Ohashi.info - Domain Names

Qinetics, a registry solution provider in Malaysia, announced on Sunday that they have been awarded the contract to manage as consultants to develop policy and procedures for the .OM ccTLD for the country of Oman.  The entire company press release can be read at the end of the post.

The ccTLD .OM is one of three highly desirable ccTLDs because of the typo traffic that spills over to these extension by way of internet users leaving off a letter when typing the popular GTLD .COM.  The traffic that would come to any domain with this extension by mistake could be sent to a search engine landing page. For example, say a registrant were to purchase the domain name Facebook.om.  From the sheer volume of traffic that Facebook.com receives, it is natural that thousands of users will leave off the “C” in .com every day and it can be assumed many of those users will click or search on whatever page they land on.

Other ccTLDs that benefit from this .COM typo leak include .CO and .CM.  Columbia controls the .CO extension and does not currently have .CO domain names wild-carding. The second extension is .CM which is the ccTLD for the country of Cameroon.  The success behind the wild-carding of that countries traffic was talked about in a Business2.0 article about Kevin Ham.  Ham stated that the traffic through that channel was “in the ballpark” of 8 million unique visitors per month.

Since that article, many of the most popular .CM domain names have apparently switched ownership or have been diverted from the original Agoga.com lander.  Domains such as facebook.cm and yahoo.cm go to a viralvideos.org lander.  CNN.cm or ABC.cm goes to a domainsponsor lander and Google.cm goes to an Eharmony landing page.  It can be assumed that these other players jumped in after reading the story.   As John Berryhill put it, “As soon as it started happening, there was a huge sense of ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’”

It isn’t clear from this announcement whether the operators of the .OM registry will open up registrations to non-residents, auction domain names, or even operate a wild-carding similar to the .CM registry operations. What is clear is that this registry operation will have a host of people knocking on their door soon including many attorneys.

Good luck Qinetics. Good luck domainers.

PRESS RELEASE

KUALA LUMPUR**, Malaysia, October 6th, 2008* — Qinetics Solutions Berhad (Qinetics), a leading Registry system provider, announced today that it has been awarded the tender by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman to provide consultancy services to develop the domain name policy framework for Oman.

Each country or autonomous territory has a 2-letter country code that represents its “Top Level Domain (TLD)” under which Internet domain names can be assigned. For Oman, the country code is ‘.om’.

TRA, the body in Oman that regulates the telecommunication sector of the Sultanate of Oman is in the process of taking over the function of managing the ‘.om’ TLD from the current incumbent ‘.om’ manager Omantel.

“TRA is committed to implement a fair, efficient and effective world-class framework for the ‘.om’ TLD. A consultancy is thus requested to review the domain name environment for the ‘.om’ TLD taking into account the local and cultural values of the country.” said Eng. Naashiah S. Al-Kharusi, TRA Board Member.

“TRA decided to award the tender to Qinetics who shall draft the necessary regulations and policy framework documents as required for implementation of a professional .om TLD administration.”

The tender require Qinetics to provide a comprehensive consultancy service spanning areas of Administrative Policy Framework, Domain Name Policy Framework and Industry Model Framework.

Among other things, Qinetics will advise TRA on the setup of the entity to manage ‘.om’, registrar accreditation framework and domain name policies such as domain name eligibility and allocation policy, WHOIS policy, reserved names policy, complaints policy, domain life cycle policy and domain name dispute resolution policy.

“We are indeed honored to be selected by TRA for this consultancy. Our dedicated consultants within the RegistryASP team have years of practical experiences running ccTLD registry operations, registry systems and also registrar systems so we are intimately familiar with all aspects of domain name business. We are confident that we will be able to provide sound advices to TRA on the best domain name management framework for Oman,“ said TK Tan, CEO of Qinetics.
About TRA, Oman
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) was established in 2002, to liberalize and promote the telecommunications services in the Sultanate of Oman under the Telecommunications Act which was issued under the Royal Decree No. 30/2002. TRA is committed to develop the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate by regulating and maintaining the telecom services, promoting the interest of telecommunications services providers and beneficiaries, and ensuring that consumers receive world class standard quality telecommunications services, with range of choices within reasonable limits at affordable prices. * *The Authority’s policies and regulations is aimed at the development of infrastructure and the attraction of foreign investment into the sector to further promote the Sultanate’s economy and increasing employment prospects for Omani citizens. Website: http://www.tra.gov.om

About Qinetics Solutions Berhad
Qinetics, a regional company headquartered in Malaysia, focuses on Registry and Registrar service, consultancy and solution, software development and IT services. Qinetics is a MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) pioneer-status company in Malaysia for its merits in R&D. Qinetics’ subsidiary, Web Commerce Communications Limited (WEBCC – www.webnic.cc) is the largest ICANN Accredited Registrar in South East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan (source: Frost & Sullivan), serving over 400,000 domain names in over 40 domain name extensions. Qinetics has over 5 years of experience in the development of RegistryASP SRS (www.registryASP.com) – its flagship Shared Registry-Registrar System (SRS) solutions that powers country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) such as .hk (Hong Kong), .sg (Singapore), .cd (Democratic Republic of Congo), .my (Malaysia) and .gw (Guinea Bissau). Website: http://www.qinetics.net

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Threat of a “run on the bank” scenario at domain registrar exists.

In November 2007 I wrote an article “A Run on the (Domain Name) Bank“. I discussed the potential for rumors about a domain registrar’s demise to cause a panic. Domain registrants would transfer their domains out in droves, further deteriorating the registrar’s business and pushing it under.

Earlier this year I wrote an article “The Danger of a Domain Registrar “Run on the Bank”“, which discussed an ICANN measure akin to FDIC insurance: putting domain owner information into escrow to make transferring domains to another registrar easier in the case of a meltdown.

The irony is that the original article was precipitated by rumors that brokerage ETrade was going under. Fast forward a year and ETrade is alive, whereas companies that no one thought would fail, such as Merrill Lynch, are no longer.

You shouldn’t feel too comfortable about any domain registrar. With few exceptions, no one on the outside knows the financial state of their registrar. So what happens if one goes in the red and people start pulling domains out? It would likely cause the registrar to fail.

But there are a few things that make a run on a domain registrar less painful than a run on the bank:

1. There’s a switching cost. People who want to transfer out 1,000 domains from a failing registrar will have to come up with $8,000 to transfer the domains. It also takes a lot of time to transfer.

2. “FDIC” insurance doesn’t have a cap. If you view the escrow stopgap ICANN implemented as insurance, it covers all of your domains with no cap like FDIC.

3. Most registrars are diversified. In fact, they make little money on domain registration and lots on selling add-on products. Thankfully, none of these add-on products are mortgages.

4. You won’t find any Senators spreading false rumors about a domain registrar’s imminent demise.

But if you’re really worried, you can always start your own domain registrar.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Here are ten things I’d do if I were just joining the domain name industry.

I’ve been in the domain industry for a decade, so I’m stuck with my legacy portfolio to build from. But if I were just entering the industry, here are 10 things I’d do:

1. Focus on quality, not quantity. It used to be everyone had a pissing contest about how many domains they owned. “You only have 5,000? Well I have 10,000″. But the guy or gal holding 1,000 domains may be better off than either of these people. Focus on quality domains that might be developed one day, rather than thousands of money losing domains.

2. Don’t doubt yourself. Many times I’ve passed on a domain name acquisition because I was afraid I was overpaying, only to see the domain sell for twice as much 6 months later.

3. Stay away from the message boards. OK, I say this somewhat in jest, but if you find yourself on the domain message boards 4 hours a day, ask yourself if there’s something better you could be doing with your time. Like developing domains.

4. Go to a domain conference. If you’re just starting out I wouldn’t go to all of the conferences, but I’d go to at least one a year. It’s not for the panels, but to meet other people, and make connections.

5. Optimize the important stuff. If you’re making $10 a day on domain parking, does it really make sense to tweak all of the keywords on your domains or keep switching between parking companies? Probably not. Just put them on auto-pilot for now.

6. Use a domain management tool — from the start. Like many people, I didn’t keep track of the domains I owned when I started. Then I migrated to a clunky spreadsheet before finding Watch My Domains Pro. Go ahead and track your domains the right way from the start.

7. Negotiate for lower registration fees. Consolidate your domains at one registrar, and ask them for price breaks if you hit certain volume.

8. List domains on both Sedo and Afternic . Both offer bulk uploading tools. You won’t get an offer everyday, but you will get them over time. Some people balk at paying Afternic a measly $19.95 membership fee to list domains. That’s like jumping over a quarter to pick up a dime. You’ll make your money back on one domain sale.

9. Get to know domain brokers. Make the effort. You’ll often meet them at domain conferences (see #4). They’ll call you when they have interested buyers on the line and you’ll be thankful.

10. Read Domain Name Wire everyday

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

In an announcement earlier today, Qinetics was awarded the contract to run the .OM registry.  DNN contacted the press agent on the matter to follow up with a few question.

Will the registry be opening the registration to a global customer base or will the .OM extension only be available to residents of Oman ?
Will the registry be auctioning any domain names ?
Will there be a wild-carding of non-registered domain names such as what is being done on the .CM (cameroon) extension?

In response we were sent the following:
“As answers your questions, the proposed domain name policy framework is currently in public consultation stage, the details are available at TRA’s website

From the consultation document, it can be seen that Oman’s intention is to limit .om domain names to Oman companies. As for wildcard and auction, we apologise that we are not the decision makers so it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

According to the framework paper, an applicant for the .OM must be “an excellent company registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman” and is required to show documentation to that effect.  The paper also identifies names that the registry will reserve, forbids the sale of domain names by registrants and addresses the issue of “misspellings and close and substantial connections” in a rule about typos. TRA is still accepting public commentary on all of these proposals through email at fpconsulting@tra.gov.om.

In addition to providing us with this document, RegistryASP responded to our article by issuing the following statement on their blog :

Sorry to burst the bubble for domainers who seeks to monetize on typos but .OM ccTLD registry intent to only limit Oman companies to register domain names. You can read more about their policies over here.

Since the concept of wild-carding these domains doesn’t seem to clarified, these potential typos may still be monetized.  Oman and the registry operators seem to be making an effort try to prevent “domainers” from monetizing these domains with these policies. If there is anything that has been proven over the years, there are plenty of people who will find a way around “policies” to make a buck, “domainer” or not.

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Ad sharing deal postponed, but deal wouldn’t have immediate effect on domain names anyway.

Over the weekend Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced a delay to their planned online advertising sharing agreement to give the U.S. government more time to review the deal.

Although Google and Yahoo provide the bulk of pay-per-click revenue to domain name owners, this deal would have little impact on paid domain name parking in the short run. The pact between the two search giants does not involve parked domains, but does include the content network. (The long run, as Yahoo cozies up to Google, is a different matter).

I personally don’t like this deal at all because of how it weakens Yahoo in the long run. And man, if I were a Yahoo shareholder I’d be really upset that Yahoo didn’t take that Microsoft deal when it could. They lost billions on walking away from that deal.

So why is Google giving the feds time to review the deal, after earlier giving a short time window and saying it shouldn’t be subject to review? The last thing Google wants is for every move it makes to be under review ala Microsoft. That would crimp its growth.

And with one presidential candidate arguing that oil companies should pay a windfall tax on their 8% profit margins, it’s only a matter of time before some socialist politician lays into Google for its 25% profit margin.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

As the Dow drops below 10,000, what is the future for domain names?

Headlines like this one, on CNN.com,
are meant to scare you. You need
a strong stomach.

A few months ago I had lunch with a business acquaintance who is in his forties. The stock market was continuing its slide and he said he would get out if the market dropped below 10,000. “It always seems to drop faster than it goes up,” he commented.

At the time of writing, the DJIA is at 9,962. I just e-mailed him to see if he’s selling.

The market is likely to continue its downward trend. People are starting to unload stocks and closeout accounts because they’re scared.

I’m scared, but I haven’t stopped investing. Hopefully in a few years this will turnaround. I don’t know how low the Dow will go, but when I spoke with my friend a few months ago I thought Dow 10,000 was a silly thought. I was wrong.

So I continue to invest monthly in my daughter’s 529 account. As a self-employed person it’s difficult to make monthly contributions to retirement accounts, but if I could I’d still be doing it. During the Great Depression the stock market fell something like 90%. It was hard to pick the bottom, but if you invested through the entire ordeal you came out well ahead.

So what does this mean for your domain names? It depends on if you have a short term or long term view. And if you have a diversified portfolio.

In the short term, some domains will be winners: credit reports, bankruptcy, foreclosure. And look further to casual gaming and other affordable things to do on the web as alternatives to expensive nights out on the town.

Some domains may see pay-per-click revenue go down. Gadget sites, computers, TVs, and other non-essentials aren’t flying off shelves like they used to. My wife returned a pair of $200 boots this week to the store. She figured if we’re losing $10,000s in the stock market this year, she didn’t want to spend $200 on a pair of boots when the current pair she has “will do”. Believe me, she’s not the only one making this decision.

How about real estate domains? Sales are down significantly, agents are leaving the business, but there are some opportunities in distressed markets.

I’ve heard some people say that online advertising, and thus parked domains, will do better in tough times. Online advertising is accountable whereas TV, print, and other traditional media are not. But online advertising is also the easiest to pull the plug on as it isn’t purchased a year in advance. If a Fortune 500 company needs to cut advertising 20%, it will look at what commitments it can get out of. It can turn off pay-per-click with the click of a button.

In the long run I think the domain market will do just fine. Online advertising will no doubt be a bigger market in 5 or 10 years than it is now. But you need to have a tough stomach, just like if you’re investing in the stock market.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Verisign has closed a deal to acquire Global Name Registry, the London-based company that runs the .name registry. This move adds to Verisign’s control over the domain industry, as the company already operates the registry for the .com, .net, .cc, and .tv domains while also running the DNS servers for .edu and .jobs.

Although the deal isn’t official, Verisign announced the move in an email to registrars. This email was obtained and posted on TechCrunch by Michael Arrington:

We are pleased to announce that VeriSign closed on an agreement to acquire Global Name Registry, Ltd., which includes management of the .name top level domain on October 1, 2008. We believe the addition of .name is a natural fit, as we have run the technical backend in support of .name for more than five years.

What does this mean for existing registrars?

Your interface to VeriSign for .name domain names will continue to operate as it has in the past with no changes.

We are currently assessing enhancements to the service offering that meet the needs of the registrar channel in servicing the consumer market. Please look for service notices in the coming weeks that will outline those changes and the steps you need to take advantage of those features.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service at info@verisign-grs.com.

Very truly yours,

PJ Bolanos
Vice President, Global Customer Support
VeriSign, Inc.

Northzone Ventures and Verdane Capital also invested in the company, although the details of the transaction are not expected to be released.

[via TechCrunch]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Visit our Calendar of Domain Industry Events.

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Hitfarm, a company specializing in domain parking, is releasing two major domain market indices - the Reinvent Index (RVT-200) and the Hitfarm Composite Index (HCI) - so domainers can increase the performance of their parked domains. DNN will be featuring the indices on the homepage in the coming months.

The Reinvent Index tracks the results of over 200 privately held domains owned by Reinvent Technology. Measuring the performance of these domains will allow domainers to have a benchmark to understand the ups and downs of the parking industry while comparing various categories of domain names. The complete index, which will be available to all domainers, is listed at the bottom of this post.

The Hitfarm Composite Index is a broad-base index which will represent the performance of all domains managed by Hitfarm. For confidentiality reasons, the details of each individual domain, total unique visitors, and total revenues will be hidden. However, measured trends will be demonstrated through a percentage change metric, allowing domainers to compare their portfolio’s performance to the general market trends. This index will be available to all Hitfarm clients.

“With everything our clients have been asking for to increase their revenue and enhance their experience with Hitfarm, we have either addressed it already or we’re currently working on a solution,” Don Ham of Reinvent Technology explained in an email with DNN. “With parking revenues decreasing we realize it is more important than ever before for domain owners to find a solution that maximizes their revenue…

…We have some of the best portfolios parked with us for one reason - we deliver. We are setting the trend with the Indexes, as well as with the new Hitfarm 2.0 that we’re working on which will allow our clients to have access to many features that our account managers use to personally manage an exclusive account. If our clients want to manage their own accounts, then we want to offer them the best tools to do this.

These indices are a bold step in the right direction for domain parking. Domainers have never before been able to track the many factors affecting their domain names including seasonal trends, technology issues, or general market swings. Both indices will act like any stock market index to help domainers determine whether the changes in their parking performance are consistent with the overall market conditions or if there are other factors playing a role.

Hitfarm was previously only available to owners of large domain portfolios with pay-per-click earnings in excess of $10,000 per month and with portfolios containing only mainstream generic domains. According to their website Hitfarm does not support adult, gambling, controversial, trademark or arbitraged traffic. With the release of the forthcoming Hitfarm 2.0, the company now seems to have lifted the earnings cap and are interested in working with domainers of all sizes who have quality generic domain traffic. “The best just got better - because we are going to open up Hitfarm for any domainer that has good traffic.” stated Ham.

In addition, Hitfarm 2.0 provides more features for domainers interested in engaging in an exclusive contract. The exclusivity requires a minimum year long commitment with each client receiving a dedicated account representatives who provides monthly reporting and feedback on improving domain portfolio performance catered specifically to the domain owner. The exclusive contracts also provide domain owners another level of transparency not seen previously. All exclusive contracts will provide an option to audit all payments from Hitfarm.

Ham explained, “Hitfarm contracted a certified accounting firm who specializes in audits and had them create a platform whereby any certified accounting firm can come in and do an audit to confirm Hitfarm revenue payments to Hitfarm clients. Hitfarm itself is audited by PWC annually but the audit conducted by our clients will leave no room for doubt that we are honoring our agreement with our valued clients.”

This type of benchmarking and transparency should be a welcome addition to domain owners and help to improve accountability in domain parking. We look forward to more companies pushing forward with creative ideas to improve performance and open up transparency like Hitfarm has done here.

[More info available at Hitfarm]

Reinvent Index 1 2 3 Automotive Business Careers & Jobs discountauto.com franchises.com jobseekers.com cheaptires.com grant.com entertainmentcareers.com part.com governmentmoney.com healthcareers.com tirediscount.com attorney.com salarys.com carshows.com goldmarket.com medicalstaffingnetwork.com mufflers.com freegrantmoney.com outsource.com carseats.com inflation.com seekjob.com classicauto.com commercials.com dreamjobs.com carresearch.com investmart.com nursefinder.com minivan.com freepatent.com partimejobs.com 4 5 6 Education Electronics Fashion boardingschool.com hdtv.com hairstyles.com mathanswers.com laptop.com haircuts.com freescholarship.com notebook.com weddinggowns.com schoolgrants.com routeplanner.com bridaldresses.com mathgamesforkids.com slideshows.com weddingthemes.com schoolratings.com digitalcamera.com stylish.com elementaryschool.com lcd.com dressingup.com etextbook.com mytones.com styleforless.com departmentofeducation.com freeprint.com beautysecrets.com publicschools.com cellularphones.com interiordesigns.com 7 8 9 Finance Games Geo creditreports.com ninjagames.com melbourne.com onlinebanking.com coolmathgames.com brisbane.com moneyfacts.com fashiongames.com wichita.com commmerceonline.com dragonwars.com perth.com unclaimedfunds.com playgame.com waterloo.com personalfinance.com babyshowergames.com brownsville.com CarFinancing.com petgames.com stateoflouisiana.com universalcardservices.com freecargames.com nyc.org creditrating.com cheapgames.com ny.org consolidate.com arcades.com nystate.org 10 11 12 Health Internet Lifestyle medmd.com freehost.com camp.com lupus.com internetstats.com pottery.com musclefitness.com mycodes.com hotsprings.com menopause.com skins.com commondreams.com diseases.com gameswallpaper.com freephoto.com naturalremedies.com fileupload.com childrenandfamily.com infertility.com videostream.com memorial.com highbloodpressure.com internetdownloadmanger.com classreunion.com medicalhealth.com webpagemaker.com lightcooking.com humanhealth.com onlinefilms.com parentonline.com 13 14 15 Movies, Entertainment Music News watchmoviesonline.com musicdownload.com dateandtime.com tvsitcoms.com mp3code.com newsandweather.com freevideo.com elyrics.com financenews.com onlinefreemovies.com beat.com rapnews.com superhero.com rhyme.com canadanews.com soapopera.com downloadsongs.com internationalnews.com eticket.com freemusicvideos.com Worldnewspaper.com filmrating.com playmusicfree.com christiannews.com actor.com downloadringtones.com Retailnews.com moviesearch.com ringtonesfree.com hockeynews.com 16 17 18 Personals Shopping Sports greeting.com onlinesales.com sportinggoods.com lovedoctor.com dealcoupons.com cycle.com classmatesonline.com couponsaver.com usaswimming.com classmatefinder.com vouchers.com hockeyshop.com englishchat.com shoptillyoudrop.com cricketlivescore.com netdate.com bargainland.com footballplays.com datingsingle.com mattressdiscounter.com usagymnastics.com intimatedating.com cheapestbook.com tennisresults.com singleladies.com babygifts.com totalsoccer.com singlechristiannetwork.com bigdiscounts.com westindiescricket.com 19 20 Technology Travel ittech.com cheaptravel.com driver.com bestflights.com fileshare.com globalvacations.com filesend.com travelshop.com pcdownload.com hoteldeals.com techtool.com smarttours.com careertech.com carrent.com fulldownloads.com lastminuterooms.com innovations.com discountcruise.com speedupmypc.com travelplanner.com

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Re-designed web site is simple. Competitors should take note.

I had to make one of my infrequent visits to Register.com today to unlock a backordered domain for transfer. When I arrived at the home page I was greeted by a simple, yet bold home page:

In a business where many companies believe “more is better”, Register.com is going for simplicity. You can’t miss the domain search box as it’s not shoved in between 50 promotions. The phone number is right there above the fold. The background is white, like it should be.

I’m not sure when the new home page went live (sometime in the past three months), but it’s a welcome improvement. Sadly, once you login to your account you are faced with the old design.

Other registrars should take note. I’ve complained about GoDaddy ’s home page before. It got better with a recent redesign, but I still think it’s trying to do too much. It has 4 clickable menu options and 7 drop down boxes across two top navigation bars. GoDaddy could easily cut out the links to GoDaddy.tv and BobParsons.tv to simplify the navigation. And GoDaddy’s home page is currently showing at least 10 clickable special offers on its home page. That’s enough to make anyone go dizzy.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Moniker ’s silent auction concluded yesterday with $900,000 in sales.

You can raise the tally on Moniker’s TRAFFIC auction to about $4 million, thanks to another $900,000 in sales in the silent auction. Nearly 200 domains sold in the silent auction.

loto.com $91,331 (Spanish for “Lotto”)
wholesale.net $88,240
sparesorts.com $70,590
claudia.com $35,000
newyorkrestaurants.com $30,240
furnitureworld.com $29,420
bluecollar.com $28,750
650.com $27,000
auctions.net $26,000
american.info $23,530
setup.com $20,000
ankle.com $15,300
mohamed.com $14,710
512.com $14,120 (I tried to buy this a year or two ago. It’s the area code for Austin. Seller asked for $20k, but I probably could have gotten it for less.)
movingquotes.com $13,800 (Excellent for lead gen)
proverb.com $10,130
tilefloor.com $9,250
currency.org $8,630
located.com $8,550
bile.com $8,300
onlineart.com $8,000
blindness.com $7,650
cabo.net $7,160
gorgeousgirls.com $7,060
governmentproperty.com $7,060
activitycenter.com $6,900
legislative.com $6,880
orlando.mobi $6,030
downloading.me $5,890
meet.me $5,890 (compared to what other .me’s are selling for, this seems like a fair price)
mysale.com $5,890
mytax.com $5,890
rearend.com $5,890
aristocracy.com $5,880
colourful.com $5,880
tillers.com $5,800
lamas.com $5,750
teaching.net $5,500
greenstuff.com $5,260
suicides.com $5,000
marylandaccidentlawyer.com $4,900
newyorkaccounting.com $4,710
gamblinggame.com $4,590
musicmax.com $4,200
ameribank.com $4,120
hormonetreatment.com $4,120
larimer.com $4,120
baggypants.com $4,030
force.net $4,000
lap.me $4,000
farmauction.com $3,750
convertible.net $3,720
cultured.com $3,550
southeast.org $3,550
acetylene.com $3,530
crankcalls.com $3,530 (good value)
modernartforsale.com $3,530
blackwives.com $3,450
eaters.com $3,450
indoorsports.com $3,450
mexicandrugs.com $3,450
advising.com $3,434
vinylfloor.com $3,200
snowskates.com $3,000
ampmeter.com $2,950
cashcab.com $2,880
oldclocks.com $2,500
asphyxiation.com $2,360
digitalcurrency.com $2,360
payoffcreditcards.com $2,360
upset.me $2,360
washingtonduilawyer.com $2,360
ranchos.com $2,350
aboriginals.com $2,300
speaker.net $2,280
thefinger.com $2,250
milkbottles.com $2,200
hispanics.net $2,150
carbohydrates.net $2,120
financialjournal.com $2,030
doubledating.com $2,000
juryselection.com $2,000 (I was eyeing this one)
newer.com $2,000
newtonfalls.com $2,000
weary.com $2,000
mrtv.com $1,970
antennaboosters.com $1,770
baking.info $1,770
geisha.net $1,770
popularmovies.com $1,770
currydishes.com $1,730
facetube.com $1,650
freesamples.org $1,650
petkennel.com $1,450
fivestarhotels.net $1,420
grills.info $1,420
newjerseynews.com $1,400
crosscutshredders.com $1,180
employerhealthinsurance.com $1,180
gaj.net $1,180
honeybees.org $1,180
newyorkgym.com $1,180
organicbakeries.com $1,180
regrettable.com $1,180
spiritualwellness.com $1,180
army.biz $1,150
motorcyclesalvageyards.com $1,150
mysterymeat.com $1,000
onlinelivehelp.com $1,000
poolboy.com $1,000 (good value)
shillings.com $1,000
designed.org $850
bloodtest.net $765
alternativefuel.net $750
classiccarguide.com $750
wareznetwork.com $725 (Warez.com didn’t sell in the live auction)
goodarticles.com $680
ppp.mobi $650
drugtrafficking.com $615
edbr.com $595
boatingschools.com $590
carts.info $590
causal.co.uk $590
centralparkblog.com $590
deporting.net $590
diskburner.com $590
fingernailclipper.com $590
georgiaaccidentlawyer.com $590
latinas.info $590
mostlikelytosucceed.com $590
naturalsnackfood.com $590
naturalsnackfoods.com $590
peace.mobi $590
revitalising.com $590
shakes.org $590
tarotcardgames.com $590
zeeq.com $590
5543.com $550
blackasphalt.com $500
cleanblinds.com $500
nashvilleguide.com $500
texasflights.com $500
allgenerators.com $480
campingequipmentstore.com $480
hydrogenbombs.com $480
travelloans.com $460
kubn.com $425
pointspreads.net $420
thrushsymptoms.com $410
hotcollegeguys.com $400
triplecreditscore.net $375

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Here are some of the sweetener’s the in the Senate’s bailout package.

Whenever there’s something I want to discuss that can’t be tied to domain names, I just find parked domain names for some of the words. I felt sick last night after reading about the pork shoved into the $700 billion bailout package. Here are some of those items according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children. The Oregon senators were the initial sponsors of the provisions. According to Bloomberg News, the provision would be worth $200,000 to Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon.

Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility

Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Sec 502. Provisions related to film and television productions — basically, providing incentives for films to be shot in the United States.

Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters. Allows employers to provide a benefit to employees for costs associated with bicycle commuting, including purchase and repair of a bicycle, bicycle improvements, and bicycle storage.

Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds

Sec. 201. Inclusion of cellulosic biofuel in bonus depreciation for biomass ethanol plant property

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

A look back at the past 30 days in domain news.

As the world’s economies made headlines, the domain industry chugged along. Here are the top 5 news stories on Domain Name Wire for September, ranked by views.

1. Dell: “We’re F’d” - Dell is either creating a new line of highly interactive computers or is making defensive domain registrations. Within minutes of this article going up, the traffic from Dell HQ in Round Rock, Texas started hitting Domain Name Wire.

2. Ricks Files Lawsuit to Retain Control of BME.com. Remind me to not write about something that gets the body modification community in a tizzy again. You’ll see 47 comments on this story, but I had to delete the 20 or so that contained rampant profanity.

3. Google Chrome Domain Names - A look at domain names related to Google’s new browser. By the way, about 3.75% of visits to Domain Name Wire last month were accessed via the new browser.

4. Domainer Selling Virtual Real Estate to Buy Physical Real Estate - Chad Wright had a successful sale of his premium geo domains. He’s using the money to buy distressed physical real estate.

5. Rick Latona Domain Name Auction Nets $750k - it turns out the auction didn’t gross quite that much; the online auction software showed domains as sold that were not. But the auction still did rather well for a first time event.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

A new association is being launched to help Canadians domainers protect their investments and increase the value of their domain names.

The Domain Owners Association of Canada will have its inaugural meeting at the Domain Convergence conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on October 7. The association is primarily focused on giving a voice to Canadian domainers in order to address their key concerns.

“It’s high time Canadian domain owners get their voices heard,” said Peter Maxymych, founder of the Domain Owners Association of Canada. “Domain owners in Canada have often felt like they are working alone. This does not have to be the case. With this association we can work together to promote our interests in domaining.”

The association’s website, DOAC.ca, will be accessible once the association is officially launched later this month. In the meantime, you can contact Zak Muscovitch, the association’s solicitor, at zak (at) muscovitch.com for more information.

[via Domain Convergence]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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New association to further interests of Canadian domainers.

A new domainer association is launching at the Domain Convergence conference in Niagara Falls next week.

Domain Owners Association of Canada (DOAC) aims to protect and increase the value of its members’
domain names. Peter Maxymych, President of Emall.ca, is founding the organization.

In a statement about the launch, Domain Convergence organizer Frank Michlick said, “We are looking forward to helping launch the ground-breaking association for domain owners. Canadiandomain name owners have contributed immensely to the domain name industry and it is comforting to know an organization will have our backs.”

Although the Internet Commerce Association represents the interests of domainers across the globe, I’m not surprised that an interest group specific to Canada is being formed. After all, each country has legal nuances that must be addressed. DOAC may also help to bring a fragmented Canadian domainer community together for purposes other than law.

The association’s web site will launch next week at doac.ca.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Despite economic turmoil, I had one of my biggest sales months ever.

Domain parking revenue is down. The world economy is on the brink. The Dow dropped another 350 points today.

Yet for some reason, I had one of my top three months ever for domain sales in September. Those include sales at the Aftermarket.com auction and sales to someone trying to diversify his investment portfolio into domain names. The TRAFFIC auctions were fairly successful, too.

Earlier today I read a blog post from good friend Elliot Silver about how he’s not aggressively buying domains anymore and is turning his attention to maximizing his current portfolio. That makes sense. He needs to properly monetize some domains that he undoubtedly paid a lot of money for (e.g. FrenchRiviera.com and Burbank.com).

There are plenty of people in Elliot’s shoes who have seen sales drop and are tightening ship. I’m doing the same thing — not buying as much, but keeping my eyes open for bargains. Warren Buffett has a keen eye for buying low and has thrown $8 billion into the hat over the past week. He has a shrewd eye for deals, and so should domain investors.

OK Andrew, so what’s the point? Well, my sales last month were strong and perhaps it was just an anomaly. But stay focused on the underlying value of domains, keep your eyes open for deals, and work to maximize your portfolio, and you’ll do just fine.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Index will provide greater transparency.

Domain parking company Hitfarm will soon release the Reinvent Index, an index to track the parking performance of domains.

The Reinvent Index will track the results of 200 categorized domains owned by the company’s parent Reinvent Technology. This will help domainers understand the ups and downs of the parking industry and get insight to how particular categories of domain names. Think of it like a the S&P 500 stock index (although hopefully it will go up, not down).

For example, will automotive domain names do better or worse in the current economic downturn? The Reinvent automotive category includes 10 domain names receiving over 15,000 uniques per month, including CarShows.com, Minivan.com, and CarResearch.com.

Other categories include business, education, health, and music, among others.

This is the boldest step I’ve seen a parking company take to improve transparency. Hitfarm customers who sign exclusive contracts will get even more transparency with the Hitfarm Index to be released in the near future. This index will represent all of the domains under management at Hitfarm. It will not expose individual domains, revenue, or uniques, but will show trending of domain earnings. If a client’s earnings are up 5% this month, they can determine if the lift is due to overall conditions in domain parking or if it is due to unique aspects of his or her portfolio.

More information about the Reinvent Index is available on Hitfarm’s web site.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

PremierDomains.com launches. Is there room for more domain aftermarkets?

It seems like new domain name aftermarkets pop up every month. Most of them are just copycat sites with features similar to Afternic and Sedo . They don’t gain traction and linger in aftermarket wasteland.

One new site caught my eye today - PremierDomains.com. The site inked a deal with NameMedia to syndicated Name Media’s AfternicDLS listings. This gives the site an instant inventory of 800,000 domain names, which helps the new marketplace fill the “sell side” of the market equation. (Lesson #1 for new aftermarkets: if you don’t have a good inventory, it doesn’t matter how many buyers you have.) But will the buy side come? After all, you need both sellers and buyers to make a market.

I asked PremierDomains.com founder Michael Lindsey point blank: what makes his site different from Sedo or Afternic? Lindsey said:

Our attempt was to put together an upscale site (both visually and functionally). While the concept of a domain marketplace is similar to both Afternic and Sedo, we feel this site is more “retail” friendly. I believe that there are far more individuals “in the domain business” that realize the true value of domains compared to the general public for whom we are targeting as customers. The more “retail” look and feel that we can give the customer and more confidence we portray that the buying of domains is a legitimate business practice, the more positive the experience. You might say the effect we were going for is similar to buying a car from a corner lot or from a dealership.

I think the site does portray a good, retail storefront. It’s professional and clean, and makes it easy to contact a broker. And it’s always good to hear that companies are trying to position themselves for end users. NameMedia, incidentally, does better than any other company at marketing to end users. NameMedia also inks deals (similar to this one) to syndicate their listings, which is important for finding those end users.

Listing on PremierDomains.com is free and sellers can include a headline and description for their domains. There is a 10% commission fee ($50 minimum), and the site doesn’t provide escrow services or a negotiating platform.

What’s your take on PremierDomains.com? Is there potential for someone to enter the market currently dominated by Sedo and NameMedia (Afternic, BuyDomains). If so, what will these new players have to do to differentiate themselves?

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Here’s a hint that you’re dealing with Microsoft (or another big company).

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has snapped up more generic domain names, this time buying SearchPerks.com from a California man to promote its “search sweepstakes”. In May Microsoft bought Cashback.com, although it hasn’t promoted the domain for its cashback search program.

Try as I might, I haven’t been able to get details about the CashBack.com deal nor the latest deal, despite interviewing Microsoft and reaching out to the sellers. But based on my analysis of the historical whois records and cold responses from the sellers, here’s what I believe happens when Microsoft wants to buy a domain from you:

1. Someone calls/e-mails inquiring about the domain. This person doesn’t identify that they work for Microsoft. Indeed, perhaps it is an outside broker or someone who isn’t directly employed by the company.

2. Agree on price, with condition that you must sign a mutual non-disclosure agreement. It’s unclear if you are requested to sign the NDA before negotiating price or after. The NDA may include the broker’s name rather than Microsoft. This is the key point: if you’re asked to sign an NDA, you’re probably dealing with someone with deep pockets. Microsoft (or the broker) may agree on a price and then request that you sign an NDA. That seems sneaky, since I’d want to know about the NDA as a condition of sale. But perhaps the NDA discussion happens up front.

3. Domain gets transferred to broker or a Microsoft employee using a non-Microsoft e-mail address (even a (gasp!) gmail address), and then it’s transferred to Microsoft.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Domain parking company speaks out in favor of ad feed provider changes.

In its latest newsletter to clients, DomainSponsor discusses changes at its ad provider (Google). As you may know, Google has been “cleaning up” the domain channel (Google’s words, not mine). This means focusing on quality traffic and cutting (or discounting) the rest. So far I’ve seen a lot of domain parking companies nod grudgingly about how this is necessary for the long term of the industry, but in DomainSponsor’s latest newsletter it came out and spelled it out. DS should be commended.

Below is the text of its commentary about the changes:

As many of you know, the top search ad providers have increased their focuson the quality of traffic sent to them over the last six months. While every parking company is working through these changes, DomainSponsor wants to be direct with you, our clients, about our position on these changes and how they may impact you moving forward.

This new focus not only includes checks for invalid clicks but now includes measuring the conversion of traffic with advertisers. For many of us, this change has come with its own set of challenges that require restructuring systems, processes and business guidelines. And to these changes, DomainSponsor says:

It’s about time.

The market system that underpins our industry requires trust. Advertisers have to trust that behind every click is the possibility of a sale. When that trust is lost, then everyone who depends on the investment made by advertisers loses. DomainSponsor, like you, is in business for the long term. It’s our goal to maintain and build that trust whenever possible - for the sake of the long term.

Reinforcing the value of trust in the marketplace is too complex of an issue for even the largest parking company to do alone. It has always been necessary for the search ad providers to step in — and up — to the challenge by helping shed light on what advertisers want and need from us.

With that now done, DomainSponsor is taking the lead as the largest parking company to set a new level of standards for performance. Working with our primary search ad provider, DomainSponsor will continue to use a multipart quality analysis of traffic on our network. This process will allow us to
take the time necessary to identify traffic that does not or has not met quality standards. Clients whose quality is consistently below an acceptable level may see their payment terms extended and/or access to feeds removed.

Why are we telling you this? We want you to know that DS is committed to maintaining our position as the leading place for you to monetize your domains. The majority of our clients deliver the kind and quality of clicks that will deliver higher payouts from the search ad providers. In short, this focus will benefit everyone on the DS network.

These changes are about making our industry work for everyone well into the future. We want advertisers to know that working with domainers who park with DS is the single best way of assuring that they are getting the customers they seek. We want them to know that when they see your domain on one of our landers, it’s a partnership they can trust.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.

Deal provides new home for 5,400 domain names.

Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has selected Dotster to receive of bulk transfer of domain names from de-accreditated domain registrar BestRegistrar.com. BesRegistrar.com had about 5,400 gTLD domain names that will be transferred to Dotster.

The transfers do not include any extension to expiration term, so BestRegistrar clients should renew domains at Dotster. If a domain expires within 60 days of the transfer to Dotster, Dotster may reject the transfer. Although Dotster received whois information, it did not receive billing information for BestRegistrar.com’s clients.

The transfer agreement between Dotster and ICANN is in accordance ICANN’s Interim Terminated Registrar Transition Procedure. This procedure was developed in part because of the RegisterFly fiasco, where nearly 1 million domains were held in limbo when RegisterFly was de-accreditated. GoDaddy stepped in to pick up the RegisterFly domain names.

BestRegistrar.com is one of a handful of registrars to hand its domains over under this policy. Many of them are small, with 1,000 domains or so, making it questionable if other registrars will go through the hassle of applying to take over the domains.

© DomainNameWire.com 2008.

For sale this week: over 50 geo domains for only $99 each! Details here.