iEstates.com

According to an email sent by domain parking company TrafficZ last night, Yahoo! has introduced a daily revenue cap for parked domains in the .biz, .co, .info, .tv and .us TLDs. If a domain exceeds the revenue cap, no more paid Yahoo! ads will be displayed on the domain for another three days.

Unfortunately the announcement does not reveal the revenue cap, which could potentially be determined on a per domain basis. I would expect the parking companies that are on a Yahoo! feed to either a) implement a backup feed for those TLDs or b) ensure that a backup feed is used once Yahoo! ceases to deliver ads for those domains.

[Update]: We now have a confirmation from Parked.com & WhyPark.com that this restriction was also imposed on their Yahoo! feed. Craig Rowe told DNN via email: “Yes, this is affecting our Yahoo feed as well, and all Yahoo domain match feeds.  In our case, when the capping kicks in, we backfill the domain with ads from second-tier feeds.  So, it’s not that a domain will make no money, but rather it’ll earn less from those ads. ”

[Update2]: TrafficZ sent another update on Aug 17, offering “TrafficZ clients with exceptional .INFO, .US, .TV, .BIZ and/or .CO domains” to submit those domains to their account team for further review. The email goes on to say that “where appropriate, TrafficZ will work with Yahoo! to have revenue cap limits raised or removed from qualified domains, regardless of TLD“.

See the full note mailed by TrafficZ after the jump.

Dear Valued TrafficZ Client,

In an effort to keep you up-to-date on all matters concerning your account, we would like to inform you that Yahoo!, our primary upstream provider, has recently imposed a revenue cap on certain TLDs. The affected TLDs include:

• .biz
• .co
• .info
• .tv
• .us

The new, conservative revenue cap was rolled out early this morning and will be imposed on a per domain, per day basis. Specifically, if a particular domain in one of the above-referenced TLDs exceeds the revenue cap on any given day, Yahoo! listings will cease to be displayed on that domain for the following three days, at which point they will resume displaying as normal.This change was made across the board and will affect all Yahoo! partners.

TrafficZ strives to provide you with the best domain monetization services possible. We will continue to keep you abreast of any changes as they arise. If you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Client Relations team

A second note sent out today by TrafficZ reads:

Dear Valued TrafficZ Client,

We’ve received a lot of feedback and questions on the notice that we sent out yesterday. As such, we’d like to offer some additional clarification with respect to the recent Yahoo! revenue cap implementation. Specifically, Yahoo! is just one of many advertising partners that TrafficZ works with to monetize your domains and traffic. And although Yahoo! may have imposed a cap on certain TLDs, TrafficZ will continue to monetize all high quality domains and traffic through our multiple advertising partners, regardless of TLD, revenue and/or volume.

Furthermore, TrafficZ clients with exceptional .INFO, .US, .TV, .BIZ and/or .CO domains should submit them to our account team for further review. Where appropriate, TrafficZ will work with Yahoo! to have revenue cap limits raised or removed from qualified domains, regardless of TLD.

As always, we strive to keep you informed and provide you with the best domain monetization service possible. Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions or concerns, support@TrafficZ.com.

On the heels of the recent 1 character .biz domain and 2 character .de domain auctions at Sedo, domain auction house Pool.com announced yesterday that they have teamed up with Neustar to auction off more than 1000 two character .biz domains.  The domains will be made available in a phased release beginning November 30, 2009 through February 2010. Two character domains, which were previously unavailable, include names like PC.Biz, IT.biz and IP.biz.  A full list of the domains to be auctioned can be found at the site TwoDotBiz.Biz

Neustar’s Tim Switzer stated:
We are very pleased to be working with Pool.com to make a short, memorable alternative available. The demand we experienced during the release of one-character .BIZ domain names validated the attractiveness of the .BIZ brand. There are many companies with long company names, and others who have names that are difficult to spell or remember

Neustar sold over $360,000 worth of 1 character domains through the Sedo during the October auction.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Advertisement
WE BUY DOMAINS. We are interested in acquiring your premium domains – find out more.

Sedo just wrapped up their single character .biz auction today, pulling in over $360,000 on 31 domains, or an average of roughly $11,000 per domain.  Andrew at DNW pointed out that E.biz was the top contender with over 20 bids coming in and a whopping $66,001 price tag.   Several domains were not included in the auction including 0.biz, 3.biz, i.biz, o.biz and q.biz .  All of the results are unofficial as Sedo has yet to close the deals, but links to the auctions can be found below.

It’s safe to assume that most of the bidding was driven by speculation.  With the recent announcement by Overstock.com to acquire the O.biz domain, a certain credibility was given to these domains.  I’m sure other registries will take note of this play.  Often all it takes is one company/group to adopt something and a trend in speculation can be spiked.  The .Biz extention hasn’t likely seen this much interest since it’s launch.

1.biz  – $32,003
2.biz – $5,801
4.biz – $7,601
5.biz – $7,601
6.biz – $8,100
7.biz – $7,877
8.biz -$8,200
9.biz – $7,901
0.biz – Not listed

a.biz – $10,099
b.biz – $10,055
c.biz – $8,988
d.biz – $18,100 $26,110
e.biz – $66,001
f.biz – $8,250
g.biz – $9400
h.biz – $8,177
i.biz – Not Listed
j.biz – $8,250
k.biz – $6,900
l.biz – $7,999
m.biz – $15,611
n.biz – $8,001
o.biz – Overstock.com owns, wasn’t auctioned
p.biz – $7,878
q.biz – Not Listed
r.biz – $8,855
s.biz – $8,211
t.biz – $7,602
u.biz – $10,099
v.biz – $6,100
w.biz – $13,500
x.biz – $10,099
y.biz – $8,988
z.biz – $8,988

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Advertisement
Do you park domains? EARN MORE. Visit above.com to find out more.

So this is why O.BIZ wasn’t in Sedo’s recent 1-letter .biz auction…

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) announced today that it is building a new website called O.BIZ where businesses and customers can buy bulk merchandise. O.BIZ will launch on October 31, 2009. The online retailer will be working with Neustar, the domain name registry for .BIZ, to launch the new site.

O.BIZ is designed to give small businesses and customers the opportunity to buy large quantities at deep discounts. O.BIZ will primarily focus on restaurant, office, and hotel products. The new site will have a similar look and feel to Overstock.com and will be supported by the award-winning Overstock.com customer support team. O.BIZ customers will be able to shop with confidence using the same technology as Overstock.com.

“The .BIZ extension is appealing to growing, innovative businesses. Our goal is to have O.BIZ help small to medium-size businesses save money by leveraging the purchasing power of Overstock.com,” said Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne.

Single-character domain names are very rare; there are only five such domain names worldwide. Domain names are especially appealing to companies that sell products or services to other businesses.

“The simplicity of this domain name will help drive consumers to this new e-commerce destination for small to medium-sized businesses,” said Tim Switzer, Neustar’s vice president of Registry Services. “O.BIZ will increase the visibility of this new initiative for Overstock.com, and we look forward to its successful launch.”

[via Reuters]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Advertisement
Do you park domains? EARN MORE. Visit above.com to find out more.

Sedo, the leading online marketplace, has been selected by the .BIZ Registry as the exclusive auction site for 31 of the available one-character .BIZ domain names.

The availability of these brand new domains marks the first time that a gTLD has released all of its one-character names. This is a great opportunity for domainers and business owners to claim a world-class .BIZ domain.

Available .BIZ One-Character Domains include:

• 1.biz
• 2.biz
• 4.biz
• 5.biz
• 6.biz
• 7.biz
• 8.biz
• 9.biz
• A.biz
• B.biz
• C.biz
• D.biz
• E.biz
• F.biz
• G.biz
• H.biz
• J.biz
• K.biz
• L.biz
• M.biz
• N.biz
• P.biz
• R.biz
• S.biz
• T.biz
• U.biz
• V.biz
• W.biz
• X.biz
• Y.biz
• Z.biz

The auction begins September 23 at noon EST and ends September 30 at approximately noon EST. Click here for more information.