PALM BEACH, FL – Not that the name needed it, but when an auction for a web address is featured in the New York Times, you can rest assured that it is a pretty desirable name. That’s what happened last month when “Democracy.com” went up for sale in a “sealed auction” where none of the bidders would see the dollar amount of other participating bidders. The auction was originally to close on Oct. 25, 2019 but was then extended to November 7, 2019 based on what was said to … [Read more...]
U.S. Supreme Court to Consider Trademark Rights on Generic Internet Domain Names
PALM BEACH, FL - On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the addition of “.com” to a generic word or phrase can be trademarked when it reviews “United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.” on Docket No. 19-46 with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The issue has reached the highest court in the country after lower courts reversed the decisions of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and Trademark … [Read more...]
Biden Staff Sends Email Blast for Feedback on Debate… [Before Debate Takes Place]
PALM BEACH, FL - Former Vice President Joe Biden and his staff are no newbies when it comes to technical blunders, mispronounced domain names, and faulty web strategies - yesterday came more of the same. According to Politico, Biden sent out a fundraising email asking for feedback on his debate performance more than six hours before the debate even began. The email blast, which went out at approximately 3:00 PM was titled: “Did I make you proud?” Unfortunately, for … [Read more...]
Profiteering? ICANN’s “Terrible Blunder” Expected to Cost Non-Profits Dearly
PALM BEACH, FL – On November 13, 2019, news began circling that Public Interest Registry (PIR), the Reston, Virginia-based not-for-profit created to manage the “.org” top-level domain name had been acquired by a private equity management firm called Ethos Capital. Since then, the ICA, Internet Commerce Association, a non-profit organization representing domain owners, delivered a letter to ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, calling on the … [Read more...]
Sedo.com Releases Weekly Domain Name Sales List 11/11/2019 – 11/17/2019
PALM BEACH, FL – Recently released is Sedo’s weekly sales list, a weekly list of public transactions above $2,000. This weeks highlights included the top .com sold as GamesApp.com at $15,000 USD, the top ccTLD as Porn.co at 20,000 EUR ($22,154.90 US) and the top other as Dawn.org a at $50,000 USD [will be interesting to see what Dawn.org is used for]. Here is the entire list for Sedo.com sales from 11/11/2019 – … [Read more...]
How Do I Go About Selling Domain Names? Seattle Times News Story on Nov. 16, 2019
PALM BEACH, FL - How do I go about selling domain names? That was the question highlighted in a Seattle Times news story on Nov. 16, 2019 by author Patrick Marshall. While the article mentioned some popular online tools such as Namebio.com and Estibot.com (which help give a ball-park figure on potential value), the author seemed to leave out one of the best options for selling a domain; a domain name broker. The author probably should have mentioned a “domain broker” along … [Read more...]
Why Investigations Into Google’s Search, Ad & Android Businesses Will Go Nowhere
PALM BEACH, NY – It seems like every day there is a brand new, squeaky clean investigation (or at least some accusations) into our good-ole’ friends at Google Inc., and Alphabet Inc. Swirling stories of lawsuits and federal inquiries into a company that is so large, so big, it’s almost such that you could consider them, “too big to fail” – how familiar. Historically, investigations into good-ole’ GOOG have gone all but nowhere. For instance, in 2013 the Federal Trade … [Read more...]
Creative URL Marketing Similarities by “Gordon & Partners” & “Morgan & Morgan”
PALM BEACH, FL – Two law firms which I often get somewhat confused have marketing strategies which seem extremely similar. First is “Gordon & Partners, P.A.”, lawyers with four offices in South Florida which utilize the “For the Injured” trademark and have their site located at www.ForTheInjured.com. The second is “Morgan & Morgan”, a national personal injury firm which utilizes the “For the People” trademark with its website located at www.ForThePeople.com. … [Read more...]
With Price Caps Removed, Dot Org Domain Name Registry Acquired by Ethos Capital
PALM BEACH, FL – In a move that surprises few industry experts, Public Interest Registry (PIR), the Reston, Virginia-based not-for-profit created by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage the “.org” top-level domain name has been acquired by private equity management firm Ethos Capital. The acquisition comes shortly after ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, permitted the removal of price caps on “.org” domain name registrations on June 30, … [Read more...]
End User 4 Letter Double X .COM Beats Out 3 Letter .COMs in Sedo Weekly Sales List
PALM BEACH, FL – When Sedo released its weekly sales list yesterday, a list of public transactions above $2,000., the weeks highlights included saxx.com (purchased by www.saxxunderwear.com) sold for $65,000 USD as well as three, three letter .com domains: OLI.com at $50,000 USD, ZEQ.com at $44,030 USD and DYO.com at $35,000 USD. Here is the entire list for Sedo.com sales from 11/04/2019 – 11/10/2019. Domain … [Read more...]
12 Years Ago CNET Networks, Acquired 10 Million Articles for Just $20 Million in Cash
PALM BEACH, FL – The day was Wednesday, November 7, 2007, when LookSmart, Ltd, had announced via Yahoo Finance and Business Wire, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the web site, domain and content associated with “FindArticles.com” to CNET Networks, Inc. in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $20.5 million. What a difference twelve years in technology can make. What was once seen as incredible opportunity by owning such vast amounts … [Read more...]
Top 100 LLLL.com 4 Letter Domain Sales for Year 2018 (According to NameBio.com)
PALM BEACH, FL – The following is a follow up to a list gathered in 2017. According to NameBio, there were a total of 7,862 reported LLLL.com domain sales in 2018. The highest reported sale was the domains “Zoom.com” for $2,000,000.00 with the second place name as “Kush.com” for $500,000.00. 4 Letter .com domain names are hard to come by and you’ll never see them on sites like ExpiredDomains.net. Below are the top … [Read more...]
SEDO’s 4 Letter. COM Auction Has Begun; Domains Matches Acronyms for Business
PALM BEACH, FL - SEDO, what seems to be the equivalent of the Multiple Listing Service for domain names has announced that its 4 letter .com domain auction has begun and includes “over 300 domains - like RDBA.com, KLOT.com and BUTL.com” which are available for online bidding. [357 names] The last time I looked at 4 letter .com domain sales it was in 2017 which means its time for another list. That list spanned from BuyDomains.com's sale of GHIH.com for $5,000.00 to … [Read more...]
Auction for Domain Name “Democracy.com” Extended to November 7th Closing
PALM BEACH, NY – If you were interested in the domain name “Democracy.com” which is being auctioned off by Heritage Auctions, you’ve got some more time to scrounge around for cash as the auction has been extended to November 7, 2019 at 5pm (Eastern Time). Previously the auction was scheduled to close on Oct. 25, 2019. According to Talmage Cooley, entrepreneur, filmmaker and founder of Democracy.com, the auction, which was highlighted in the New York Times last month, … [Read more...]
Generic Domain “Naturals.com” Subject of WIPO Case; Complainant Uses “Naturals.in”
PALM BEACH, FL – The generic domain name “Naturals.com” is the subject of a WIPO proceeding with the complainant showing as “Ms.Veena Kumaravel” , who is the co-founder of “Naturals”, a beauty salon chain with over 500 locations throughout India. Kumaravel started the business with a partner in 2000 and the business was said in an interview to become “profitable” (and likely at least moderately known in India) by its forth year. The company currently operates on the … [Read more...]