iEstates.com

Wealth Investors, LLC, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., is trying to bring domain monetization to the general public.

Its a concept I have had discsussion with other domainers through the years.

What if you can teach John Q. Public about how they can make income from domain names.

Those inside the domain world will quickly point out that revenue from domain parking has decreased tremendously over the years, but its still a meaningful amount, especially to most people who could use a little extra money.

It plans on presenting at Pitchfest at Domainfest.com looking for investors to bring domaining to the masses.

I just chatted with The company’s founder, John Bonk who is on site at Domainfest about his company and service which already has a couple of hundred of clients.

“We created a process to analyze and monetize the Web’s most valuable asset — traffic.

“We have test thousands of domains and our research indicates that only 3 percent of the millions of domains that expire monthly have ongoing, built-in traffic, making their analysis tools valuable allow more people to make a profit online.”

“In other words our program finds those 3% of domains everyday that have traffic enough to at least sustain the domains carrying cost.”

“We scan every expiring domain every day and look at every back link and analysis each of the back links them to see if they will monetize over a long period of time.”

“The 3% of domains that have built in traffic, back link that will last, those are the domain names we send to our clients.”

The company is not trying to get domainers as clients but bring in the average guy who wants to make some extra money into the world of domaining, a world the client probably woudn’t be dabbling in.

“Our basic program which is a one time charge of $397 to a client gives them information about expiring domain names on Godaddy.com including video courses,  ebooks and access to two live webinars.”

More advanced and add on programs will give information and expiring domains available on other services.

“We are bringing the domain monetization concept to the rest of the world, the 99% of the people that don’t know about it.”

“We show people that they can get involved with buying expired domain names and monetize them.”

“We have a client who just joined the program a few weeks ago and now having learned about domain names is actually looking to buy keyword domain names in the $25,000 price range”.…

According to a press release today Sedo.com, announced it was expanding its SedoMLS service by adding Go Daddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar

“Go Daddy wants to help small businesses grow larger, and finding the right domain name is the place to start,” said Paul Nicks, Go Daddy’s Director of Product Development for the Aftermarket. “Giving customers access to many premium domain names, including Sedo’s Buy Now domain names, Go Daddy can ensure our customers get the best domain name for their website or business.”

“Through this partnership, Go Daddy can now offer its customers the option to purchase domain names that are already “taken” as easily as they would register a domain for the first time. The domain market leader, Sedo currently has 15 million domains for sale in its marketplace. SedoMLS allows any domains listed at a “Buy Now” price to be displayed within Go Daddy’s search results, reaching the largest potential audience of domain buyers.

“As one of the most popular places worldwide for small business owners, entrepreneurs, or individuals looking for the right domain name, we are thrilled to be partnering with Go Daddy,” said Sedo’s CEO, Tim Schumacher. “Through our SedoMLS partnership, we can offer millions of domain buyers the widest choice of domain names, which will help them make the right decision for their business, and purchase the names they need to find success online.”

Afternic.com announced late last year that it was adding Godaddy to its similar DLS offering…

According to a press release today, oronto-based Tucows, a top 3 ICANN- accredited registrar with over 11 million domains under management will join Afternic’s Domain Listing Service (DLS) Premium Promotion network.

“”This exclusive agreement will allow registrants to sell their domains across the entire Afternic DLS reseller network—the largest domain reseller network in the world with the highest sales velocity in the industry.

“We strongly believe selling premium names increases customer loyalty by allowing buyers to find the perfect domain and begin using it immediately,” said Adam Eisner, Director, OpenSRS Product Management. “Our inclusion in Afternic’s Premium Promotion network allows us to connect more sellers and potential buyers through the industry’s largest network.”

“Afternic is the world’s only true global domain sales network offering premium domains for sale to millions of buyers worldwide via a network of more than 50 partners including most of the world’s largest registrars. The Afternic platform features Instant Transfer technology, which automates the premium domain purchasing process, eliminating the lengthy administrative process required by legacy marketplaces.”

“Adding Tucows to the DLS Premium Promotion level is very exciting for us. Now, with the majority of the world’s top registrars enrolled in our Premium Promotion level, we are realizing our vision of a unified domain aftermarket,” said Jason Miner, senior vice president of sales and General Manager of Afternic. “DLS has become the center of aftermarket domain transactions, connecting the most buyers and sellers of premium domains.”

About Tucows

Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over eleven million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 12,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows Downloads. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.

About Afternic

Afternic DLS is the world’s largest domain marketplace, partnering with the world’s leading domain registrars and sellers. Through DLS, domains are promoted for sale to millions of active domain buyers worldwide. Afternic is part of NameMedia, a leader in the acquisition, development and trading of digital real estate through a network of highly targeted websites and a marketplace for premium domain names. The company’s website development focuses on creating compelling online communities in niche categories.…

If you have watched any NFL playoff football on TV this year you have undoubted seen ads for Honda using its Leap List Campaign.

They have been running several commercials in heavy rotation no doubt spending into the tens of millions of dollars on TV ads all based on the term Leap List.

The official site for the campaign is leaplist.honda.com

Now comes word that the Honda has bought time on the Superbowl at a reported $4 Million a pop to run more ads centered around its Leap List campaign.

Simply put, Honda.com should have bought the domain name LeapList.com before launching this campaign.

The domain name LeapList.com has been registered since September 2010 and is under privacy at Godaddy.com.

LeapList.com is parked with InternetTraffic.com and most of the results on the page are related to cars.

Its not the domain holders fault.

Its Honda’s fault.

Fail!

 …

With hundreds of new right of the dot, gTLD extensions being applied for, I though I would take a look at the most recent extension, .XXX and see what effect it was having on the traffic of XXX.com

According to Compete.com traffic on XXX.com has doubled since the launch of the .XXX extension in December.

According to Compete XXX.com had around 100K visitors a month, each month for 2011 up until November the month that Sunrise and LandRush applications were due.

In December when .XXX officially launched traffic on XXX.com doubled to over 200,000 Visitors according to Compete.com

I know a lot of domainers believe that there will be a substantial amount of traffic leakage to the a matching .com to a new gTLD extension.

In case your wondering, it appears XXX.net got no such boost according to Compete.com

XXX.co also saw a doubling in traffic in  but it still gets under 1K visitors a month according to Compete.com

We will have to keep an eye on this,  but for holders of great generics or geo’s .com’s which may become its own extension in the next few years, it looks like they may have a lot of extra traffic to look forward to.

…

The study commissioned by AusRegistry and the .au Domain Administration (auDA),  is the first of its kind to assesses the true extent of the .au domain’s influence on the Australian economy.

“The key finding from the report was that the .au domain name space contributed $475 million to the Australian economy in 2011.”

“More than 4300 full-time jobs were connected to it.”

“$269 million of that, or 57 per cent, was connected to registration and hosting of .au domains, with services such as web design and infrastructure provision also contributing.”

“The Internet has clearly become the starting point for consumer research and purchasing decisions,” Deloitte Access economics director, Ric Simes, said.

“The contribution to the Australian economy of the industry administering .au is significant, particularly in terms of employment, and this will continue to grow with the ongoing shift to e-commerce.”

Despite the attraction of the cheaper and more accessible .com domain, the .au domain has experienced exponential growth in the number of registrations over the last decade, reaching a total of 2.3 million in 2011 for a 600 per cent increase from 2002.

“.The report found that the .au name space is a labour-intensive industry, with 58 per cent of the $475 million contributed to the economy being attributed to employees.”

You can read the whole story here.

 …

Flippa.com published today its  2011 Year-In-Review report.

Here are the highlights from the report:

There were 26,213 website and domain sales on Flippa.com this year, totaling just over $31 million.

659 sales were over $5,000 and 205 sales over $20,000.

There were just under 290,000 bids placed on Flippa auctions in 2011.

High-end sales included MakeCashTakingSurveys.biz which sold for $395,000, PristinePlanet, a comparison shopping site for ecological products, sold for $165,000 & PitchingMachinesNow sold for $149,000

Flippa.com had 2,147,000 unique visitors over the year.

There were 72,937 new Flippa.com users this year.

Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN),  just issued its Domain Name Industry Brief Report for the third quarter of 2011.

As of September 30, 2011 there are nearly 220 million domain names registered worldwide across all extensions and out of which 112 Million are .com and .net domain names.

The increase of 4.9 million domain names equates to a growth rate of 2.3% over the second quarter of 2011, and an 8.2% increase over the same quarter in 2010.

It also marks the third straight quarter with greater than 2 percent growth

The Internet saw the addition of 4.5 million domain names in the first quarter (a 2.2 percent increase) and 5.2 million domain names in the second quarter (a 2.5 percent increase).

The .com and .net Top Level Domains (TLDs) experienced aggregate growth in the third quarter, reaching a combined total of 112 million names.

New .com and .net registrations totaled 7.9 million during the quarter a 5.9%  increase year-over-year in new registrations.

The .com/.net renewal rate for the third quarter of 2011 was 73.3%, up from 73.1% for the second quarter.

The top TLD’s after .com in order were:

.de (Germany),

.net

.uk (united Kingdom)

.org

.info

.tk  (Tokelau)

.nl (Netherlands)

.ru (russianfederation)

.eu (European Union)

.cn (China)

.br (Brazil)

.ar (Argentina)

.it (italy)

Neil Brown, a frequent UDRP panelist and lawyer has started his own blog at DomainTimes.info.

According to the site DomainTimes.info:

“Is intended to keep you up to date with developments in domain names – especially the arbitration of disputes.”

“Domaintimes wants to be a platform for the exchange of ideas on all issues concerning domain names.”

“So, why not make your own contribution? The whole area of domain names gives rise to a lot of competing views and opinions. There are also plenty of subjects for debate – like the new gTLDs. So, get your own ideas across and influence the debate or even just a case note. We want to hear from you.”

“And we also encourage you to get involved in discussion by posting your thoughts/comments on each of the case notes published on this website.”

According to his blog, Mr. Brown “has had a long and distinguished career in the Law and Government. Since 1964 he has practised in virtually every area of the law, mainly in commercial, construction and intellectual property matters and in 1980 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.”

“He was a member of the Australian Parliament from 1969 and a Minister and Shadow Minister in the Federal Government of Australia in five portfolios – Business and Consumer Affairs, Employment and Youth Affairs, Communications, Attorney- General’s and Foreign Affairs.”

“He was a delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations and other national and international organisations. In Parliament, he was an early advocate of international commercial arbitration in Australia under the International Arbitration Amendment Bill 1988.”

“After years of service in these fields he is now practising in mediation, arbitration, the conduct of inquiries and consulting. ”

“His specialities are commercial contracts, trade and intellectual property.”

“He is one of the leading international practitioners in domain name arbitration. ”

We welcome Mr. Brown to the domain blogging community and look forward to reading his thoughts.

BusinessInsider.com just covered the top 20 domain name sales of 2011, based off of information provided by DnJournal.com

We are excited to make the list at #11 with the sale of Meet.me for $450,000.

Of course inside the industry we all check out DnJournal.com each week to see the sales but its certainly nice to get mainstream press coverage.

You problem know this already but Social.com at $2.6 Million led the charts for 2011 (well so far)