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.

Mon 21st September 2015
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Frank Schilling – DNW Podcast #51 - Frank Schilling returns to the podcast to discuss domain name liquidity, new TLDs and more. Can Frank Schilling help domain name owners sell more domain names? He’s on the show today to talk about the improved sales platform he is creating. Although he doesn’t spill all the beans, he promises something big will be released by NamesCon in January. Schilling also gives his latest thoughts on new TLDs, the value of .com domain names, and reveals how his domain sales in 2015 compare to last year. ... read more ...
 
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This week: .Tickets, .Rent, .Courses - Several top level domain names become available this week. From learning to entertainment, here a the top level domain names launching this week. .Tickets launches today for the ticket sales business. Domain investors will need to be judicious; one year registrations start at over $500. .Courses enters general availability on Wednesday. This domain name is pretty good for online education, although it faces competition from domains such as .education, .university, and .college. Speaking of .College, ... read more ...
Fri 18th September 2015
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End User Stories: How Parachute bought Parachute.co - Delivery service decided .co was better than a longer .com domain name. College campus delivery service Parachute recently acquired the domain name Parachute.co. In our continuing series on end user domain name purchase stories, Parachute co-founder Zev Lapin explains why his company selected Parachute.co and how it bought it. DNW: What is Parachute? Parachute (formerly CourseLoads) is a last mile delivery layer within college campuses. We make it simple for students to get what they need, delivered ... read more ...
 
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Check out InterNetX's Lamborghini R-EX - Lambo is part of European marketing tour. Domain name and hosting company InterNetX is running a great awareness program at several European conferences and even a car race in Netherlands. Dubbed “InterNetX Online Racing Days”, the marketing campaign features a domain logo-laden Lamborghini R-EX making pitstops at three European conferences: dmexco in Germany this week, Hostingcon Europe in Amsterdam next week and Bits Pretzels, one of the largest founder conferences in Europe, from September ... read more ...
Thu 17th September 2015
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Expired Domain Report: What are 6 number domains worth? - A look back at the past week in expired domain name sales. China is no stranger to these weekly charts, usually sitting as guest of honor or even at the head of the table. Pinyin, LLLs, short numerics …of course. Yet certain Chinese subcategories – notably 6-digit numeric domains – have traditionally been relegated to children’s folding chairs at the far end. Until now! Last week, NNNNNN.com domains kicked Mommy and Daddy out of their chairs and claimed both the #1 and #2 spots. Those ... read more ...
 
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New TLDs get primary bearing during Dmexco - Sedo leads effort to spread awareness of new domain name options at large conference in Germany. Sedo teamed up with a number of new TLD registries for this booth at dmexco in Germany.New top level domain names are getting lots of exposure at this week’s dmexco digital marketing conference in Cologne, Germany. Sedo has a large booth themed after Times Square, with top level domain names filling in the signage. As with last year’s dmexco, Sedo is also offering frozen yogurt. The toppings are ... read more ...
 
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Finally! Google sues robocallers Local Lighthouse - Google files trademark infringement suit against bothersome SEO/SEM company. Google has sued Local Lighthouse Corp, which has undertaken a massive robocall and telemarketing campaign and, from personal experience, tried to trick callers into thinking it was associated with Google. It’s likely you’ve received a robocall from these this group, even if you didn’t know who was behind it. The calls suggest the caller is from Google, or representing Google, and needs to talk to you about your search ... read more ...
Wed 16th September 2015
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GoDaddy says there's still upside for registrars and domain investors - Most very small businesses don’t have websites yet, but many plan to create one. GoDaddy released results from a global survey today, showing that the vast majority of very small businesses (5 or fewer employees) still don’t have a website. The survey included 4,000 businesses in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. 59% of businesses said they don’t have a website. The upside: 55% report they intend to create a website in the next two years. The ... read more ...
 
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Sedo has some inestimable Marketplace auctions right now - Buyers are bidding up four character domain names at Sedo. It’s not every day that Sedo Marketplace auctions have intense bidding wars, but this week seems to be an exception. You might want to take a look. Much of the excitement is a rush on four letter .com domain names. FFRR.com just closed at $5,500. Names including bhxj.com, kgld.com and xqym.com all have multiple bidders and prices over $600. There are many other four letter domain names also on auction, presumably being snapped up by Chinese ... read more ...
 
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Wine.co for $25,000 and other finish user domain name sales - Wine.co tops list of public domain name sales at Sedo for the week. Sedo handled $1.4 million worth of domain name transactions last week, with 56% of them resulting from “buy now” sales. The top public sale was Wine.co, purchased by the wine store at Wine.com.br, for $25,000. A lot of interesting sales are still in escrow. I’m curious who paid $2,000 for nepotism.org and $12,500 for CloudStore.com. Here’s a look at end user domain name sales from the psat week: (You can view previous lists ... read more ...
Tue 15th September 2015
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DomainTools launches Iris height for confidence hazard investigations - New platform helps security teams quickly find the source of attacks. DomainTools launched its new Iris platform today, making it easier for companies to quickly investigate security attacks and determine their sources. Iris integrates many of DomainTools’ existing data sets into an easy-to-use workflow. While targeted to enterprises without the resources necessary to manage their own systems tapping into DomainTools’ API, it could also be helpful for domain name attorneys and other people trying ... read more ...
 
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Panelist finds East End N.Y. Imports Inc. intent in retreat domain name hijacking - Company went after Modway.com domain name, which was registered well before it had trademark rights in the name. One of three panelists in a UDRP decision for Modway.com has determined that East End N.Y. Imports engaged in reverse domain name hijacking by bringing the case. The other two, while finding in the domain name owner’s favor, declined to find RDNH. It seems that the complainant’s saving grace for reverse domain name hijacking was that it managed to pull up a couple cases to back up ... read more ...
 
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Foundation Fitness nailed for Reverse Domain Name Hijacking on Stages.com - Seller of Stages exercise bikes abused UDRP in effort to get Stages.com domain name. Portland, Oregon company Foundation Fitness engaged in reverse domain name hijacking for the domain name Stages.com, a World Intellectual Property Organization panel has ruled. The company sells stationary exercise bikes under the brand Stages Cycling. In this case, the registrant of the domain name bought it in the aftermarket in 2014. This was after trademarks were issued to the complainant. Still, the panel determined ... read more ...
 
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See .Online ads in San Francisco - Radix begins ad campaign in Bay Area. New top level domain name registry Radix has begun a large-scale advertising effort in San Francisco. The company now has ads promoting .Online on the side of 35 bus stops. Radix is also promoting .online and .tech on a mobile video board. The truck is visiting a number of hot spots in San Francisco and a couple conferences, such as TechCrunch’s Disrupt ’15 and Dreamforce (the latter of which sucks up every hotel room in the city). Listen to this week’s ... read more ...
 
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CentralNic reports earnings, numbers decrease from final half - Although year-over-year numbers look nice, it’s not a good comparison. Top level domain name registry CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) reported results for the first half of the year today. The company painted a rosy picture comparing the results to the first half of 2014 (revenue +171%, gross profit +125%), but that doesn’t really tell the story. The best comparison for CentralNic’s numbers are the second half of 2014, since that’s when the company realized the full revenue and earnings from its ... read more ...
Mon 14th September 2015
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This week: a domain for .Men and dual minute Donuts - Smaller Donuts are available this week. There are a couple interesting top level domain name launches this week. On Wednesday, Famous Four Media launches the .men domain name. I’m not really sure why people will register these domains; I suspect they will mostly be used for mens’ fashion and perhaps adult entertainment. More notable, on Wednesday you can start registering two character domain names in Donuts’ top level domain names at regular registration prices. The domains are currently ... read more ...
 
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Bhavin Turakhia is Not Retiring Yet… DNW Podcast #50 - After selling several of his domain name registration businesses for over $100 million, Bhavin Turakhia is at it again with Radix. Bhavin Turakhia founded Directi with his brother Divyank and sold part of the domain name company for over $100 million last year. But neither Turakhia brother is heading into retirement. This week on the Domain Name Wire Podcast, Bhavin discusses his new top level domain name company Radix. The company has released names ranging from .tech to .site, and its .online domain ... read more ...
 
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Protectionism in a travel business…and domain name business - Only focusing on protecting your existing business, rather than figuring out how to capitalize on innovation, is a mistake. The technology in this car is going to shake up the entire transportation industry.It’s interesting to observe how companies and industries engage in protectionism to fend of legitimate competitive threats. I’ve given a lot of thought to this lately while thinking about the automotive transportation business, which will undergo a huge transformation over the next couple ... read more ...
Fri 11th September 2015
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Making Progress: Why Progress.ly bought Progressly.com - “Github for business people” bought a new domain name to make it easier for people to discover its service. This is the second in a new Domain Name Wire series covering end users that buy domain names. Nick Candito is founder of Progressly, a company on a mission to improve business processes. The company started with the domain name Progress.ly, a popular domain name extension for startups. It’s actually Libya’s country code domain name. This past week, the company paid $8,750 to secure ... read more ...
 
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Huge feat for Domain Registrars and Parking companies in GoDaddy justice case - Case provides ammunition for domain name registrars and domain parking companies in cybersquatting claims. A court has found in GoDaddy’s favor in a long running cybersquatting battle brought by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 128-page decision (pdf) has lots of findings that will be cited in cybersquatting lawsuits for years to come. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is responsible for The Oscars, formally known as the Academy Awards. It sued GoDaddy in 2010 ... read more ...
Thu 10th September 2015
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Westland.com during $16.2k and other lapsed domain name sales - A look back at the past week in expired domain name sales. Our planet’s dirt must be popular. At NameJet last week, 3 of the top 4 auctions contained words like “earth”, “world”, and “land”. Let’s not read too much into that coincidence, though. Westland.com ($16.2k) is both a city in Michigan and a distillery in Seattle. EarthTech.com ($15.3k) could be an upgrade for solar gear; Florida sinkhole repair; Albuquerque landscaping; or Austin physicists researching gravity, cosmology, ... read more ...
 
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Lawsuit filed after Materia.com UDRP, and it's an engaging case - Michele Dinoia has cybersquatted in the past, but was Materia.com different? Michele Dinoia has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against California company Materia, Inc., after Materia won a UDRP for Dinoia’s domain name Materia.com. The lawsuit seeks to stay the transfer and seeks a finding reverse domain name hijacking. National Arbitration panelist Richard DiSalle found in Materia, Inc’s favor in a UDRP decision dated August 20. He ordered Dinoia’s domain name registrar, Name.com, ... read more ...
Wed 9th September 2015
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17 finish user sales including a .XYZ domain name - Sedo sold $1.1 million of domain names last week, including these end user sales. Sedo handled a higher-than-usual 647 domain name transactions last week totaling $1.1 million. 56% — slightly hire than usual — were “buy now” sales. Among the end user buyers were a site that connects bands to wedding gigs, a food sustainability organization, and some guy named Paul who bought Paul.xyz. (The abc.xyz effect continues!) Here’s a look at 17 end user purchases that took place at Sedo over the ... read more ...
 
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How can we move liquidity to a domain name business? - Is there a way to make domain names a more efficient market? Domain name investing is an incredibly inefficient and illiquid business compared to many markets. There have been times and certain segments when domains were liquid, such as traffic domains sold at multiples and the current three letter .com craze. But for the most part and for most domains, there’s a complete lack of liquidity. Inefficient markets create opportunity, but they also make it difficult for market participants. A more ... read more ...
 
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NameJet's Aug in Review – 3 impression delayed down? - Joseph Peterson reviews the past month of domain sales at NameJet. August was a slow month at NameJet – where sales above $2000 are concerned anyway. With that upper price range contributing a total of $399.5k, the auction house fell far short of July’s million plus. But that was to be expected, since July set the venue’s all-time record for total sales; and more than half a million came from a single record-breaking auction. Looking all the way back, August turns out to be right in ... read more ...