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.

Thu 14th June 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Over 40% of Fortune 100 request for tip turn domain names - Tech, pharma, consumer and financial companies more likely to apply. At least 42 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 applied for one or more top level domains. I’ve embedded the spreadsheet showing the companies below. This is actually a bit harder to sort out than I expected; some companies applied under unusual names or through subsidiaries. I’m sure there are some missing because of this, so please let me know if any of the data below is incorrect. Some ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What domains Go Daddy and 18 others bought final week - 19 end user domain sales. There’s been a lot of news about new top level domains this week. But what’s going on right now in the domain market? Here are 19 domain sales to end users from the past week, including one to domain registrar Go Daddy. Afternic Dispatching technology company Unified Dispatch, LLC, bought zTrip.com for $20,000 from Frank Schilling. App creator Apps For Life, which published Box Shot, bought BoxShot.com for $3,500. TV Guide bought TVGM.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Amazon.com won’t offer domain names to a public - Amazon.com intends to only offer domain registrations to itself. Amazon.com has applied for 76 top level domain names. But don’t expect to be able to register any second level domains underneath them. I just reviewed eight of the company’s applications, and each one has similar language explaining who can register a second level domain under them: only Amazon.com and its subsidiaries. …Amazon and its subsidiaries will be the only eligible registrants… Now ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN: .WeScrewedUpAgain - Group publishes private details of new top level domain applicants. During the ICANN press conference on Wednesday a reporter stood up and asked if ICANN had told applicants that their email addresses and phone numbers would be published. Yes, was the response. Something to the tune of “we told everyone this would be an open process”. But only some of this information was to be published. Certainly not the home addresses of the applicants, which apparently were ... read more ...
Wed 13th June 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
As many as 1,409 tip turn domains on a way - 1,409 unique top level domain applications submitted to ICANN. It’s “reveal day”, with ICANN set to reveal the applications for new top level domains at a press conference starting at 8 am EDT today. This morning ICANN released overall numbers related to the program. First, the headline number. We’ll see up to 1,409 new top level domains hit the web from this round. There were 1,930 total applications. 751 of those applications cover 230 contested domain names. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Surprise? Facebook doesn’t request for .Facebook - Facebook doesn’t apply for any top level domains. Back in April AdAge reported that Facebook wasn’t applying for a new top level domain. I found that surprising, and wrote: Of course, it’s entirely possible that AdAge just didn’t talk to the right person within the companies. A Facebook spokesperson told AdAge that the company wasn’t apply for .Facebook, but you never know. I later contacted Facebook after the application period was closed, thinking the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Here are Frank Schilling’s 54 TLD applications - 54 domains include some contested domains. ICANN has just revealed the full list of new TLD applications. Here are the 54 submitted by Frank Schilling and his Uniregistry, Corp: .BlackFriday is very interesting. Clever play on .sexy, too. ART AUCTION AUDIO AUTO BLACKFRIDAY CARS CHRISTMAS CLICK COUNTRY DEAL DESIGN DIET FAMILY FASHION FLOWERS FREE FURNITURE GAME GARDEN GIFT GRATIS GUITARS HELP HIPHOP HOME HOSTING INC JUEGOS LINK LOL LOVE MARKETING MEDIA MOM NEWS PHOTO PICS PIZZA PROPERTY RACING REALESTATE RESTAURANT SALE SAVE SCHOOL SEXY SHOPPING STORE STYLE TATTOO TEAM TECH VIDEO YOGA ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Amazon.com relates for 76 tip turn domain names including .cloud, .hot, .wow, .amazon - Amazon.com goes big with new TLDs. Amazon.com has applied for 76 top level domain names, making it one of the largest internet brands to participate in ICANN’s historic expansion of the top level domain namespace. Names range from brands such as .amazon to products to internationalized domain names. Here’s the full list: AMAZON APP AUDIBLE AUTHOR AWS BOOK BOT BOX BUY CALL CIRCLE CLOUD COUPON DEAL DEV DRIVE FAST FIRE FREE GAME GOT GROUP HOT IMDB JOT JOY KIDS KINDLE LIKE MAIL MAP MOBILE MOI MOVIE MUSIC NEWS NOW PAY PIN PLAY PRIME READ ROOM SAFE SAVE SEARCH SECURE SHOP SHOW SILK SMILE SONG SPOT STORE TALK TUNES TUSHU VIDEO WANGGOU WOW YAMAXUN YOU YUN ZAPPOS ZERO IDNs: (a-label, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google relates for 101 tip turn domains - Google looks like the largest player amongst internet brands on new top level domain names. I count 101 total applications. The company applied for the domains under a unique name — Charleston Road Registry Inc. Only three of the names are internationalized domain names. Here’s the full list: ADS AND ANDROID APP ARE BABY BLOG BOO BOOK BUY CAL CAR CHANNEL CHROME CLOUD CORP CPA DAD DAY DCLK DDS DEV DIY DOCS DOG DOT DRIVE EARTH EAT ESQ EST FAMILY FILM FLY FOO FREE FUN FYI GAME GBIZ GLE GMAIL GMBH GOO GOOG GOOGLE GUGE HANGOUT HERE HOME HOW INC ING KID LIVE LLC LLP LOL LOVE MAIL MAP MBA MED MEME MOM MOTO MOV MOVIE MUSIC NEW NEXUS PAGE PET PHD PLAY PLUS PROD PROF RSVP SEARCH SHOP SHOW SITE SOY SPOT SRL STORE TALK TEAM TECH TOUR TUBE VIP WEB WOW YOU YOUTUBE ZIP IDNs: a-code, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Microsoft relates for 11 (mostly) .brand domain names including .skype - Microsoft goes easy on new top level domains. Compared to other internet giants Google and Amazon, Microsoft was conservative on the top level domains it has applied for. There are 11 in total: AZURE BING DOCS HOTMAIL LIVE MICROSOFT OFFICE SKYDRIVE SKYPE WINDOWS XBOX All of these look like brands, save for perhaps .docs. This looks like more of a defensive play than anything else, although I’m sure Microsoft can find a good way to put .office and .skype to use. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign relates for 9 transliterations of .com and 3 of .net - VeriSign’s IDN plans finally unveiled. Internationalized Domain Name investors, your wait is over. We now know the transliterations of .com and .net that VeriSign has applied for. You can read more about VeriSign’s plans for how it will offer these to owners of existing second level IDNs for .com and .net here. Please comment if you want to say what language these are…more to follow. Also, VeriSign applied for .verisign (no surprise) and .comsec. xn--fhbei Transliteration ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.App many renouned TLD application, .home, .inc, and .art tighten behind - 13 applications for .app domain name. We must be in an app economy… .App is the most contested new top level domain name application with 13 applications, and there are some big players battling for the domain. Amazon.com and Google are among the applicants for the .app domain. Expect a fierce battle. Here are the other applications I found with 8 or more applicants, including if any very deep pocketed backers are going after them. If I missed any please comment. 11 ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Amazon, Google, and Symantec to quarrel for .cloud domain name - Seven applicants to compete for .cloud top level domain include some really big internet giants. Seven applicants filed requests with ICANN for the .cloud top level domain name — and three of them are heavyweight contenders. Amazon.com, Google, and Symantec Corporation are all in the running for the domain name. They’ll be competing against some smaller competitors including Aruba.it, CloudNames.com, Donuts.co, and Top Level Domain Holdings. If the seven can’t ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Demand Media’s 26 TLDs strike a armed forces, democrats, and republicans - Demand Media applies for 26 domain names — and some of them are very interesting. Publicly traded Demand Media, parent company of domain registrar eNom, has applied for 26 top level domain names through (what appears to be) a subsidiary called United TLD Holdco Ltd. The company also has a deal to share in up to 107 top level domains applied for by Donuts, Inc. Demand Media’s list is interesting. Of course, it didn’t want to conflict with Donuts, Inc. on any ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Donuts also relates for .sucks — here’s the list of 307 applications - A fight breaks out over .sucks top level domain. Donuts, Inc. is the biggest applicant for new top level domains. But it’s a little difficult to parse that information from ICANN’s release of applications since every one has a different corporation attached to it. (The list of registry company names looks a lot like SnapNames list of registrars.) So I’ve gone ahead and printed its list below. Perhaps most interesting is that Donuts applied for .sucks amongst ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google and Amazon contest on 21 new tip turn domain applications - Google and Amazon had a lot of the same ideas for new top level domains. One of the biggest battles over new top level domains will pit internet heavyweights Google and Amazon against each other. Amazon applied for 76 top level domains and Google applied for 101 top level domains. But I count 20 — and perhaps 21 — domain names that the two will have to duke it out for. Here’s the list of domains that both companies applied for: .App .Book .Cloud .Dev .Drive .Free .Game .Kid/.Kids .Mail .Map .Movie .Music .Play .Search .Shop .Show .Spot .Store .Talk .Wow .You And ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Peter Dengate Thrush’s greeting to today’s tip turn domain reveals - Former ICANN chairman notes some surprises today, but says he’s still digesting all of the data. Peter Dengate Thrush was chairman of ICANN’s board when it finally approved the new top level domain plan. Now he’s with Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH), which is one of the biggest applicants for new top level domains. It is applying for 68 on its own accord and 92 in total. I just got off the phone with Dengate Thrush and asked him what the biggest surprises were ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
NBA, MLB, and NFL request for tip turn domains - Are you ready for .baseball? The United States’ three biggest professional sports leagues have applied to ICANN to run their own top level domains. As I predicted, Major League Baseball applied for .MLB. It also applied for .baseball. It will face a play-off with .baseball though, as Donuts Inc also applied for the domain. Donuts is the largest new TLD applicant, and submitted the application through its Silver Pass, LLC company. National Basketball Association ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Doh! Group relates for .dotafrica, Vistaprint relates for .webs twice, and Merck for .Merck thrice - Coming soon, .africa and .dotafrica. There were certainly some interesting top level domain applications released today. But it looks like a few companies made mistakes — or wasted some money at the very least. First, some have reported that they were surprised to only see one .africa application. After all, DotConnectAfrica said it was going to still apply for the domain despite dispute over support of African governments. But then today’s list shows only one ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
These village TLD applications are a finish joke - Be ready to prove you’re part of the .shop community if you want to register a .shop domain. One of the biggest problems I’ve had with the new TLD applicant guidebook is preference given to applications representing a so-called community. This is ripe for gaming. Consider these applications that say they are representing a “community”: .Music – .music LLC from Far Further and CGR E-Commerce LTD .eco from Big Room Inc. .Shop from Commercial Connect and GMO ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Uniregistry to offer singular heading retard opposite all the tip turn domains - Uniregistry tries a different approach. Frank Schilling is definitely trying to shake things up with his new TLD play Uniregistry. Here are some interesting sections of his applications: On defensive registrations: “Our financial projections do not include, expect, nor rely upon an assumed profit from defensive registrations… …Brand owners who are not interested in using the TLD should not be charged a premium nor risk implicitly threatened consequences of non-registration. ... read more ...
Tue 12th June 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Frank Schilling relates for 54 new TLDs, Juan Calle also in a mix - Schilling applies for 54 domains, reports Paul Sloan. CNET’s Paul Sloan, who has been covering the domain name industry for many years, just wrote a piece on new top level domains that teases out more details behind Frank Schilling’s plans for new TLDs. Sloan reports that uber domainer Frank Schilling is applying for 54 top level domains through his registry Uniregistry. He’s invested $60 million of his own money for the venture. (Schilling told me a month ago ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Facebook gets FacebookOfSex.pro domain name - Social network registers two Facebook sex domains. Last year Facebook sued FriendFinder Networks over its FacebookOfSex.com web site, ultimately resulting in a transfer of the domain name to Facebook. Now the company has registered two similar domains, FacebookOfSex.pro and Facebooksex.pro. The two domains were previously owned by a registrant called “Netud” in France. You may be asking yourself, isn’t .pro for professionals only? I guess you weren’t aware ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Parent association of .Co Internet relates for 13 tip turn domains (here’s a list) - Company releases names of 13 applications. This morning Paul Sloan broke the news that STRAAT investments, parent company of .Co Internet, applied for 13 top level domain names. The company just released the list: .APP .BOOK .CORP .DESIGN .GMBH .GROUP .INC .LAW .LLC .LTD .MOVIE .TECH .WEB Many — if not all — of these will be in contention with other applicants. Interestingly, the company believes that auctions won’t be necessary for these domains because all ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
High trade Google typo oogle.com strike with UDRP - Complaint filed against domain that sends traffic to survey and adult sites. A complaint has been filed with National Arbitration Forum over the high traffic domain name oogle.com. National Arbitration Forum does not disclose the name of complainants until a case is decided, but you can bet good money that Google filed the dispute. A poster on domain forum DNForum in April claimed that the site received 450,000+ unique visitors a month, undoubtedly from people who ... read more ...