Developed Names - Domain Name News Aggregator

Now that the Super Bowl game’s “Brand Bowl” is finished, the polls and opinions are popping up everywhere. This year there seems to be a lot more  reactions and buzz bubbling on the internet, more so than in year’s past, thanks in part to social media sites.

Now that the Super Bowl game’s “Brand Bowl” is finished, the polls and opinions are popping up everywhere. This year there seems to be a lot more  reactions and buzz bubbling on the internet, more so than in year’s past, thanks in part to social media sites.

Who had the cleverest ads? Who was the funniest?  Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (and maybe even a few old-school water coolers) will be buzzing the rest of today with chatter about both an amazing game and some good and some not so good ads.  Youtube’s voting is still going on and you can catch all the ads that you missed. There were some good ones that got a little chuckle from me, but generally speaking the creative wasn’t outstanding. The companies that advertised on the game and matter most in this little “domain world” were Google and Godaddy. . .

On Twitter a lot of people seemed to like the Google ad but like Jeff Jarvis in this article, I wasn’t really super impressed. It was a clever use of story to demonstrate the product and was classically simple, but really does something so simple as using Google need to be demonstrated?  Jarvis makes a point about France and Football not being a great matchup. It could have been more audience targeted, but CEO Eric Schmidt admitted that the ad wasn’t created for specifically for the Big Game.  Also, doesn’t Google already TOTALLY dominate search ?  I get that it’s a great branding opportunity and the ad endeared many to the brand, but Google has a lot of other offerings to showoff to that the average guy on the couch may not have a clue about.  Did they just release a phone or something ?

Overall, Google winning the love of most viewers is okay by me and it’s surreal to think that what some are calling the #1 advertisement is for a “new media” brand that has chipped away the base of “traditional media” revenues and completely changed the advertising landscape.  To me, Google’s ad running on the Super Bowl gives the idea of Super Bowl advertising more legitimacy.

Most disappointing to me (and to several others) was the Godaddy commercials.  Ok, we get it Godaddy. You like to have controversy and you like to have your ads pulled so you can get more PR before the game, but really come on. It’s done.   It used to be impressive to me that a domain company had the money and guts to invest in expensive Super Bowl ads, but I’m over it.  Godaddy released several ads this year. One ad got cut and two that didn’t get cut made it on air during the game (one posted below).  Personally, I would have preferred the cut ad. It does a better job explaining the product and isn’t all about popping open shirts.

While I sat in my comfy chair watching the game and surfing on my phone, my twitter stream filled with negative reactions to Godaddy ads, but suddenly Bob Parson’s chimes in with a “72% surveyed say GoDaddy.com #sb44 ads were hilarious.” tweet. What !?  Who are these people taking this survey? Even the 4 person team on twitter @godaddyguy even chimed in saying they were having a hard time keeping up. This is where you earn your keep I guess guys.

Back to the ads.  The premise for these ads is basically pretend to show some boobies at the end and leave them hanging with ” See More at GoDaddy.com” . . .and I’m sure MANY went hoping to see more.  Like one blogger points out “Not only do these cliffhanger endings generate buzz and capture the audience’s attention, it also gets people to actually visit GoDaddy.com to see what its all about.”  Only problem is, like crying wolf, you can only pull this “trick” once.  The viewer doesn’t get anything special when they go to the site.

You got the viewer to your site with the same “1 horse trick”.  Now what?  The viewer thinks “I went to the site and I didn’t get what I wanted”.  They now remember you and your brand as being a company that teases them into thinking they were getting a “free porn show” . . . oh and maybe remembers you sell domain names.  As Brian Clark from Copyblogger.com said, “Thanks GoDaddy, but your target audience already knows where the best porn on the web is“.

Fear not though, Godaddy is ready to give you the chance to show them how to do it better.  In a similar fashion to other brands before them, Godaddy is holding a contest and awarding prizes for the best ads.  Hopefully they have judges that aren’t  the same 72% that voted in the previously mentioned poll.

If anyone has a camera, a ski boat and a pet shark, I’ve got a good idea for a commercial :)

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names brand bowl, danica patrick, Editorial, godaddy, google, super bowl

Internet giant Google.com has lost an arbitration case over the domain name Groovle.com. In a decision released today, The National Arbitration Forum, dismissed Google’s complaint which claimed that it was entitled to the domain name Groovle.com. Google claimed that the domain name  is “confusingly similar” to its trademark for “Google”.

Internet giant Google.com has lost an arbitration case over the domain name Groovle.com. In a decision released today, The National Arbitration Forum, dismissed Google’s complaint which claimed that it was entitled to the domain name Groovle.com. Google claimed that the domain name  is “confusingly similar” to its trademark for “Google”.

The unanimous three person panel ruled that Groovle.com “is not confusingly similar” to Google’s trademark, “Google”.  Google has commenced 65 similar domain name disputes and this is only the second time that it has ever lost. Domain name lawyer and Internet law expert, Zak Muscovitch is responsible for successfully defending the “little guy” against the mega-corp Google.

The domain is owned by Canadian entrepreneurs Jacob Fuller and Ryan Fitzgibbon, who launched Groovle.com in 2007. As Fuller explains, “Groovle was created to provide users the ability to upload photos and customize their Internet start page. We thought it would be a cool feature to have a nice photo of friends, family etc., every time you launch your web browser”. Says Fitzgibbon, “since we launched Groovle in 2007, Google, Bing and Ask.com have each come out with something similar”.

The pair are elated with the decision. “We were stunned when Google launched the domain name dispute as we have great respect for Google and have always had a good relationship with them”, said Fitzgibbon. Fuller added that, “Google never had anything to fear from our web site. The arbitrators’ decision that the two domain names are sufficiently different should put Google at ease and we look forward to a renewed positive relationship with Google”.

Muscovitch concluded “Google clearly miscalculated here however my clients are prepared to put this behind them”.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names domain dispute, domain law, google, groovle.com, Legal Issues, Zak Muscovitch

Goodle has now launched it’s own URL shortener under the goo.gl domain in the ccTLD of Greenland. The service is not offered as a standalone service at this point, but is instead embedded into Google Toolbar and Feedburner. The new product also automatically checks to detect sites that may be malicious and will warn users.

Goodle has now launched it’s own URL shortener under the goo.gl domain in the ccTLD of Greenland. The service is not offered as a standalone service at this point, but is instead embedded into Google Toolbar and Feedburner. The new product also automatically checks to detect sites that may be malicious and will warn users.

Official Google Blog: Making URLs shorter for Google Toolbar and FeedBurner.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names goo.gl, google, Up to the Minute, url shortener

Google has just launched a Public DNS service according to a post on the Official Google Blog. The goal of the service is “to benefit users worldwide while also helping the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone“. On their product page they promise that the service is more secure as well as faster than many traditional domain name service resolved provided by the ISPs.

Google has just launched a Public DNS service according to a post on the Official Google Blog. The goal of the service is “to benefit users worldwide while also helping the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone“. On their product page they promise that the service is more secure as well as faster than many traditional domain name service resolved provided by the ISPs.

The OpenDNS like service will as a side benefit Google would also be able to see and track DNS queries of the users on the service and potentially redirect unresolved searches into Google Searches, similar to what many ISPs already do today. The company does promised not to use the data for anything else, but does state that non personal data will be stored for an indefinite period.

Google would also be able to block sites through the service that are for example suspected phishing sites. Depending on adaption the service could even introduce alternative TLDs, comparable to alternative root systems like new.net. For now their policy states that their service “never blocks, filters, or redirects users“. ICANN has recently issued an memorandum speaking out against NXdomain resolution for new gTLDs.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names google, icann, new gTLDs, nxdomain, public dns, resolver, Search Engines, wildcarding

In June of last year, Google and Louis Vuitton were engaged in battle before the Cour de Cassation (France). The French court requested the opinion of the European Court o justice (ECJ) on three matters. Today, the European Advocate General issued an opinion advising the ECJ regarding its anticipated ruling. The AG opinion available here (Opinion) included the following:

In June of last year, Google and Louis Vuitton were engaged in battle before the Cour de Cassation (France). The French court requested the opinion of the European Court o justice (ECJ) on three matters. Today, the European Advocate General issued an opinion advising the ECJ regarding its anticipated ruling. The AG opinion available here (Opinion) included the following:

“The selection by an economic operator, by means of an agreement on paid internet referencing, of a keyword which will trigger, in the event of a request using that word, the display of a link proposing connection to a site operated by that economic operator for the purposes of offering for sale goods or services, and which reproduces or imitates a trade mark registered by a third party and covering identical or similar goods, without the authorisation of the proprietor of that trade mark, does not constitute in itself an infringement of the exclusive right guaranteed to the latter under [the Directive]”

“Article 5(1)(a) and (b) of Directive 89/104 and Article 9(1)(a) and (b) of Council Regulation … 40/94 … must be interpreted as meaning that a trade mark proprietor may not prevent the provider of a paid referencing service from making available to advertisers keywords which reproduce or imitate registered trade marks or from arranging under the referencing agreement for advertising links to sites to be created and favourably displayed, on the basis of those keywords.”

“In the event that the trade marks have a reputation, the trade mark proprietor may not oppose such use under [the Directive].”

“The provider of the paid referencing service [Google] cannot be regarded as providing an information society service consisting in the storage of information provided by the recipient of the service within the meaning of Article 14 of Directive 2000/31/… in particular electronic commerce, in the internal market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’)”

What could this mean for Domainers? As we know, domain names in PPC serve as keywords for PPC results. While some PPC providers allow owners to categorize domains or add additional keywords, Google and Yahoo require that the added words bear a contextual meaning to the actual domain name. In essence, domain names used in PPC serve the same function as Google’s keywords as used in advertising. LouisVuitton.com is thus served up as “louis + vuitton”. The PPC advertisement links appear because advertisers who have paid Google/Yahoo to have their advertisements appear on pages in the domain channel when such keywords are used in a search.

We must of course wait for the official decision of the ECJ but it is nice to see when people “get it”, particularly when they are in such authoritative positions.

So, one may ask….. How is the PPC system any different from what the European Attorney General sees as infringing activities? In a real sense of course there is no real difference other than one keyword is purchased from a list and the other is in the form of a registered domain name (and of course you are you and Google is king).

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the various sectors of the Internet. Of course, UDRPs and the like are based on a different standard. However, even the panel decisions remain subject to court decisions. Now if only we could convince domainers to pursue legitimate claims in court, we might have something that would benefit everyone.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names adwords, Cour de Cassation, court, domain owners, domain parking, google, Legal Issues, Louis Vuitton, paul keating, Pay per click, ppc, trade mark

It’s official - Microsoft and Yahoo have announced a 10-year search and advertising partnership that will give Microsoft’s Bing a better chance to show off its new search technology and provide Yahoo with an opportunity to challenge Google in online advertising.

It’s official - Microsoft and Yahoo have announced a 10-year search and advertising partnership that will give Microsoft’s Bing a better chance to show off its new search technology and provide Yahoo with an opportunity to challenge Google in online advertising.

And in case you’ve haven’t seen the details, the deal goes like this:

• 10 year agreement.
• Microsoft acquires an exclusive 10-year license to Yahoo’s core search technologies and can integrate these technologies into Bing.
• Yahoo will continue to syndicate its current search affiliate partnerships.
• Bing will be the exclusive search and paid search platform for Yahoo sites.
• Yahoo will become the exclusive sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve ads for both companies will run by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform.

So Bing will now power the search algorithm on Yahoo/Bing and Yahoo will now power the premium search advertising for Bing/Yahoo.

But what does that mean to you?

After the jump, there’s a quick trip around the domain space on what people are saying:

Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineLand.com - Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal Simplified
“This isn’t 1+1=2, beating the 1 of Google. The two together make it easier for advertisers to reach a common audience, but that’s the main benefit. Neither alone has a Google killer offering, and combined doesn’t just magically make that happen.”

David Hallerman of eMarketer as published in USAToday - Microsoft, Yahoo link up in Internet search deal
“The hope (for Microsoft and Yahoo) is that better technology will mean more relevant results and more relevant results will attract more users. More users mean more potential to click on ads and that means more money.”

Andrew Allemann of DomainNameWire - Dear DOJ: Don’t Slow Down Yahoo-Microsoft Deal
“The deal creates a competitor. It takes two also-rans in the search business and turns them into a true (although still relatively weak) competitor to Google…I’m convinced that having at least two viable advertising providers in the search space is critical to keep each one in check. Right now we have a growing ad provider in Google and a faltering one in Yahoo…By Yahoo and Microsoft joining forces, their scale will be enough to entice more advertisers to pay attention. This, in turn, will benefit web entrepreneurs.”

Michael H. Berkens of TheDomains - Done Deal: Yahoo Gives Microsoft Its Search Business
“What the deal means to domainers is far from settled. We have many of our domain names parked with various Yahoo parking partners. What this will mean to our bottom line is just a guess at this point but my guess it will be good for domainers.”

Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch - Yahoo Got Binged
“The two companies will work hard to pull this off. Their futures depend on it. And the deal is structured in a way that makes sure both sides make more money the more searches and advertising dollars Bing generates. Getting to that ideal state, though, won’t be easy. In the meantime, as they work through all of the implementation issues, Google could strengthen its position and take even more share.”

LLLL.com - Goodbye Yahoo Search
“What this will mean in the future for domainers and webmasters remains to be seen — I reported on July 26th that Bing users are much more engaged by advertising. It remains to be seen what the reason for this is and whether the television advertising and other promotions Microsoft is offering to promote Bing are skewing results…this will mean 12% lower paying clicks for those currently monetizing their domains through Yahoo, however, assuming the click-through rate for those monetizing their websites through Yahoo goes up anywhere near what Bing is currently reporting, they should end up earning more money resultant of this search partnership.”

Tom Demers of WordStream on SearchEngineJournal.com - Why I’m Torn on the Bing Yahoo! Deal
“For my money: PPC just got simpler, and SEO just got more complex.”

Arnold Zafra of SearchEngineJournal.com - What the Yahoo-Microsoft Search Deal Means to Everyone
“For web publishers, the search deal will: offer more competitive bids for search syndication deals, give more compelling advertising avenues to reach more users, and provide greater value and transparency.”

Ben Parr on Mashable.com - Google vs. Microsoft: Will This Time Be Different?
“Does Bing + Yahoo search represent Microsoft’s best shot at defeating Google? Unequivocally. Are were certain that Microsoft has a strategy for stealing market share? Absolutely.

Will it work? While we still believe Google’s not going anywhere, you never know what can happen when two titans go to all-out war. It fosters innovation, opens up the door to innovative startups, and keeps big corporations on their toes. Google’s needed a legitimate competitor for years. We finally have one, even if it’s made up of many complicated parts”

What are your thoughts? How do you think the Microsoft-Yahoo deal will affect domainers?

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

DomainConvergence | August 12-13, 2009 | Toronto, ON, Canada
Keynote speakers: The Castello Brothers on "Branding your Domain"
Christian Heilmann, Developer Evangelist, Yahoo!

Domain Names Bing, google, microsoft, News, yahoo

According to a recent study by Memorable Domains, Bing gives keyword-based websites the biggest boost in search engine rankings compared to other leading search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

According to a recent study by Memorable Domains, Bing gives keyword-based websites the biggest boost in search engine rankings compared to other leading search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Memorable Domains randomly selected 125 generic .co.uk websites and analyzed the position of each site within the first 2 pages (20 results) for a search on the keyword or keyphrase contained within its domain name (ex. “SpecialEffects.co.uk” and the “special effects” keyphrase). The study used Google UK, Yahoo UK, and Bing UK - all in default search mode except from selecting “results from the UK” modifier as offered by each search engine.

Two metrics were examined: the presence of the site within the top 20 results (on a “yes” or “no” basis) and the specific position at which the site was displayed if it was in the top 20.

“Yahoo UK (default mode) and Google (default mode) both saw similar numbers of domains ranking within the first 20 results, at 56% and 57% respectively”, according to the study. “In other words, over half of all the sites in the study ranked within the top 20 results on Yahoo UK and/or Google UK for a search on the keywords making up their domain name, and this was the lowest overall result. For Bing UK (default mode), 62% of domains ranked within the top 20 results.”

While Bing is the most generous search engine for keyword-based domain names, the evidence shows that keywords always play an important factor in achieving a top 20 ranking on any search engine.

[via MemorableDomains.co.uk]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

DomainConvergence | August 12-13, 2009 | Toronto, ON, Canada

Domain Names Bing, google, Memorable Domains, Search Engines, yahoo

Please note that the following is a parody intended for April Fools day 2009.

Please note that the following is a parody intended for April Fools day 2009.

Domain Name News has received a copy of a private email correspondence between Google employees and a domain company that indicates what some in the domain space have suspected all along.  The email dated April 1, 2006 between two Google employees and a domain parking company includes part of an internal conversation not meant for the parking company’s eyes. The parking company was accidentally cc’ed the internal email and has kept the email secret until now.

The email from the parking company source indicates that they were unclear of how domain traffic and clicks were being credited to some of their clients. The parking company emailed their account rep and in turn the rookie account rep turned to his superior.  In responding to the junior Google employees inquiry in how to handle the inquiry, the senior Google employee tells his colleague to inform them “statistics are proprietary information not divulged per our contract terms”.

Later however in the back and forth talks about the domain name channel and statistics the junior representative asks his boss how the statistics and payouts are tracked. “Where can I find the algorithm for the domain channel statistics” ask the rep.  To which his boss reminds him again, “Remember what we talked about in your training?  We just make that all up. Just tell them again that it’s proprietary.”

Read the full email after the jump.

Continue reading

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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Domain Names April 1, domain parking, google, parking, statistics

• Flying to Korea to track down a domain name [Elliot's Blog]
• Google using their network to target end users [DNW]
• Fabulous.com for sale? [DNW]
• National Arbitration Forum received 1,770 dispute claims in 2008l [Press Release]
• Act like a Cybersquatter to capture your long tail brand traffic [Search Engine Land]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

• Flying to Korea to track down a domain name [Elliot's Blog]
• Google using their network to target end users [DNW]
• Fabulous.com for sale? [DNW]
• National Arbitration Forum received 1,770 dispute claims in 2008l [Press Release]
• Act like a Cybersquatter to capture your long tail brand traffic [Search Engine Land]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Upcoming Domain Industry Events, Conferences & Auctions

Domain Names 2008, dark blue sea, domain name, domain name wire, elliot's blog, end users, fabulous.com, google, Headlines, korea, national arbitrat, targeting

The first big show of the year has come and gone and all that is left are memories of furry tails, cocktails, speakers, nude domainers, auctions and of course, conversations, conversations and more conversations. So what was on the lips and tongues of industry execs, domainers and providers this January?

The first big show of the year has come and gone and all that is left are memories of furry tails, cocktails, speakers, nude domainers, auctions and of course, conversations, conversations and more conversations. So what was on the lips and tongues of industry execs, domainers and providers this January?

In short, a lot but perhaps not as much as the average worker or employer or country – domainers on the whole seemed less than panicky, more sanguine about declines. Again, seen it, been there, bought the domain and finished it with a Twinkie.

Domainers seem better off than most, less concerned than most. In fact, by all personal, eyewitness and photographic accounts, their behavior and lifestyle has not been dramatically altered. Trust me.

Domainers are perhaps beginning to realize what many, including myself, have been saying for some time – the Internet is as close to a global safe-harbor as we can identify at the moment, something I heard on more than a few occasions in Los Angeles.

So here are some additional items and notes I picked up during the week. I very much attempt to verify via multiple sources before offering it up anywhere or putting anyone on the line.

1. Et tu, Google?
No one is quite sure what they are thinking or up to. There were rumblings of issues between sponsors and the giant – perhaps they are positioning to eat up the aggregators and take the business directly. In these hard times, every penny counts for two.

Domainers gave Hal Bailey of Google a hard time but the G representative was evasive, answering many questions without offering up any relevant information. It was obvious domainers are not interested in these games anymore. Seems they want to keep us guessing as to the real state and duration of our relationship.

2. Low, Low Defaults
Perhaps the most interesting news item is that financing firms have seen little to no defaults on their domain loans – unlike other industries we know. The only viable issue is that institutions, a necessary adjunct to growth, have not taken notice. They are likely too busy dealing with their existing bad debt. Bottom line may be that domains are good, stable debt for pooling and investment.

3. It’s All About RPC
Domainers on the whole have seen declines in parking revenues, yes, basically across the board. Sponsors I spoke to pointed directly at the trend lines for RPC or Revenue Per Click. – ‘downward’ doesn’t really sum it up. And when does a ‘trend’ become the ‘norm’? How long? When does it plateau? We wait with bated breath.

4. So Who’s Buying Anyway?
Another surprising aspect is that there are actually many buyers out there, cash in hand, looking for current opportunities. So what’s the problem? Largely, it is a lack of quality inventory in auction environments. We were told of several large sales that have occurred below the surface, as they usually do. And ultimately it is what bedevils our industry – so much of what happens, of what is bought and sold happens just under the waterline.

5. Credit Continues to Flow
In addition to and complimentary of number #2 above is the fact that these same firms, and others privately, continue to extend credit for the acquisition/refinancing of domains. This is highly important because the main issue in the overall system and economy is the lack of ‘flow’ – of course, a byproduct of overbearing, depreciating debt.

But without the defaults and the resulting inventory to manage and sell, these firms see no reason not to continue to offer credit to the industry.

Of course, we learned many other things too: what naked, swimming domainers look like (not pretty), that LA becomes Utah after 2am (not cool) and that the Grotto has a funky smell (surreal). But I think the underlying message that emerged was one of ‘improvement.’

Without the layoffs (outside support positions and such) and the defaults and with the continuing flow of credit, the domain industry is looking and acting NOTHING like the rest of the economy, nothing like any other ‘growth’ industry at the moment.

So take a moment today and consider the above items, I offer no judgment but to say that comparatively, we seem to be in better shape than the world economy that supports us. Odd, isn’t it?

But it became fairly clear early on in the crisis that domains (or in essence the Internet) may defy bounds established by past industries and commodities, books and theories. Just a different animal altogether, reliant on global communities and not local infrastructure, bounds, audience, etc..

Whereas real estate is surely ‘local’, the Internet is equally ‘global’ and thus when one goes bad, you turn to the other. Always best to bet on the future, not the past.

I mean if things are so bad then what was I doing with the furry tails and the naked domainers and the smelly Grotto at the Mansion?

I’ll tell you what I was doing: living la vida domainer! Andale, andale!

M.Fiol is a regular DNN Contributor focusing on issues related to industry events, domain valuation and auctions. He is also an analyst for DomainConsultant.com - currently organizing the Domainer Mardi Auction by Aftermarket.com to be held from February 16-21, 2009.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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