NEW YORK, NY – In an article that came out in Search Engine Roundtable the other day, long-time search marketing expert Barry Schwartz points out that a Google employee named Aaseesh, tasked with monitoring Google’s Webmaster Central Help Forum, posted a comment which suggests that Google zaps a domains ranking juice, not only when the domain expires (which most have already suspected), but also when the domain merely changes hands or is sold. This adds a new layer of … [Read more...]
Lights Out for Broadway Ticket, GEO Domain Site NewYork.com Over Legal Dispute
NEW YORK, NY – While researching some GEO domain names last night I discovered that NewYork.com has now disappeared. It was a huge site I was quite familiar with as I had some past affiliate dealings with them, but today it appears its gone offline and parked at Godaddy.com. This was initially very hard to believe as last time I visited the site it seemed bustling with traffic and activity similar to its New York City streets in which it ‘virtually’ represented. This … [Read more...]
Quick Glimpse Inside NamesCon Global 2019 at the Tropicana, in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NV – NamesCon Global 2019 is well underway with just one day remaining. While here since Sunday I’ve had just enough time to visit a few panels and keynotes of choice, all of which were great and well worth attending as listening and learning, if it creates just one new idea or new potential, can help steer direction in one’s career; not to mention all of the great networking opportunities the event provides while keeping your current industry relationships alive. … [Read more...]
FedEx Email Phishing Scam Attempt: Not That Clear What Actual Motive Is
NEW YORK, NY – From time to time I like to point out some phishing scams that are out there in hopes to help some people not fall for these email-traps; today is one of those day. This email stuck out not for its sophistication but for more of its non-sophistication, and recurring delivery. For instance, I’ve received these at least 4 times in the last couple of days. This scam pictured below is trying to capture FedEx users regarding the non-delivery of their package; a … [Read more...]
SHERPA: “Wow, So This Is, Really, Maybe, It Would Be Fair to Say, The Biggest Auction The Domain Industry Has Ever Seen?”
NEW YORK, NY - I took the time to watch another Domain Sherpa show today - this one called "Domain Handcapping" since it was related to the upcoming NamesCon show next week from January 26, to January 30, 2019 - including “the main event” – the live auction which is held once a year. I’m very much looking forward to attending this year and I will certainly sit in on it and maybe even purchase something, so I wanted to hear what Monte Cahn and Drew Rosener had to say about … [Read more...]
What’s Next? Could Eminent Domain Be Used to Steal Your GEO Domain Name?
NEW YORK, NY – This will be a controversial subject for many if not all domain name owners, however, in light of the France.com domain seizure, every Geographic domain name ‘taking’ could be imminent. Sound insane? Read on. While researching how in the world this atrocity could have happened to the owner of France.com, (Jean-Noel Frydman), as a GEO domain name owner, I wanted to research the possibility of this happening to others, myself included. Since I’m in the … [Read more...]
Domains and Divorce, Are You Prepared for Your Domain Assets to Come Under Fire?
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – This is a very personal post today with thoughts you might find surprising, however, one thing that readers of my site will always get is honesty, good, bad, or ugly; you’re going to have the opportunity to read through the details of my experience on the web – with whatever it may be – and those who read these articles have come to expect and respect my honesty and thoughts where sharing my real world experience on the Internet and within circles of … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurial Inspiration: Jeff Bezos, Amazon and Earth’s “Blue Origin”
NEW YORK, NY - Jeff Bezos, the guy who built and envisioned Amazon, the largest and most successful online only shopping site, isn’t much different than your average entrepreneur. He was raised in Houston Texas, is a child of divorce, was later adopted, worked at McDonald's as a young boy and went on to attend Princeton University where he graduated with a 4.2 grade point average. He is very much human - and - certainly a hard worker. Bezos held several good jobs after … [Read more...]
Uniregistry Moves to Rebrand as “UNI”, Without Ownership of UNI.com???
NEW YORK, NY - If you had not heard yet - domain registry, parking and portfolio management company “Uniregistry” has launched a re-branding effort changing its popular brand name from “Uniregistry” to simply “UNI”. Two things immediately came to mind upon seeing this news. Does the company own the UNI.com domain name? The answer: Surprisingly it does not. The domain name UNI.com has been registered since 1993 and is currently owned by an Italian company which according … [Read more...]
Did DuckDuckGo Just Acquire Premium Domain “Duck.com” from Google?
NEW YORK, NY – Popular privacy search engine DuckDuckGo.com, might just be quacking all the way to the bank with its latest [potential] acquisition, Duck.com, according to name server and domain registrar details pointed out by domain industry website DotWeekly.com. It is important to note that this is just speculation at this time, but knowing that the privacy based search provider has been eyeing the domain for some time, specifically saying that it creates confusion … [Read more...]
Not So Fast: Fierce Battle Over Use of .Amazon gTLD String Not Settled Yet…
NEW YORK, NY – Big news some thought when U.S. tech giant Amazon was given approval to operate the .amazon URL, even after Brazil, Peru, and other governments objected on the grounds that private use of the .amazon URL would violate public interest and damage the countries in the Amazon region. According to domain industry news site Domain Incite, the Amazon countries are continuing their fight against the decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers … [Read more...]
Chicago.com Sale Price Likely $1M According to IRS Filings in 2017
NEW YORK, NY – According to a story appearing on domain industry satire site DomainGang.com, popular domain investor and researcher George Kirikos, has discovered (and recently tweeted) that he located financial documents which indicate what appears to be a sale price of the geographic domain name Chicago.com. ?? I believe that the https://t.co/od6CZmyGsw domain name changed hands for USD $1 million. According to the IRS Form 990 for the Chicago Community Trust (buyer), … [Read more...]
Personal Info of 500 Million Guests Exposed in Marriott’s Starwood Reservation System
NEW YORK, NY - One of the world's leading global hotel groups disclosed that a guest reservation database, which covers a number of major hotel brands, suffered a large data breach. An internal investigation showed that unauthorized access had been occuring since 2014. The intrusion went unnoticed for four years by Starwood, which was acquired by Marriott in 2016 for $13.6 billion. It was uncovered in early September, when a security tool alerted Marriott officials to an … [Read more...]
Industry Event, NamesCon 2019, Comes to Tropicana Las Vegas, Saturday, January 26
NEW YORK, NY – In another month or so, just after the holidays, domain name professionals, enthusiasts and others in the Internet industry will begin getting ready for another round of the world’s largest domain name conference, NamesCon 2019 in Las Vegas. This year it will again be hosted at the Tropicana Las Vegas, on Las Vegas Boulevard, right where the busy area of the strip begins, but word in and around the Industry is that this will be the final year of the venue being … [Read more...]
ICA Lays Ground for Compelling Argument Even the Most Bias of Opinion Cannot Deny
NEW YORK, NY – Two things happened on November 1, 2018, when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it would renew its Cooperative Agreement with Verisign while removing price caps on fees it charges registries: Verisign’s stock (VRSN) shot up $25 per share in a single day (then levelling off at still a healthy gain), Verisign came out blasting domain industry participants, calling them “Domain Scalpers” near suggesting that … [Read more...]