PALM BEACH – A company which many ordinary people (non-industry) have probably never heard of called “MicroStrategy Incorporated” has announced it has sold an Internet web address, Voice.com for $30,000,000.00 in cash. As you can see, that’s a lot of zero’s in that number and represents what many who invest and trade in Internet domain names likely find so exhilarating about it. For those who are not that savvy when it comes to Internet domain names, this a “website … [Read more...]
Sedo.com’s Buy, Sell, Park Domains Venue Getting More Competitively Priced?
PALM BEACH - Things at SEDO are usually fairly quiet. Outside of their weekly sales list releases for domain names sold, I hear very little from the sales venue, which acts sort of like an MLS system for domain names. However, the last few weeks has been different. On Tuesday May 7, 2019, Ron Jacksoon's DNJournal.com reported what was characterized as a “major change” at Sedo, which would eliminate the minimum sale fee that takes a big chunk out of proceeds from smaller … [Read more...]
Top 10 Ways to Market Your Small Business Online; Do-It-Yourself Marketing Strategies
WEST PALM BEACH - Every once in a while I'll come out with a list of goodies for those who look for website owner tips. Below is a list of these including the top ten best and/or most popular ways (in my opinion) to market your small business on the Internet including both do-it-yourself strategies and for those which aren't, reasons why you might be better off hiring a fully managed solution provider or Internet marketing company to do it for you. Some of these ideas you … [Read more...]
U.S. State Domain ILLINOIS.com For Sale
PALM BEACH – According to Above.com’s latest Domain Name Marketplace Report, the exact match domain “ILLINOIS.com” is for sale; a state name I missed and wasn’t aware of in my previous GEO domain article earlier this month titled “Premium GEO Domain Name Shakeup with High Number of Sales and Offerings”. A screenshot of the landing page which currently greets visitors at Illinois.com The domain name was originally registered in 1995, around the same time many state and … [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...]
Two New Alternative URLs Hit Superhighway
NEW YORK, NY – If you’re looking around for a few good ways to confuse new prospective customers, you’ve got two new great opportunities to completely derail even your best marketing efforts; .LUXE and .PAGE new gTLDs have just worked their way into the mix. Minds + Machines, the company behind .LUXE domain names, which are intended to serve the Ethereum, blockchain and security industry, has released the .LUXE domain which opens for general availability on November 6, … [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...]
Three Letter Blockbuster Domain Sale, ICE.com Trades Hands for $3.5 Million
NEW YORK, NY - According to a press release, the three letter Internet domain name ICE.com has been sold via a private, confidential transaction in the amount of $3.5 million. The sale is expected to be the largest publicly disclosed domain name sold in 2018. The sale was handled by two domain and Internet business brokerage firms Brannan’s and Grit Brokerage and the purchase price and value was defined in a statement as a long-term benefit at the cost of a single … [Read more...]
The 472 Domain Names That Couldn’t Stop The Inevitable Collapse of ‘Toys R Us’
NEW YORK, NY - Toys R Us is a brand we’ve all grown up with. The company was originally founded by Charles P. Lazarus (October 5, 1923 - March 22, 2018), the son of a local entrepreneur who wished to someday mimic his father’s work with his own enterprise. Those dreams became a reality in 1948 when young Charles, 25, opened his first children’s furniture store called “Children’s Bargain Town” in Washington, D.C. After years of early success, Lazarus added toys and changed … [Read more...]
Insane: France Seizes Geographic Domain Name France.com with Help from Web.com
NEW YORK - An unprecedented theft has occurred in the domain space as the European Country of France has stolen the Internet domain name France.com from its owner, who according to a lawsuit filed this month in California "has lawfully owned and used the domain name in commerce since 1994." Although Networks Solutions (Web.com) is not party to the lawsuit, it seems they would be guilty of gross misconduct in my opinion and should also be sued for transferring the … [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...]
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...]
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...]
How to Become a ‘Rockstar Domainer’ by Developing Your Own Domain Assets
NEW YORK – Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years, you’ve caught wind that parking your domain names is potentially the worst thing you can do to monetize them. Today, you need to DEVELOP your domain names into real web services to earn realistic profits from them, but development is not always easy, especially if you do not know how to do any of it yourself, as it can be VERY EXPENSIVE. Development involves an ‘idea’, planning, design, development, … [Read more...]
Will People Use Alternative Domain Names Like They Do Toll Free Phone Numbers?
NEW YORK - Much like .com domain names, 1-800 toll free phone numbers with meaning in their letters such as 1-800-FLOWERS, are hard to come by these days – or even impossible to obtain, based on limited supply. Although it is indeed possible to get a 1-800 phone number today, if you’re looking for a vanity number, such as one with clear meaning in its letters, you’re much more likely to get it using an alternative such as 888. This is very much what we are seeing today … [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...]
After 18 Years of UDRP, ICA Says, Time for Discussion, Re-evaluation, Improvements
NEW YORK – Back in 1999, ICANN adopted the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) and its related Rules (the "UDRP Rules") for the resolution of certain limited kinds of domain name disputes between registrants and third parties, i.e. abusive registration of domain names, otherwise known as “cybersquatting”, which is the practice of registering a domain name in bad faith. The ICA, (“The Internet Commerce Association”) believes that although the UDRP process has largely … [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...]
ICA Full Speed Ahead: Can UDRP Be Used to Steal Your Domain Name After 20 Years?
NEW YORK, NY – As the saying goes, actions [always] speak louder than words. I came across some material today on Circle ID that certainly merits some highlighting; reason being, all domainers should know about it. A Re-Examination of the Defense of Laches After 18 Years of the UDRP, by Internet Commerce Association With some much going wrong in the world these days, boy does it feel good to see something ‘going right’ once in a while. First off, If you are a … [Read more...]
How .COM Domain Names Have Changed Value Over Time; Commercial Interest Term
NEW YORK, NY - There is only one thing better than speculation; and that's fact. Wouldn't you agree? Let’s look at some historical sales data on .com domain names which have “sold at least twice” and include the words “real estate”, a good commercial interest term. (Data gathered from a list of every .com domain name on record at NameBio which sold more than once in the past 10 years). Thanks to NameBio, we can see that out of 39 transactions, 20 of them (51%) declined … [Read more...]
The “Super Secret” to Appraising Your .com Domain Name for 2018 and Beyond
NEW YORK, NY - There have been many changes over the last five years when it comes to Internet domain names. I will say that this pertains to the average domain (web address), not so much a super-premium domain name, but your average .com two or three word domain name. For the most part, pricing has gone down, for whatever reason. Some changes you may have noticed such as: The EMD Penalty: Where Google will not simply rank the domain at the top of search for its exact … [Read more...]
