise garage door company blamed a competitor’s use of the domain name BoiseGarageDoor.com for a 40% drop in business. And it managed to win a UDRP for BoiseGarageDoor.com — although the decision didn’t hinge on this drop in business. The case pitted a company called Boise Garage Door LLC against competitor Sunrise Garage Door Co. The complainant has been in business for decades but finally got a trademark ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
WebmasterWorld forums sole to New York company - Popular online destination for SEO and internet marketing discussions changes hands. WebmasterWorld, one of the most popular online forums for web site owners, has been acquired by New York company Internet Marketing Ninjas for an undisclosed price. Internet Marketing Ninjas founder Jim Boykin is a long time member of the WebmasterWorld forums. WebmasterWorld, Inc. was owned by the same people that put on the popular PubCon conference. PubCon will continue to be a ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
20 some-more finish user domain sales - 20 more end user domain sales to report. It’s bonus week for Domain Name Wire readers…two end user sales reports in one week! OK, maybe it’s not that exciting. But there are a couple big names on this week’s list, including Starwood (not it’s first trip to the aftermarket) and The Guardian. Afternic Atlantic Central Bankers Bank bought ACBB.com for $4,999. Its web site is Atlantic Central. Starwood Hotels Resort bought AlohaGuide.com for $2,688. Idealshape, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
128 “binder” domains purebred during GoDaddy.com after debate - Meme kicks of domain registration spree. There’s nothing like a funny phrase in a debate to start a meme. And when there’s a meme, there are domains to be registered. Earlier this year there was Clint Eastwood and his chair. That spurred dozens of domain registrations. Last night there was Mitt Romney and his “binders full of women” comment at the debate. A Super PAC was standing by for any possible meme moments in the debate and snapped up Bindersfullofwomen.com ... read more ...
Tue 16th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Com expansion rate negligence (but usually slightly) - Data show a slight reduction in .com growth rate, but it’s still over 8% per year. A couple weeks ago Michael Berkens wrote a story about how the base of .com and .net domain registrations was slowing “to a crawl”. A few days later Treffis issued a report stating “Verisign’s Dropping .com And .net Is A Troubling Trend”. The numbers in Berken’s post didn’t quite make sense to me. The Treffis report refers to .com and .net having a falling market share, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SnapNames Oct no haven auction ends tomorrow, .ca auction kicks off today - Two auctions worth a look. SnapNames has an “October Deals” auction that ends tomorrow, and I think it’s worth a look. There are 61 domains and it appears none of them have a reserve — just a minimum bid of $199 or more. Many of the domains are ones that you might see sell for $1,000-$3,000 to the right end user, such as AllMBA.com, DebtReductionService.com, DietLogs.com, and SoccerLounge.com. So far 12 of the 61 domains have bids. LBS.org leads the pack with ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
CitizenHawk patents the typo liberation business model - An in-depth look at CitizenHawk’s business model. Brand protection company CitizenHawk has been granted a patent that broadly covers its business model of recovering typo domain names on behalf of clients and then monetizing them. The U.S. patent basically explains the company’s entire business model from start to end; at least what the model was at the time it filed its patent. If you want to know exactly how it goes about discovery, categorizing, and recovering ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Google lets webmasters rescind links - New tools lets webmasters tell Google which inbound links to ignore. I’ve written before about the hassle Google’s crack down on “unnatural linking” has caused web site owners like me. When web site owners get a notice from Google about unnatural links pointing to their site, they send notices to people (like me) asking for their links to be removed. Often these site owners assume all of the links Google has identified were part of their SEO firm’s black ... read more ...
Mon 15th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Battle of a bad names: eevzDrop sues evzDrop - Two social apps based on audio have very similar names — but both are pretty bad. Two companies based in Illinois are duking it out over a really bad name for a social networking app. Eevzdrop, LLC (two e’s at beginning) has sued EvzDrop, Inc. (one e), saying the latter is infringing its Eevzdrop mark. Both names are a play on “eavesdrop”, as both companies offer social apps that involve audio. And both of the names miserably fail the “radio test”, meaning ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
29 finish user domain sales - 29 end user domain sales, including three prompted by a marketing campaign. With TRAFFIC and traveling last week, I’m a few days late with the weekly end user sales report. But you’ll forgive me with this great list! Afternic Let’s start the Afternic list with three companies that went “down ladder”. By this I mean they own a superior TLD (.com in this case) but bought a secondary TLD (.net). I have a pretty good theory about how these deals came about: Jones ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Circa domain penetrate could means problems - Startup’s domain name may violate .ca rules. Startup Circa made a big splash today with the release of its news app for the iPhone. The hoopla has a lot to do with the company’s notable co-founders including Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh. While Circa has a lot going for it, what it doesn’t have is the domain name Circa.com. It settled for the Canadian domain hack Cir.ca. A .ca domain hack doesn’t come with the political risk that you get with domains such ... read more ...
Fri 12th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Poll: How most will 1 and 2 minute .org domains sell for? - What will domains sell for at auction? This week Public Interest Registry, the non-profit that runs .org, announced auctions for 85 one and two character .org domain names. The domains will be auctioned through Go Daddy and eNom in what the company dubs “Project94″. Although basically anyone can bid on the domains, PIR’s pitch to ICANN to release the short domains said that bidders will have to be “committed to building out the domain name with a sound marketing ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Say what?? It’s not retreat domain hijacking if we acknowledge it upfront. - When is a case of RDNH not RDNH? You won’t believe this one. Some UDRP cases should be clear cut cases of reverse domain name hijacking. Consider the decision just handed down over GoodUniverse.com. The complainant was just formed. It recently applied for a trademark on “Good Universe” on an intent-to-use basis, meaning it hasn’t even used its mark in commerce yet. The domain owner, a domain investor, has owned the domain name since at least 2004. The complainant ... read more ...
Thu 11th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Could Twitter brand a best domain registrars? - The sentiment of your tweets may suggest which domain name registrars are best. A few weeks ago TechCrunch wrote about Kevin Ohashi’s new web hosting review site ReviewSignal.com. (If Ohashi’s name rings a bell, Ohashi is a Domain Name Wire reader and you may have seen some of his comments on the site before.) TechCrunch titled its post “Web Hosting Reviews Are A Cesspool. Review Signal Wants To Fix That”. If you’ve ever searched for web hosting reviews ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
ICANN’s bombshell: new TLDs earlier than approaching interjection to a lottery - New TLD applicants will likely applaud plan — after they try to massage it to their best interests. It’s still just a plan open to comment, but ICANN today released big news related to the orderly delegation of new top level domains. First, it plans to go back to a lottery model for deciding which new TLDs will be evaluated and ultimately delegated. Except for internationalized domain names, which will be given a priority: IDNs will be given a priority. Advance ... read more ...
Wed 10th October 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
TRAFFIC domain auction was a many sparkling in years - Auction was high energy despite low sales prices. If you didn’t attend the domain auction Monday at TRAFFIC, you’ve probably read a bit about: The domains didn’t sell for much. Some people lost money selling domains for less than they bought them for. One of the auctioneers couldn’t read or pronounce most of the domains. A lot of 100 domains sold for below registration fee. These are all true. But there’s something else: This was the most exciting TRAFFIC ... read more ...