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“Domain King” Rick Schwartz has sold “property.com” to foreclosure.com. Rick purchased the domain for $750,000 USD less than 3 years ago. Details of the deal have not been disclosed at this point and it is not known if “properties.com” was included in the deal.
Property.com will include all listing types, including those indexed the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), creating a database that could surpass more than 15 million homes, but not including distressed properties, which will remain the business of Foreclosure.com. [...] The new Property.com will be unveiled sometime in 2009.
[Via Rick's Blog / MarketWatch (press release)]
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls
Michael Geist recently reported that Rogers, an internet service provider, has changed its approach for failed DNS lookups, which happens when an internet user types in a domain name that does not resolve. Now, instead of reaching a standard error page, Rogers’ customers are being redirected to a sponsored page that contains links to Rogers’ content, paid search results, and additional Yahoo! search results.
Whenever a redirect happens, Rogers explains to the user that “these search results were provided because the domain name you entered into the address bar is either improperly formatted, currently unavailable, nonexistent, or part of a key word search. Rogers Supported Search Results is a service designed to enhance your web surfing experience by eliminating many of the error pages you encounter as you surf.”
Although Rogers allows users the option to opt-out, it is a temporary action that resets every time the cookies are cleared.
In 2003, Verisign provided a similar “service” anytime an internet user landed on an unregistered .com or .net webpage. Site Finder, as it was known, created enough controversy among network operators, competing domain registrars, and internet users that ICANN insisted for Verisign to cease wildcarding.
[via MichaelGeist.ca]
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Visit our Calendar of Domain Industry Events.
Carolyn Gudmundson, a former program manager at Microsoft’s MSN division, has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for defrauding the company out of nearly $1 Million in fake domain name registration fees.
Between 2000 and 2004, Gudmundson submitted invoices with inflated charges for registration fees, billed the company for registrations that had already been paid, and ran a number of other scams on the side.
Gudmundson was also the listed contact for Passport.com during the Hotmail crash in 1999, which saw 60 million Internet users unable to access their email accounts because Microsoft failed to pay a $35 fee to renew the Passport.com domain name, which was needed for logins to Hotmail.
[via PCAdvisor.co.uk]
Note: Head on over to SeattlePi.com for more information including the court filing, Gudmondson’s letter of defense, and a post-ruling article by Todd Bishop, who was in court for the sentencing.
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls
While Andy Purdy called the auctions of the 4-letter .tv domains that use the call letters of U.S. TV stations “highly-prized”, it seems that his speculation was a bit of hype.
On Friday of last week, Purdy posted a report on his website explaining that a Florida resident had let 285 4-letter .tv domain names expire - many of which represented successful broadcast stations across the United States - and the impending public auction between July 19-23 would be a great opportunity for anybody looking to grab these “highly-prized” TV domains.
Purdy, who served as the Acting Director of the National Cyber Security Division for Homeland Security for two years, believed that “releasing the domains to anonymous bidders around the world may have a serious impact on how American broadcasters maintain their online identity, particularly in light of the upcoming switch to digital broadcast.”
After one day of auctions, however, it seems not many domainers or broadcasters agreed on these being valuable domain names to acquire.
Saturday’s auction results have revealed the following closing prices:
KATC.TV Lafayette, LA ABC - $28
KATU.TV Portland, OR ABC - 23 Fisher Communications - $15
KATV.TV Little Rock, AR ABC - 57 Allbritton Communications Company - $72
KBSD.TV Dodge City, KS CBS - $10
KCAU.TV Sioux City, IA ABC - $10
KCEN.TV Waco, TX NBC - 95 Frank W. Mayborn - $20
KCIT.TV Amarillo, TX FOX - $10
KAAL.TV Austin/Rochester, MN ABC - $10
KAMC.TV Lubbock, TX ABC - $26
KAMR.TV Amarillo, TX NBC - $10
KARK.TV Little Rock, AR NBC - 57 Nexstar Broadcasting Group - $21
By scanning through the complete list of domain auctions, including Sunday and Mondays current results which continued at a similar rate, it’s evident that there was not as much interest as Purdy had anticipated.
The fact is that the .tv extension, although relevant to the industry, is still second choice for these broadcast stations and therefore limited in value.
Most broadcast stations have already developed .com websites to maintain their online identity and simply have no need for the less popular .tv domain name. And in this case, when there is only one possible end user that has already decided to go with a more common extension, the domain becomes virtually useless. The .tv extension also has lost popularity likely because of higher renewal costs and potential additional fees that the registry places on “premium” .tv domains.
However, if there is any value to be had, it is most likely in the 4-letter domains with acronyms that can be used for other applications - not just radio or TV stations. If any of these makes sense with the .tv TLD, then it has additional value because it has a larger pool of possible end users.
Another issue with buying domains at TDNAM is that Godaddy’s rules allow for an expired domain name to still be renewed by the former owner up to 7 days after the auction ends. The owner of these .tv domains could still renew these domain names even after the auction has ended. There is the potential for a domain investor or a TV station to purchase one of these domain names and have the name reclaimed by the former owner.
If you want to invest in this type of domain name, you can find more information at AndyPurdy.com or inquire in the comments section. Bidding for the domains is ongoing at Godaddy’s TDNAM.com site.
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls
According to a post on the site, NameMedia has purchased Splitcoststampers, a community for “stampers”. The site joins NameMedia’s list of enthusiast communities, which consists of the following sites: Dave’s Garden, Photo.net, geek.com, mommy.com, Cats.com, Photography.com, Tarot.com, Basejumper.com, Biking.com, , Yachting.com, DreamWheels.com, Hotcars.com, DropZone.com, Gardens.com, Cycling.com, Rockclimbing.com, Craftster.org and TheTruthAboutCars.com.
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Visit our Calendar of Domain Industry Events.
As reported earlier, Afilias had submitted a proposal to ICANN for the .INFO gTLD that would allow them to shut down domain names at will if they consider them abusive. ICANN has approved the proposal without soliciting comments, however comments to any registry proposal can be submitted at any time by sending an email to registryservice (at) icann.org and are published on the ICANN website.
Apparently Afilias has presented the changes to their agreement as a “new” service. However this function is provided by Registrars, ISPs and Hosting companies today. Several parties have submitted their concerns about this new policy, despite some small modifycations by the registrar operator.
[Thanks to George Kirikos]
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls
This article continues directly on from Part 12 and Part 13 in the series on the domain industry.
This brings up the most important point that we need to never forget, traffic really is king. It's the one unique resource that everyone needs and they're prepared to pay for it....
According to some insider sources the two remaining auction providers for the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auction in New York are Bido.com and Sedo. The full list of the live auction providers is:
(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com
Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls