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 9th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
HostingCon Opens Registration for 2011 Event - Early bird registration now available for next year’s HostingCon. HostingCon has opened registration for its 2011 event in San Diego, CA. The show will take place August 8 – 10, 2011 at the San Diego Convention Center. I attended last year’s event in Austin. There were about 1,500 people in attendance, over 100 exhibitors, and a lot of domain name companies. Some of the domain companies that exhibited last year include: Afilias DotMobi eNom ResellerClub and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo Holds Another Portfolio Auction - Personal block of 32 domains up for auction. Last month I reported about how Sedo was holding a portfolio auction on behalf of an individual seller. The seller sold around 90% of his domains. Right now Sedo is having another portfolio auction. This one has 32 domains all at no reserve and ending Wednesday. The list this month doesn’t have as many keyword domains as last month, but there are still some good domains (especially at no reserve). I especially like ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Quinstreet Bought CarInsurance.com for a Organic Traffic - Organic traffic and following keys to $49.7 million purchase. I just finished listening to the Quinstreet conference call that discussed the acquisition of CarInsurance.com. As with the company’s previous media acquisitions, the company said the value comes primarily from the organic traffic the site receives and how that converts into leads. Also like some previous acquisitions, CarInsurance.com was previously attached to an insurance agency. The agency will ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Registration Opens for New Top Level Domain Conference - .nxt conference registration now available. If you think you’ve heard a lot about new top level domain names over the past couple years, you haven’t seen anything yet. Next year we may finally see the opening — and perhaps closing — of the application round. Which means it’s crunch time. Anyone interested in new top level domain names should consider attending the .nxt conference. Organized by former ICANN employee and journalist Kieren McCarthy, the ... read more ...
Mon 8th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
A Typical Premium Domain Name Inquiry - Funny video about the typical domain purchase inquiry. Ah, the domain purchase inquiry. You have to listen to them, but there’s the all-to-familiar pain of uneducated buyers that try to tell you how you should value your domain name. Bill Sweetman created this fun video that will seem very familiar to you. It includes just about everything you’ve ever heard, from “there must be a law against you owning this domain name” to “I got it appraised for less ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Quinstreet Buys CarInsurance.com for $49.7 Million, Says It’s Done For Now - Quinstreet buys another insurance web site but says that’s it for now. Fresh off purchases of Insure.com and Insurance.com, Quinstreet has paid $49.7 million cash for CarInsurance.com and related entities. In a press release, the company said this purchase: …expands our proprietary media and traffic sources in Insurance, consistent with our strategy. It builds on our recent acquisitions of Insurance.com and Insure.com, both of which are performing well, and provides ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Austin Domainer Weekend Now Includes Football Tickets - Dinner, drinks, and now a ticket to the football game. Thanks to the very generous support of the internet lawyers at Traverse Legal, the Austin Domainer Weekend starting this Friday now includes tickets to the University of Texas vs. Oklahoma State football game on Saturday! In order to get the right number of tickets, it’s important that you RSVP immediately for the weekend. When you RSVP, please note whether or not you’ll be able to make it to the game Saturday ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Aftermarket.com Is Alive - It’s alive! Thought Convergence’s Aftermarket.com has been reborn today. I wrote a preview about some of the new site’s features back in August. The site works like a number of other domain name marketplaces, but has a few twists thrown in. I think the domain name verification system through sister company DomainTools will help maintain marketplace integrity. As Michael Berkens opined yesterday, Aftermarket.com could set itself apart from many other marketplaces ... read more ...
Fri 5th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Overstock.com Uses O.co in TV Commercial - Big exposure for .co domain names. The folks at .co are very happy about Overstock.com’s latest TV commercial that includes the o.co domain name. And for good reason. The holiday commercial will certainly get a lot of airtime, and .co is featured prominently at the end. At the end of the commercial is this graphic: Overstock.com made waves when it purchased O.co from the .co registry in July for $350,000. It makes sense that Overstock.com would feature it as ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Zoom.com Domain Name and IP Rights Sell for $350,000 in Stock - Mobile phone manufacturer gets domain name and trademark rights. Zoom Technologies, a Chinese manufacturer of mobile phones, has announced it acquired the domain name Zoom.com as well as trademark rights to the Zoom name from Zoom Telephonics. Zoom Technologies (NASDAQ: ZOOM) paid for the domain name and IP rights with 80,000 shares of common stock, which currently have a market value of about $350,000. Zoom Telephonics is an over-the-counter traded company that ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Frank Schilling Wins Another UDRP - Schilling wins another UDRP. Fresh off a legal victory stemming from a previous UDRP, Frank Schilling’s Name Administration has another UDRP victory to add to its collection. The company, with the help of domain name attorney John Berryhill, successfully defended a case brought by Halo Innovations, Inc. Halo Innovations has a product called SleepSack and brought the case over the SleepSack.com domain name. However, Name Administration was using the domain name ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Epik’s IceCreamMaker.com Back during Top Spot on Google - Site that was de-indexed is back at number one position on Google. That didn’t take long. Epik’s IceCreamMaker.com, which was one of the most cited examples of the network’s sites that were de-indexed from Google about a week ago, has been indexed again. It’s also ranked number one in Google when you search for Ice Cream Maker. Epik’s Luke Webster sent an email to customers today announcing other changes the company has made following the de-indexing of ... read more ...
Thu 4th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Coming to Austin? RSVP Now. - Austin Domainer Meetup is quickly approaching. Are you coming to the Domainer Meetup in Austin November 12-13? Please RSVP now. It’s important that we get an accurate headcount by early next week, especially so we can get the right amount of food at Friday night’s dinner. If you missed the details, get them here along with the complete schedule. Austin resident Michael Curving has graciously offered up a spare bed and a couple couches to anyone who can’t get ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
VaultPress Saved Me This Week - WordPress’ backup system is a great insurance policy. I’ve been using WordPress’ official backup system VaultPress since a few days after it launched. I like how simple it is, backing up your entire WordPress blog constantly without any interaction. This week my $40-a-month subscription paid off. I got an instant message from a reader notifying me that they couldn’t read any of my articles. Confused, I went to the site and had no problem seeing the articles. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Let’s Face It, The Domain Name Industry is Small - Compared to much of the online world, the domain business is tiny. A lot of times we like to think of ourselves in the domain name industry as self-important. The head honchos. The domain industry is certainly important. All online companies start with a domain name. But let’s face it, we’re a small part on the online world. A drop in the bucket. I was reminded of this again while at Ad-Tech in New York City this week. With hundreds of exhibitors, the event ... read more ...
Wed 3rd November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Why we Don’t Trust Mass Development But Appreciate Epik - My past experiences tell me you need to have a plan beyond Google. Last week I wrote an article about how some sites on Epik’s platform were de-indexed from Google but how I thought the company would be OK. A number of commentors disagreed, which is fine. But let me explain my take. I’ve written a number of articles about Epik as they’ve launched new services. I don’t believe I’ve ever “endorsed” Epik as a product. I’ve cautiously watched the company. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Name Administration Settles Over ChilliBeans.com Domain Name - Frank Schilling settles disagreement over ChilliBeans.com. In 2008 Name Administration (Frank Schilling’s company) lost a UDRP for the generic domain name ChilliBeans.com. It was the company’s first loss in a UDRP case, and it then sued complainant Balglow Finance in order to retain the domain name. The two parties have settled the case. Name Administration provided the following statement to Domain Name Wire: Name Administration Inc. (“NAI”) and Balglow ... read more ...
Tue 2nd November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Role of Registries will Change with New Top Level Domain Names - Role of registries shifting as new TLDs are introduced, likely in 2012. The traditional role of a registry has been the technical coordination of top level domain names. In fact, many registries have deliberately not looked at themselves as promoters of their TLDs, and only technical service providers. That has changed a bit over the past few years as registries realized it takes more than putting a domain out there to get a good customer base. And it’s about ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo Sells Another $20 Million in Domains in Q3 - Domain broker has solid Q3, but will have a huge Q4. Domain name broker Sedo has released its third quarter Domain Market Study, reporting over $20 million USD in sales for the latest quarter. This is down slightly from the company’s results in the same quarter 2009, and is also lower than each of the first two quarters this year. (I’m sure the company is looking forward to its Q4 report, which will get a nice boost from the $13 million sale of Sex.com.) However, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
$500,000 Logo.com Deal Helps Sedo Clear $1M for a Week - A big sales week for Sedo. Earlier today I wrote about how Sedo sold over $20 million worth of domains last quarter. This quarter will be even stronger thanks to its $13 million sale of Sex.com. And this week’s report keeps the momentum going. Headlined by the $500,000 sale of Logo.com, the company turned in well over $1 million worth of domain sales. Here are the top .com sales for the week: logo.com 500,000 USD freeoffice.com 55,000 USD namecheck.com 50,000 USD resumeservice.com 28,000 USD securite.com 20,500 EUR rockmerch.com 20,000 USD alphaflash.com 19,999 USD saveco.com 12,888 USD hireexpert.com 12,000 USD bermudacruise.com 10,500 USD elegs.com 9,000 USD ecigar.com 8,600 USD ablip.com 8,500 USD mmedia.com 8,500 USD anobe.com 8,000 EUR hddiner.com 7,000 USD northboro.com 6,700 USD domburg.com 5,225 EUR beerhats.com 5,000 USD artmap.com 5,000 EUR Top ... read more ...
Mon 1st November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Top 5 Domain Name Wire Stories of Oct 2010 - A look back at October in domaining. Halloween is behind us, the clocks are about to “fall” back an hour in much of the U.S., and cool weather is upon us (well, not so much in Texas). Here are the top five stories on Domain Name Wire in October based on total views. Conroy Disses .XXX – Australian Senator Stephen Conroy, who’s under fire for his proposed internet firewall idea, sent a letter to ICANN opposing the .xxx top level domain name. Epik Will Be OK, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Divyank Turakhia Gets a Press Treatment - Turakhia positioned next to famous tech founders at recent conference. OK, so perhaps my new role with Directi’s media businesses — including the soon to be unveiled Media.net — will affect me as a blogger. After all, while Michael Berkens was covering two stories about Divyank from the f.ounders conference in Dublin, I was busy putting final touches on the media.net launch later this week. So I’m a little late to the punch. The first story was published ... read more ...
Fri 29th October 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Business Constituency and ICA Say No to New UDRP Providers - Groups want moratorium on new UDRP providers until ICANN gets handle on them. Both the ICANN Business Constituency and the Internet Commerce Association have asked ICANN to reject any applications from new UDRP providers until “ICANN implements a standard mechanism for establishing uniform rules and procedures and flexible means of delineating and enforcing arbitration provider responsibilities.” The comments are in response to an application by Arab Center for ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Interview with Jarred Cohen of Bido - New ownership, but a similar formula for Bido. Social domain auction site Bido is back and under new ownership. There’s a familiar face at the helm, with Jarred Cohen returning as Chief Operating Officer. He’s a busy guy right now, but I was able to steal a few minutes of his time via email for an update: DNW: Who bought Bido? Cohen: The Bido software, website, and some other related assets were purchased by Bido.com LLC, a Switzerland company. DNW: What is ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Hogwarts School Gets Its Own Domain Name - Warner Bros. wins domain name dispute for Hogwarts.com. Children and dreamers interested in attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Harry Potter series will soon be able to find it more easily on the web — Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has just been awarded the domain name Hogwarts.com through a UDRP. Warner Bros. has rights dating from June 1, 1998 in which author J.K. Rowling granted and assigned to it rights in all four books in the Harry ... read more ...