Fill in the gaps: suggest missing answers for domain name survey. It’s the end of the year, which means it’s almost time for the 4th Annual Domain Name Wire Survey. Every year after the results are released, I am inevitably am contact by a company asking why it wasn’t listed as a...

Now might be a good time to strike a deal with BuyDomains . If you’ve had your eye on a domain at BuyDomains, now might be a good time to negotiate a deal. Over the past two days I’ve received four messages from BuyDomains with subjects ranging from “Let’s negotiate a great ...

A quick synopsis of public comments about new top level domains. The deadline to comment on the latest revisions of ICANN’s plan for introducing new top level domains was Monday. As is usually the case, the big companies waited until the last minute to file their comments. The general consen...

Schilling’s Name Administration tests new parking templates. Mike Cohen of WannaDevelop.com has made some interesting observations about Frank Schilling’s parked domains. It seems that Schilling is testing some new designs. Here’s what a typical Name Administration (owned by Schil...

Russ “Dutch” Boyd gets a royal flush. Dutch Boyd cleans up atthe tables and WIPO. Last month I wrote about arbitration proceedings for the domain PokerHost.net. The complainant — online poker company Poker Host Inc which operates PokerHost.com — seemed to be fudging dates in...

Standard Tactics and 60-day lock discussed on Radio Go Daddy. I just concluded my interview with Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons on his internet radio show. It is available for on demand listening RadioGoDaddy.com. Perhaps the biggest news that came out of the interview is that GoDaddy is effectively sh...

If you get an email like this, hit the delete button. Let’s take a quick look at a common domain name scam that is very effective. I know it’s effective because over the past year I’ve received e-mails from smart friends who are CEOs of companies here in Austin asking if these ema...

In response to Standard Tactics coverage, GoDaddy has changed starting bids on TDNAM auctions. Last week I mentioned that GoDaddy was making a change to its TDNAM auctions based on some of my commentary on Standard Tactics. In my commentary I had suggested that, by setting minimum bid prices high...

It’s a tough question for domainers. A couple days ago Austinite and online entrepreneur Neville Medhora blogged about a tough question he gets: “what do you do for a living?” “Hi. I’m Neville, I Own A Rave Company.” OK, so he doesn’t really own a rave compa...

Despite parking meltdown, Sedo ’s sales success keeps it on the right path. AdLINK Group, parent organization of Sedo, recently released its quarterly financial report (pdf). Despite a weak environment for domain parking revenue, the company seems to be holding its own in the current downtu...

Network World picks up variable domain pricing story. Domain owners have been commenting on ICANN’s proposed new gTLD structure including the potential for “variable pricing”, and the technology media is starting to pick it up. Today Network World published a story titled “Ne...

Google’s Adsense for Domains partners question Google’s moves. In business lingo it’s called a channel conflict. Imagine times were still good in auto sales and you wanted to start a Cadillac dealership. You paid Cadillac a hefty franchise fee, spent several million dollars build...

Here’s one of the reasons the mainstream press doesn’t characterize legitimate domainers fairly. Last week there was quite a media frenzy about a company that sold GeorgeWBushLibrary.com back to the previous owner who let it expire. Michael Berkens pointed out that it’s stories li...

Joi Ito joins Tucows Board of Directors. Creative Commons CEO, technologist, and venture capitalist Joi Ito has joined domain registrar Tucows (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) Board of Directors. In addition to serving as Creative Commons’ CEO, Ito is CEO and founder of Neoteny Co. Ltd, a venture capital...

United Internet bulks up by 1.1 million domain names. United Internet AG, parent company of 1&1 and Sedo , has purchased domain registrar united-domains AG from LYCOS Europe for about EUR 34M. The final transaction price will depend on united-domains AG’s financial results for 2008. un...

Is Microsoft looking to buy into the domain market? It could be a winning strategy. You may have read a few rumors lately that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be getting into the domain name business. The last time I talked to a Microsoft representative on the record, he said the company was very i...

New Portfolio MaxLock covers more and costs less. In September I wrote about MaxLock, a new product from Moniker that improved the security of domain names by making it harder to transfer domains out. Just recently CheckFree.com had its domain hijacked when someone logged in to CheckFree.com...

Google Adsense for Domains’ mass-market approach will strain domain name industry. Almost all of us were surprised today when Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) said it was opening up its Adsense for Domains program. It used to offer domain advertising relationships only to people with massive traffic, th...

Google lets customers bypass DomainSponsor , Sedo , and other domain parking companies. [See update at bottom with latest information.] In a surprising move, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is now offering Adsense publishers the opportunity to park their domains directly with Google, rather than using a sec...

Service prevents nameserver changes without multiple levels of confirmation. In light of the CheckFree.com nameserver “theft” last week, I opined that registrars must offer added security for important domain names. Specifically, important domain names should require more than just a u...

I’ll have an open talk with Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons next week. I’ve written a lot of good things about domain registrar GoDaddy over the past few years. But I’ve also called the company out numerous times when it did no-so-good things: such as Standard Tactics. Yesterday Go Da...

Social networking tool for domainers not limited to DOMAINfest attendees. As part of its DOMAINfest Global domain conference, DomainSponsor has launched an online social networking platform called DOMAINfest Connect. It is open to everyone: attendees, potential attendees, and people who just want...

MTV wants Jackass.com. It better prepare for an uphill battle. Who are you calling a Jackass? MTV’s parent company Viacom (NYSE: VIA.b) filed for arbitration to get the domain name Jackass.com, a case that commenced at WIPO on December 5. There are two problems for Viacom: it’s a gener...

How much longer will yellow pages exist? From the driveway to the trash bin. Sunday morning I took my dog out for her morning walk as usual. I suddenly heard squealing tires down the road and looked up to see a white van speeding down the road, swerving from side to side. As the van swerved, I hea...

Here are five suggestions for the domainer on your holiday shopping list. I wrote an article last year with gift suggestions for domainers, but here is an updated list. In case you’re wondering what not to get, be sure to check out a list of stocking stuffers I’d prefer not to see Chris...