The .CO domain registration count has reached 336,000+ just one week after the exciting launch. Remaining quality one-word domains are well on their way to being all claimed, but there are a few left if you look hard enough.

Below is a handpicked list of one-word .CO domains that were available to register as of the time of this posting.

If you would like to claim one or more of these domains for $29.99 year, I ask that you please use this link to GoDaddy so that I receive a modest commission for the referral.

• Crusade.co
• Squadron.co
• Errand.co
• Deployed.co
• Confide.co
• Enlist.co
• Nominated.co
• Roster.co
• Corrective.co
• Cleansed.co
• Orderly.co
• Honorable.co
• Tunneling.co
• Featuring.co
• Configured.co
• Shapely.co
• Unfriend.co (2009 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year!)
• Observance.co
• Flaming.co
• Taught.co
• Trained.co
• Versed.co
• Peruse.co
• Remembrance.co
• Ploy.co
• Commanding.co
• Depiction.co
• Redeemed.co

Please do not re-post or share this list anywhere.

Thank you for using this link to GoDaddy to register these domains.

Please feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts or appreciation for my domain research.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Tab Candy is currently available as stand alone alpha release of Firefox. The program is oddly named “Minefield,” but can be installed without bothering your existing Firefox installation.

I have been waiting for this functionality for many years. So, first let me say, thank you dearly Firefox and the team that developed this!

As I write this post I have something like 17 tabs open. It’s a frequent occurrence; swapping back and forth, hunting and pecking for content. My only aids being a favicon and a few characters of the title.

With exponentially increasing processing speeds, computers can handle more and more windows and programs running simultaneously. Tab Candy is a much needed layer for exploring the web in an organized and productive manner.

After watching the video, it’s easy to imagine never having to close your favorite websites. Push updates, live and fresh streaming content will begin to be more important and valuable to publishers looking to engage visitors. The alternative is pressing the refresh button.

Google’s Chrome browser has plans in it’s next release for larger “app tabs” that remain in a fixed position. However, they do not come close to the functionality and value provided by Firefox’s Tab Candy. Chrome developers should steal adopt a similar interface or the browser will continue to trail behind.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

DNMarket launched on Twitter in March 2009 as a service to domainers who had just started to embrace the new social service. All the early adopters wanted in on DNMarket, a public marketplace that was easy to promote and browse domains for sale.

I currently have several projects demanding my time, so I have with some reluctance decided to sell two great social domain marketplaces together. Read through the descriptions below to gain an understanding of the real value DNMarket holds.

DNMarket on Twitter

The exclusive Twitter domain marketplace, @DNMarket recently reached the 1000 followers milestone and continues to grow.

DNMarket on Twitter is powered by GroupTweets which enables sellers to send a direct message to the account that will in turn be broadcast to the public stream. Each sellers’ Twitter pri name is attached to their promotional message automatically.

There is virtually no work involved except responding to legitimate requests to become a DNMarket verified seller.

DNMarket on Facebook

Around the same time as setting up DNMarket on Twitter, I created the premier Domain Name Marketplace on Facebook. This group has quickly grown to 682 members! Many domainers are engaging with the group frequently and recommending it to their friends.

As the group administrator I am able to send a Facebook message to all members when something important comes up. This is definitely the most valuable aspect of owning DNMarket.

Future of DNMarket

My vision for DNMarket was to develop an accompanying website that would feature all the listings and expand upon the Twitter and Facebook platform. Followers, sellers and Facebook members would visit and interact with the new website.

I’ve secured the DNMarket.co domain to make that vision become a reality.

Sweet Bonuses

I will get the new owner started by setting up a WordPress website featuring the beautiful new PliablePress Chameleon theme framework. A $70 value.

PliablePress creates innovative themes with advanced admin controls. No coding required.

Additionally, I will update DNMarket with a very professional twitter background for free! It will be done by the same person who designed mine.

This Hot Deal Includes…

• DNMarket.co – Short, memorable domain name.
• Account access - @DNMarket (1000+ followers and 192 sellers)
• Group admin – DNMarket on Facebook (682 members)
• Premium WordPress theme and website setup ($70 value)
• Professional Twitter background update ($75 value)

This is truly a unique and valuable opportunity to profit in the domain industry. Get connected to hundreds of domainers with DNMarket.

Buy DNMarket

I am looking to get $1500 or your best offer.

Please contact me here with your offer to purchase DNMarket.

This deal will be advertised in several places and may not last very long.

Feel free to ask any questions through the contact form or by leaving a comment in the area below. Thank you for your interest.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

The .CO landrush has come to an end and it has been a spectacular event. In just a few hours, the .CO registry will open to the public for general availability registrations.

There have been over 40,000 pre-registrations during the landrush period and a lot of media coverage both within and outside the domain industry.

General Availability

Update: The registry is now public! Remaining .CO domains will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. GoDaddy has .CO for $29.99 per year.

CoInternet is now reporting over 215,000 registrations so far.

Thousands more domains will be claimed during the general availability today and in the coming days, weeks and months.

Combining todays’ expected registrations and premium domains awarded for landrush applications should easily total several million dollars in estimated value.

Notable .CO Domains

O.co – Sold for $350,000 to Overstock

E.co – Sold for $81,000 at charity auction

T.co – New short URL for Twitter (likely to be implemented today)

Disrupt.co – TechCrunch startup event

Duck.co – DuckDuckGo Search Community

.Co Founders Program – Many businesses and individuals awarded free .co domains under contract to actively develop for at least 2 years. You will begin seeing many launch announcements on .co domains soon.

3 Things I Like About .CO

• It rides on the coat tails of .COM in representing commerce and companies.
• Registry operator CoInternet is doing a phenomenal job marketing the launch and will likely continue to do so.
• Early adoption by big players such as Twitter

3 Things I’m Concerned About

• Will people have a problem recognizing a .CO domain when spoken verbally? We are so used to hearing .COM
• Over speculation within the industry may cause public outcry against domaining and tarnish .CO similarly to .US
• Owners will fool themselves into believing their keyword .CO domain is worth just as much as it’s .COM counterpart.

What do you think of .CO? Please leave your comments below or send me a message on Twitter @DotSauce.

Want to know more about the domain industry or how to get started buying and selling? Ask a question on the all new DotSauce Q&A forum.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

The majority of these keyword names have at least 2000 monthly searches on Google in the US alone, often much more.

Act fast to secure the best names before Tuesday, July 20th general availability.

Please pre-register at GoDaddy using this link to support DotSauce.

Use the link above and .CO coupon: MIN1 for 10% OFF when checking out!

Computers / Tech / Internet

• USBCable.co
• WirelessAdapter.co
• USBModem.co
• WirelessMouse.co
• ACAdapter.co
• USBHub.co
• CableModem.co
• Cat5.co
• PowerAdapter.co
• WirelessModem.co
• InkjetPrinter.co
• HomePhone.co
• DigitalCamcorder.co
• CheapTV.co
• CheapTVs.co
• GreenGifts.co

• MediaPlayer.co
• MediaCenter.co
• Publisher.co
• Sketchup.co
• PhotoEditing.co

• InternetSecurity.co
• Malware.co
• MalwareRemoval.co
• OnlineBackup.co
• BackupSoftware.co
• Virtualization.co
• SpywareRemoval.co
• VirusRemoval.co
• AccountingSoftware.co
• DiscountSoftware.co

• VirtualServer.co
• DedicatedServer.co
• DedicatedHosting.co
• VPSHosting.co
• FTPServer.co
• VirtualPrivateServer.co

• BusinessWebDesign.co
• CheapWebDesign.co
• WebDesignTemplates.co
• WebDesignJobs.co
• WebPageTemplates.co
• WebPageHosting.co
• BestWebHost.co
• WebDevelopers.co
• ContentManagement.co
• ServerMonitoring.co

• AffiliateNetworks.co
• MarketingSoftware.co
• SEOSoftware.co

Books

• ReadBooks.co
• BestSellingBooks.co
• VampireBooks.co
• DiscountBooks.co
• ElectronicBooks.co
• CollegeBooks.co
• ClassicBooks.co
• KidsBooks.co
• MustReadBooks.co
• PersonalizedBooks.co
• GreatBooks.co
• BooksOnCD.co
• FictionBooks.co
• ColoringBooks.co
• OldBooks.co
• BargainBooks.co
• TwilightSeries.co
• MysteryBooks.co
• ScienceFictionBooks.co

Gaming

• GamingNews.co
• GamerNews.co
• FishingGames.co
• GameDesign.co
• KidsGame.co
• RacingGame.co
• GameDownload.co
• VideoDownload.co
• ShootingGame.co
• PuzzleGame.co
• ArcadeGame.co

Music

• MusicVideos.co
• SheetMusic.co
• MusicDownloads.co
• MusicLyrics.co
• CountryMusic.co
• MusicPlayer.co
• ChristmasMusic.co
• HipHopMusic.co
• ChristianMusic.co
• HouseMusic.co
• TechnoMusic.co
• DanceMusic.co
• PianoMusic.co
• IndieMusic.co
• ReggaeMusic.co
• GoodMusic.co
• MusicPosters.co
• MusicBlog.co
• MusicSoftware.co

Business

• BusinessManagement.co
• BusinessConsulting.co
• BusinessCardDesign.co
• SampleBusinessPlan.co
• BusinessArticles.co
• BusinessNames.co
• BusinessJournal.co
• BusinessTechnology.co
• SmallBusinessAdvice.co
• SmallBusinessHelp.co
• BusinessEmail.co
• BetterBusiness.co
• BusinessBanking.co
• StartingABusiness.co

Mortgage

• MortgageCalculator.co
• MortgagePaymentCalculator.co
• MortgageLoanCalculator.co
• AmortizationCalculator.co
• Amortization.co
• LoanPaymentCalculator.co
• HomeLoanCalculator.co
• RefinanceCalculator.co
• MortgageCalc.co
• TaxCut.co

Other

• iPhoto.co
• SalesJobs.co
• Update.co
• Updates.co
• Roommate.co
• PrintShop.co
• InternetFax.co
• Professional.co
• Ultimate.co

Pre-Register Now With 10% Off Coupon Code

Please pre-register at GoDaddy using this link to support DotSauce.

Use the link above and .co coupon: MIN1 for 10% off when checking out!

Want more lists before the public launch? Let me know in the comments below. Good luck securing your new domains!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

While GoDaddy cannot guarantee that you will receive the domain name, you can pre-register now to be first in line during the July 20 general availability date.

If your order is not secured you will receive a full refund.

Owning any of these popular U.S. city domains would be an excellent opportunity to develop a memorable local website business.

Pre-register one or more of these cities for $29.99 at GoDaddy, click here.

233 U.S. cities over 100,000 Population

Bonus List: Most common U.S. place names

• fairview.co
• clayton.co
• milford.co
• milton.co
• mountvernon.co
• centerville.co

Pre-register one or more of these cities for $29.99 at GoDaddy, click here.

I am working on additional keyword lists for various industry categories and will post them soon. Stay tuned.

Surprisingly, many generic phrases and keywords have been pre-registered! A good sign for the .CO landrush and initial domain valuation.

You will need to act fast to secure some of the best names.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Metaweb has built a smarter, more connected internet by classifying all persons, places and things under a unique ID they call an entity.

This video introduction does a good job explaining the concept and how Metaweb could bring great content to site owners.

I learned of all this at the Official Google blog today and am a little troubled by the tone of the announcement. I have lots of questions.

Will this optimistic outlook of Metaweb as a service to web developers change as they merge into Google?

Will these cool widgets ever see the light of your monitor?

Google has been increasingly adding content alongside search results in recent years. They have already taken over the traffic and attention of numerous industries and niches such as travel arrangements, business listings, definitions, product comparison and even the news.

Now Google hopes to enable a smarter search where people can go beyond text.

Looking for a college? You may search like this in the near future…

• [colleges on the west coast with tuition under $30,000]

What’s going on in San Jose tonight?

• [events in San Jose]

There is far reaching opportunity for Google to use Metaweb to provide great answers without a user ever leaving their domain. This is what worries me. How much content will they take for themselves and will websites suffer for it with dwindling traffic numbers?

Metaweb’s data is hosted on a separately branded community site called Freebase. I tried to sign up, but registrations are currently closed.

Google does mention that Freebase (all that data from Metaweb) will remain open to the public. So, you should definitely check it out and support the cause. There is also a wiki for Freebase developer tools.

A free and open database for the world’s knowledge sounds like a phenomenal resource for business and web development. I can imagine countless new applications connected to this data and the social web.

Update: The following video is an astounding Freebase search project called Parallax. It is a new way to explore data and integrate it simultaneously from multiple Metaweb data sources.

While I’m still playing the conspiracy theorist (it’s all this UFO buzz), I believe Freebase may cut into web traffic of some individuals and businesses. Google started something similar with Knol a few years ago; I’m not sure how well it’s doing now.

Popular destinations like WikiPedia, IMDB and who knows what else may soon have smart competition with a major home-field advantage.

Regardless of how it turns out, I respect Google for bringing innovative web ideas to fruition. I hope they continue to recognize their users are creating great content and personal answers that deserve to be found.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

My personal web presence at MarkFulton.com has been around for over a decade and has gone through many different concepts and designs.

A new update is nearing completion and I’d love for you to visit.

I will now be sharing lots of short articles, app reviews, videos and other resources related to social media, domains, business, and web development at my personal blog.

Latest Posts at MarkFulton.com

• So You Think You Have A Competitive Advantage
• Interactive Social Media Survey
• Epic Win To-Do List iPhone App
• Google Me Will Challenge Facebook With Social Groups
• Microsoft Introduces WebMatrix Beta for Windows
• Link Directories Making A Comeback

New PliablePress Theme

The site is now powered by the PliablePress Chalemeon framework which allows me to manage each element of the site through an innovative and easy to use admin interface.

Not long ago, I featured complete details on PliablePress during it’s launch.

The Chameleon framework has been a pleasure to work with since updating my blog. It took me just a few minutes to set up the layout, widgets and other features. I have not had to open up the theme files at all to this point.

PliablePress is pioneering a level of WordPress customization without coding or theme editing knowledge. I am looking forward to customizing the layout and design further as I continue development.

About Me & DotSauce

If you’re curious about who I am and my history, I’ve written an updated bio.

A few months ago, I published a list of my services. I don’t regularly advertise these services, but may be available for certain things.

I’ve also included information on DotSauce Magazine and other projects.

Thanks for checking out my personal blog!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Every day on Twitter (@DotSauce), I share links to articles, resources and apps of interest to web professionals. This month I have categorized links as domaining, small business, startups & entrepreneurship, social networking, web development, design, and WordPress.

These links were selected from June 12th to July 12th 2010.

Domain Names

Mahalo uses keyword domains to drive traffic http://bit.ly/aLs5L3

Worldwide domain registrations double over past 4 years http://bit.ly/b9BXVh

How To Automate End User Domain Sales Marketing http://bit.ly/aUqqv8

Domain Name Dispute and Arbitration Resources http://bit.ly/cSKSdo

Right Brain Domaining http://bit.ly/dlEb0Q

Job.com: 50% Of Visitors Come From Direct Navigation http://bit.ly/cximY3

How Domaining is Like Collecting Baseball Cards http://bit.ly/caKm1h

Premium TLDs: Not All Extensions Created Equal http://DotSauce.com/3753

Small Business

Self hosted options voted best to set up shop online http://bit.ly/d0B7W4

A look at the freemium business model http://bit.ly/aeONDQ

How The World Spends Time Online http://bit.ly/cGT6hH

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss http://bit.ly/bT4Vnf

How to Bootstrap a Business http://bit.ly/a2dEca

9 Expert SEO Tips for Small Businesses http://bit.ly/cghbdY

Everything I learned in business came from 3 charts http://bit.ly/akZOYv

Startups & Entrepreneurship

76 Powerful Thoughts from Paul Graham http://bit.ly/9IX3dU

Everything You Need To Know About Startup Ecosystem http://bit.ly/aPzV9w

How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen http://bit.ly/atnHXg

10 Tips for Startups on Naming Your Company http://bit.ly/bqFL62

Competition Is Overrated http://bit.ly/d6Ufv0

Why many successful entrepreneurs came out of PayPal http://bit.ly/dlW2Lz

BBC Special: Start-Up Stories http://bit.ly/bBho96

Social Networking

15 Awesome Social Media Infographics http://bit.ly/ap5KNk

Twitter T.CO Domain As Official Link Shortener http://bit.ly/d9wkdb

How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth? http://bit.ly/ba6em0

Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand http://bit.ly/bel6H4

Is Social a Source for B2B Leads? http://bit.ly/bF9oXv

Jive Software Wants to Be Facebook for the Enterprise http://bit.ly/d55Yw4

Pick&Zip – Download All Your Photos from Facebook http://bit.ly/cPLyyH

MySpace will attempt a comeback later this year http://bit.ly/9nvyIy

2/3 of Web Users to Visit Social Networks by 2014 http://bit.ly/bkx8xT

6 Social Media Mistakes And How to Fix Them http://bit.ly/af12fc

Web Design

Get a head start: Designing Websites for Google TV http://bit.ly/9g44sd

Fancy Sliding Form with jQuery http://bit.ly/ctk3Ak

10 Beautiful Minimalist Icon Sets http://bit.ly/9PdbSV

Will LESS Make CSS Obsolete? http://bit.ly/aqCX7V

50 Powerful Time-Savers For Web Designers http://bit.ly/cfugo9

Web Development

Information Architecture: Enhancing User Experience http://bit.ly/cjUSml

Spice Up Your Website With jQuery Goodness http://bit.ly/ds5Ik6

30 Pro jQuery Tips, Tricks and Strategies http://bit.ly/9iy88e

Firefox Reveals Websites’ Best Friend and Worst Enemy http://bit.ly/92yf6q

The Right Keyword Analysis For Your Website http://bit.ly/9qI2o4

The Right Keyword Analysis For Your Website (Part-2) http://bit.ly/93y0fw

The State of HTML5 Apps http://bit.ly/bxDaAt

29 Worst Practices: SEO Checklist http://selnd.com/c66S5S

Beginner’s Guide to SEO from SEOmoz http://bit.ly/cpLPaH

Collection of website user experience misconceptions http://bit.ly/aeAwre

The 10 HTML Tags Beginners Aren’t Using http://bit.ly/dwLbSi

HTML5 Rocks!: A resource for web developers by Google http://bit.ly/aKgViR

Link Building With The Experts http://bit.ly/cam58E

WordPress

WordPress Plugin – Ozh Drop Down Admin Menu http://bit.ly/bkLyhD

WP 3.0 Easy Post Types Plugin http://bit.ly/9MGtCd

WordPress Plugin – Compresses  files – WP Minify http://bit.ly/aS7TEB

The Ultimate WordPress Shopping/Ecommerce Toolbox http://bit.ly/cuL8yb

Essential Plugins for WordPress 3.0 http://bit.ly/bQGDNg

Build Your Own Website Network  With WordPress 3.0 http://bit.ly/cNPpVR

10 Useful WordPress Security Tweaks http://bit.ly/akY5PB

Email Commenters WordPress Plugin http://bit.ly/9uSHau

WP Facebook Plugin http://bit.ly/boKJJe

Top 15 Premium WordPress Plugins http://bit.ly/9IwgWz

Random & Useful

Best Chrome Addons for Power Blogging http://bit.ly/crj42ab

Google Chrome Gets Extension Sync http://bit.ly/a0iCMT

Encrypt the web – HTTPS Everywhere for Firefox http://bit.ly/9glXUe

Everything you need to know about the internet http://bit.ly/cm0zsV

Bounce – Fun, easy way to share ideas on a website http://bit.ly/aLVGZq

67 trendy innovations – Innovation Insanity: http://bit.ly/9felnf

How People Are Using the iPad http://bit.ly/df5aY5

I hope you found a lot of these resources useful.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for all the latest updates. You may also want to bookmark this post for quick access and feel free to share these resources with your social following.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

MY.CO is opening up a world of opportunity for domain name registrars during the highly anticipated .CO launch. Their service offers registrars direct access to the .CO registry.

25 years after the creation of .COM domains, the .CO domain extension is being opened up to the world as a fresh opportunity in a crowded space. The anticipation is building like no other TLD launch before.

This new service from MY.CO allows ICANN accredited registrars such as EuroDNS to offer landrush registrations for .CO domains until July 16th and public registrations during the launch. It all happens behind the scenes, through a robust EPP gateway.

Additional features include:

• WHOIS resource showing a registrar as the entity of record
• Customer data kept private within a registrar
• High performance EPP protocols, Tier 4 datacenter
• Supported and authorized by official .CO registry (CoInternet)

Dedicated resources will be allocated during the landrush for each registrar partner, ensuring a smooth experience during peek volume. I imagine MY.CO partners’ and their customers’ pre-registrations will be successful during the landrush period with this advantage.

The .CO domain extension is proving to be very popular even before it’s launch and there is expected to be an explosion of registrations in the coming years.

Interested registrars can sign up here or learn more at MY.CO.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

In preparation for the upcoming launch of Firefox 4, the Mozilla Labs team has undertaken an extensive and detailed heatmap study of their main browser window.

Nearly 10,000 test pilots participated in the study, 9,667 users to be exact. Every single mouse click and action taken within the browser was monitored over the course of 5 days. Mozilla has published a dynamic graphical representation of the heatmap study here.

Several trends are very clear to see after viewing the usage data. Two elements leap out that get more action than the scrollbar!

Your Worst Enemy

93.1% of participants used the back button, clicking it 66.7 times on average over the course of 5 days.

The technical term for this action is referred to as a website’s bounce rate, which occurs when a visitor decides not to click anything on the site and leaves entirely. Time spent on site is also something you should monitor and hope to increase over time.

Today, it is critical to engage a visitor and capture their attention. We do this by making effective use of graphic and design cues, headings and short, consumable pieces of information.

There are several other things you can do to get started dealing with your worst enemy, the back button. I’ve previously written some tips for reducing bounce rate and increasing website usability that you should check out.

Your Best Friend

95.6% of participants used the location bar, clicking it 430.1 times on average over the course of 5 days.

That is a huge amount of activity! A website should be optimized for both direct navigation and search navigation to increase website traffic.

Direct navigation does not often get the credit it deserves. It is not easily monitored, but when studied it has proven to contribute a much higher percentage of traffic than one would expect. Additionally, visitors who directly type domain names are extremely targeted.

I believe analytics software will soon place a larger emphasis on direct navigation. More attention should be given to branding and domain names while developing a website. They should be memorable, easy to pronounce and easy to type.

The location bar now doubles as a search bar in all major browsers, so visitors will come indirectly from search navigation. Your site should be as optimized as possible (without going overboard) to make the search experience better for these visitors.

One of the simplest and most effective forms of SEO is to make sure important keywords and phrases are included within titles, headings and content. For more tips read my article on common WordPress SEO mistakes.

I hope you get along nicely with your new acquaintances.

If you enjoyed this article, don’t click back! Like this on Facebook and have a look around.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

This is a quick update to inform you of the winners for our Q&A forum grand opening prize raffle.

In just one month, the all new DotSauce Forum has brought together over 60 members who have shared 291 questions and answers about domain names, online business, web development and related topics.

Without further interruption, the prize winners are as follows:

• Aaron Bennett - $25 GoDaddy Gift Card
• Bruce Tedeschi – $25 GoDaddy Gift Card
• Tricolorro - $25 Cash via PayPal
• Adam – Your choice of premium WordPress theme from PliablePress

Congratulations winners and thank you to all members for your participation.

The forum launch has been an excellent start! I hope to see more of you join in, share your experience and meet new people by answering questions.

At the DotSauce Forum you can get a different perspective or inquire about something you’re not sure of. Learn from the community, free. All you have to do is ask!

Create your profile today to share a little about yourself and your websites. See you there!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Many are upset with VeriSign, the organization which manages the .COM and .NET domain space. Annual 7% fee increases for domain registrations have been in effect for awhile now. On July 1st, the registry fee will again increase, jumping from $6.86 to $7.34. It’s from this base price that ICANN accredited registrars then set their registration markup.

I have always had no problem with fee increases. I feel strongly that it somehow increases the bottom-line value of each domain name. Domainers could simply pass on that value by marking up domain sales prices.

I had to put this “gut feeling” that registration price increases may actually be a good thing for the industry to the test. So, I set about browsing a few microeconomics articles on WikiPedia about supply and demand. I wanted to see how the price increase may affect demand for domains.

Price increases generally do have an adverse affect on demand. However, there are a few products and services that do not apply to the normal rules of supply and demand. These goods are known to have a positive price elasticity, meaning that as prices increase so does the demand.

Could a domain name be classified as a Veblen good? These are luxury items that are not easily attainable.  Certain premium .com domains fit that description very well, some could even be considered priceless.

In 1998, I had no real concern paying $75 per year for .com registrations. It was a necessity for a quality web presence and perceived status of any business or personal site.

Today, domain registration costs are relatively low compared to what one would consider a typical Veblen or luxury good, but they have the special characteristic of being 100% unique.

Could it also be that as more people register domain names the overall desire to claim more domains increases? This is known as the bandwagon effect.

I’m no economics expert, so my ideas on the price-demand correlation may be wrong.  I can’t help but feel these fee increases are justified and beneficial to the industry as a whole. What do you think? You’re welcome to leave a comment below with your thoughts on the matter.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Some people may be under the impression that it’s what comes before the dot in a domain name that matters most. I would love to put that myth to rest.

In this article, I will be sharing my thoughts and opinions on the many domain name extension options available today and some that are coming soon.

Here is a brief explanation of the different types of top level domains.

Generic TLDs or gTLDs

These extensions include .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .JOBS, .PRO, etc. ICANN is currently in the final rounds of policy making to open up applications for new gTLDs.

One of the first new gTLD extensions we will see is .XXX. Many others will follow such as .ECO.

Country Code TLDs or ccTLDs

These extensions include every country’s short-code. A handful of countries have been blessed with a pleasing acronym such as Tuvalu (.TV), Montenegro (.ME), and Colombia (.CO).

Other countries generally have to make due with local usage.

Which gTLDs are premium?

The clear winner is .COM. Most would agree that this is the best option for recognition, search rankings and inherent value.

Looking at .NET and .ORG sales, they are typically just a fraction of a comparable .COM sale. I will say that .ORG may be the best available option for organizations. I do not consider .NET at all, except for brand protection because it is a dated idea.

Aside from .COM, I don’t believe any other currently available gTLDs are premium quality.

I do admire and respect the promotion, innovations and community outreach by Telnic, managers of .TEL. However, I do not consider the gTLD itself to be premium. A premium alternative for what they are doing has not been created yet, it would be something like .SOCIAL.

.XXX, .MOBI, .BIZ, .PRO, .JOBS – These extensions all had the right intentions, but ultimately they are created for too small a niche to be premium quality in my book.

Which ccTLDs are premium?

I believe .ME is doing well after it’s launch just 2 years ago. Many successful websites are using the extension for blogging, social and personal apps. It has a broad, yet unique concept that is also memorable.

For the past few years, the internet and our televisions have been coming closer and closer together.  Finally this fall, Google TV will be made public, bringing the internet and a mass media of citizens to your TV box set. I think this will really seal the deal for .TV as a premium ccTLD. The extension has already had alot of success as businesses are founded and existing media outlets have adopted it with open arms.

On July 20th 2010, the unprecedented public landrush will take place for .CO domains. Unprecedented because of the phenomenal work by CoInternet in marketing the launch. There has been early adoption through innovative promotions like the CoFounders program in which Twitter was accepted and claimed T.CO.

So what makes .CO premium? The main fact is that it rides on the coat-tails of .COM. The extension could not have launched at a better time. Society has embraced bite sized information in the form of status updates, many of which contain odd two-letter ccTLD link shorteners.

This .CO extension will best other ccTLD options and will be adopted by a wide audience for both personal and business use. It also passes the requirement for both memorability and meaning, though in this case, .CO has a multitude of meanings.

More Premium gTLDs Coming Soon

The future is very bright for the domain industry. As I mentioned earlier, ICANN is finalizing policy to open up new gTLDs. This change will bring about many not-so-good domain extensions that you should avoid, but it will also introduce high quality extensions with real meaning and value!

For now, I’ve got my eye on a couple of generic .CO domains I’d like to develop or hold on to. GoDaddy’s .CO registration is $29.99/year and the public landrush will take place on July 20th 2010.

What domain extensions do you think are premium quality? Which ones are bad? Please feel free to share your opinions in the comments area.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Popular domain registrar Name.com will soon offer discounted domain registrations and other incentives for their best customers. A new investor program will officially launch next Thursday, July 1st.

The only requirement to claim investor benefits is that your Name.com account has at least 25 domains.

A VeriSign fee increase will soon raise prices across the board at all domain registrars. Name.com’s new pricing will be $9.99 for new .COM and .NET registrations for all customers.

The domain registration discount for the investor program has not yet been announced. It should be a very competitive price which will rival industry leader, GoDaddy.

The program will include additional benefits depending on how large your portfolio at Name.com is. A larger portfolio of domains could earn you completely free private WHOIS services. The exact number of domains required and benefits for each program level are yet to be announced.

Be sure to visit the Name.com blog on July 1st for complete details on the new investor program.

Also on July 1st, next Thursday, DotSauce will be announcing the winners of our Q&A Forum Grand Opening prize raffle.

Join the DotSauce Forum to network, learn and share experiences with other domainers for a chance to win cash, domains or a premium WordPress theme from PliablePress!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

WordPress 3.0 has introduced some exciting new features, not the least of which is a merger with WordPress MU!

That’s right, the WordPress team has made it much easier to quickly deploy a network of WordPress powered websites on the same host, using the same WordPress installation and administration.

How To Enable WordPress MultiSite

To get your website network started, you will need to enable the WordPress Multisite feature and become a Super Admin! Reason enough, right?

I’m going to direct you to this great MultiSite walk-through at Weblogtools Collection to get the job done.

Follow a few steps, and once enabled, you will notice a new “Super Admin” menu appear.

Setup Domain Names for Each Site

Next, you’ll want to be able to map your domain names to each of the websites you setup in your new network. Unfortunately, this requires a special plugin that has to be installed manually.

Not to worry though, Otto on WordPress has created this great MultiSite domain mapping tutorial.

Follow these two simple guides and you will be well on your way towards building a powerful website network. Your websites will have their very own administration panel, unique plugins and themes.

Each site on your network will be empowered by the innovations and flexibility that WordPress has to offer.

Make Your Network Beautiful

The new default WordPress 3.0 theme “Thelonius” has some cool features and is pretty customizable, but I would like to recommend an even more advanced and more customizable new theme from PliablePress: the Chameleon framework.

With this one theme you can make each of your websites look unique. Setting up the theme options is fast, without any design or coding skills required.

You can learn all about PliablePress here at DotSauce. For a chance to win a free PliablePress theme, join the all new DotSauce Q&A Forum to be entered into our prize drawing!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

I recently read a book that rang true for me as I turned the pages and applied it’s ideas to my experiences in online business. This book has given me a lot of confidence in myself, my goals and my vision for the future.

Daniel H. Pink describes a transition from the Information Age to a new Conceptual Age in his bestselling book “A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future.”

So, what exactly does the Conceptual Age entail?

1. Society is becoming overwhelmed by abundance. We have everything we need at our fingertips and it’s cheap.
2. Information Age jobs are increasingly transitioning to Asia. For example each year, India’s colleges and universities produce 350,000 engineering grads.
3. Products, services and manufacturing are becoming automated, taking out the human element all together.

The good news? Domaining is fairly conceptual. We need to be creative, forward thinking and understand the big picture of the internet because we are it’s foundation.

• Can someone overseas do it cheaper? No.
• Can a computer do it faster? No.
• Am I offering something that satisfies the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age? Yes.

Daniel Pink offers six aptitudes on which professional success will increasingly depend on as we move into the Conceptual Age. Here I am going to share my thoughts on each one of these traits and how we can apply them to the business of buying, selling and monetizing domain names.

Design – A true right brain ability, yet still something that can be learned! I don’t proclaim to be a designer myself, but I am proficient with certain aspects of web style, trends and usability. Domainers can use design to drastically improve their online presence. The design of your blog, domain portfolio or business website is something that should be visually appealing and very user friendly. We can also use design to make more sales and more money.

Story – Domainers need to be able to tell a story when marketing their domain for sale. Like any good writer you should do some research and get your facts right. We can do this by searching for similar domains and how they are being used. We can also build our story by gathering important domain metrics and analytics to provide insight into value.

Symphony – Or the ability to detect patterns and understand the big picture. Do not be misled by automation in the domain industry! Many tools and services will spit out domains using some algorithm, others will provide automated domain valuations. An experienced domainer has insight into the industry as a whole. Start by keeping tabs on the latest domain sales. If you can understand the relationships between events, solve problems, and develop your intuition, you can become a visionary entrepreneur.

Empathy – This is extremely important when applied to domaining, especially when it comes to pricing your domains for sale and marketing. Empathy means to understand what another person is feeling, to imagine yourself in their position. Usability experts are extremely empathic. They understand that the majority of web users have limited navigation skills and short attention spans, so they accommodate with extraordinary results. Learn to place yourself in the position of a potential buyer for your domain when pricing, marketing, negotiating sales.

Play – What do the best web startups and industry giants have in common? Their employees are having fun. They have developed a great work environment and that attitude is also shown in how the company represents itself. Humor can capture attention and provide a much needed change of pace. Go ahead, laugh it up. By the way, if you haven’t looked around lately, games are going to be a big part of the future.

Meaning – This is the quintessential attribute of the domain game. Without meaning our domain names would be worthless strings of characters. What exactly are you selling? A domain name should not simply be some keywords or a brand, but rather an experience, a vision or calling for someone to develop their own web presence. Take some time to discover meaning in your portfolio or before registering your next domain.

If you found these points insightful, I highly recommend you read Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind to learn more about improving these abilities. The Conceptual Age is upon us now, so brush up on your creative skills for web success.

Please consider sharing this article with your network. As always, comments are welcome. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you put your right brain to work.

Want to know more about domaining? Ask a question on the all new DotSauce Forum.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

In this article, I am going to detail a technique for automating tedious aspects of marketing your domain names to potential end users. While this method does not fully-automate the entire process, it does significantly speed things up.

We will be using a simple browser tool and a cool new web application, but will leave the most important tasks to your experienced eye.

Round up your good keyword domains, set some reasonable prices (show a little empathy) and get ready to make some sales.

1. Search Google for your domain’s keywords and other highly relevant keywords

The most ideal potential end users will come from using your exact match keywords. Take the keywords from your domain and search for them using quotations.

To use the domain I’m marketing now as an example, for GrowLettuce,com I searched for the phrases “grow lettuce”, how to grow lettuce and grow lettuce indoors.

2. Take note of the results and paid advertisers and select the best potential leads

You will want to avoid some corporations and informational portals like Wikipedia in preference of individuals or businesses. Scan for individuals with an inferior domain on the same topic and businesses that sell products and services related to your domain.

Don’t stop on page 1. The people who need your domain the most will likely be found deeper within search results.

3. Open each lead in your browser and use the DomainTools bookmarklet

This simple tool gives you 1-click access to a site owner’s contact information. Simply drag the link to your browser toolbar in a convientent location and click it while  viewing a potential lead’s website.

Bookmarklet: DomainTools (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)

You can find this and other useful browser bookmarklets here on DotSauce.

4. Create an account with Tout, a new email marketing app

I’ve was recently introduced to the Tout app and have really enjoyed my experience with it so far. Tout allows you to create email templates for any messages you would like to send out.

Here is a quick video demonstration showing what Tout can do:

When you’re ready to start sending out emails, click “Pitch” and enter the recipients name and email address.

Tout Premium services enable you to track the performance of your templates by logging email open rates and click through data.

5. Setup a unique email template for each domain sale

I initially created a generic template for all domain sales, but found that composing a new template for each domain would yield the best results. Take a moment to customize the message, include your domains’ keywords and the domain itself.

Here is an example of a template I have setup for a domain:

I would love to get your thoughts on this technique. If you have any suggestions for automating domain sales marketing, improving this method, or if you try it out yourself please let me know by leaving a comment below.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

CoInternet is proving to have the most interactive, intriguing and lucrative domain extension launch to date.

TheDomains broke the news, Twitter has been accepted into the CoInternet .CO Founders program. An initiative to get developers involved in launching websites and businesses on quality .CO domains.

Twitter’s Official Link Shortener Coming Soon

Twitter’s new domain, T.CO will be used as the official link shortener to protect users from malicious sites. T.CO links will appear within all tweets and direct messages.

T.CO links will be monitored for malware. If malware is reported or detected then a T.CO link is flagged and a warning is shown to a user before visiting.

Users can still use existing link shortening services such as bit.ly, but those shortened links will be “wrapped” within an official T.CO link.

Twitter has other big plans for T.CO. The official announcement on Twitter’s blog mentions they will be putting click-through data to work for their Promoted Tweets program and within future commercial applications.

…routing links through this service will eventually contribute to the metrics behind our Promoted Tweets platform and provide an important quality signal for our Resonance algorithm—the way we determine if a Tweet is relevant and interesting to users. We are also looking to provide services that make use of this data, an example would be analytics within our eventual commercial accounts service.

E.CO Charity Auction Underway

Another lively .CO event is underway today. Bidding for the E.CO domain auction has reached over $30,000 on Sedo. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the charity of the winners’ choosing.

The auction is now live and will conclude on Jun 10th at 4PM EST.

Bidders must be certified for this special auction. Follow the links on e.co or Sedo for details.

Claim Your Own .CO

The public launch for .CO domains is nearing.  July 20th is the official date for general availability.

Right now, you can pre-register .CO domains at GoDaddy for $29.99/yr.

If multiple people pre-register the same .CO domain it will go to auction, but your initial fee will be refunded if you don’t get the domain you want.

The adoption of .CO by Twitter and the brilliant management and promotion of the extension by CoInternet is definitely a strong sign that quality .CO domains will prove valuable. What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment below.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

We’re just getting started at the new DotSauce Forum. A diverse crowd of domainers have joined in to network and share their experiences.

Here are just a few of the questions that have been active so far.

• Will you be registering .CO domains during landrush?
• Will three-word .COM domains become more commonplace?
• What does the future hold for .NET?
• What makes a good domain registrar?
• What’s your favorite ccTLD?

Do you have a question or some expertise?

I would love to see more questions about domain sales, domain research, monetizing and developing domains. We’d love to hear what’s on your mind and relevant to you. Feel free to challenge the community!

Questions related to running online businesses, marketing, branding, SEO and web development are also welcome.

You’re invited to sign up and create your profile, tell us a little about yourself and link to your business or personal website.

Prize Raffle

To celebrate the forum opening, everyone who joins the new DotSauce Forum is automatically entered into a prize raffle.

Sign up for a chance to win cash, GoDaddy gift certificates or a premium WordPress theme from PliablePress.

Each time you ask a question, answer a question, share on Twitter or earn a badge you will receive an additional entry into the prize raffle.

Answers In Action

Thanks to everyone who has participated so far. I have already learned a few things and have been inspired by the advice of one domainer for a method of marketing brandable domains for sale. Thanks Tim!

Sign up at the DotSauce Forum today and let me know what you think.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

The new DotSauce Forum is live! I believe you will find it a refreshing change of pace from traditional threaded topics.

The forum is devoted to questions and answers, learning and sharing knowledge within an easy to use and fun platform.

Ask whatever’s on your mind and get fast results from industry professionals.

DotSauce Forum Grand Opening Prizes

I am giving away the following prizes in a raffle drawing to be held on July 1st, just one month away.

• $25 GoDaddy Gift Card
• $25 GoDaddy Gift Card
• $25 Cash via PayPal
• Premium WordPress theme from PliablePress ($70 value)

Check back as more prizes may be added soon.

If you or your company would like to contribute a prize and have your link promoted here for the month, please let me know.

Earning Raffle Entries

Increase your odds of winning by actively participating.

• 1 Entry – Join the new DotSauce Forum
• 1 Entry – Ask a Question
• 1 Entry – Answer a Question
• 1 Entry – Share your question or answer with Twitter
• 1 Entry – When you earn any badge

Repeat these entries (except for joining) as often as you like, so long as you are not spamming of course.

That’s lots of opportunity to get extra chances of winning a prize.

I’ve already added some questions of my own. Head on over and see if you can answer them.

Raffle Drawing

On July 1st I will place the accumulated entries into database and use a random number generator to select winners for each prize.

No one person will be eligible to win more than two prizes. Gift cards may be exchanged for cash via PayPal.

Thank you very much for joining in and sharing your questions and answers with our community at the new DotSauce Forum.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I made sure to doubly relax to prepare for a busy week. I haven’t even tweeted!

New Forum Launch & Contest Tomorrow

The new DotSauce forum will be officially launching tomorrow and will feature a contest for cash and prizes.

Be sure to come back to see the new forum platform and join for a chance to win! If you would like a sneak peek later tonight, send me a message on Twitter and I will get back to you with an invite, time permitting.

Handpicked Expired Domains

The following recently expired domains were handpicked for quality, development or resale potential.

You can register them for just $6.89/year with this link to GoDaddy.com.

This weeks list is a little short. So, act fast before they are mostly gone and stay tuned for the next list.

• FeatureBooks.com
• ScanSports.com
• ExposingScams.com
• HobbyChefs.com
• TextNotebook.com
• ProductWidget.com
• ScandalsBlog.com
• WireFramer.com
• MediaTabs.com
• SlimServe.com
• ScreenCasted.com
• LockPicked.com
• PromoFrame.com
• PasswordSentry.com
• TouchBuilder.com
• InvestingGlobal.com
• SocialTranslator.com
• PinkCommunity.com
• TweetLite.com
• TweetsToday.com
• BorrowingCapital.com
• ShirtSpecial.com
• SearchObserver.com

These two domains are from the winner of my Crowdsourced Domain Research experiment.

• EthnicHandbags.com
• CatRemoval.com

Register these domains for just $6.89/year with this link to GoDaddy.com.

You can scan up to 5 domain names free at Estibot 2.0 for a comprehensive overview of stats.

Please note!

• Do not re-post this domain list anywhere.
• Be sure to use a reputable bulk lookup tool.
• Do not bulk register; only claim the domain(s) you truly want.
• Comments make me happy! :)

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Early next week, the DotSauce Forums will be closing down and replaced with a completely new platform. Our domain marketplace and link directory will also be taken down as they are built into the existing forum.

Sometimes you just have to go out with the old and in with the new!

I am excited about the new forum platform and look forward to sharing all the details and an invitation with you next week.

Crowdsourced Domain Research

My crowdsourced domain research experiment has produced less than desirable results. The SquadHelp contest just finished this morning and the final result was 26 entries.

Of the entries, only three domains had a Valuate score of $500 or more.

Two of those three were pretty decent quality and surprisingly came from the same person. I will release these two names in an upcoming available domain list here on DotSauce very soon.

Google TV May Cause .TV Buzz

In our last weekly poll question I asked,

“Will Google TV lead to increased .TV registrations and aftermarket sales?”

While there were not as many votes as a more generic poll may have brought in, the majority of participants (74%) responded “Yes.”

GeoDomain Development

Should GeoDomains cater to tourists or residents?

It seems the jury is still out.

Many shared their thoughts on GeoDomain development and ideas are spread between focusing on tourists, focusing on residents or having an equal representation of content for both.

I personally think websites should cater greatly to local residents and local business as this can still be very profitable.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading. Please stay tuned for the DotSauce forum launch announcement early next week!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Many have questioned the accuracy of Compete and Alexa traffic rankings. Could social engagement data soon be viewed as more relevant metrics?

PostRank came on the scene in 2007 with a goal in mind of helping people find the best blogs by topic and to help publishers measure their influence and reach.

Today, PostRank is monitoring and tracking social engagement across all domain names in real-time. Data is gathered on where and when someone shares a post on any number of social networks or makes a comment on-site.

The PostRank Labs team are working on (among other things) a tool that will look very familiar to many of you.

We all love website comparison charts, but this is not simply an estimation of website traffic like you’re thinking.

See this PostRank Labs demonstration for a quick preview of the data.

I was surprised at the differences between on and off-site engagement when comparing websites and how that percentage affects the engagement points total.

PostRank Domain Industry Rankings

I have setup a “Domains” tag on PostRank and added a number of publications. Unfortunately, some blog feeds were not able to be discovered by PostRank. Feel free to add additional feeds if they are relevant.

Clicking a title will show individual posts and enable you to find those with the best social engagement performance.

Social Data, Coming Soon to an App Near You

The PostRank Data Services toolkit for developers has just been updated with a Domain Activity API. Developers may use the APIs to incorporate PostRank, FeedRank and Domain Activity metrics into their own applications.

If you’re a programmer, the PostRank APIs may provide a unique opportunity to develop applications or services related to social engagement. I have a few ideas for using the real-time domain activity analytics, please get in touch with me if you would like to hear them.

I have a feeling we will start to see specific metrics such as provided by PostRank become more prevalent and useful.

Keeping tabs on your PostRank domain activity can help you get motivated to start actively promoting your content on social networks. Find out what works and potentially discover new ways to engage your readers and keep them coming back for more.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Google has made several big announcements at it’s I/O developer conference. Among them are a web app store, a font API to make the web more beautiful, and now Google TV may soon be a seriously popular destination for browsing the web and consuming video content.

Here is a brief explanation and demo of Google TV:

Will .TV Domains Be In High Demand?

While I personally do not own any .TV domains, I have a feeling the .TV brand is going to get a lot of exposure this year.

Thousands of websites may be interested in creating their own media channel optimized for Google TV. Of course a .TV domain is not required, but makes clear sense to use in this setting and may provide a more memorable branding option.

Please take a moment to respond to the poll question:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Get Your Own Media Channel Started

.TV domains can be registered at GoDaddy for $39.99 per year.

Web Developers interested in getting a head-start will want to read this guide for designing websites optimized for Google TV.

Google TV will certainly not be limited to just video. Images, text and interactive features will need to be carefully placed to ensure a pleasant user experience.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

SquadHelp hosts contests for domain name suggestions, article writing, marketing and usability testing. I came up with an experiment to see if it would be possible to crowdsource domain name research through their platform.

The contest is now live on SquadHelp. I am asking participants to check their submissions with Valuate.com to confirm a domain appraises at least $500.

Other requirements of the contest include:

• Two-words
• .Com
• No porn
• No Trademarks
• No numbers
• No hyphens

The reward is $50 to any domain selected. For complete details, visit the contest page.

There is already some skepticism by members at SquadHelp, which I completely expected. Here is the first submission, which prompted a good laugh.

What some potential participants may not understand is that a Valuate appraisal of $500 is not exceptional. Francois Carrillo, owner of Valuate and partner site, BargainDomains.com defines a $1000 valuation as an assurance of “minimum quality.”

As it turns out, the contest may provide exposure to the “real” domain industry. I would like to see SquadHelp members discover new tools and metrics for researching domains and understand that their is a thriving aftermarket of great domains.

Let the Pros Join In

I was going to wait until a later date to write about this, but I’m honestly not very optimistic about the quality of submissions I will be receiving. Maybe you could help me change my mind.

I’d like to invite anyone interested in joining the contest to do so. Registration will only take a minute or two and I’m sure many experienced domainers will have little trouble finding domains with a Valuate.com appraisal of $500 or more.

Once you’ve found one or more domains suitable for competition, please submit them to the contest.

You may see your name on the Winners List soon!

I look forward to sharing the results of the contest here on DotSauce next week.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Some of the largest and most profitable GeoDomains in existence primarily target tourists and may not have many, if any features for local residents. Do you consider this to be a major flaw?

A few hours ago, Shuhaib Shariff, founder of DoubleSpring Media (a web development company) got in touch on Twitter and pointed me to this editorial he has written about GeoDomain development.

Shariff has done his homework on the GeoDomain space; he mentions and seems to have a grudge with some of the top GeoDomain properties such as PalmSprings.com, LosAngeles.com, Maryland.com, Missouri.com, Seattle.com, etc.

I took a moment to visit these sites and it does indeed seem like they are built primarily for the tourist.

Shariff urges developers that return visitors are instrumental in the success of a GeoDomain website and argues that tourists often already know the best places to find hotel and travel arrangements.

Content and features should be developed for local residents first. These are the people that may visit your web property day in and day out. A balance can be struck between catering to tourists and residents that is both user friendly and profitable.

Shariff notes that a GeoDomains should not fully immerse themselves in becoming a media property, as the costs of hiring an editorial staff, marketing and branding may be too great. All assets of the SanDiego.com website were recently offered at foreclosure auction because it was several million dollars in debt.

Stay tuned for the second part of Shariff’s post in which he will share further insight into his development ideas for GeoDomains.

If you have ideas of your own for GeoDomain development, please leave a comment below. How would you cater to locals and visitors?

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

When it comes to online advertising, those in the know seem to be confident that Facebook will soon launch it’s own display advertising network and open it up to third party publishers.

Chris Dixon, co-founder of Hunch.com, has shared his thoughts and some interesting insight into the two different types of online advertising at play.

1. Intent Harvesting

Domain investors will recognize intent harvesting as it is the same concept behind a generic domain name. When someone types in RumCakes.com, for example, then you can be fairly certain they want to buy rum cakes.

Text advertisements found on Google search results are intent harvesting as the user is actively looking to find a specific product. Amazon and Google are the dominant players, so much so that Yahoo closed down it’s publisher network.

Publishers have noticed the steady decline in revenue from AdSense / traditional PPC.

Could innovations in advertising bring revenues back up? Continue reading.

2. Intent Generation

When a website visitor is not actively looking to purchase a product (as when they may be reading a blog post, using an application or being entertained) then the goal of an advertiser is to generate interest and influence the visitor.

Display advertisements like this have a notoriously low click through ratio of around 1% despite demographic segmentation.

Dixon predicts that this type of advertising will increase rapidly in the coming years as brands continually look to increase awareness across the web.

How Facebook & Google Are Revolutionizing Online Ads

Google and Facebook may soon rock the intent generation segment by empowering ads with more advanced data.

The Like Button

Facebook recently launched it’s developer tool set that allows website publishers to place a “Like” button on virtually anything. This social sharing feature generates some website traffic for the publisher.

Facebook will soon be able to paint a beautiful picture of everything their members like.

That is very powerful data to behold. Dixon gives the example of knowing that a user liked Avatar would be useful when looking to advertise Avatar 2.

Even while not actively browsing Facebook.com, users will remain logged in to their account and can be served highly targeted advertising on third-party websites.

Retargeting / Remarketing

Google AdWords advertisers are now actively remarketing display ads to site visitors based on previous activity.

For example, an advertiser could target a user who had previously visited their website by following them as they browse other sites on the Google Content Network.

The diagram below makes it much easier to visualize.

Reports by advertisers have shown very positive results with ad remarketing.

As for Facebook developing it’s own advertising network, we will have to wait and see just what happens. I suspect we won’t have to wait very long.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, test out the like button first-hand!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

Every day on Twitter (@DotSauce), I share links to articles, resources and apps of interest to web professionals. Topics include the domain name industry, small business, startups & entrepreneurship, marketing, web development, design, WordPress and social networking.

All of these links were selected from the beginning of this month, May 2010 to present. The next round up will hopefully be weekly. As you can see below, just two weeks time can represent a substantial amount of links!

Domain Names

Big Companies Find Value in Keyword Domains – http://bit.ly/d7TOBJ

Interview with GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons – http://bit.ly/acjJmT

12 Browser Bookmarklets for Domain & SEO Research – http://bit.ly/cQKiT8

Historic day as first non-latin web addresses go live – http://bit.ly/9v6UJC

Frank Schilling Responds to CircleID Editorial – http://bit.ly/bOnpzV

.TEL Domains May Newsletter – http://bit.ly/bFU8dg

Startups & Entrepreneurship

The Top 10 Cities for Startups – http://bit.ly/9u2Wrg

Build a Business, Not Just a Client List – http://bit.ly/dho6Ni

Entrepreneurs Find New Way to Grow – http://bit.ly/cLsrLy

When Entrepreneurs Should Ignore Advice –  http://bit.ly/9LhqBr

Lean Startup Methodology Lessons Learned –  http://bit.ly/c6vCFe

Small Business

Square Brings Credit Card Swiping to the Mobile Masses – http://bit.ly/cIZhy1

Twitter to Launch Twitter Business Center – http://bit.ly/bQZfHc

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business – http://bit.ly/bXsEur

Marketing

The Future of Email Marketing – http://bit.ly/bWt4br

Why is Business Writing So Awful? – http://bit.ly/9yHfuk

21 Tips for Using Twitter and Facebook for Business – http://bit.ly/asKrPk

“Authentic” Is Dead – http://bit.ly/9GZzbk

Social Networking

Evaluate your Facebook fan page with Vitrue – http://bit.ly/d64QvB

Twitter Is About News, Not Social Media – http://bit.ly/b6JQiQ

Who’s Using Twitter in the US? – http://bit.ly/dhx22Y

5 Ways Facebook Will Impact E-commerce – http://bit.ly/drOTFZ

What’s influence on Twitter? – http://bit.ly/awY2j0

Microsoft beta testing social aggregator – http://bit.ly/97QsRy

Web Development

The iPad Web Design & Development Toolbox – http://bit.ly/dCtZyU

Five Best Personal Landing Pages – http://bit.ly/bHJZts

HTML5 Unleashed: Tips, Tricks and Techniques – http://bit.ly/a5KErP

32 Google Chrome Extensions for Web Developers – http://bit.ly/brWqma

Rapid Wireframe Sketching in Google Docs – http://bit.ly/9gsIL6

jQuery Tools 1.2 – http://bit.ly/bhdX8W

18 Do’s and Don’ts Of Usability On The Web – http://bit.ly/b8cOXK

Web Design

Designers & developers join forces at Mojo Themes – http://bit.ly/bxTyUL

25 Photo Effects and Techniques with Photoshop – http://bit.ly/bjU2B9

Premium WordPress Themes from PliablePress – http://DotSauce.com/3434

Rapid Wireframe Sketching in Google Docs – http://bit.ly/9gsIL6

WordPress

Premium WordPress Themes from PliablePress – http://DotSauce.com/3434

WordPress Plugins for Google Junkies – http://bit.ly/a5GDL1

WordPress 3.0: Most Important New Features – http://bit.ly/bZJAFy

Top 45 WordPress Plugins for the Admin Area – http://bit.ly/9C52ON

WordPress Plugin: Custom Facebook “Like” Button – http://bit.ly/a0ejmE

Google News: Bringing Living Stories to WordPress – http://bit.ly/99Nqo6

Ultimate Guide to WordPress Hacks & Customizations – http://bit.ly/8XGd6Q

WordPress documentation enhanced with live search – http://bit.ly/bTpsoP

Random & Fun

8 Websites You Need to Stop Building – http://bit.ly/bCJibV

Worlds first artwork made by Twitter users – http://donttellashton.com

Apps

Evaluate your Facebook fan page with Vitrue – http://bit.ly/d64QvB

Introducing Scribd in HTML5 – http://bit.ly/93JXFl

Embedly converts links to rich media – http://bit.ly/anOura

Microsoft beta testing social aggregator – http://bit.ly/97QsRy

Other

Mind Mapping: Overview, Benefits, Tips and Tools – http://bit.ly/aTvHa1

Are Your Web Browser Plugins Safe? Scan them – http://bit.ly/bJWUSi

If you enjoyed these articles and resources, please let me know!

This article is from DotSauce Magazine.

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