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DNN’s most popular articles in April 2012

Frank Michlick — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:26:16 +0000

The most popular posts on DNN in April of 2012 by web traffic were:

XXX Goes Live in the Root Servers (04|15|2011)
Joichi Ito Joins Tucows Board (12|15|2008)
Frank Schilling’s InternetTraffic.com now powers 1,500,000+ domains (04|19|2012)
Will Marchex Sell iPanel.com to Apple? (04|05|2012)
First Brannans Domain Auction by Clements brothers yields $34,000 ( 04|09|2012)
Google settles Dispute over gmail.de after 8 years (04|16|2012)
Internet.bs Corp Responds to KnujOn Accusations (04|09|2012)
Keep Playing the Music . . . Really, The Ship’s Not Sinking (02|22|2008)
LeadRefs Announcing New Version of Domain Sales Lead Generation Tool (04|16|2012)
ICANN Issues additional statement regarding new TLD Application System Bug (04|14|2012)

This Week In Domains (week 17/2012)

Frank Michlick — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:30:30 +0000

Want to know what happened in the 17th week of 2012 week in the world of domain names? As reported…

Here at DNN

By other domain industry blogs

Another Tip to Find a Domain Buyer (ElliotsBlog)
From $10 domain registration to $4,050 sale in two weeks; a 400x return (DNW)
Trends at the Top: Analyzing the Top 100 Sales from 2010 and 2011 (DNFBlog)
Why on earth does Google want to FTP into your server? (Acro.net)
Respond To All Offers – Even The Really Bad Ones (LeadRefs)
California Toyota dealer guilty of reverse domain name hijacking (DNW)
WirelessPhone.com sold for $355k in 2006. WirelessPhones.com just sold for $70k. (DNW)
Dissecting Deloitte’s .deloitte press release (DNW)
Sell a Domain Name via Trade Organization Email Blast (ElliotsBlog)
Jackpot.com domain sells for $500,000 (DNW)
I Make $5,000 + Per Month with Google’s Adsense Program (DomainShane)
NameCheap Overtakes Go Daddy (ElliotsBlog)
TAS down for at least another week (DomainIncite)

Press releases and the like

Music.net & FreeMusic.com Available with DomainAdvisors

and elsewhere

IE domain names on the rise (InsideIreland)
How Go Daddy Keeps 52 Million Domains Running (Data Center Knowledge)
Domain-gate Furor Spreads as Rivals Demand Return of ‘Names’ in CD 19 (Sunshine State News)
Abusive Domain Name Registrations and the Right to a Day in Court (lawdit reading room, UK)
Web Host Go Daddy Installs 2 Million WordPress Sites with Hosting Connection (The WHIR)
ICANN Data Breach Stokes Domain Name Concerns (Media Post)
Tim Berners-Lee: we don’t need arbitrary new TLDs (Wired UK)
Insurance Quote Provider 4AutoInsuranceQuote Purchases Domain Names To Strengthen Brand Presence (Press Release)
Belgium Blocks Alternative Pirate Bay Domain (TorrentFreak)
How Authorship (and Google+) Will Change Linkbuilding
Antimonopoly watchdog’s suit over .rf domains challenged (RAPSI)
How a Sports Fanatic Turned His Blog Hobby Into a Career (Mashable)
Meet the ‘Mann’ who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

What do you think were the top stories in the domaining world this week? Let us know in the comments.

Google settles Dispute over gmail.de after 8 years

Frank Michlick — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:15:29 +0000

8 years after the introduction of Google’s Gmail email offering, it appears it has settled a dispute over the use of the brand in Germany as shown by a transfer filing with the German patent office. When Google introduced the service worldwide in 2004, they encountered problems with the name in Germany, England and Switzerland, which forced Google to operate under the name GoogleMail instead. While the case in Switzerland was settled in 2009 and in the UK in 2010, the negotiations in Germany continued until the trademark was transferred last Wednesday. The domain gmail.de changed ownership on the same day and is now also owned by Google with the domain now displaying a Mark Monitor holding page.

The German brand for “G-mail… und die Post geht richtig ab” (gmail – and off the mail goes, based on a German idiom), which was registered in 2000 was owned by entrepreneur Daniel Giersch who enforced his rights in 2005. His email service is now available under the domain and name “@quabb.com”. While the price for the settlement is not known, Giersch turned down an offer of 250.000 Euro from Google for the mark and domain in 2006.

Google also had trouble obtaining the domain YouTube.de, but was able to settle with the owner of the domain in 2007.

[via Computerworld | Golem.de (German) | SZ (German), thanks to Christoph Kilz]

Domain Names Podcast Episode 31 – Content is the New Black

Danny Batelic — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:08:11 +0000

Content is the new black

In light of recent Google changes, quality content is now crucial to building a successful brand online.

Quality podcasting however is still an option, but we’re working on it.

This episode is all about content. Where to get it and how to leverage it.

Links

Google Kills Hosted AdSense for Domains on Undeveloped Sites

Adam Strong — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:36:54 +0000

Google sent out a message today to publishers using Adsense for Domains. After nearly 4 years of running the program, the company has decided to discontinue their hosted Adsense for Domains on undeveloped domain names. The company is recommending migrating your domain names to a parking company.

Domainers relished the release of the Adsense for Domains program as a possible way to “cut out the middle man” and bypass the parking companies, but most domainers who spoke with DNN have found that the program provided no additional benefits.

One part of the announcement that seems puzzling, Google claims that the “benefits to our partner network” don’t make sense to continue, yet Google recommends switching to parking domains through a parking company that uses a Google feed. Google is in essence including the middle-man in this scenario. The parking companies may be adding the benefit of aggregation, optimization and fraud screening that Google does not handle, but it would seem that this skill-set is in Google’s “wheelhouse” . After 4 years they could have easily handled these tasks if not great improved upon the optimization and screening already being done by smaller players.

See the full message from Google after the jump.

We’re contacting you because you’re using AdSense for Domains to monetize your undeveloped domains. After evaluating the benefits of our partner network, we’ve decided to retire the Hosted domains product within AdSense. Going forward, undeveloped domains will only be served through our existing AdSense for Domains distribution network.

Our records show that XXX of your Hosted domains will be affected by this upcoming change, which will follow the schedule below:

March 21: You’ll no longer be able to create new Hosted domains

April 18: Hosted domains will become inactive and it’ll no longer be possible to earn from them

June 27: Hosted domains will no longer be available in AdSense accounts

To continue monetizing your undeveloped domains, you can migrate your domain portfolio to any domain parking provider. Find out how in our Migration Guide:

Please note that this upcoming change won’t affect any other AdSense products you’re currently using or the availability of other products to you. In addition, reporting on your Hosted domains will remain available throughout the schedule above and for a period following the retirement.

For more information see the Help Center. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your patience as we continue to develop new features and offerings within AdSense.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

How Many Active Visitors are on Your Site Right Now?

Monica — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:08:11 +0000

We found out the answer to that question the other day, having gained access to Google Analytics Real-Time. It was amazing to see the number of site visitors flicker from moment to moment. Ah, the moment we have been waiting for finally came true- here’s the evidence!

Yesterday, here was a snapshot of how many people were on DomainTools.com when we first accessed the Right Now beta, around noon Pacific Time:

And today, around 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time, encroaching on 3k again…

So far, we are thrilled to be able to see a live pulse of our website anytime we like. Next up: we’ll look into the real-time reports. If you’d like to know immediate impact to site traffic, access real-time reports, we’d recommend looking into Google Analytics Real Time. Right now it’s still in early beta but you can sign up for early access to the beta here.

Apple, Google and RIM – Who Has the Right Domain Strategy?

Susan Prosser — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:51:19 +0000

Last week, I explained how simple it can be to gain insight into companies’ product plans by using DomainTools to track the domain names they register. If you’ve been using our services to do that fora long time, you’ll have no doubt noticed that every company has a different strategy, in terms of how,and more importantly when, they register domains related to new and upcoming offerings.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names in mobile computing, for example. Just last week news emerged that Blackberry maker Research In Motion had registered over 300 domains for its new Curve phones. The list of domains covered a broad range of extensions, as well as variations using hyphens, abbreviations and additional keywords including the scary “sucks” suffix.

These were classic cases of defensive registrations – domains registered in order to keep them out of the hands of opportunistic cybersquatters. For a brand owner particularly at risk of squatting, preemptively registering hundreds of domains at $10 each may sometimes make more economic sense than later filing a UDRP complaint, which can cost many thousands of dollars.

Other companies, such as Google, take a less comprehensive approach, preferring to register a handful of key domains before they launch a new product, and pick off egregious cases of cybersquatting later. Google obtained plus.me in November 2010, for example, even though Google+ did not launch until June 28 this year. It had owned googleplus.com since winning it with a UDRP complaint in 2002, and won googleplusone.com in early June 2011 the same way.

But within 24 hours of Google+ launching, dozens of domains had been registered by people hoping to ride the wave of the service’s expected popularity. Registrations included straightforward cases such as googleplus.biz , keyword domains such as googleplusgames.com , typos such as googlepuls.com , and domain hacks such as google-pl.us . These kinds of domains are extremely vulnerable to cybersquatting claims and have virtually zero resale value to experienced investors.

If Blackberry is at one end of the spectrum, and Google occupies the middle ground, then Apple is an example of a company that often virtually ignores domain names when it launches products. When Apple launched the iPhone, it did not own iphone.com and later was forced to pay a seven-figure sum to the registrant, who had owned it since 1995. The company still does not own ipad.com , which was registered by somebody else in 1997. If it chooses to buy the domain now, it will probably have to pay more than it would have in 2009, before the iPad launched.

But this may actually be smart strategy for Apple. The company has always developed its new products in strict secrecy, encouraging its fan base to speculate about its next move. This created grassroots buzz for months before the moment Steve Jobs took the stage to officially unveil the company’s latest innovation. With so much brand capital relying on these staged, set-piece announcements, a premature domain registration or purchase may, for Apple, be more damaging than having to pay a couple million bucks later for an important domain.

When it comes to registering domain names, whether defensively or as part of a marketing plan, there’s no one-size-fits all strategy for the world’s biggest brands.

Google Buys Illegal +.com Domain Name on Domain Aftermarket

Bill Hartzer — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:09:23 +0000

This post has been syndicated (and slightly edited to reflect updates) from a post by SEO expert Bill Hartzer.

Google, in an effort to protect their interests in their new Google+ Plus social network, has recently acquired the International Domain Name (IDN) +.com, also known as xn--dra.com. The problem here is that xn--dra.com (+.com) is an illegal domain name–the domain name violates IDNA2008, as published by the IETF.

The use of the + character in the .com TLD is not allowed, and violates IDNA2008. Under current Verisign .com rules, it appears that the +.com domain name cannot be renewed, and according to Mozilla, IDNs are not allowed on the .com TLD.

I realize that Google would want to protect their brand and protect their new Google+ Plus social network by purchasing the +.com domain name. But from what I can tell, this was a mistake–especially because the +.com is not allowed in the .com TLD.

It doesn’t look to me like Google “did their homework” when they purchased that domain name.

What has been disallowed in IDNA2008 (IDN in application, a standard for handling IDNs in apps) is most symbol domains. IDNA2003 (the previous version of IDNA, still running in most applications as of right now, including browsers) allowed symbols.

See here to compare how the domain is handled:

In IDNA2003 it worked fine, in UTS46 (a transition standard between IDNA2003 and IDNA2008) it still worked fine, but in IDNA2008, it won’t resolve. At this point, when +.com does come up for renewal, we do not know whether or not the domain will be allowed by Verisign.

I have obtained a copy of the email from Verisign to Registrars regarding the deletion of certain domain names that are not allowed under IDNA2008. Below is the email:

As you may know, the IETF/IESG has adopted RFC 5891, which applies to Internationalized Domain Names in Application (“IDNA”). Compliance with this new RFC is necessary to ensure the security and stability of registry operations. RFC 5891 affects allowable second level strings in IDN domain names. As such, and in compliance with RFC 5891, Verisign implemented filters to block registration of disallowed strings, and updated our Software Development Kit in early Q1 2011. In addition, Verisign will insure compliance with RFC 5891 by deleting existing domain names and child hosts from the .com and .net databases.
You are hereby given 120 calendar days notice that Verisign will delete the attached registered names from the .com and/or .net databases. The attached names will be deleted on the 121st calendar day after the date of this notice, as measured by United States Eastern Time.
As a courtesy, Verisign will issue a credit to your account with Verisign for any deleted domain names pursuant to this notice, which will be calculated as follows: for each deleted domain name, Verisign will determine the remaining registration period as of the date of this notice and round it up to the nearest year.
Pursuant to Section 2.11 of the .com and .net Registry-Registrar Agreements, registrars are required to comply with (and include in their registrant agreements) an obligation for the registrant to comply with, operational standards, policies, procedures and practices of the registry as established from time to time. As such, you are directed to provide immediate notice (and in no event later than ten (10) calendar days after the date of the instant notice) of these actions to the affected registrants.

[Hat tips to Drewbert and JS Lascary]

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Google Launches g.co URL Shortener

Frank Michlick — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:20:49 +0000

After Google launched the goo.gl URL shortener in 2009, they have just announced that they will be using g.co as an official shortcut for their own websites. goo.gl will remain as is. The purchase price has not been revealed. The registry also announced that 500startups.com has acquired and will be using 500.co going forward. Currently the domain just redirects to 500startups.com.

[COInternet Press Release, Google Blogpost]

Google Removes the .CO.CC Domains its Search Index

Frank Michlick — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:39:57 +0000

As reported by The Register, Google removed over 11 million .co.cc subdomain from its search index, since the company considered too many of the sites “spammy”. Free .co.cc subdomains are offered by a Korean company. The company also offers bulk registrations of 15,000 subdomains for a fee of $1,000. According to the company’s website they have 11,397,608 subdomains registered in 5,738,580 accounts.

Google classes the firm as a “freehost”, and has exercised its right to block the whole domain “if we see a very large fraction of sites on a specific freehost are spammy or low-quality”, according to Matt Cutts, head of Google’s web spam team.
The company said in a recent blog post: “To help protect users we recently modified those [malware-scanning] systems to identify bulk subdomain services which are being abused. In some severe cases our systems may now flag the whole bulk domain.”

The Anti-Phishing Working Group reported (PDF) 4,963 phishing attacks origination from co.cc domains in the second half of 2010.

11,397,608