NEW YORK – A long-time battle to remove Backpage.com from the Internet has ended with the indictments of ownership and government seizure of its domain Backpage.com, which hosted a popular online classifieds site similar to Craigslist which allegedly was used heavily by escorts and massage providers far-bending the envelope between casual encounters, prostitution and human trafficking, according to investigators. Since 2010, Backpage.com has come under fire for its alleged … [Read more...]
Clever: Radix Bolsters New gTLD Adoption Through Sponsored Startups, Buzz, Goodies
NEW YORK - They say that 'money talks and bullshit walks' (at least that is what my father used to say) and no-one likely knows this better than domain registry Radix, who maintains and operates several new catchy gTLD domain endings such as .tech and .online. Since 2016, Radix has been helping startup companies by putting a little money where their mouth is and providing new startups sponsorship covering sometimes as much as 100% of their expenses for exhibit booth fees and … [Read more...]
An Unbiased New gTLD Case Study is Coming; Not Sponsored, Supported or in Anyway Influenced by Any Registry
NEW YORK - I'll have an interesting new gTLD case study coming in the next few days to a week or so. It’s going to be great, because I think it’s going to work. I think the position of the website in Google is going to improve greatly by doing nothing else but changing the URL to a new keyword rich gTLD. If I'm wrong I will have wasted another $150 on gTLDs, but either way I will learn and so will you. Now if you follow my updates you will be aware that I am usually more of … [Read more...]
Ad Revenue Down? Here’s the Latest Things That Could Be Affecting Your Revenue
NEW YORK – You might say that declining ad revenue is becoming a typical part of the business; if you feel like you are constantly trying to find new ways to build both revenue and traffic on your domains while increasing the number of channels and ad networks you rely on, you’re far from alone. Publisher revenues are being squeezed across the board, and while sometimes you might even feel that the more web traffic you build, the less it pays out – you’re probably correct in … [Read more...]
Removing WhoIs Data from Public View Only Removes Transparency from the Net
NEW YORK – There has been no shortage of Data Privacy Leaks in the world; it almost seems like there is a new one every day. However, removing the public registration data behind all domain name registrations makes no-one any safer, and only adds more obscurity and complications to the business for those who buy, sell and trade online, and not just in domains. It’s more a solution that’s looking far-and-wide for its problem. For instance, when someone registers a domain … [Read more...]
Who Is and Who Isn’t: ICANN’s Registry Agreement Termination Information List
NEW YORK - In light of another three to be cut, let's take a look at Who's pulling out, of the WhoIs, entirely. The following is a list of new gTLD operators who have decided that running their own dots is not something they wish to pursue and have notified ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, of their intent to cancel and withdraw their Registry Operator Agreements. For supporting documentation you can visit ICANN's Registry Agreement … [Read more...]
GDPR: The Entering of a New Era; User Data Privacy and Protection; Are You Ready?
NEW YORK, NY – The clock is counting down on a new set of rules to be enforced this May, which will affect not only UK based businesses, but all businesses operating in the digital realm, in the event they handle user data from UK based residents, to near any extent. There is a lot of preparation going on right now, and has been over the last year, in anticipation of these new rules. Some businesses may even disappear altogether. I for one, actually shut-down and sold-off … [Read more...]
Internet Veteran, Nat Cohen Discusses His Experience and the ICA with NamePros
NEW YORK, NY – Nat Cohen, an Internet entrepreneur who began his 20+ year journey in domain investing back in 1997, sat with popular domain name forum NamePros.com in a video interview conducted by domaining community speaker and moderator Braden Pollack which took place at the industry’s largest event, NamesCon in Las Vegas this past January. Worth mentioning, over 1,400 people from all around the globe gathered at this year’s event. In the interview, Nat goes into great … [Read more...]
Super Great Week for Liquid Domains Worthy of Very – Very Close Inspection!
NEW YORK, NY – The year seems off to a good - no - great start, with lots of single word .com domain names and one .org topping the charts, thanks in part to NameJet, ROTD, and the NamesCon Auction which has led to several of these closed transactions as of late. Also worth mentioning is the ‘out of the ordinary’ colossal .org sale of Star.org, at SEDO for $225,000.00 (the highest sale through SedoMLS channel to date according to SEDO’s PR and marketing team), Wow! .COM … [Read more...]
ADO Decision Is Embarrassment to ICANN; Serves as “Gift” to UDRP Reform Argument
NEW YORK, NY – There is an excellent article on Circle ID that you should read if you are interested in domain names and value them in almost any regard, especially as investments. You've probably already heard of the recent UDRP decision regarding Francois Carrillo’s ADO.com (Autobuses de Oriente ADO, S.A. de C.V. v. Private Registration / Francois Carrillo, WIPO Case No. D2017-1661) and its nonsensical determination that it should be transferred to the complainant. This … [Read more...]
A “PRIME” Example That .COM Leads in Necessity; nGTLDs Registered Defensively
NEW YORK, NY – It has been recently discovered, that the single word domain name Prime.com, which had been reportedly for sale in the seven figure range (Between $1M and $5M), at least since 2011, is now intellectual property of tech-giant Amazon. The name, which was originally registered in 1987, shows being parked since 2004 via archive. An exact ‘price’ of the domain is not currently known (although I am sure someone out there is working diligently to try and dig … [Read more...]
It’s Called “Pitchfest Global” and Your Window of Opportunity Closes This May
NEW YORK, NY – If you have an idea that you believe would bring your existing business to the next level, but lack funds or you are in need of help to make it happen, you might want to take a close look at a competition called Pitchfest Global, an event involving both NamesCon and NameSummit. Applications for Pitchfest will be accepted through May 15, 2018. Entrepreneurs selected to compete will pitch their ‘golden idea' on August 6th and 7th of 2018 at NameSummit in … [Read more...]
Liking, No, Loving Uniregistry Domain Marketplace, Brokers, Little Bit More
NEW YORK, NY – The wonderful power of the Internet; when things go wrong it allows a venue to vent, warn, enlighten, even bitch and moan some, if and when deemed necessary. Yet, when things go right, you get to openly commend, educate, share, etc.. Today I have the delightful opportunity to share my positive experience with Uniregistry and their relentless domain brokers there, as I believe in giving credit where credit is due. If you have been reading my updates you're … [Read more...]
Industry Gets New Organizational “Think Tank” Protecting Rights of Domainers
NEW YORK, NY - According to OnlineDomain.com, there’s a new ORG in town ready to protect the rights of domain name owners; it’s called the “Domain Name Rights Coalition” and it was founded by Mikki Barry and Kathy Kleiman, both whom have extensive backgrounds in domain policy. The organization is using the domain name, dnrc.tech which I found very interesting and immediately checked what I would have considered the ideal URL, DNRC.org, but of no surprise, it was already … [Read more...]
Someone Caught Great Deal at Flippa; How Is This Domain Venue Performing for You?
NEW YORK, NY - Someone landed a fantastic deal on Flippa this weekend. Amazingly, I lost the auction despite my accidental astronomical one-too-many zero’s high-bid. I’m not going to mention what domain it was (to avoid any politics on the issue), [all luck to the winner who got a great deal] but the domain name was a single word .com highly-commercial term with an Estibot well over $200,000.00 and it sold for about 9 percent of that. Not a .net domain selling for 9%, but … [Read more...]