DOMAIN NAME INVESTOR HQ

SEO Insight | Internal links and Clean URLs

2009-04-01T10:02:51-06:00

This is an informative article: Internal links are important and under-used in SEO

Gary attained SEO Hero status with this article...

Internal links:

I will continue to use my Domain Name Videos post as the example… and there we have it a straight forward internal link, right before your very eyes. You will notice that I have structured the link as a text link directly to the URL http://www.3ac.co.uk/domain-name-videos. As far as the search engines are concerned this is a link labeled as domain name videos, from a page about domain name videos, to a page about domain name videos. All boxes have been ticked for relevancy and more importantly it has been implemented cleanly, easy for the search engine spiders/robots to follow and index accordingly.

There we go a nice a simple post on the importance of keeping your URLs clean and creating internal links, the right way!

I hope you enjoyed it, until next time…

That Great SEO... What's so great about it?

2009-03-31T06:44:45-06:00

Web heads brought about the perpetual hamster wheel that drives online marketing visibility, totally dismissing business types that close sales by phone and leaves invisible websites buried amongst keyword mumbo-jumbo, parked pages and pay-per-click for pennies. Useless content clutters up the web and hides valid websites pissing off surfers.

But you have to try. Survive, compete, work.

"it goes to show that if you want a great Google ranking not having the best category killer name should not stop you from trying.

I still believe that having keyword rich domain with or without hyphens will make the job easier and get clicked on more by the searcher once they do see you on Google, but at the end of the day the premium generic name will get what the hyphenated .org’s or .net’s will never get, TYPE IN TRAFFIC!"

If you can't get Type in Traffic - Change the rules
A Great Domain Name can contain abstract features that will compete in multiple ways. Just because others don't see it doesn't mean it isn't possible.

Just because the domain aftermarket doesn't recognize phone centric business models says more about their web centric views than the ability to set domain valuations.

Hello.
Answering the phone is a valid way to make sales. As phone books transition to the web, why not piggy-back your marketing with it? Keyword domains rarely work in the phone book because as such, the words are part of the public domain but a Crossover Business name will and enjoys legal protection.

Crossover Domains wrap up a keyword like a phone number to augment your business website or use as a business name; like 1-Lock.com It allows direct competition to the keyword domain owner of your industry and will compete using valid SEO methodologies; it's just that your SEO efforts get help from phone marketing.

Domainers have opportunities to acquire 1-Pizza.com type names before domain aftermarket value increases. It won't happen for 'reg fee' prices but fix and flip is certainly possible. As more people 'think outside the pizza.com box' increased domain value will follow.

OzDomainer.com

A Great Domain Name vs Great SEO
I have been noticing a lot these days that many of the websites that are getting into the top 3 listings on Google are not names that most domainers would necessarily expect to see in such a prime spot.

Now we all know that owning a domain name like www.palmsprings.com (owned by brothers David & Michael Castello) is the best position to be in buy far, but many people I talk to on a daily basis think that if the don’t have the premium name that its not worth the time or effort to go after a good Google ranking.

Well there are many cases to say otherwise, the Palm Springs example is the one I will focus on for this exercise.

Now if you do a search on Google for “palm springs” you will see that the number one site listed for that phrase www.palm-springs.org a hyphenated .org name!

Now it only has about 30% of the back links of www.palmsprings.com but is number 1 as apposed to number 2 for www.palmsprings.com so it goes to show that if you want a great Google ranking not having the best category killer name should not stop you from trying.

I still believe that having keyword rich domain with or without hyphens will make the job easier and get clicked on more by the searcher once they do see you on Google, but at the end of the day the premium generic name will get what the hyphenated .org’s or .net’s will never get, TYPE IN TRAFFIC!

So my point is don’t discount other names if you are just looking for good search rankings and traffic because a name you could hand register or pick up cheap in the drops or aftermarket can do a pretty good job if you play your cards right with SEO etc.

A Domain Name as a Business Name

2009-03-19T01:13:00-06:00

Analysis:
Picking a domain name has far reaching business implications and choosing a business name is a tough and daunting task.

Consider that the domain name becomes the brand.
The dotcom version of the name rules.
The industry keyword owner is your primary competition for eyeballs on the web.
The industry keyword domain sucks in the phone book.
The web offers no way to transition customers from phone to web.
Phone lists are transitioning to the web.
No one told domainers...

Domainers Speculate on Leveraging Names and Keywords
As authorities of the internet domain, it is to their advantage to dismiss the implications of sound business naming.

Hello! The web presence is only part of the marketing equation.
People tend to forget phone marketing is still viable marketing...
...Just because your business model is web centric doesn't mean sales aren't closed by phone in many industries. (pizza, taxi, limo, locks)

Keyword mumbo-jumbo names are easily forgotten with-out the dreaded SEO alimony.
So keyword mumbo-jumbo names are generic and do not have legal protection.

Keyword mumbo-jumbo domains don't make good business names with-out huge marketing efforts.
So be prepared for a never ending drain on marketing resources with that stupid name you chose...

Digital Property is Limited
Yes, everyone has felt the angst of missed opportunities in the dotcom stampede. Everyone is stuck by the unfairness of the diminishing availability of good names and like land, digital property is limited. Therefore limited supplies will increase the value of domain names.

Abstract Value
Someday the obvious integrated marketing value currently dismissed by domain after-market appraisers will surface as business owners seek common sense solutions to SEO alimony and the dead zone between web and phone marketing.

In 2007 and 2008, 2008 Numbers That Work offered hints to the availability of built in phone marketing and branding of certain domain names but these marketing features are now fully demonstrated by Crossover Business Domains

A Crossover Business Name Solution
Now that most of the business naming caveats in a web intense world are exposed, consider looking for business names that include integrated marketing for web, phone and branding like those from Crossover Domains

Names that make the phone ring.
Names that outperform AAA Naming Strategies in the phone book.
Names that reward phone centric business models.

Background:
thedomains.com via Domain Name Investor HQ

Companies Waste $40 Million Every Day on SEO

Save $40 Million Every Day on SEO
Pick a better business name.
The domain name becomes the brand.
Real business has little use for a keyword mumbo-jumbo business name.
Save real money and say no to internet SEO alimony.
Hello, some businesses still use the phone to close sales. (cough pizza, taxi, limo)
If you own a phone centric business, choose a name that says, "Call us. We answer the phone."
Choose a name with integrated marketing for web and phone.
Choose marketing that becomes a web savvy brand humans can understand.

If toys.com was a bargain at $5.1M...
"Think a second outside the pizza.com box." Think about a phone centric business model like the pizza industry that closes sales by phone. Until Crossover Domains came along there was no connection to the web for phone centric businesses.

Value
If a company is going to spend millions advertising pizza, how could the domain not be worth more than a generic domain if it contains integrated marketing for the web and phone and built in branding asks customers to call?

What if the business name/domain name also kicks butt in the phone book?

The keyword mumbo-jumbo just doesn't work in the phone book and no-one can remember the name with-out wasting $40 Million Every Day on SEO...

Web Savvy Business Names for Phone Centric Businesses
Names like 1-Pizza.com at Crossover Business Domains

Source: sixrevisions.com

12 Excellent Tools for Picking a Domain Name
March 12th, 2009 by Jacob Gube

Selecting the perfect domain name for your website is the most important, and oftentimes hardest, step in establishing a web presence. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you ease the burden of checking available domains and suggesting similar names that are related to your searches.

In this article, you’ll read about 12 neat web tools that will lend you a hand in finding and choosing domain names. You’ll find a variety of search and suggestion tools that have an assortment of features so that, hopefully, you’ll discover a few favorites.

Finding a domain name that works as a business name is always a chore, remember the domain name becomes the brand. And people tend to forget phone marketing...

Why not also look at Crossover Business/domain names http://www.crossoverdomains.com -- All in one integrated marketing for web, phone book & brand.

Crossover Domains http://www.crossoverdomains.com
Examples:
1-Lock.com http://www.1-lock.com
1-Pizza.com http://www.1-pizza.com
1-Pet.com http://www.1-pet.com
1-Vet.com http://www.1-vet.com

Tags: domain-names, business-name,integrated-marketing,branding,phone-centric
Categories: Business, marketing, branding, phone-centric, integrated-marketing,
=========

http://www.crossoverdomains.com
http://www.numbersthatwork.com/crossover_domain_names/

1-Ask.com and 6 other Religious Domain Names for sale

2009-03-18T01:46:00-06:00

Buy these domain names if you expect to begin a ministry that answers the phone.

Crossover web-savvy branding for phone and internet marketing. Integrated to extend marketing reach from the web to phone book and back.

No other domain name crosses over from web to phone...

1-Ask Search Prototype

1-Ask.com would be a great website for a religious organization that wants to get phone calls. The keyword 'ask' wrapped up like a phone number sends a message that says, "Call us. We answer the phone."
Integrated marketing for web, phone and branding; 1-ask.com works in the phone book and is a web savvy business name.

Possibilities include:

Religious or Faith based call centers

Political
1-Hope.com could be utilized by President Obama's political backers or detractors

As a package or a group.

1-Ask.com

1-Care.com

1-Christ.com

1-Heal.com

1-Hope.com

1-Pray.com

1-Seek.com

More info at: Crossover Domains.com

Companies Waste $40 Million Every Day on SEO

2009-03-17T20:00:55-06:00

Save $40 Million Every Day on SEO

Pick a better business name.
The domain name becomes the brand.
Real business has little use for a keyword mumbo-jumbo business name.
Save real money and say no to internet SEO alimony.
Hello, some businesses still use the phone to close sales. (cough pizza, taxi, limo)
If you own a phone centric business, choose a name that says, "Call us. We answer the phone."
Choose a name with integrated marketing for web and phone.
Choose marketing that becomes a web savvy brand humans can understand.

What if the business name/domain name also kicks butt in the phone book?

The keyword mumbo-jumbo just doesn't work in the phone book and no-one can remember the name with-out wasting $40 Million Every Day on SEO...

Web Savvy Business Names for Phone Centric Businesses
Names like 1-Pizza.com at Crossover Business Domains

thedomains.com

New Report: Fortune 500 Companies Waste $40 Million Every Day on SEO
March 11th, 2009

In a new report by a Conductor, a New York Company, that analyzes paid and organic search strategies of Fortune 500 companies they found that Fortune 500 companies spend $51 million per day in aggregate on 88,792 keywords, and only 20.82% rank in the top 100 of natural search result. This means that 80% of the $51 million a day, $40M a day is completely waste.

The study, measures the maturity of natural search efforts in comparison with the pay-per-click (PPC) spending. The study also examines whether investments for paid search terms made by Fortune 500 companies are paying off. The company published a similar study in November 2008, but this time it looked at the top 200 keywords, rather than the top 10. It also considered branded keywords.

“It remains alarming that although we included branded keywords in the study for the Fortune 500, more than the lion’s share are not showing up anywhere in search results for their most important keywords, including their own names,” said Seth Besmertnik, Conductor CEO.

“As a group, the Fortune 500 continues to remain largely invisible in natural search results.”

When you start thinking about $40 Million dollars spent a day to get moved up on the search food chain it shows hwat a bargain toys.com was at $5.1M.

It also shows you the amount of money being spent trying to build traffic, we our domains naturally have.

One day these companies are going to wake up and take some of the daily tens of million and do what they should have been doing for over 10 years now, by domains that have natural traffic covering any of their businesses, brands or products.

Here’s a great example.

3 weeks ago I went to a movie and of course you have the commercials. One of the commercials was for a new dove product for damaged hair.

The 60 second commercial talked about the product, how it works and how it fixes damaged hair.

The next night I saw the same commercial run during a prime time show.

I couldn’t tell you the name of the product, just that it fixes damaged hair.

The next day I bid on the domain damagedhair.com that was at namejet.com and won it for $1,900.

I figured if a company is going to spend millions advertising a product specifically for damaged hair, how could the domain not be worth a couple of thousands.

Would’t Dove, owned by one of those Fortune 500 companies, have been better off buying that domain for $50K then spending money trying to move up in Google under the keyword damaged hair, especially considering that 80% of the time, they miss?

How about pending this money in the PPC channel.

The Fortune 500 through their Madison Avenue reps have always talked about not spending more money onliner advertising “because there are so little metrics or accountability” yet they are willing to through away collectively $40M a day on ineffective methods. If they put the whole $51m into PPC advertising wouldn’t that be more effective than spending it on something that failes 80% of the time?

"Business 101" Convergence of Phone and Internet

2009-03-11T01:22:00-06:00

Domain Business becomes "The Business 101 Formula Convergence of Phone and Internet"

Ricks "The Domain Business Man" Quotes:

"The equation has changed and you can't play this game with an outdated equation."

"long talked about domains as an overnight success that took 20 years."

"The domain is the land rights. "

"We have built in advertising rights. "

3. Many category killer domains will be coming to market

4. Fresh eyes will be looking our way.

Explorers will land on domains at some point and figure out. 2+2=4. They are all searching for what we already know.

Ricks Quotes added up:

We = some

Mumbo jumbo domains are not a sustainable business model.

""Business 101" = Crossover Business Names, Domain names and Brand in one marketing package. Achieves the convergence of phone and internet with one savvy business name that works in the phone book and on the web. A Crossover Domain name is a keyword wrapped up as a phone number with business rights protected. And it will make the phone ring!
1-Pizza.com

RicksBlog.com...

Are you a "Domainer" or a "Businessman?"

Morning folks!!

Are you a"Domainer" or a "Businessman?" Some ask why I am so focused on the general economy? My answer is why are they not?

Some folks are domainers. That's it. Domainers. That's fine. I am one too. But I sure don't stop there. Far more are business people first and domainers second. I would fall into the latter group. Domains are a vehicle. A vehicle to help you make money and grow. But does it really matter what form that vehicle comes in if it helps you make more money and grow? I believe not. I will be a domainer until I find something better. I will be a businessman until they plop me in the grave.

I see two things developing in domaining and it is similar to the general population. The weak are getting weaker and the strong are getting stronger. However I do see some strong getting weak. Some companies we know I believe are in trouble or soon to be. The equation has changed and you can't play this game with an outdated equation. So in the next few months we will see how many companies adapt and how many either fold or get swallowed up by someone else.

Those that have good portfolios and businesses that are recoiling are making a huge mistake. Domains are becoming the center of the new economy in a way some of us have dreamed about. We are finally entering the final stage and what is about to unfold will be shocking. I have long talked about domains as an overnight success that took 20 years. This downturn is a buoy for domains. They WILL emerge as the multifaceted investments they really are. The domain is the land rights. The traffic is the location rights. The revenue is the mineral rights. The revenue is the dividends the banks no longer give. The revenue is safety. The revenue is portable. The land rights are portable. Shall I go on? We have built in advertising rights. We have built in audiences. The reason so few understand domains is it is just too much for most to see because the simplicity makes them crazy. So NEVER has it been more important not to second guess great domains.

I have spent months meditating. Figuring out how hundreds of different scenarios play out each time looking for weak points in my strategy and other safe havens. I have yet to find a single anything that can compare to the domain name. If I did, I would follow it. What we knew then is true now and will be true for generations. Was the earth flat until Columbus discovered it was round? So take solace in knowing what others don't know and finally will. You can't rush the future, you can only harness it. You can only time it. You can only use it to your advantage if you have the patience required.

All I can say is run a lean and mean machine and you will come out of this sitting pretty. This is not the time to pull back. This is the time to be aggressive and land the biggest deal of your life. I watch as so many with such little business background make huge mistakes. They are captains of a ship that they have never sailed thru a storm. They are not sure of themselves and so they are scared and pulling back at precisely the wrong time.

Here is what is coming:

1. Domain portfolios are going to get major haircuts in order for their companies to survive

2. Millions of worthless domains are going to drop. Millions.

3. Many category killer domains will be coming to market

4. Fresh eyes will be looking our way.

Plenty more. The fog is starting to clear. Clarity for the next 3 years is starting to take shape. Gonna be the toughest time in generations. But as I keep repeating, opportunity for our sector will never be better. Survival is a wonderful thing. Trying to survive allows folks to explore. Explorers will land on domains at some point and figure out. 2+2=4. They are all searching for what we already know. So, get to the beach, grab an umbrella and a Pina Colada, relax and wait for the masses.

Have a GREAT Day!

Business 101, Toys to Men, Dot com that is.....

2009-03-10T08:17:30-06:00

Ricks insight into the domain name business is always right-on.

this sale that ignites a new outlook and will have many companies revisiting this subject. Why did they buy this domain now? One word......"Survival."

Business 101 Analysis Business survival, risk, threats, opportunities.

Leverage one crossover business name for web, internet and brand to maximize marketing dollars.

The Rick Schwartz Domain and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com...

Toys to Men, Dot com that is.....

Morning Folks!
!n 2004 I sold Men.com for $1.3M. It was during the darkest days the domain industry has known. It was a big sale and covered around the world. Fast Forward to last week and the sale of Toys.com. It was not the most expensive domain ever sold but certainly is one of the most important. Toys.com is a mega sale. Not so much because of the name which of course is great but because of the buyer. The domain name now in the hands of the people that should have bought it years and years ago. Like so many things in history things just end up where they are supposed to be in the first place. Toys.com and Toys "R" us is a marriage that should have happened in the last century. Better late than never. A great wrong has been righted.

But it will be this sale of Toys.com that circulates through every board room in the universe. It will be this sale that ignites a new outlook and will have many companies revisiting this subject. Why did they buy this domain now? One word......"Survival." That is why bad economic times come with a silver lining. THIS is the time to do bold things. This is the time and this sale is going to be a game changer. Another mile marker. Another milestone as we enter the 4th quarter of a 20 year plan. Don't underestimate the power and importance of this sale. It says more than I have or can ever say. It will be the sale that is pointed to where destiny and domains finally came to meet for all the world to see.

Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz

Names that make the phone ring connect web to phone sales

2009-03-05T01:01:00-07:00

Domain Business 101
Don't overlook the obvious - names that make the phone ring can connect the web to phone sales.

Risk 101
Arrogant to dismiss. Sloppy to ignore.

Crossover Domain Names | Crossover Business Names

Crossover Business Names Began as Domain Names
Domain names become your brand.
Our domain names accent phone centric businesses.

5 Marketing Features in One Combo Domain/Business Name

A keyword combo business name
A domain name that looks like a phone number
Phone list alphabetical priority that tops AAA Competition
Outperforms AAA Business Naming Strategies by 3 Times in the phone book
Brands your business as a business that answers the phone!

See how Crossover Business Names revitalize old school AAA naming strategies and make the phone ring, connecting the web to phone centric industries.

AAA Business Naming strategies live on the web

2009-03-01T10:39:52-07:00

As phone books transition to the web, the alphabet goes with them...
AAA Naming strategies live again!!

Closing more sales

answer the phone

Huh?
   Really?
      Deny, deny, deny.
         There is no 'pork' in that bill...
            The internet made phone sales irrelevant...

Oh really? Listen up.

Hello, 'One Dash Pizza'
   Hi, Can I get a pepperoni pizza?
Sure, any drinks with that?
   Naw, hey I saw 1-Pizza.com was listed 1st in the phone book.
    Thought we'd give ya a try.
Thanks, ya we aced out the other Pizza companies with a AAA twist that works on the web and in the phone books. As phone books transition to the web the alphabet goes with them...
   Sweet.
30 minutes or less! Thanks again.

...after 'One Dash Pizza' finds a buyer with 200+ US locations that answers the phone...

Hello, One Dash Lock
   Hi, Can you come un-lock our car?
Sure, where are you ?
   Out on "....' ,
   Hey I saw 1-Lock.com listed 1st in the phone book. Thought we'd give ya a try.
Thanks, ya we aced out the other Lock service companies with a AAA twist that works on the web and in the phone books.
As phone books transition to the web the alphabet goes with them...
   We and phone savvy. Sweet.
We'll dispatch a locksmith in 45 minutes or less! Thanks again.

'plain old business and marketing 101'

Morning Folks!
Rick published our comment on his blog!
That should stir up the 'reg fee' bottom feeders...

Stuck in the web centric box domainers will deny, deny, deny phone centric business models.
Hold on a sec.

Domainers could go after under-valued 1-taxi.com, 1-scooter.com, or thousands of un-suspecting domain owners with parked pages that can't see outside the web centric box because they operate in it. Industries that still close sales by phone are wide open to similar business threats and risks.

Speculate? Fix and flip domains? Naw...

RicksBlog.com - Branding vs Branding vs Domainer

closing more sales and just plain old business and marketing 101

Phrases:
As phone books transition to the web, the alphabet goes with them...
AAA Naming strategies live again!!
close more sales * answer the phone
"think outside the pizza box'

Tit for Tat:

...how do you buy for $100 and sell for $1M?
...use common sense to compete for sales where the internet 'disses' entire market segments that closes sales by phone.

TAGS: 1-Dash Companies, numbers work,AAA naming strategy,business naming,domain names, brand names,pizza,web centric, phone centric,phone book,crossover domain

Links: Crossover Domain Sales

Hello! Mumbo-jumbo keyword domain names fail as business names.

2009-02-25T10:15:00-07:00

Definitive analysis of phone centric vs. web centric business models.
The domain name becomes the brand.
This replaces & leapfrogs AAA Naming Strategies in an internet age.

Best for businesses with 200+ US Locations and answer the phone to close sales.
Interesting possibilities with 1-Pet.com and 1-Vet.com
Risky for Pet Smart and Pet City to dismiss or ignore.

Numbers that Work Make the Phone Ring

Mumbo-jumbo keyword domain names fail as business names.
Announcing Crossover Domain Names
Clever Combo Domain Names as Business Names
Make the phone ring and compete in the phone book!
AAA Business Naming revolutionized for Internet Marketing
Industry Example - Pet and Veterinary Industry

Annual US Industry Sales - $Billions

Industry threats and opportunities

Pet City

Pet Smart

1-Pet.com and 1-Vet.com

Short, catchy easy to remember

Keywords 'pet' and 'vet'

links two vital industry keywords for dual prong marketing

1-Pet.com
One name, 3 business name variations
1-Pet.com 1Dash Pet One Dash Pet
1-PET.COM

1 Dash Pet
© 1 Dash Pet 2008

One Dash Pet
© One Dash Pet 2008

1-Vet.com
One name, 3 business name variations
1-Vet.com 1 Dash Pet One Dash Vet
1-VET.COM

1 Dash Vet
© 1 Dash Vet 2008

One Dash Vet
© One Dash Vet 2008

Cost
Domain name pricing for most of our 40+ business names starts at the cost of a Prime Time 30 second 2009 Super Bowl Spot.

   ...Entrance to the $36 Billion Annual US Pizza Industry significantly more.
      1-Pizza.com

   ...Capturing the $Billion Annual US Pet Industry significantly more.
1-VET.COM
1-PET.COM

Contact us by U.S. Mail to forward offers and inquiries.

MS2 LLC - An Internet Marketing Company
8165-E S. Wadsworth Blvd. #101
Littleton, Colorado 80128

.WS Domain Names

2008-10-20T12:35:03-06:00

2 things

We like Fat Lester's description of the .ws category of domain names a lot.
We regret purchasing so many dot mobi domains...

One .ws domain we do like is 1-Pizza.ws - a 241, 2 for 1 Pizza Discount search engine for pizza coupons.

One other thing...
Since 1-Pizza.ws is a web search engine for finding pizza coupons we think ws stands for web search, not web site.

A pizza related thing...
1-Pizza.com is a pizza marketing website worth following.

Link: .WS Domain Names.

.WS Domain Names

.WS stands for "dot Website". Many experts believe that this TLD roughly translates into the 'futures market' of domain names.

The .ws domain is perhaps the single most intriguing TLD on the market today. An abbreviation for "dot website", the .ws domain is arguably the most versatile TLD on the market, and makes for one heck of a long-term investment!

In addition, .ws domains are extremely marketable due to the ease-of-rememberance and applicability of the extension (ws = website).

Anybody up for another pizza domain auction? 1-pizza.com is up for grabs

2008-07-03T13:24:00-06:00

Updated: July 2, 2008

The 1-Pizza Family of Domain Names Ad now shows 7 domain names

Seven 1-Pizza websites are now under construction
A 2% finders fee is being offered for registered finders -
- Register and Info at GotDigit.com
For Sale

Ebay Ad listing:

1-Pizza Domain Family

1-74992.mobi Mobile Pizza Marketing by the Numbers

1-74992.com Defacto dot com Mobile Pizza Marketing by the Numbers

1-Pizza.info

1-Pizza.net

1-Pizza.mobi Keyword Defacto dot mobi Mobile Member of the 1-Pizza Family

1-Pizza.us

1-Pizza.com Defacto dot com Member of the 1-Pizza Marketing Website

Winning hearts and minds, a positive spin to the 1-Pizza.com vs. Pizza.net ongoing domain valuation war on Ebay.

The crust thickens...

Link: Gadgetell

Anybody up for another pizza domain auction? 1-pizza.com is up for grabs by Arnold Zafra on Apr 30, 2008 at 08:09 PM

Sections: Web, Websites

If you envied Chris Clark while reading our previous post on the profit he made from selling his pizza.com for $2.6 million after keeping it alive for 14 years, well here comes
another domain name up for bid at eBay, 1-pizza.com. There are many reasons why 1-pizza.com would be a viable domain name even if the keyword rich domains pizza.com and pizza.net are already up. And Numbers That Work, has listed several of these reasons.

Based on an appraisal and marketing analysis of 1-pizza.com, the domain can ride hot on the heels of the buzz created by the recent sale of pizza.com and pizza.net which were sold for $2.6 million and $1.1 million respectively. Other reasons cited by the market analysis on why 1-pizza.com is worth more than the two pizza domains, include; 1-pizza
bears the TLD “.com”, contains a hyphen, it has the “pizza” keyword and it’s a short domain name having only 7 characters.

The study also cited that 1-pizza.com is shorter than 18 of the domains the Google SERPs display for the term “pizza”, and in SEO work, the shorter your domain name is, the more friendly Google will be to your site. Likewise, world market value for domains with hyphen is becoming valuable in the US other than Europe and China.

Granted that 1-pizza.com is a valuable domain, whoever intends to bid for it at an amount of $1.4 million will certainly be in dire need of competing with pizza.com and pizza.net. Or somebody who is planning to put a pizza delivery service. But still, I don’t think $1.4 million is a viable investment, unless Pizza Hut is planning to change its name to 1-Pizza or Pizza One.

Via [eBay] Via [Numbers that Work]

Hottest Pizza Videos

2008-07-03T13:11:00-06:00

The Hottest and latest Pizza Videos feeds from 1-Pizza

There are about 140 million domain names worldwide. The 6.6 million with the 'co.uk' suffix, a total swelling by 140,000 per month, are registered with an organisation called Nominet. But most trading is done in a secondary market via specialist websites, such as whois.sc, which can show whether a name has already been taken, suggest close alternatives or offer a route to the existing owner in case they are willing to sell.

Stanley acquired kids.co.uk and is planning to make it a non-profit site for children, but leaves the majority of his domain names sitting idle, or 'parked'. This means that they are hosted by a specialist website as a simple, customised template containing relevant adverts. Every time someone visits the page and clicks on one of the adverts, the name owner and the website share revenue.

'Whenever I register or buy a domain name, the first thing I do is park it,' said Stanley, who is writing a book on the subject. 'Anyone who then types in that name will see the web page and, if they click on an ad, it generates money. I registered noworryloans.co.uk last autumn and it probably earns £10 a week on its own. My whole portfolio is bringing in hundreds of pounds every week without me touching it, and some people are creaming in thousands. My conviction is that this going to become mainstream because it's so easy.'

Sedo, or 'Search Engine for Domain Offers', claims to have the world's biggest database of names for sale, with more than 10.5 million listings. Its total sales in 2007 amounted to £37m. In Britain it has overseen the sale of sport.co.uk for £135,000 and mobile.co.uk for £120,000. Sedo also 'parks' more than 3 million domains and paid out £25m to customers last year.

Nora Nanayakkara, business development director of the company, said: 'We've spoken to people who are now doing this as a full-time career. People are putting their kids through school on the money they make.'

Last month, cruises.co.uk set a British record when it fetched £560,000. But, America is one step ahead. Kevin Ham, dubbed 'the most powerful dotcom mogul you've never heard of', is estimated to have stockpiled 300,000 domains that generate $70m a year. He even struck a deal with the government of Cameroon so that when users mistakenly type '.cm' instead of '.com', he gets a slice of the cake.

The 10 most valuable domain names auctioned by Sedo

1 Vodka.com, $3m

2 Chinese.com, $1.1m

3 Website.com, $750,000

4 Telecom.com, $700,000

5 Annuity.com, $600,000

6 Gays.com, $500,000

7 Gibraltar.com, $360,000

8 Sport.co.uk, $265,000

9 Mobile.co.uk, $247,000

10 Fly.co.uk, $180,000

Rick Schwartz: FORGET what you THINK you know

2008-03-25T01:38:00-06:00

The converse of their premise is also true:

and every dot mobi (mobile domain) is also a dotCOM domain

"For mobile enter here - for PC there." This is when we realized it goes both ways: Every dotCOM domain is a mobile domain and every dot mobi (mobile domain) is also a dotCOM domain.

1-Dash Domains as Forwarders
1-Dash Domains make excellent domain pointers to existing websites, the idea being a shorter domain is easier to type and remember. Especially if it looks like a phone number!

True Direct Navigation because users associate 1-Dash Domains to phone numbers and will remember your site.

Example: (and the 4 Pizza Domains will be for sale soon on Ebay )
If you can't afford $1,000,000 for pizza.com maybe these will work for you:

1-Pizza.com
1-Pizza.mobi
1-74992.com (74992 spells Pizza on a phone keypad)
1-74992.mobi

The 1- mimics a phone number so it's a great memory trigger for people using a phone to connect to the web.

Link: The Frager Factor

Rick Schwartz: FORGET what you THINK you know “Here it is, the perfect site: Enter Here.” "But that was before ppc." So now it will be the perfect site again. In tribute: Rick Schwartz is an extraordinary human being. With A big heart he is a generous man who was a source of great strength and inspiration for me- who was a beacon to keep me believing, pushing against hostile odds.

"For mobile enter here- for PC there."

This is when also I realized that every dotCOM domain is also a mobile domain.

Tiny but Mighty Search Prototype Launch - Mobile

2008-03-24T09:07:26-06:00

Great, working examples for creative usage of 1-Dash Domains as domain pointers, aliases and masking to forward domains people can remember to the nasty domains humans find cumbersome.

Cumbersome like Google Mobile's URL for mobile access: http://www.google.com/mobile/

Who wants to type all that... 1-Dash Domains make it easier for surfers to find you and remember your website because our domains look like phone numbers.

Numbers That Work has launched a CSE (Custom Search Engine) that is loaded by any of the four search domains they are offering for sale in their search group

The Tiny but Mighty Search Portal is the target of 4 Domains:
1-Ask.com
1-Ask.mobi
1-275.com (275 spells Ask on a phone keypad)
1-275.mobi

Google:
Google used 466453.com as an alias to Google.com which validates the creative works they aspire to.

Numbers That Work is taking numbers in domains a step further by marketing to mobile surfers by associating domains to phone numbers.

Prime Numbers That Work example:
1-Pizza.com
1-Pizza.mobi
1-74992.com
1-74992.mobi (74992 spells Pizza on a phone keypad)

The 1- mimics a phone number so it’s a great memory trigger for people using a phone to connect to the web.

1-Dash Domain Direct Navigation

The 1-Dash Domain Direct Navigation for users system is so simple it's been hidden like 466453.com was hidden by Google.

Link: 1-Ask - Tiny but Mighty Search Prototype Launch

A mini search site that's easy to remember because the domain name looks like a phone number.

1-Ask.com is a 1-Dash Domain from Numbers That Works and part of the 'Search Engine' Group of domains of interest .

Custom search for mobile surfers. CSE, 1-Ask.com, 1-ask.mobi, 1-275.com & 1-275.mobi look like phone numbers. 275 spells 'ask' on a phone keypad

Our 1-Ask Mobile Search Sites and Directories
1-Ask.com
1-275.com (Ask on a phone keypad)

1-Ask.mobi A mobile search site and directory
1-275.mobi Mobile CSE

Google Owns About 10000 Domain Names - 466453.com

2008-03-24T07:43:12-06:00

Many articles mention 500 Domains owned by Google; looks like that number is low.

Of the 10,000 the best is 466453.com because 466543 spells 'Google' on a phone keypad. Of course it's best because its a Number That Works! as we explain here:

Understating 10000 Domain Names Owned by Google:

The WhoIs record from Domain Tools Registrant Search:
"Google Inc." owns about 9,623 other domains

The Future Mobile Search Market

Search Domains with direct navigation for Search
18 Domains formatted like phone numbers For Sale.
Word          1-Dash.com 1-Dash.mobi 1-Dial.com 1-Dial.mobi
Seek          1-seek.com    1-seek.mobi 1-7335.com 1-7335.mobi
Find                               1-find.mobi 1-3463.com 1-3463.mobi
Ask             1-ask.com    1-ask.mobi    1-275.com    1-275.mobi
Help                               1-help.mobi 1-4357.com 1-4357.mobi
NFO (info) 1-nfo.com    1-nfo.mobi    1-636.com    1-636.mobi
Note: NFO is a 'geek' shortcut for info.

More Future Mobile Industries For Sale
Several future mobile markets can be owned by buying 1-Dash Domains, the domains mobile people can't forget.

Link: 466453.com - 466453

Whois Record for 466453.com ( 466453 )
Registrant:

      Google Inc.
      (DOM-258840)
      1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View
      CA       94043 US

Domain Suggestions - Why 1-Vegas.mobi Rocks!

2008-03-22T01:30:00-06:00

Good Tool; Nonsense Results for Humans => Huh???
Since all the 'good' domain names have been snatched up already, people resort to using online tools like the excellent 'Domain Suggestion' Tool from Domain Tools.com for name suggestions. It saves time but feeds the digital noise of the internet.

Isn't it time we market to humans instead of the Goog Machine?

Frustration mounts from users as we are over-whelmed by options leading to nowhere. It is fueled by the Goog machine...

We are currently evaluating 1-vegas.mobi
(vegas.mobi just sold for $18,000)

1-vegas.mobi may be part of our Gambling Domains Offering we're prepping for an auction at Ebay.

1-Vegas.mobi will be Auctioned -- on Ebay Soon

Why 1-Vegas.mobi is such a special domain...

1-Vegas.mobi looks like a phone number (a 1-Dash Domain)
it's memorable to mobile surfers
it's a GEO domain (geographic name) with the obvious tie to the city of Las Vegas
When 1-Vegas.mobi was listed at TDNAM (GoDaddy Auctions) of 3000 containing the word 'Vegas' it was in the top 1% of the shortest domains offered for sale.
1-Vegas.mobi speaks Mobile, Mobile, Mobile...

1-Vegas.mobi is a short domain and easy to type and remember. (much shorter than the results offered by an online domain suggestion tool)

1-Vegas.mobi Listing Info:
Miss out on Vegas.mobi? Maybe 1-Vegas.mobi will work for you. 1-Vegas.mobi is a 1-Dash Domain because it looks like a phone number, has direct navigation for targeting mobile surfers and has more marketing value than a PPC keyword domain. Info: 1-Dash.com

Link: Domain Suggestions.

Finding the right domain name

With more then 46 Million active dot com domain names registered, it becomes even harder to find a good domain name that matches a product, service, or website concept that is not already taken.

We can help! Our powerful name-spinning technology can suggest up to 100 domain names using our proprietary semantic domain name technology.

Our Domain Suggestion Test using the word 'Vegas'
Judge for yourself:

Combinations of common words before and after our "keyword' "Vegas" were offered
The shortest suggestion was 9 characters
Many were non-sense
Lots were typos

...isn't it time we market to humans instead of PPC(pay per click)?

Check out some of the other domains we like: 1-Dash Domains from Numbers That Work

1-Dash direct navigation domains are interesting! Your customers will remember you for it!!

Common words like 'Pizza' become 1-Pizza.com and look like a phone numbers.
If it looks like a phone number and walks like a domain, it Quacks, "Mobile, Mobile, Mobile!!"

Domain Pointers and Aliases - Direct Navigation Exemplified

2008-03-20T08:10:32-06:00

Long domain names hinder users

Hard to remember
Too long to type
Naming doesn't make sense

Google Mobile at http://www.google.com/mobile/ is an example of a long nasty URL that really sends a message to mobile surfers that the site is an after-thought,

"Oh, by the way. We have a mobile website for you but the best we can do is add it on to our current domain name. Happy typing!"

With the competition for search results, search providers will catch on to this eventually. Maybe someone that reads this can give them a head's up? We're positive the domains we have for sale in our Search Group of domains made up of common words people think about when searching, will not be sold for anywhere close to $44 million...

Numbers That Work has the solution!

Implement a Domain Alias (Search Company)
Using our domains with the common search term: Ask
1-ask.com
1-ask.mobi
1-275.com    (275 spells Ask on a phone keypad) (Cool huh?)
1-275.mobi

Google Example:

Point 1-ask.com and 1-275.com to: http://www.google.com

and

Point 1-ask.mobi and 1-275.mobi to: http://www.google.com/mobile/

Why a Domain Alias?
Multiple domains can be used to 'point' to a companies main website.
This is done by setting the domain nameservers or by forwarding a domain.

Alias Defined:
After a domain is setup to 'point' somewhere, it is referred to as an alias.

Domain Pointer Examples:

Numbers That Work
numbersthatwork.com points to http://numbersthatwork.typepad.com
1-Dash.com points to http://numbersthatwork.typepad.com/1dash

PC Magazine
How PC Magazine uses a Domain Pointer or Alias
pcmag.com points to http://www.pcmag.com/
and
pcmagazine.com/ also points to http://www.pcmag.com/

Domains that look like phone numbers become Direct Navigation Domains
Marketing to web surfers can be accomplished with Direct Navigation Domains from Numbers That Work. Just by adding a 1- (1 dash) to the beginning of domain name it 'looks' like a phone number!! This provides a unique 'memory hook' for people on mobile devices.

Wow, I can remember that!

We have several common word domains of interest formatted like phone numbers.
Our domains are short and easy to remember.

Domains for Sale
Complete List of Domains we like
1-Dash Domains of interest by Group

Search Industry Portfolio - Will be offered soon on Ebay
We would look at 1-Dial and 1-Dash domains using relevant keywords as a way to capture the mobile 'Search market'...

These domains are short and easy to remember with a 'killer' memorability hook to mobile users.

Common words relating to the Search Industry - Domains formatted like phone numbers.
Word          1-Dash.com 1-Dash.mobi 1-Dial.com 1-Dial.mobi
Seek          1-seek.com    1-seek.mobi 1-7335.com 1-7335.mobi
Find                               1-find.mobi 1-3463.com 1-3463.mobi
Ask             1-ask.com    1-ask.mobi    1-275.com    1-275.mobi
Help                               1-help.mobi 1-4357.com 1-4357.mobi
NFO (info) 1-nfo.com    1-nfo.mobi    1-636.com    1-636.mobi
Note: NFO is a 'geek' shortcut for info.

Tags: Domain, Pointer,Alias, Marketing, Sales
Direct Navigation Domains

Analysis - Search Industry Keyword Domains of Interest

2008-03-20T05:16:00-06:00

Search Industry

Far be it for us to offer advice to industry experts but before we spent $44 million dollars to acquire a search company like Yahoo, we would look at 1-Dial and 1-Dash domains using relevant keywords to capture the mobile 'Search market'...

Industry Analysis:
These Domains using Common Keywords Relating to the Search Industry are being evaluated now:
Details here:

Search Industry Keywords formatted as 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains
Word          1-Dash.com 1-Dash.mobi 1-Dial.com 1-Dial.mobi
Seek          1-seek.com    1-seek.mobi 1-7335.com 1-7335.mobi
Find          1-find.com    1-find.mobi 1-3463.com 1-3463.mobi
Ask             1-ask.com    1-ask.mobi    1-275.com    1-275.mobi
Help          1-help.com    1-help.mobi 1-4357.com 1-4357.mobi
NFO (info) 1-nfo.com    1-nfo.mobi    1-636.com    1-636.mobi
Red text: Old school targets desk bound surfers only.
NFO is a 'geek' shortcut for info.

1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains cross domain extensions to mobile users because they look like phone numbers.

Note: If you are just joining us, the numbers in this analysis translate to the word 'as 'spelled' on a phone keypad.

2265 spells Bank and the 1- mimics a phone number, etc.

See 'Numbers That Work' for an Executive Summary of the 1-Dial and 1-Dash naming conventions.

Mobile Search and Advertising Leader

2008-03-20T05:10:00-06:00

Shift in Mobile Search From Downloadable Content to Mobile Web

Ok, mobile search is relevant; making it easy with 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains from Numbers That Work makes sense. Getting search providers to adopt direct navigation will follow soon.

Direct Navigation Domains of interest here:
Search Industry Mobile Analysis Here:

Link: Medio™ - Mobile Search and Advertising Leader.

Medio Systems Research Panel 2H07 Tracks Shift in Mobile Search From Downloadable Content to Mobile Web

Emerging trend fuels positive growth in mobile search adoption

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain - Feb 11, 2008

Today at Mobile World Congress, Medio Systems, Inc., the leading provider of mobile search and advertising solutions, announced that its 2H07 research demonstrates the emerging use of mobile search to find information from the Mobile Web. Medio’s research illustrates the evolution of mobile search away from downloadable content towards information on the Mobile Internet. As a result of this growing use of Mobile Web search from the handset, Medio is also tracking a healthy adoption of mobile search among users as well as the predominance of certain ad-related functions that are well-suited to the mobile interface.

The majority of mobile search queries have traditionally been performed in relation to downloading mobile content. Information from Medio Systems’ research suggests that downloadable content is still the most popular query type in mobile search, but that the prevalence of this type of search has shrunk by just over 10% to 60% of all searches since July 2007. This finding corresponds with the associated growth in the Web/WAP category which has seen the greatest usage increase of 43% in the same period.

Brian Lent, CEO, Medio Systems said, “Our recent findings support the notion that the Mobile Web is primed for rapid growth. Users are beginning to see the mobile platform as not only a way to find a growing range of mobile downloadable content including music, wallpapers and games, but to the wide universe of information that is out there on the Mobile Web. By making the search experience as simple as possible and by delivering highly relevant answers based on the search query, we hope to drive further growth in the adoption of mobile search as well as the more widespread implementation of search-based advertising benefitting both user and operator alike.”

The increased use of Mobile search coupled with growth in unique customer search queries has given Medio additional insight into the way that search-based advertising is currently being received and experienced by consumers. Medio calculates the average click through rate on search ads delivered in this way as high as 29%. For pay-per-call advertisements, call-through rates as high as 22% have been measured.

As part of Medio’s mobile search and advertising ecosystem, Medio can show sponsored results across its MobileNow Ad Network of participating operator and publisher properties, to drive traffic to landing pages or to generate calls to an advertiser. By maintaining relevance, the ad-sponsored results that Medio’s mobile search and advertising technology deliver are far more likely to be perceived by the user as content rather than advertising. Medio’s research into mobile search and advertising usage has also found that as well as being unique to mobile, the ‘click to call’ facility is the most applicable action for users looking for information from their phones.

About Medio Systems, Inc.
Medio Systems delivers best-in-class mobile search and advertising solutions that help mobile operators and publishers implement the best customer experience and allow advertisers to reach their intended target audiences. Created specifically for mobile, Medio Mobile Search combines an intuitive, effortless user interface with powerful recommendation and personalisation technologies.

Leveraging the precise targeting capabilities of the mobile search platform, Medio enables advertisers to identify and reach audiences who are interested in what they’re selling—at just the right time—and achieve the best results for their campaigns. Through unique partnerships with mobile carriers and mobile publishers, ads are integrated into the mobile search experience, where increased relevance drives maximum response.

Medio’s customers and partners are leading mobile operators, publishers and advertisers, including: Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile International and USA, Telus Mobility and CBS Sports Mobile. For more information visit: http://www.medio.com

.CA Geo Domains may be a Liability to hold but 1-Vegas.mobi is available

2008-03-14T01:30:00-06:00

1-Vegas.mobi - a GEO; 1-Dash direct navigation domain for Las Vegas is listed for $10,000. It's for sale at TDNAM

Did you miss out on acquiring Vegas.mobi at TRAFFIC West?

Then maybe 1-Vegas.mobi will work for you.

1-Vegas.mobi is a 1-Dash Domain because it looks like a phone number, has direct navigation for targeting mobile surfers and has more marketing value than a PPC keyword domain.

Domain Name: 1-VEGAS.MOBI

Description:
Miss out on Vegas.mobi? Maybe 1-Vegas.mobi will work for you.
1-Vegas.mobi is a 1-Dash Domain because it looks like a phone number,
has direct navigation for targeting mobile surfers
and has more marketing value than a PPC keyword domain.

Info: 1-Dash.com
End Time:    06/05/2008 11:30 AM (PDT)
Sale Type:    Offer/Counter Offer
Category(s):    Places - Cities

Link: Domain Name News

.CA Geo Domains may be a Liability to hold

Filed under: Litigation, Registries — Jeff Behrendt at 7:55 am on Thursday, March 13, 2008

When the .ca registry was set up, the names of all Canadian municipalities were reserved and could not be registered. However, enterprising domainers often registered geo domains that were two-word combinations, which included the city name. These domains may now be open to be taken away by the municipalities, following the recent decision about the domain NiagaraRegion.ca.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara had the domain Niagara.on.ca reserved for them. John Vail, a real estate agent in nearby Oakville, registered the domain NiagaraRegion.ca and redirected this domain to his real estate agency website.

The municipality contacted Mr Vail to see if he would be willing to sell the domain to them. He indicated an interest, but failed to respond when they only offered the meager sum of $500 Canadian.

As a result, the municipality filed a complaint under the Canadian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the equivalent of the UDRP for .ca domains). Unfortunately, Mr Vail never responded, so we do not have his side of the story.

The panel found for the municipality and ordered that NiagaraRegion.ca be transferred to the municipality.

In making its decision, the panel found that NiagaraRegion.ca is confusingly similar to a Mark in which the municipality had rights prior to the registration of the domain name and continues to have such rights. In establishing this, the panel agreed with the municipality’s reliance on trademarks, including for the “Niagara Regional Police Service” and the “Regional Municipality of Niagara Police Services Board,” despite these terms’ obvious difference from the term “Niagara Region.” Particularly worrisome for Geo Domainers is the panel’s statement: “an internet user could reasonably mistake and associate the Registrant’s domain with the region.” Wouldn’t this be true of all .ca geo domains ?

The panel then went on to find that Mr. Vail had no legitimate interest in the domain name. Again, the language used by the panel is very worrisome, not just for geo domainers, but all .ca domainers. The panel states: “registering a domain in order to redirect internet traffic to a commercial website does not constitute a use in good faith.” (The irony is that if the traffic had been redirected to a nonprofit site, the result may have been different).

The panel concluded that Mr. Vail had registered the domain name in bad faith. This was because his real estate business was not located in the Niagara region, but in a nearby city. The panel states: “the fact that the Registrant does not do any business in the Niagara region and that the terms ‘Niagara Region’ are deeply associated in a reasonable person’s mind to the local regional municipality should have incited the Registrant to register a different name.”

The panel also found that Mr. Vail acted in bad faith as he had registered five other domain names that were supposedly registered to prevent persons who have rights in marks from registering these marks as domain names. However, all of the names that Mr. Vail registered seem pretty generic, and ironically, another one was a .ca geo domain - HamiltonWentworth.ca. There were also two three letter domains - jjb.ca and cne.ca. The final two were realestateinvestor.ca and torontoindustrial.ca.

In summary, it seems to be risky to hold a .ca geo domain, despite the fact that all of the municipalities have already had their names pre-reserved. If you do hold one of these domains, to avoid losing it in a dispute, it would be wise to ensure that it is not used for profit, and that it is only used for local activities.

Direct navigation - defined by Wikipedia and Numbers That Work

2008-03-13T08:11:39-06:00

'Numbers That Work' nailed direct navigation with 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains.

Wikipedia could add 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains to their definition of direct navigation because from a marketing standpoint, it precedes typing by placing the link in the surfer's head.

Marketing doesn't get any better than that and after all, they defined direct navigation as a loosely defined term...

Link: Numbers That Work

Link: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Direct navigation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Direct navigation is a marketing term that describes the method individuals use to navigate the Internet in order to arrive at specific websites. Direct navigation is a new, loosely defined term which is generally understood to include type-in traffic and bookmarked traffic. This involves an internet user navigating to a website directly through the website address bar, bypassing any online search engines and navigating directly to the domain.

A 2005 study of internet traffic revealed that direct navigation traffic such as browser type-in traffic, bookmarks of existing sites and visits to existing, known website domain names converts into sales for advertisers at 4.23% of total visits compared to 2.3% for product and service related searches performed via the search box at search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

The Fable Of Front Running: ICANN Says ‘No Evidence’ But Network Solutions Is Sued In Class Action

2008-03-13T07:14:00-06:00

It would help the domaining industry if every domain registration company published their policies about domain front running.

Link: The Fable Of Front Running: ICANN Says ‘No Evidence’ But Network Solutions Is Sued In Class Action Domain Name News

Filed under: ICANN — David Goldstein at 9:45 am on Thursday, March 13, 2008

by Matthew Hall and Tyrilly Bolton
In November, we wrote that the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which administers domain names, had launched a probe into the practice “front running”. Front running involves monitoring checks of a domain name’s availability and then registering that domain name address yourself so you can sell it to another party (usually the party checking for availability) at a profit.

Despite concerns in October last year, ICANN’s new report now says it has insufficient information to conclude that any party has engaged in front running. To this end, the SSAC says that of the 1.4 billion attempts to register domains, only 3.3 million were satisfied, suggesting that, on average, 333 attempts are made to register a domain name for every fulfilled domain registration.

A copy of the SSAC’s report can be found here.

New recommendations from ICANN include that Registrars should provide clear notice to Internet users regarding how they treat information submitted during an availability check. However, it remains to be seen whether the Registrars themselves are engaging in, and perhaps the cause of, the front running phenomenon.

Take, for example, Network Solutions. Domain Name News reports that a random domain name searched by Domain Name News was unavailable for registration through the whois Registrar, but available to register through the Network Solutions Registrar. Network Solutions has recently changed its policies, to “lock up” any domains that are the subject of an availability search.

When some of the domain name searching tools on Network Solutions’ web site are used, the domain name the subject of the search is registered to Network Solutions immediately. It says that this is to ensure that a “front runner” can register the address, and the address is then available for any Network Solutions customer to register it. The organisation claims the new policy protects consumers against front running. Critics have complained that the policies themselves amount to front running.

ICANN’s October report says this is legitimate. “ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement and Registry Agreements do not expressly prohibit registrars and registries from monitoring and collecting WHOIS query or domain name availability query data and either selling this information or using it directly.”

However, a US law firm has begun a class action suit against the company alleging that it earns revenue by locking in customers who made a query, forcing them to buy domain names from Network Solutions rather than another source. As the matter progresses, it may lead to further changes in doamin name registration and renewal practices.

It seems this process is generally deplored, and companies such as Singapore Network Information Centre are trying to regain consumer confidence by incorporating clauses into their Registrar contracts to assure consumers they are not warehousing domain names for the purpose of removing them from general availability.

Now may be time to conduct a confidence check to see what your domain name Registrar is doing.

Swaab was recently named winner ‘Best Law Firm in Australia (Revenue < A$20m)’ at the 2007 BRW-St George Client Choice Awards.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

1-Dash Domains of Interest: Future Search Revenues will be in $Trillians

2008-03-12T08:10:30-06:00

Future Search Revenues will be in $Trillians
Link: 1-Dash Domains of Interest

The battlelines are being drawn for the domain names that provide the entry points to search engine websites. Domain resale value is obvious with the recent sale (February 2008) of SearchEngines.com for $92,500

18 Search Domains Offered in a Group
1-Dash has an un-precendented portfolio of 18 domains to be offered as a group on Ebay. All leverage keywords relevant to 'search' and these domains do not need an owner's manual.

Besides who wants to type "SearchEngines.com" or "http://www.google.com/mobile/" ?

Because 1-Dash domains look like phone numbers, it's an obvious connection to mobile surfers.

Google Adsense:

Contact us Please use our online email form

Because 1-Dash domains look like phone numbers, it's an obvious connection to mobile surfers.

Google Adsense:

Search Industry Portfolio to be sold on Ebay
We would look at 1-Dial and 1-Dash domains using relevant keywords as a way to capture the mobile 'Search market'...

These domains are short and easy to remember with a 'killer' memorability hook to mobile users.

Contact us Please use our online email form

Instant Mobile Search Sites to Emerge

2008-03-10T07:30:40-06:00

Domain names become the brand of Internet businesses so startups look for relevant domain names to develop and established internet companies scan the horizon to register or acquire 'defensive' domain names. As imaginations bring forth new ways to reach customers, diligence is required to stay ahead of competitors because if you own it, they can't.

Since Google released (CSE) Custom Search Engines, private search companies are on the rise. (if you own one and would like to show it off, please feel free to comment on this post)

Direct Navigation for Mobile Surfers
1-Dash Domains is set to begin auctioning their 'Search Domain' (analysis) portfolio later this spring on Ebay. Private negotiations are open now. The 1-Dial Domains using numbers converted from a phone keypad are emerging as a unique, direct navigation way to connect with users.

Search Industry Domains using Keywords relevent to Mobile Users
Before we spent $44 million dollars to acquire a search company like Yahoo, we would look at 1-Dial and 1-Dash domains using relevant keywords to capture the mobile 'Search market'...

The complete list of domains of interest 1-Dash domains is here.

Super Charge Mobile Sales With Direct Navigation

2008-03-09T09:17:00-06:00

Super Tuesday, Super Bowl Parades and Super Charging Dot Mobi Sales with Marketing and Investor News

Hello and Welcome to our super dot mobi domain kickoff!

DOT MOBI INVESTOR HQ
Our mission is to define the 'The Definitive' direct navigation connection to mobile surfers available by adopting the naming conventions presented at 'Numbers That Work.' The primary concept is to associate domain names with phone numbers so mobile users know they are for their use, the domains are unforgettable .

We will discuss the inherent advantages of beginning sales and marketing through direct navigation using the 'Numbers That Work' naming conventions outlined below.

1-Dash Domains - use Words
- 1-Pizza.com (Pizza)
1-Dial Domains - use Numbers
- 1-76992.com (Pizza)
KeyPad Golf - Converts text to the numbers on a phone keypad

Super Charged Dot Mobi Domain Names lead to connections to your mobile customers and sales opportunities!

1-Vegas.mobi is for Sale at TDNAM- $10,000

2008-03-05T11:00:00-07:00

=> Vegas.mobi sold for $20,000

COMPARE TO 1-Vegas.mobi Asking Price $10,000

Our suggestion is that if you missed out on some of the domains that were auctioned at TRAFFIC, maybe 1-Vegas.mobi would work for you...

If Vegas.mobi sold for $20,000...
...wouldn't 1-Vegas.mobi work just as well or better???

1-Vegas.mobi looks like a phone number!
1-Vegas.mobi will appeal to mobile surfers
1-Vegas.mobi has what is referred to as 'Direct navigation'
1-Vegas.mobi is Cool
- It's memorable
- If you missed out on vegas.mobi, you just re-gained a step on your competition

1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains

1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains cross domain extensions to mobile users because they look like phone numbers.

Domains with "Marketing Bling"

With built in direct navigation and marketing 'bling', 1-Dash and 1-Dial domains may make sense.

1-Dash Domains look like phone numbers
With forwarding they can lead to any site you wish

There's more than one way to reach mobile surfers!!

1-Vegas.mobi is now listed for sale on TDNAM:
March 5, 2008

TDNAM Auction Details

1-VEGAS.MOBI

Miss out on Vegas.mobi? Maybe 1-Vegas.mobi will work for you. 1-Vegas.mobi is a 1-Dash Domain because it looks like a phone number, has direct navigation for targeting mobile surfers and has more marketing value than a PPC keyword domain. Info: 1-Dash.com

06/05/2008 10:30 AM (PST)

Offer/Counter Offer

Places - Cities

Website: No

Link: Dot .CA Domain Name News:

Top domain sales at Traffic Las Vegas

Posted by Admin 2/21/2008
The big Traffic domain show is being held this week in Las Vegas. Yesterday they held a live domain auction, for interest here are some of the top sales from that auction with prices in US dollars.

Vegas.mobi 20,000
skiresorts.com 850,000
SearchEngines.com 92,500

meds.com 470,000
DVDs.com 300,000
CPC.com 200,000
GarageSales.com 110,000
Autoclassifieds.com 110,000
Porn.mobi 110,000
husband.com 100,000
niche.com 85,000
SKINNY.COM 80,000

GoldDigger.com and GoldDiggers.com 80,000
cotton.com 75,000
Hoax.com 70,000
WeddingVows.com 62,500

The new .mobi extension for mobile had some good sales, some of which were:
Tickets.mobi 60,000
Property.mobi 26,000
shows.mobi 20,000

You can find a complete list on this thread at DNForum:
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/complete-traffic-auction-results-2-20-08-a-thread-279804.html

Labels: auction, domain, name, traffic, results,1-dash, 1-Dial, appraisal, auction, Direct navigation, domain, domain value, domainer, dot com, dot mobi, mobile, name, number, numbers, numbers at work, numbers that work, phone, results, 1-vegas.mobi,Vegas, tdnam, traffic, value

Valuing capital domains - Part 1

2008-03-04T01:03:00-07:00

We're excited to see how Whizzbang develops this article and whether or not consideration is given to domains that look like phone numbers; since 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains are our favorite topic.

Link: Whizzbang's Blog | Valuing capital domains - Part 1

Valuing capital domains - Part 1

Written by Whizzbang

Thursday, 14 February 2008

Over this past week I've made a significant foray into valuing non-traffic domain names that have value as stock items. It's been an interesting process working out a series of metrics that will assist in creating a reasonable valuation algorithm. Initially I found the experience akin to staring at a blue sky and guessing. There had to be a better way.

Many, many people have asked me to value non-traffic domains and I've always found it quite difficult. More often than not I would answer fairly glibly that their value is precisely what a person is willing to pay. That statement may be true but it really doesn't help a person trying to establish a value pre-sale.

The obvious solution is to have your domain listed for sale in one of the many auctions but the question still arises as to what sort of reserve you should set. Being the analytical guy that I am I decided to begin a journey down this road and try to establish some sort of logical valuation system that went beyond my "gut reaction".

So as you read this article and the following series of articles realize that this is as much a journey as an event. Ideally, this is what blogging is all about!

Where do we start? How about at the very beginning? Is the domain a com, net, org, ccTLD or even mobi or biz? All of these factors impact the valuation of the domain for a number of reasons.

The first is that dotcom domains typically receive overflow traffic from all of the other domain extensions.

The second point is that most buyers are from the US market and typically have a strong focus only on dotcom domains. I'm not entirely sure why this is the case. Maybe it's the American culture? Whatever the reason, it's a fact and this will influence the final purchase price. In addition, because of the US centric focus on dotcoms there tends to be a lot more competition for "good" dotcom domains which constantly forces the prices of the domains upwards.

Thirdly, dotcom represents the US market, which is still the biggest economy in the world. Yes, I know that there is a .us for "United States" and that dotcom means "commercial" but despite this dotcom has become synonymous with the Internet and a large pool of money we affectionately know as the United States.

Fourthly, the domain industry is still very focused on dotcom domains. The majority of domain purchasers are other domainers and not from outside industry sources. In fact, if you removed about ten organizations in our industry from purchasing domains you may find that domain prices begin to collapse. In stock terms this is not a very good market depth.

So why has this happened? I think that it's happened because most of the activity for domains is still centered in the US. For example, I will be travelling to the US about five times this year, to Europe once and no where else (sorry forgot trafficdownunder.com).

I think that another reason why is that in the early days it was quite difficult to purchase a domain name for a ccTLD. A culture developed that a domain was important for a business but to own thousands of them was just crazy. In the US, it was the opposite and this spurred on the rapid growth and adoption of dotcom as the standard. As a result of this a burgeoning aftermarket developed on the back of the scarcity of dotcoms (there is only one dotcom available for your busines) thus pushing up prices.

This continued inflation in pricing has outstripped other ccTLDs making it even more important to get into as people are seeing larger and larger sums of money trading hands.

It's interesting to see that many ccTLDs are now liberalizing their policies and are slowly becoming more and more dotcom like. It shows that the business models pioneered by dotcom are gaining the attraction of the governing bodies for other ccTLDs as they can now clearly see that there is money to be made in domains trading hands.

So, does this mean that I'm against ccTLDs for investment purchases? No way. I love ccTLDs, but it does mean that when you're presently valuing a domain name you must consider the implications of whether it is a dotcom or not.

In a next article I will explore a methodology that I'm developing for the valuation of a domain and then how to link in the first aspect of the valuation. Is the domain a dotcom?

Google to Stop Domain Tasting?

2008-03-03T06:54:01-07:00

This is goog err good for the domain industry and consumers...

Link: Internet Commerce Association

Google to Stop Domain Tasting?
Submitted by Michael Collins on Fri, 01/25/2008

Over the last year, Internet Commerce Association has been actively
campaigning for ICANN to stop domain tasting. Now word is out that an
unlikely player may stop the practice that has led to tens, maybe
hundreds of thousands of abusive domain registrations. Is Google
planning to take action to bring an end to the abuse of the add/delete
grace period that has given our industry a black eye? Jay Westerdal
says “A confidential informant says Google will stop monetizing all
domains if they are less than five days old.” at DomainTools Blog.

Google seems like an unlikely candidate to stop domain tasting
because they make a lot of money from the practice, probably more than
all of the other entities involved in domain tasting combined. When
faced with lawsuits from trademark owners charging infringing
advertising shown on search results pages, Google chose not to remove
the offending ads, but to fight the IP interests in court. Google won
these cases in most countries including the US. Google continues to
sell ads on trademarked keywords where it can. Yahoo does not sell ads
on trademarked keywords and this gives Google a great advantage when it
comes to monetizing traffic from domains that contain trademarked
keywords.

Google should be applauded for giving up this advantage for five
days, but the most helpful thing that Google could do for the domain
industry is to help eliminate the display of infringing content on
parked domains. They have the capability and the market position to do
something good.

It seems unfortunate that traffic from non-offending domains will be
lost as a cost of this policy. However, with most registrars no longer
deleting domains with traffic and after a couple years of tasters
trawling the domain pool, there are not many new domains with traffic
anyway.

4 Things To Check Before You Register A Domain Name

2008-02-24T01:10:00-07:00

Good reference before you take the plunge and great info for 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domain owners!

Link: 4 Things To Check Before You Register A Domain Name.

4 Things To Check Before You Register A Domain Name

If you are serious about your new website, you understand that your domain name is going to be your brand name, so think twice before you register one. A while ago I wrote a post on this topic giving some practical tips how to create or brand your domain name.

And now a follow up to this - no matter how much you may like your
newly invented domain name, you should first check if there are no
hidden issues that might be invisible at the moment. I usually use 4
tricks to make sure I am going to have no problems with a domain name:

1. Google for it:

search for both [domainname] and [domain name] to see if Google considers it a typo; if yes - that’s a bad sign. Bare in mind, that each time a surfer who already knows about you but uses Google to reach you [and you will be surprised to see how many people actually search Google for a domain name instead of going directly to the site] and sees that did-you-mean-x message, you risk losing a valuable visitor who really meant to find you. All your branding efforts can come to nothing just because you’ve overlooked this tiny detail.

search for [domain name] to evaluate how hard that will be for you to manage your brand/reputation. For example, tourwiki.com looks nice if you are planning a nice site on traveling but cannot be branded effectively just because if you search for ‘tour wiki‘, you see en.wikipedia.org [yeah, quite naturally] at the top - can you compete with it? Probably, not.

2. Check what your domain name may be associated with. Ebay is a good way to search for word associations. I also often check urban dictionary to make sure the word has no negative connotation in the Internet, school or urban slang. [did you know that ‘lex‘ means ‘Rolex‘, well, maybe you did, but it simply never occurred to me ]

3. Make sure both plural and singular forms are available and better register both. You don’t want to let your direct visitors go to your competitor who is a lucky owner of domainnameS.com (pl) website while you own domainname.com (sg), do you?

This won’t take you more than 5 minutes to use the tips above but let me tell you - it’s much better to try to foresee potential problems than find out about them when it’s already too late: your website is live, has accumulated some links and enjoys its natural growth.

Moniker-SnapNames February 2008 Auction Results - banks.mobi Sold for $12K

2008-02-21T17:50:08-07:00

Defensive domain registration and Strategic marketing
After the concept of 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains is digested, the mind is forced to pause in contemplation of the dynamics brought forth to mobile market sales.

common words by industry
registered as groups of domains
- eliminate entry by competitors on major keywords to sales
memory hook to phone numbers is situationally intuitive
- The domain captures the surfers mind before typing begins
ease of use will drive sales

Site visitors will reward the owner/investor

They identified how I think
- I'll reward them with a sale
I'll buy
- a few moments without mental anguish
  - "What was that website?"
  - Heck, I don't even need to search!

Mobile Banking Sales driven by common keywords
These Banking Domain names will convert visitors into mobile sales and will capture all avenues to the mobile banking customer if owned by one investor.

1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains as groups represent huge buying power; ...not pay-per-click (PPC value)

The new owner may have gotten a bargain with banks.mobi but the following names are the competition to banks.mobi

Banking and Misc Common Words
Word    1-Dash.com    1-Dash.mobi    1-Dial.com    1-Dial.mobi
ATM       1-ATM.com       1-ATM.mobi    1-286.com    1-286.mobi
Bank       1-Bank.com    1-Bank.mobi    1-2265.com    1-2265.mobi
Loan       1-Loan.com    1-Loan.mobi    1-5626.com    1-5626.mobi
Key       1-Key.com       1-Key.mobi       1-539.com    1-539.mobi
USB       1-USB.com       1-USB.mobi       1-872.com       1-872.mobi
Visa       1-Visa.com       1-Visa.mobi       1-8472.com

Domains listed in Red Text owned by others.
Note: Misc because USB and Visa are common words to many industries.

Link: Fka200.com

Domaining February 21st, 2008

Hopefully by now everyone knows I love major auction results because they give
you a little peak into what’s going on in the industry and if people are pursuing names or not. The Moniker-Snapnames February 2008 auction ended yesterday, and there’s an overall disappoint in the domaining community about the results. Right as I began to watch the live auction, my laptop’s battery died… and oh my… the spare was no where to
be found. Lucky for me the list of the auction is made available for my auction-results craving. Take a glimpse the the list–I always recommend it. It’s nice to see what these virtual assets are going for these days.

Looking at some of these, I can’t really understand why there was some disappointment with the results… Looks fine to me! Tons of passes, but what can you do?

AirplaneCharters.com - $17,000
alaskankingcrab.com - $12,000
antidepressant.com - $30,000
Autoclassifieds.com - $110,000
bail.org - $7,000
Banks.mobi - $12,000

We stopped at banks.mobi because we have enough info to make our point.
Extended results follow:

Looking at some of these, I can’t really understand why there was some disappointment with the results… Looks fine to me! Tons of passes, but what can you do?

accountingfirms.com - Pass - 100,000
Adultsuperstore.com - Pass - 185,000
Affiliate.com - Pass - 550,000
Aids.net - Pass - 20,000
AirplaneCharters.com - $17,000
alaskankingcrab.com - $12,000
antidepressant.com - $30,000
Argue.com - Pass - 30,000
Articles.Org - Pass - 10,000
Asians.net - Pass - 22,000
Audit.com - Pass - 200,000
Autoclassifieds.com - $110,000
AutoRebates.com - Pass
AutoRefinancing.com - Pass - 20,000
Awards.net - Pass - 9,000
B2Bomber.COM - Pass - 4,000
Babyfood.com - Pass - 185,000
Bachelor.com/.net/.org - Pass - 325,000
bail.org - $7,000
Banks.mobi - $12,000
Baseball.net - $52,500
Beverage.com - Pass - 175,000
BJ.com - Pass - 250,000
Blackjacktable.com - Pass -
Bookmart.com - Pass - 20,000
BookRack.com - Pass - 35,000
BookSellers.com - Scratched
Broadway.mobi - $17,000
BusinessConsultants.com - $22,500
Businesssupplies.com - Pass - 40,000
Camps.com - Pass - 1,500,000
Carnivals.com - Pass - 100,000
CarShopping.com - Pass - 150,000
CD.com - Pass - 225,000
charts.info - Pass - 9,500
CheckApproval.com - Pass - 6,000
CheddarCheese.com - $37,500
ChocolateChips.com - $17,500
ClassReunions.net - Pass -
coed.com - Pass - 80,000
Coeds.com - Pass - 175,000
CollectorPlates.com - $18,500
Collisioncenters.com - Pass - 8,500
ComedyClubs.net - $5,000
communication.com - Pass - 100,000
Computer.us - $17,000
concessionstand.com - Pass - 25,000
Condoms.info - $4,000
confidental.com - Scratched
ConsultingFirms.com - $11,000
ContactManagement.com - Pass - 125,000
conventions.com - Pass - 250,000
CorporateRates.com - Pass - 25,000
CosmeticEyeSurgery.com - Pass - 25,000
cotton.com - $75,000
CPC.com - $200,000
Crawl.com - Pass - 50,000
creampuffs.com - Pass - 17,500
CRUISES.MOBI - Pass - 15,000
CurrencyConverter.com and Currency-Converter.com-Pass………700,000
CustomerService.com - Pass - 2,500,000
Dance.com - Pass - 650,000
deductions.com - $17,700
Devotion.com - Pass - 22,500
DiamondNecklace.com - Pass - 100,000
digitalphotos.com - Pass - 100,000
DigitalPrinter.com - Pass - 25,000
dillpickles.com - $10,000
DiscountStores.com - $36,000
DiscountTravel.com/.mobi - Pass - 400,000
Doctor.mobi - $10,000
DreamVacation.com - Pass - 400,000
DrugCard.com/.net/.org - $17,000
DUI.MOBI - $7,000
DVDs.com - $300,000
Elections.com - Pass - 750,000
ePayments.com - Pass - 60,000
Ethanol.net - Pass -
EthanolCar.com - Pass - 30,000
Evangelists.com - Pass - 15,000
FactChecking.com - Pass - 4,500
Faithful.com - $29,500
FantasyFootball.org - Pass -
faxmachines.com - Pass - 50,000
Fiesta.com - Pass - 400,000
Financecompany.com - Pass - 15,000
FlatFeet.com - $8,000
FlatPanelTVs.com - Pass - 12,500
FlatscreenTelevisions.com - $7,000
FlavoredWater.com - Pass - 25,000
formals.com - $35,000
Freehoroscope.com and Freehoroscopes.com - Pass - 275,000
FreeMovieDownload.com - $25,000
Fruitcakes.com - Pass - 85,000
gags.com - $45,000
GarageSales.com - $110,000
GoldDigger.com and GoldDiggers.com - $80,000
GovernmentServices.com - $11,000
grandprize.com - Pass - 60,000
greatdeals.com - Pass - 110,000
greencard.org - $17,000
greenland.net - Pass - 12,500
GreenVehicle.com - $15,000
GreenVehicles.com - Scratched
HandCrafted.com - Pass - 20,000
Handicap.com - Pass - 100,000
HardwareStores.com - Pass - 20,000
haul.com - Pass - 125,000
HealthStore.com - $27,500
heartworms.com - $6,000
Hoax.com - $70,000
Hollywood.mobi - $16,000
Homeowner.com - Pass - 500,000
HomeTheaterSystems.com - Scratched
HomeVideos.com - Pass - 200,000
husband.com - $100,000
iam.com - Scratched
immigrationservice.com - Pass - 30,000
indian.com - Pass - 250,000
indiaTours.com - Pass - 9,500
introduction.com - Pass - 80,000
Invest.net - $45,000
Investment Adviser.com - Pass - 20,000
jewellers.com - $30,000
JobOpenings.com - Pass - 250,000
Kitchenettes.com - $15,000
Knishes.com - Pass - 16,000
kosherrestaurants.com - $14,000
LearningToys.com - $34,500
LeatherFurniture.com - Pass - 150,000
Liens.com - Pass - 150,000
lifesaver.com - $20,000
LimitedTimeOffer.com - Pass - 30,000
Look.com - Pass - 4,500,000
Lottery.mobi - $9,750
lotteryresults.com - Pass - 250,000
lovestories.com - Pass - 100,000
LowRateMortgage.com - Pass - 70,000
lunatic.com - $15,000
markets.com - Pass - 100,000
medication.net - Pass - 50,000
meds.com - $470,000
Methodist.net - Pass - 8,500
Mike.mobi - Pass - 9,500
MiniatureGolf.com - Pass - 100,000
Mom.info - Pass - 20,000
Naked.mobi - $10,500
NewYorkCheesecake.com - $12,000
niche.com - $85,000
odds.net - $8,500
Offer.com - Pass - 150,000
officemanager.com - $30,000
ohio.info - Pass - 17,500
OklahomaRealEstate.com - $25,000
OnlineFinancing.com - $17,500
Organ.com - $55,000
Packages.net - Pass - 5,000
Pagers.com - Pass -
PaintingSupplies.com - Pass - 17,500
Palmreader.com - $15,000
paydayloans.info - Pass - 45,000
PenisEnlargment.com, PenisSize.com and PenisSizes.com - $110,000
Pentecostals.com - Pass - 15,000
People.net - Pass - 400,000
personalitytests.com - $18,000
personals.net - Pass - 110,000
PhoneAccessories.com - Pass - 50,000
pinup.com - $35,000
playhouse.com - Pass - 150,000
Podiatrists.com - Pass - 125,000
Political.com - Pass - 80,000
Porn.mobi - $110,000
PortableGPS.com - $17,000
Postofficebox.com - Pass - 20,000
pp.org - Pass - 30,000
Preacher.com - $17,500
Property.mobi - $26,000
psychiatrists.com - Pass - 80,000
refills.com - Pass - 85,000
reimbursement.com - Pass - 25,000
Relative.com - Pass - 30,000
repossessedhomes.com - $17,500
retired.com - Pass - 700,000
rome.net - Pass - 25,000
rvj.com - $8,000
sabbath.com - Pass - 60,000
SanJuan.com - Pass - 350,000
Score.mobi - $7,000
scruples.com - Pass - 30,000
SearchEngines.com - $92,500
seminaries.com - Pass - 20,000
Seminars.com - Pass - 200,000
ServiceDesk.com - Pass - 225,000
shows.mobi - $20,000
Shows.net - Pass - 22,500
shreveport.com - Pass - 160,000
Skinny.com - $80,000
skiresorts.com - $850,000
SleepingPills.com and SleepingPill.com - Pass - 300,000
softwareupgrades.com - Pass - 85,000
SpamBlockers.com - Pass - 45,000
spreadsheets.com - Pass - 85,000
Stereosystems.com - Pass - 40,000
stockquotes.com - Pass - 1,200,000
SummerCamp.com - Pass - 225,000
swimming.net - $20,000
TableWines.com - Pass - 27,500
tasks.com - Pass - 75,000
Teamphotos Pass - 25,000
TechnicalSupport.com - Pass - 275,000
telephonecall.com - Pass - 25,000
Temps.com - Pass - 500,000
tennisplayer.com - Pass -
Tickets.mobi - $60,000
toolbars.com - Pass - 500,000
transactions.com - Pass - 35,000
troops.com - Pass - 40,000
trusted.com - Pass - 40,000
Trusts.com and Livingtrusts.com - Pass - 175,000
typo.com - Pass - 45,000
UsedSnowMobiles.com - $16,000
Vegas.mobi - $20,000
vegasdiscounts.com - $15,000
vet.net - $35,000
vhs.com - Pass - 50,000
video.org - Pass - 45,000
virgins.net - Pass - 17,500
VirtualMaps.com - Pass - 9,000
Vodka.net - Pass - 50,000
WaterfrontCondos.com - Pass - 42,500
WeddingVows.com - $62,500
WeekendFlights.com - Pass - 4,000
wife.com - Pass - 250,000
Window.com - Pass - 400,000
windsurfer.com - Pass - 60,000
WoodCabinets.com - $20,000
WORLDPHONES.COM - $15,000
YouPhone.com and Uphone.com - $6,000

Sneak Peak TRAFFIC WEST 2008

2008-02-21T16:16:57-07:00

We will reach out and touch 'The Domain King' soon. Rick Swartz is an industry Icon that we really respect a lot and know he's been busy with TRAFFIC West. We will hold our analysis until results are posted. Hopefully we'll touch base soon...

Side note: Make sure and follow back through to Rick's article to see some insightful comments.

Link: Rick Schwartz Domain and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com...Home of the "Domain King"

Sneak Peak TRAFFIC WEST 2008

Morning Folks!!

In a few minutes I am off to Las Vegas and TRAFFIC. But before I go I would like to share the message that will be inside the printed show program. Whether you attend or not, it's something to readas we are going to have a very interesting 2008.

Hi Folks and Welcome to Las Vegas and TRAFFIC WEST 2008.

This is the 13th year of my 20 year plan. It may be a 20 year plan, but the finish line does not happen the minute you hit 20 years. It is a process that happens over time and many things have to fall in place for this to happen. As I see it, 2008 is THE most pivotal year in this industry. The entire future of our space will be determined in the next several months. If the domain industry rises to the occasion, then the 20 year plan is right on track and it will be a great ride. If not, the consequences won't be seen today but the ride to the 20 year mark will be rough and unpleasant and you had better have loads of lawyers on staff.

This is the year that will determine if your destiny is going to be in your hands or forfeit to those predators that want what you have because the value of domains has skyrocketed into the thousands of dollars, and in many instances in the hundreds of thousands and even millions. Just because the market has yet to recognize it does not mean that we can surrender what we believe due to the ignorance of others. That ignorance will transform itself into a monster unless folks grasp what is a natural phenomena. That is why you have to look back at history to see what will unfold in the future. That was why we had Steve Forbes as a speaker. As an historian, he understands the threats to take over our assets as has happened in the past. That is why we will hear from Jim McCann who is a walking history and may have fought some of the battles we are yet to see.

Some tell me I should not say things like this. I am the most optimistic person you will meet. That optimism does not mean I am blind to reality. Blind to threats. Blind to bad weather just because the sun is shining today and all is well. I know this industry is very charitable. If you want to continue to be able to give and provide, then fortify your own livelihoods by supporting the organization that may be the only thing between us and the predators that will surely come to get our assets; not in the marketplace, but rather resort to the courtroom where they can outspend and out wait you while making your lives miserable.

On the other front is transparency. Payouts with no rhyme or reason. The numbers don't lie and we are seeing things that are troubling. Like I have said several times in the last few months...."We count our change when we give a $20 at McDonalds and don't do the same things when BIG money is at stake. Personally, I think that is insane and lazy and I could go on and on.

Recently someone posed this question:

"When will all these companies stop treating us like mindless "traffic" and more like "partners" or at least offer those of us interested this respect?"

My answer:

"That's an easy one....When DOMAINERS show up and demand it. For years we have done nothing to protect our assets. THIS is the chance to press for concrete changes. With a unified mind and purpose, there is strength to demand transparency and accountability. Without it, there is no reason why any change to increase our income should take place. Only domain owners themselves can demand their fair share."

So, while things are still good, we are entering some uncertain economic times. We have real challenges and in the coming months we will see if domainers are up to the challenge.

Thanks for coming to TRAFFIC. Howard and I along with our wives and Ray will do everything we can to provide the tools and relationships you need to achieve whatever dream you carry with you. When you bring GREAT people together, GREAT things can happen.

Rick Schwartz
CEO and Co-founder
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF DOMAIN NAME DEVELOPERS, INC

What’s In A Name? Enough For Corporate America To Take Action

2008-02-21T15:31:45-07:00

Defensive registrations
Defensive registrations really are cheaper in the long run if you can out think a 'domain squatter' before they take a name that's valuable to your business.

Corporate America may need to step up because 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains cross into new territory; 1-Dash and 1-Dial domains may be immune from litigious attorneys.

Domains that mimic phone numbers are new
Many numbers share the same 'keys' on a phone keypad; for instance the words 'Lobo' and 'Loan' are both spelled on a phone keypad with the numbers "5626' so 1st to register and publish content will probably win the ownership battle.

Link: What’s In A Name? Enough For Corporate America To Take Action

Published by Steve at 21:10 pm under General, Lawsuits

There is a lot of buzz that 2008 will be the rise of corporate America taking action on domain owners. While some will focus on obvious trademark violations, others will once again attempt reverse domain-name hijacking on generic domains. And corporate America will become successful at securing some of these precious gems thru the court system. You can forget about WIPO being used, as lawyers are becoming creative and using the justice system to drain revenue from the owners until they fold, if indeed they do.

Rick Schwartz blogged a little on this today and has in the past as well. Additionally, I predicted that 2008 would be the rise of domainer lawsuits and the rise of domain insurance in a post. This is scary stuff for domain owners in general, especially when you look at how powerful domains are becoming and turning into large media companies with large amounts of revenue overnight.

Geo domains will be on many of the top media companies radar once again, and they will attempt to drain every penny of profit you have earned from your geo domain as you protect your rights thru the legal system. They are the biggest threat to Traditional Media’s profit and existence. Will it happen?

This could put any domainer at risk that owns a portfolio if they are attacked on many fronts from corporate America attempting reverse domain-name hijacking thru the court system. It is very expensive to protect names using the court sytem for any domainer.

Again, will it happen in 2008? I think the trend has been reborn and has already started to take momentum. It will only be a matter of time before someone you know is affected, I only hope it is none of us!

In the article from computerworld.com, two companies battle it out for the domain onephone.com.

(via ComputerWorld.com)

How can we unite to prevent this from occuring?

What's in a domain name? Some serious cash.

2008-02-20T09:45:26-07:00

Hmm, all this sounds familiar.

Direct Navigation...
Inherent value...
The well of original ".com" domains is drying up...
As long as there's an Internet, there will be value in generic (common word) domain names...

and we're waiting patiently for people, much less:
"major investors to start paying attention to 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains."

Because opportunities still exist.

"People wandering right to you."

Mobile people will wander right to your site if your domain looks like a phone number...

Link: What's in a (domain) name? Some serious cash. | csmonitor.com.

What's in a domain name? Some serious cash.
At least 100 domain names sold for more than $100,000 last year.

By Chris Gaylord | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Candy.com is not a particularly attractive site; experienced Web surfers would probably move on to a different page after first glance. The site is not backed by any major confectionery companies; in fact, it doesn't even sell desserts.

The only thing going for Candy.com is its wonderfully generic Web address – one so simple that it was appraised last week for about $2 million. Rick Schwartz, the entrepreneur who owns the site, says he's holding out for more.

While America's housing market slumps, sales of domain names, the real estate of the Internet, climbed 60 percent last year. More than 100 reported domain sales exceeded the $100,000 mark in 2007 – up from 70 the year before. And last May, an adult-themed domain sold for $9.5 million.

This fourth consecutive year of growth shows few signs of slowing, as venture capital and new investors invade the scene.

The surge of new money into the domain market signals a broader acceptance of what many Web entrepreneurs have thought for years: Web companies come and go – but as long as there's an Internet, there will be value in generic domain names.

The philosophy is built on the idea of "direct navigation." Most people rely on Internet search engines such as Google or Yahoo to connect them to what they're looking for online. But about 15 percent of Web surfers – often new users – type terms directly into the address bar and add ".com" to the end, says Ron Jackson, editor and publisher of DN Journal, which covers the domain market. So, if these users are shopping for candy, they'll probably head to Mr. Schwartz's Candy.com.

"There's inherent value in those generic names," says Mr. Jackson. "There's a certain number of people coming to your site every day, people that you didn't advertise to. They simply wandered right to you."

Candy.com attracts 1,500 visitors a day, says Schwartz, and 99 percent arrive via "direct navigation." The actual site is little more than a rudimentary layout of milk-chocolate brown and bubble-gum pink with some automated ads thrown in, but he earns tens of thousands of dollars a year from those pay-per-click advertisements.
Slowly, investors are starting to catch on. And the purchase of domains by private investment groups is changing the market.

The early dotcom rush
In the mid-1990s, "lone rangers" lassoed many of the great generic Web addresses and ruled the secondhand market for years, says Jackson. Small companies, often built around one guy, would amass thousands of domains. They were a seclusive bunch, happy to hoard domain names quietly and sell only when the price was right.

Most of the venture capital at the time went to Web companies. But when the dotcom bubble burst in 2001, websites that were once valued at millions of dollars became worthless. Yet Web addresses retained much of their value.

"Beachfront property is still beachfront property, regardless of what house or store sits on top of it," says Rob Sequin, who entered the market in 1999 and now owns about 1,500 Web addresses. "And the beauty of domains is that you don't need to paint them, or maintain them, or pay taxes on them."

By 2003, Web address sales once again broke $1 million. Mr. Sequin says that's the first year he could consider domain trading to be a full-time job.

This time, major investors started paying attention.

Online advertising company Marchex kicked off the trend in November 2004, when it paid $164 million for a portfolio of more than 100,000 generic domain names.The sale was a surprise to many, says Jackson. But most outside investors were still skeptical.

Domain buyers aren't purchasing a business or a loyal audience. They're often buying empty lots. This puzzled many venture          capitalists, he says.

Online property can be developed into successful businesses, but this takes money, time, and talent. For example, an Internet firm bought the vacant business.com domain for $7.5 million in 1999. After years of branding and site development, the now-successful portal was sold last August for $350 million.

Domain ownership turns corporate

The mind-set toward domain names has shifted, says Jackson. Several venture capitalists now consider domain names to be appreciating commodities, much like stocks and real estate.

"This went right over the heads of Wall Street and investors," he says. "They finally learned in the last year or two."

Recent examples of this trend include:

•The Internet Real Estate Investment Trust in Houston, has gobbled up more than 400,000 domains since launching in 2005. The list includes Bands.com, CreditReports.com, and Shows.com. Its multimillion-dollar portfolio is backed by investment firms such as Maveron, cofounded by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz; and Perot Investment, started by former presidential candidate and billionaire H. Ross Perot.

•Last fall, NameMedia in Waltham, Mass., filed papers to go public on the NASDAQ stock exchange and raise $172 million in its initial public offering.

•At last month's DomainFest conference and auction in Hollywood, Calif., organizers reported that about one-third of the 700 attendees said that it was their first such event. The auction brokered $3.1 million in domain sales.

•A niche auction designed to sell online dating and social-networking domains will likely bring in several hundred thousand dollars when bidding closes on Feb. 7, according to Monte Cahn, founder of Moniker, which ran the event.

•Along with the genre-specific auctions, Moniker holds three general domain events a year, which Mr. Cahn says rake in between $10 million and $15 million each. As a whole, Moniker domain sales doubled over the last year. In January, the company itself was bought by Oversee.net, a large domain-services firm.

Overall returns on these massive investments remains slow. Sales are growing in both price and volume, but Jackson says most portfolios only sell 1 to 2 percent of their domains a year.

Schwartz says he has only sold six or eight of his 6,000 domain names since 1997. It cost him about $50,000 to maintain his sites. "But those I do sell more than make up for the rest," he says.

Last month, CNN bought iReport.com from him for $750,000.

While the well of original ".com" domains dries up, Cahn says there are plenty of international names yet to be tapped. The German domain market has soared, with the country extension ".de" surpassing ".net" and ".org" to become the second-most-popular address suffix.

"Right now there are 145 million domain names," Cahn says. "By 2010, just two years later, it's going to be 240 million, with many of the new names coming from China, Latin America, and some African countries."
Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links

Mobile pizza ordering

2008-02-13T16:38:19-07:00

Ha, gotta love tech in action! A 1-Dash Domain may be in their future.
Maybe Tummyrumble will post the response they received to their questions. <hint, hint>

Link: Tummyrumble, Manne's blog.

Mobile pizza ordering

Genius. Papa John's in USA now takes pizza orders through text messaging. Seems really slick too, pizza lovers register on their site and set up favorite orders, to then text simply "FAV2" to get that meat lover's with extra cheese and thick crust that you really have a craving for (admit it) every now and then. You even get a reply back so you know your order has been received.

According to the news article, the order comes in to the restaurant exactly as if it had been ordered through the online web interface, so kitchen staff don't need to take into account yet another ordering process. I love it when somebody thinks before they build.

Seems like Papa John's have grokked online very well. Starting with online ordering as far back as 2001 they today pull in 20% of their sales from their web sites. Moving to text message ordering is a natural step then, and I am sure it will help Papa John's bring their customers closer and make them more loyal. Why would I leaf through my pizza delivery menus in my kitchen drawer when I can order my favorite pizza from my car while on my way home using a shortcut on my phone? Smooth.

Next step would be to have my credit card on file so the pizza gets paid for as I order it. Like Amazon 1-click-ordering. Now that would be really dangerous...

Doesn't seem like Papa John's UK are doing the text message thing yet. Whoa, an American company doing mobile related services in the US sooner than in Europe? Dang. Just emailed them some questions, will be interesting to see how quick they answer.

URL: Papa John's takes texted pizza orders

Analysis - PC Industry Keywords

2008-02-13T13:53:01-07:00

Industry Analysis:
Keywords Relating to Personal Computing:
Common words relating to the Personal Computing Industry

Personal Computing Keywords formatted as 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains
Word       1-Dash.com 1-Dash.mobi    1-Dial.com    1-Dial.mobi
Tech       1-tech.com 1-tech.mobi       1-8324.com 1-8324.mobi
Geek       1-Geek.com 1-Geek.mobi    1-4335.com 1-4335.mobi
PC          1-PC.com    1-pc.mobi
IT          1-IT.com    1-it.mobi
Micro       1-micro.com 1-micro.mobi 1-64276.com 1-64276.mobi
Red text: Old school targets desk bound surfers only.

1-Dash and 1-Dial Domains cross domain extensions to mobile users because they look like phone numbers.

Note: If you are just joining us, the numbers in this analysis translate to the word 'as 'spelled' on a phone keypad.

8324 spells Tech and the 1- mimics a phone number, etc.

See 'Numbers That Work' for an Executive Summary of the 1-Dial and 1-Dash naming conventions.

The Influence Of The Blogosphere Boosts Salesforce By Over Half-A-Billion Dollars

2008-02-13T09:18:10-07:00

Analysis: Interesting thoughts on how news actually 'works' in todays media.
Found on Mixx - posted by TunisianGuy

Link: MediaWatcher Notes:

MediaWatcher Notes: The Influence Of The Blogosphere Boosts Salesforce By Over Half-A-Billion Dollars

It always fascinates me to see how stories move through the
blogosphere and into mainstream media. It is always interesting to
watch what I sometimes term the "trajectory of ideas" within the
mediasphere and the ripples of influence.

I like to watch these things because they sometimes reveal an
underlying nature within society. One of my observations is noticing
that the timing of the publication of a news story can make a big
difference in the attention it gets. And the reason can seem
counter-intuitive.

For example, I published an analysis of my scoop on exploratory talks of a possible merger with Oracle, about 5.30pm on a Saturday evening.

Clearly, it's not the best time to get out in front of a large
audience. Yet there were enough readers and bloggers out there to
quickly bring attention to the story. Within a couple of hours 15 sites
linked to the post. By Sunday morning it was approaching 40 sites,
which included links from key sites such as Techcrunch, Mashable,
Techmeme and also my ZDNet colleague Dennis Howlett.

Au naturel linking...

The distribution of the snews tory continued to spread throughout Sunday on numerous blogs. I especially love to watch such viral distribution when it happens au natural, without any of the many promotional techniques available. I didn't email my blogger and journalist buddies to get their attention, or mass email my contacts, there was no "Digg" button, or any clever attempt to use keywords to attract search engine distribution.

It is always far more interesting to see how news stories get picked up and distributed by the Internet without using the promotional toolbox of technologies and techniques available. It reminds me of the early days of the blogger/journalist Internet community, when there was nothing much available to promote content except for the intrinsic value of the content itself, and the respect of your peer groups.

Buy the distribution...

These days, it is far easier to manipulate the distribution and reach of a blog post, news story, or video. These days, it can be easier to buy the traffic and the distribution reach, instead of doing the hard work in creating content that wins because its value.

We used to talk about the meritocracy of content as a core value of the blogosphere and the evolving Internet, and that now it didn't matter who could pay for the loudest voice. That is less true today and will continue to worsen over time.

Fortunately, meritocracy is still strong on the Internet, it is even there when you least expect it to find it, such as on a Saturday evening. BTW, it's wonderful and humbling to know that there are people reading and writing about Silicon Valley Watcher news stories on a Saturday evening when they could easily be doing something else...

I'm glad that my work gets the attention that it does. And the influence it has often astounds me. Plus I'm doubly glad it happens without having to dress up my news stories with any of the many promotional techniques and technologies that are available...

By Monday morning, the blogosphere had widely distributed my news story, and there had been plenty of time to analyze and debate the merits of a potential deal. The work of the blogosphere then helped investors reassess the value of the Salesforce business. At the opening bell Salesforce [ticker:CRM] gained about 9 percent in market cap value, or more than $500m. This was good news for CEO Marc Benioff and other Salesforce longs. Mr Benioffsells at least 10,000 shares of Salesforce every day, and has done so since mid 2006 (the power of dollar cost averaging). It was bad news for the large community of short sellers that Salesforce had recently accumulated [ticker:CRM.]

Interestingly, there is another aspect to Saturday publishing. I've noticed: the mainstream media is not very good at following up breaking stories at the weekends because of its skeleton staffing levels.

That is why the blogosphere often drives the news agenda on Saturday and Sunday because there isn't much mainstream media content to blog about and link to.

Domain Names: The shortest domain name ever

2008-02-12T17:19:37-07:00

Analysis:
Maybe Google is listening to our analysis of the value of 1-Dash and 1-Dial Domain Names...
No, probably not but maybe they will get a whiff of our Search Industry Analysis.

Link: Domain Names: The shortest domain name ever.

The shortest domain name ever

Google has purchased the shortest possible domain name to make it easier for Chinese users to find Google: g.cn. Interestingly, "g.com," along with most other single-letter and single-digit domain names are reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. The IANA is the master arbiter of domain names and addresses on the Internet. There are a few one-letter domain names out there, though: Z.com is owned by Nissan, Q.com by Qwest, and X.com is owned by PayPal. There was a proposal floated a few years ago to auction off the one-letter domain names, but nothing has come of it.

Domain Name: Pizza.com is for Sale

2008-02-12T15:31:46-07:00

Analysis:
The domain 'Pizza.com' - Tagline: 'Everything about Pizza' will be a hot-domain property.

Pizza.com site features:

Search for pizza by zip or address
Restaurant Reviews
Coupons

We wish them luck with the sale!

Link: Pizza.com / Contact Us.

For Sale by Owner

'One smokin' hot domain is for sale.'
Pizza.com is accepting serious offers.

The asking price for pizza.com is well over 1 million dollars. Only serious offers above
$1 million dollars will be considered.

Hundreds of SEO Interviews | SEO Scoop

2008-02-11T14:24:32-07:00

We can't help it, this is interesting and we just like DazzlinDonna's tone...

Link: SEO Scoop.

Posted by DazzlinDonna on August 25th, 2006 in Search Engine News

I love getting to know fellow SEOs a little better by
reading interviews of them. So I went on a quest to find as many SEO
interviews as I could. No doubt I’ve also left some out, but if so,
then it’s completely unintentional (blame the search engines). Feel
free to let me know if you think some should be added, and I’ll edit
this post accordingly. I do keep this list updated frequently, so it
should always be fresh with new interviews added as I discover them.

Current Count: 291 SEO Interviews

Last Updated: 02/11/2008

Great Domain Name Strategy: Vacations To Go

2008-02-11T10:25:23-07:00

The 'Numbers That Work' Strategy may be better in the long run...

Connecting to mobile surfers with domain names that look like Phone Numbers or the Numbers are converted from a Phone Keypad is new and novel.

The 1-Dash version uses common words like 'Pizza' that becomes 1-Pizza.com and looks like a phone number.

The 1-Dial version uses a number converted on a phone keypad. (74992) 'Pizza' becomes 1-74992.com and looks like a phone number.

PPC Common word strategies:

Enrico Comment:
The domains registered by Vacations To Go are all legitimate generic domains. But many travel agencies are waking up to the potential of harvesting on-line travel customers and seeing tremendous returns on both direct navigation and solid Google results.

Link: Elliot’s Blog - Vacations To Go.

Great Domain Name Strategy: Vacations To Go Internet Companies, Advice, Generic Domain Names, Google January 28th, 2008

Travel planning company Vacations To Go employs one of the finest domain strategies I have seen. The company owns some fantastic niche travel domain names, allowing them to avoid paying high pay per click costs. While they seem to avoid the very expensive one word generic domain names (like Cruises.com), they do own a ton of great second tier travel domain names that probably receive some traffic. Just a few of the highly targeted domain names owned by Vacations To Go include:

AcapulcoCruises.com
AthensTours.com
LowCostCruise.com
LowPriceCruises.com
MexicanCruises.com
ItalyCruise.com

Showing their vast domain knowledge, Vacations To Go even owns some fantastic typo domain names, including:

Showing their vast domain knowledge, Vacations To Go even owns some fantastic typo domain names, including:
BahamasCrusie.com
CheapCruies.com
Norweigan.com

The smartest thing about this strategy is that instead of paying $.50 - $10.00+ per visitor’s click on Yahoo or Google, they own all visitors to their domain names, and only pay around $7/year for each domain name. All of their names are forwarded to their main site, with a subfolder tracking how the visitor reached the main page. If a customer books just one cruise or vacation after landing on a domain name, they’ve almost certainly paid off the domain name for life (and then some).

One major issue I see is that many of the domain names owned by Vacations To Go don’t seem to be listed in Google. As you can see in the screenshot below, MexicanCruises.com isn’t listed in Google when the exact domain name is entered into the search bar. This isn’t good, as it means if a customer tries to directly navigate to the site using Google instead of the internet browser bar, they won’t even see the domain name. On some of the names where this is an issue, Vacations To Go attempts to alleviate this by buying the keyword of the domain name, but that is costing them money.

There are many reasons why Google could have removed the names, but it may have had nothing to do with anything Vacations To Go did. To rectify this, I would suggest that someone from Vacations To Go enters all of their domain names into Google, and take note of the names that do not show up in the results. They should then request reconsideration from Google. By doing this, Vacations To Go will have their domain names put back into Google, saving them from having to pay per click every time a consumer types the domain name as a search.

On other domain names, such as MexicoCruises.com, the domain name is listed in Google at the top. If a visitor accidentally types this domain name into Google instead of their navigation bar, they will see it as the top natural result, and they may click on this listing rather than on the paid search listing. Vacations To Go has protected itself by paying for Adwords keywords, which is another smart move.

Vacations To Go certainly has one of the best domain strategies I’ve seen. Not only are they building value for their brand, they are also building value for each of the domain names they own. If they were to ever sell the company, they could provide a traffic, click through and ROI for each domain asset they own, adding tremendous value to their portfolio. I give high praise to Alan Fox and his team at Vacations To Go.

11 Responses to “Great Domain Name Strategy: Vacations To Go”

Joe O'Brien Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 3:01 am

Great strategy - also good as a barrier for the competition i.e. force them
to develop second-fiddle-domain-name.com (or .net/.biz/.info heh)
Re: mexicancruises.com etc not showing up in google, my guess is that google might not want to index domains that have no content and just redirect to another site.

From my limited experience with redirecting domains/entire websites
I’ve found that the target domain (i.e. NewDomain.com) should show up
for a search on OldDomain.com, provided olddomain.com actually ranked
for it’s name to begin with.
I was going to say that these peripheral domains (is there such a term?) must have been redirecting from the get-go but I checked the wayback machine and mexicancruises did have content until mid 2004.

I was therefore going to recommend dumping a mini site or holding
page on these domains and get them indexed and ranking before
redirecting but now I’m not sure if that would work or not.

Perhaps they should just insert “www.olddomain.com” as text on newdomain.com/the-page-old-domain-redirects-to/ and/or point a few
links to that page with “olddomain.com” as anchor. I searched for
mexicancruises.com and this blog post came up no.1 simply because you
mention it a couple of times on the page.

Todd Mintz Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 10:08 am

A domain that just is a redirect page won’t be listed in Google…there
isn’t any reason to submit a “reinclusion” request because if unique
content is present, it would get included on its own.

Tim Davids Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 10:10 am

this is not a barrier to competition if the competition goes and gets
cruises.com. They should use a large part of profits to aquire some
good 1 word domains IMO

Enrico S Says:January 28th, 2008 at 11:18 am

That is a very interesting observation Elliot. We just started a series of
federal lawsuits under the ACPA on behalf of Resort Hotels against
travel agencies who use their top level brands in the domain name. The
domains registered by Vacations To Go are all legitimate generic
domains. But many travel agencies are waking up to the potential of
harvesting on-line travel customers and seeing tremendous returns on
both direct navigation and solid Google results. Unfortunately, some do
not realize that you can not use Resort brands in the domain names
themselves when creating their on-line strategies.

We have one case where a travel agency registered dozens of domains
using the top level brands of over 20 resorts. They invested tons of
time, effort and money into developing those domains, many of which
enjoy Page 1 Google results. Of course, they are now in the extremely
difficult position of having to rely on that traffic for revenue, but
in violation of the ACPA and UDRP as well.

Martin Edic Says: January 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

This is an SEO issue. If they want to rank for these terms they need to
develop optimized landing pages for each domain with good descriptive
content and then provide links to their ‘home’ site. I do not believe
this is an issue of Google intentionally not ranking them- as others
have pointed out you cannot get indexed without relevant content and
inbound links that are authoritative. That’s the entire basis of the
search industry.

DomainerPro Says: January 28th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Very unusual. Few companies outside the domain space are aware of the value
of acquiring generic domains relevant to their industry. Many of the
big corporations control hundreds or thousands of domains, but this is
usually done just to protect trademarks. Often the domains themselves
are inactive and not even forwarded.

Ms Domainer Says: January 28th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

The travel company could just develop a portal page. I did this with Foet.net, which is a portal to my Post Foetry site.

Google has indexed the domain.
Ms Domainer

Vincent Chan Says: January 28th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

I agree that Google won’t index page with no content. However, there are some special cases. Try search “mac” on Google. http://www.mac.com it the first result but it’s only a page forwarding you to the Apple .mac page. Anyone know how you can do that?

Gab "SEO ROI" Goldenberg Says: February 7th, 2008 at 2:29 am

Did you buy a Domain Tools report or find those on your own?
@ Todd - I have proof that you’re wrong. You can message me privately if you care to see it.

***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***
I have a Domain Tools account.

Halfdeck Says: February 7th, 2008 at 4:04 am

Indexing problems are usually tied to lack of backlinks, not lack of content.
301 Redirect also will not prevent Google from indexing a URL. That’s
how you fake toolbar PR; you’ll notice your URL is indexed though the
cache belongs to another site you redirected to.

As for mac.com, the URL has around 1 million backlinks, according to
site explorer, so no surprise that shows up in Google’s SERP.

GerBot Says: February 7th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Hi Vincent,
They are 302 redirecting in their headers.
or “302 Temporarily Moved”there are also 2,500,000 links into that domain.

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Mobile pizza ordering

Mobile pizza ordering

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Great Domain Name Strategy: Vacations To Go

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Whois Record for 466453.com ( 466453 )
Registrant:

What's in a domain name? Some serious cash.
At least 100 domain names sold for more than $100,000 last year.