PALM BEACH, FL – A domain name, that by itself, could potentially fool even one of the most complex computer algorithms such as Google's rankings technology, into trusting that a site is a “big brand”. There is probably not a lot of them out there that could easily be scooped up, however, that’s pretty much what’s for sale at GoDaddy auctions this week, with the bidding for the domain name previously used by the defunct news site “Examiner.com” reaching $69,666.00 - so … [Read more...]
Just Some Fake Bids; Nothing to See Here; Move Along Now, Please Disperse…
PALM BEACH, FL – This is a pretty interesting story all though it has come and gone just like yesterday’s old news – no one cares, no one is all that surprised, figuring it was non-sense to begin with, next story please. I suggest domain market participants not let it be forgotten and swept under the rug so soon, because it isn't at all good for the domain name industry as a whole - and clearly more should be done about it. Platforms that are used for … [Read more...]
Wild West Domains Must Still Be on List of Registrars Which Facilitate Email Spam
PALM BEACH, FL – Way, way, way back in 2009, Brian Krebs from Krebs on Security, a popular security website came up with a list of the top ten domain registrars (highlighted in a Washington Post article) which facilitate the majority of spam via email, and Wild West Domains, owned by GoDaddy held a spot on that list. Out of roughly 900 accredited domain name registrars at the time, spammers registered Web sites advertised in junk e-mail mostly through the following top … [Read more...]
Expired Auction for “AllStar.com” Cancelled; Bidding Moved Quickly Before Renewed
PALM BEACH, FL – The premium sports domain name “AllStar.com”, originally registered in 1994, recently expired and was automatically sent to GoDaddy’s auction platform where bidding reached $40,000 within two days. The auction was apparently cancelled on October 14, 2019 when its owner re-registered the name within the time period aloud by Enom.com, the registry where the name is held. Such a name would certainly have been a big score for one of the many bidders if … [Read more...]
Buyer of Record-Breaking Domain Sale, “Voice.com”, Ordered to Pay $24M SEC Fine
PALM BEACH, FL – On May 30, 2019, the domain name “Voice.com” was sold in a record-breaking all-cash transaction that has officially gone down in the history books as the highest valued domain name sale ever on record when Blockchain company “Block.one” purchased the .com web address from MicroStrategy Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR) for $30,000,000.00. The sale lit-up the domain industry when it was announced in June of this year in a MicroStrategy press release. Domain … [Read more...]
LGBT Domain Registration Service, PrideLife LLC, Announces Relationship With Afilias
PALM BEACH, FL - A new domain name registration service is hoping its partnership with Afilias and its "LGBT" theme will help spotlight its business, which caters to the LGBT community and offers domain name registrations such as the new ".lgbt" domain name. The service, PrideLife LLC (getpridelife.lgbt), also suggests other alternative Afilias sponsored gTLDs such as ".red", ".pink", ".black" and others. The .lgbt TLD was delegated by ICANN in 2014 and shows just under … [Read more...]
Despite Recent Sales, 2019 Top 100, Still Sluggish in Comparison to Previous Year
PALM BEACH – There has been a lot of noticeable domain name sales lately including the blockbuster sale of Voice.com for $30 Million in cash. Other notable names which recently changed hands while also making headlines were Links.com ($798,000), ol.com ($900,000), California.com ($3,000,000), Nursing.com ($950,000) and Casinos.org ($400,000) just to point out a few. Top domain name sales, those which are publicly listed at NameBio.com, show a total of over $44 Million in … [Read more...]
Why I Shipped a Car with “Ship.Cars”
PALM BEACH – My son’s car arrived this morning and delivery has been confirmed via email. We had an agreement that I was sending the car as a gift from South Florida to Georgia, but mom was taking care of the transport fee and choosing the shipper and scheduling it; she chose Ship.Cars, a vehicle transport “marketplace” which is using a new and different domain name ending, likely to improve the chances of being found online. Ship.Cars is what would be considered a … [Read more...]
A Domain Resellers Best Benefit Might Be In Domain “Savings”, Not Sales “Revenue”
NEW YORK, NY – In early 2005 I became a reseller for Wild West Domains Inc., a subsidiary of the GoDaddy, signing up for their Reseller opportunity, and at that time, their “Super Reseller” opportunity. The difference between the two was that the Super Reseller provided the ability to “resell” the “reseller” opportunity and put companies underneath you, earning a small portion of your acquired re-sellers sales, sort of like a sub-affiliate or MLM (multi-level-marketing) … [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...]
Verisign Warns Industry: Far Greater Worry Then Their Minuscule Rate Increase
NEW YORK, NY – They say that when you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Yesterday, Verisign, the company behind all issuing of .com domain names to ICANN approved registries, came out blasting attempts by industry insiders trying to control a price cap that was set by something called the Cooperative Agreement, an agreement between the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN), which for years, prevented any increase … [Read more...]
Radio Host with Estimated 6.5M Listeners Talks Buying and Selling Domain Names
NEW YORK, NY - Kim Komando, a syndicated radio host to over 435 radio stations in the United States and heard internationally in 177 different countries, is dubbed “America’s Digital Goddess”. Her weekly three-hour call-in show covers anything and everything ‘digital’ from tech-gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office her company Komando Corporation and associated owned and operated radio network, … [Read more...]
If I Had Just Started With Domain Names Today, I Don’t Think I Would Make It
NEW YORK, NY – When I started in this industry it was the year 2000. The Internet looked very different than it does today, and people were just starting to get acquainted with Google. Search engine optimization was a lot easier to do with most people not having even heard of the term “SEO”. Back then, as a website owner, you were able to take advantage of certain techniques which could easily put you ahead of the majority. Compared to today, there was little competition … [Read more...]
Winners and Losers; A Look at “Digital” Domains; Prices Over Last 10 Years
NEW YORK – With each passing day we are living and working in more of a 'digital' world. One of my latest companies is called "Cars Digital Inc." It is a digital advertising agency which focuses on lead generation specifically for car dealers. That's why today we are looking at domain name price changes over time for all URLs that changed hands at least twice over the past 10 years (22,065 publicly, those on record at NameBio) that also included the word "Digital". Thanks … [Read more...]
Winners and Losers; A Look at 3 Letter (LLL) Domain Investments Over Last 10 Years
NEW YORK – Three letter .com domain names are pretty solid investments. They are often referred to as “liquid domains” – those which can be converted into cash quickly. Thanks to NameBio, it’s easy to see that the majority of three letter domain names which have changed hands at least twice in the last 10 years, (publicly, those available at NameBio), have made their traders profits. Although there are some losses on record here, the majority, 68% (194) of all 286 … [Read more...]