iEstates.com

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

Advertisement
Upcoming Domain Industry Events, Conferences & Auctions

Editorial, External Articles, brand bowl, danica patrick, godaddy, google, super bowl

Here is a ranking of our most popular articles this January:

1. Targeted TRAFFIC Las Vegas 2010 Live Auction Results
2. DomainFest Global’s Premium Live Domain Auction Results
3. Foreclosure.com Parent Seeks Bankruptcy Protection
4. AshleyMadison.com to Go Public, to Purchase Moxy Media
5. Adam Dicker leaves GoDaddy

At this point we would also like to thank our current Advertisers for their support.

Two domain conferences with big live auctions, one with huge technical difficulties were the top stories traffic-wise on DNN. Another important story for us was that we were able to help a charity receive a $100,000 donation from a bank.

What was the biggest story for you this month? Let us know in the comments.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Advertisement
Upcoming Domain Industry Events, Conferences & Auctions

DomainFest, External Articles, Miscellaneous, adam dicks, ashley madison, dnn, domain name news, foreclosure.com, godaddy, moxy media, targeted traffic

External Articles, Miscellaneous, adam dicker, danica patrick, godaddy

Adam Dicker, former VP of Domain Aftermarket at GoDaddy has left the company according to a post on DNForum, a forum that is owned and operated by Dicker. According to his post he left GoDaddy on good terms and wants to use the gained time in order to focus on other projects. During his 2 year tenure with the company (Adam Dicker joined in July of 2007) he had also enabled the company to become a .CA accredited registrar. The company will continue their operations in Canada and is expecting even more growth in 2010.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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

External Articles, People, adam dicker, dnforum, godaddy

Domain name registrar Godaddy made three major changes to their Premium Listings service last week.  First, the percentage that Godaddy charges for these listings has been reduced to a flat fee of 30% across the board and secondly, the cap on domain name prices sold on the Premium Listings has been lifted.  Lastly, Godaddy has also lifted the previous ban it had placed on selling adult, gambling and potentially infringing domains.

Previously Godaddy gave users a choice in commissions with the minimum commission of 32% . In theory a seller selecting a higher commission would give the domain more “exposure”.  The Premium Listings also capped the domains that could be sold at $5000 and lower.

Godaddy’s Premium Listings is a simple way for domain owners who have names registered at Godaddy to put their domains in front of the people who are searching for those names.  Names listed with Godaddy’s Premium Listings show up when a user searches for an “exact match” domain name from the home page, in the Premium Domains tab on search results, when a domain search is “spun” and in whois results for the specific domain.

Domain Name Wire pointed out that “every time someone searches for a domain you own, they could get a message that the domain is available for purchase. They can then add it to their cart, checkout, and get the domain instantly.”

Premium Listings is currently reserved only for domains registered with Godaddy but DNN suspects that any success with this program could lead to an expansion which would make it available to domain owners at other registrars. Godaddy has a partnership with Fabulous already which includes Fabulous domains within these “exact match” listings. Buydomains listings also are currently appearing within these same “exact match” searches.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Upcoming Domain Industry Events, Conferences & Auctions

Domain Aftermarket, Domain Sales, External Articles, buydomains, fabulous, godaddy, premium domains

Dark Blue Sea (ASX:DBS) has filed a document with the Australian Stock Exchange which shows details of the Domain Distribution Network deal with GoDaddy. GoDaddy had signed a 5 year agreement in 2008 and then canceled it as of August 13, 2009. Yesterday the companies announced that a new agreement had been found.

The new document reveals that the options agreement of the 5 year term contract was tied to performance goals. Go Daddy were issued 6.5 million performance options with an expiry date of 7 June 2013 and an exercise price of 65 cents per DBS share. The announcement continues:

Under the terms of the performance options agreement, Go Daddy is currently able to exercise 1.6 million of the 6.5 million performance options. As the original domain sales agreement has been terminated, the remainder of the options expired. The Company has not entered into a new performance option agreement.

GoDaddy will resume selling premium domains once the new agreement has been implemented. Dark Blue Sea states that it is too early to assess the potential financial implication of the new agreement.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Advertisement
We will sell your domain porfolio for 14-48 months revenue. $16MM sold in the last 3 years. More information.

ASX, Australian Stock Exchange, External Articles, Up to the Minute, dark blue sea, domain distribution network, fabulous.com, godaddy

With the announcement of Photon Group’s take-over move, Dark Blue Sea (ASX:DBS), parent company of Fabulous.com and Domain Distribution Network (DDN) has seen it’s share of headline news in the domain space this week.  DBS announced today, in an investors release (PDF), that they have entered in to a new agreement with Godaddy to market the DBS domain portfolio.

No specific details about the new agreement were released in the statement.  DBS and Godaddy started a 5 year agreement in 2008 whereby DBS was able to market their domains through Godaddy’s sales channel.  However, in July DBS announced that Godaddy had terminated their agreement.  No details were given at the time for the reason. The importance of this relationship was made clear in statements from that release when DBS stated that they believe “the impact of this may have a material adverse affect on future revenue and profit.”  The release also noted “The company has it’s own sales channel that, whist it makes a material contribution to overall sales, is one that the company has not aggressively pursued due to our GoDaddy agreement.”

GoDaddy is one of a number of partners with whom Dark Blue Sea makes domain sales, but clearly from previous statements, Godaddy continues to be an integral part of their distribution plans.  The company also recently announced a distribution partnership with Moniker/SnapNames.com and has ongoing relationships with other registrars including Register.com, Tucows/OpenSRS, Network Solutions and Melbourne IT.

[Update] Dark Blue Sea has released more details and information on the contract with GoDaddy.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

Upcoming Domain Industry Events, Conferences & Auctions

Domain Sales, External Articles, Moniker, dark blue sea, ddn, domain distribution network, fabulous, godaddy, snap names

While I know that the desire of those who give of their “time, talent and treasure” is not to seek recognition, I’ve decided to point out several stories from people that I’ve met in the domain business that are giving back in ways that I find inspiring. Over the last few months, some of their stories have inspired me to think differently and look at the world in a different light. Some of them are donating money to charity, some of them are putting in time and serving and some are donating their talent to do good. I thought I’d share these short glimpses of what others are up to as a way to pass along the inspiration I felt from their efforts, in hopes of inspiring more stories.

I’m sure I’ll forget a few, but several stories that come to mind from the past include Donna Mahony and Bido’s benefit auction for the burro rescue, Michael Mann’s efforts with Grassroots.org,  Eytan Elbaz’s whose PSA “Dear Parents” donated $25,000 to the Museum of Tolerance,  Aftermarket.com Domainer Mardi Gras auction benefiting New Orleans Habitat for Humanity and Fabulous.com’s head shaving fun (several times) to benefit cancer research. Domain registrar behemoth Godaddy.com even touted charitable donation of a bunch of money toward several charities last year.

Recently, Ron Jackson pointed out a story of a group of domain investors and domain business leaders who are travelling to Kenya to learn of the efforts of the Water School.  The Water School a charity that is aiding in efforts to bring clean water to Africa.

Continued after the jump.

Through the charity’s Ray of Hope program The Water School empower schools and other existing community groups like hospitals to teach solar disinfection of water. Students and families are provided with education and materials to meet their own water needs.  According to the group’s website “One $50 Ray of Hope will provide a family of six with safe, clean drinking water for years to come.”

The group includes Richard Lau, Ammar Kubba, Susan Prosser, Gregg McNair and others.   We hope to hear more stories from our colleagues as they return from their trip to Kenya around September 29th.

To learn more about The Water School please visit TheWaterSchool.org

And just as one group wraps up their trip to Africa, tomorrow another colleague in the domain space, Jen Sale from Dark Blue Sea is heading off to Sudan with Door of Hope Australia (DOHA) to film a documentary. DOHA is a child-focused, non-government organization established to help alleviate the suffering caused by poverty in developing nations.  The film that Sale and her colleagues are filming will cover “the history and reasons behind the civil war, the 21 1/2 year struggle, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the upcoming election and referendum, the tragic death of Dr John Garang, and the struggle to bring about development in the devastated Southern Sudan. The film will feature firsthand stories by those who dedicated and sacrificed so much to ensure equality could come to the marginalized people of Sudan.”

Sale has a blog at JenSale.com where she has already begun blogging about the trip . She plans to continue updating with video posts throughout the trip.

Learn more about Door of Hope Australia at DoorofHopeAustralia.org

Last year I learned of a story of a little girl named Gwendolyn Strong. I don’t know Gwendolyn and although we share the same last name, we aren’t related. However, we do have a connection through her father, Bill Strong, who I met through the domain channel.  I first read about Gwendolyn on a blog started by her parents. Gwendolyn has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic killer of children under 2 years of age. (You may have seen banners on DNN linking to the End SMA petition.) Her parents, Bill and Victoria, have created the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation to raise awareness, fund research and support those affected by this disease.

Learn more about the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation at GwendolynStrongFoundation.org
and read more about Bill, Victoria’s and Gwendolyn at their blog at GwendolynStrong.com

Most in the domain business should feel truly blessed. While it likely took hard work for many of us to get where we are in life, I’d venture to guess many of the “struggles” we face pale in comparison to what the rest of the world faces every day. It doesn’t take much effort to look around, outside of your bubble, and realize that life could be much different. I know it’s a bit cliche, and I don’t mean to be preachy here, but I hope by passing on some of these stories that you might take a minute to read what others are involved in, even the small things, and that you might appreciate the things you have and strive to help others in any way that you possibly can.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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

Ammar Kubba, Bill Strong, Cancer Research, Dear Parents, Door of Hope, End SMA, External Articles, Eytan Elbaz, Gregg McNair, Gwendolyn Strong, Habitat for Humanity, Jen Sale, Kenya, Michael Mann, Miscellaneous, Museum of Tolerance, Ray of Hope, Richard Lau, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Susan Prosser, The Water School, aftermarket.com, donna mahoney, fabulous.com, godaddy, grassroots.org

According to a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange (PDF), Dark Blue Sea (ASX:DBS, the parent company of Fabulous.com and the Domain Distribution Network (DDN), domain registrar GoDaddy has canceled their distribution agreement. This means that as of August 13th, 2009 GoDaddy is no longer listing domains from their own “Fabulous Domains” portfolio and domains from other sellers under this distribution agreement. According to the announcement GoDaddy has not provided a reason of the cancellation of the agreement and DBS is awaiting some additional information from them. In the meantime DBS plans to emphasize their own sales channel in order to avoid an adverse affect on their sales numbers.

Read the full announcement after the jump.

DARK BLUE SEA LIMITED
ACN 091 509 796
Company Announcement
Date: 17 July, 2009
GoDaddy Domain Sales Agreement Termination

Dark Blue Sea advises late yesterday that it received a notice from GoDaddy that
they will be terminating the “Domain Name Sales Distribution Agreement” effective
13 August 2009.

The company has contacted GoDaddy to seek further information regarding the
notice and is awaiting a response.

Dark Blue Sea will assess the effect of termination going forward, but believes that
the impact of this may have a material adverse affect on future revenue and profit.
GoDaddy is one of a number of partners with whom Dark Blue Sea makes domain
sales. Management is actively seeking to increase sales through existing channels
as well as fast tracking a number of other channels already being pursued. The
company has it’s own sales channel that, whist it makes a material contribution to
overall sales, is one that the company has not aggressively pursued due to our
GoDaddy agreement. Management will immediately change the emphasis on our
own channel.

About Dark Blue Sea

Dark Blue Sea is an online advertising intermediary or “internet traffic” broker
servicing a global customer base from its office in Brisbane. Dark Blue Sea has
developed and successfully manages a number of world-class commercial Internet
properties including:

• Roar and PageSeeker, pay-per-click advertising portals;
• Fabulous, an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and domain name management system;
• Dark Blue, an online advertising affiliate network;
• Domain Distribution Network; and
• Domain Name Portfolio.

Fabulous, Dark Blue and Roar / PageSeeker provide a fully integrated package for
the generation, management and monetization of “internet traffic”. “Internet traffic” is
directly analogous to shopping centre floor traffic.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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

External Articles, Fabulous domains, News, dark blue sea, dbs, ddn, domain distribution network, fabulous, fabulous.com, godaddy

TMZ has reported that Amanda Beard has filed a lawsuit against GoDaddy - claiming that the domain registrar exploited her name and image on their website without permission after the two agreed to part ways.

While Beard is supposedly seeking unspecified damages in this case, TMZ also mentioned that a GoDaddy rep called the suit a crock.

[via TMZ]

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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

Amanda Beard, External Articles, Olympics, TMZ, Up to the Minute, godaddy