As announced in a press release today, Metaverse has released a new product domain parking service. The “Metaverse for Domains” service displays products related to the domain name on the site and pays a 15-20% commission on sales. The service will only work with domain names in which the company has retail products to compliment the domain name. Currently Metaverse offers products for domains in the wall art, posters, and home decor markets, but is planning to add more product types.
Metaverse started in 2002 as a technology company, offering a web content management software package delivered as a hosted service. To showcase the features of their content management package, they launched FulcrumGallery.com – a demo site which at the time only displayed images of the master painters. The site grew a life of its own and was re-launched in 2004 as an online store. Sales on Fulcrum Gallery soon surpassed software sales, leading the company to switch focus on online retail. Today, their store offers over 200,000 art prints which can be custom framed or transferred to canvas.
Can this new service compete with existing solutions like NameMedia’s SmartName Shops or Epik? Will domainers trust the new entrant into their space? Metaverse also mentions that the sites generated through their service may be indexed by Search Engines, but will they ultimately face the same de-listing struggle as other services? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
See the full press release after the jump.
Metaverse Creates Retail Sales From Underutilized Domain Name Assets
Metaverse launches first of its kind retail domain name monetization platform, creating value for domain owners and retail customers alike.
Monmouth Junction, NJ (PRWEB) November 22, 2010
Metaverse Corporation has launched a new solution which enables owners of unused domain names with a retail product focus to earn an income stream by allowing Metaverse to launch an online store at their domain name. The resulting revenue share is much higher than can be found with solutions that rely on advertising as the primary means of creating monetization while the domain owner holds the domain for future use or sale.
Most of the registered domains on the Internet are left unused while domain owners hold them in their portfolios for future use or sale. Few options have been available to create any income from leveraging their value during this time. Domain name owners seek to try to create some income from the domains in the meantime to help cover annual registration costs. However, almost all available solutions rely on advertising revenue as a means of monetization, which results in very little value created; commonly only a few cents a month to a few cents a day.
These solutions typically consist of a 1 to 5 page website which is nearly 100% full of advertising. These “websites” are essentially spam and are an annoyance to visitors and are for good reason excluded from being indexed in search. Conversely, the websites Metaverse launches are full featured online stores with hundreds of pages of relevant products, which provide a positive user experience and often results in being ranked in search.
“With so many premium names tied up in portfolios, it’s hard to secure a good name for retail use,” said Metaverse founder and Chief Executive Doug Kerwin. “A good domain name is extremely important in online retail. Our platform enables us to launch new brands leveraging good domain names, sharing the rewards with the domain owner.”
Metaverse’s first of its kind solution launches a fully featured online store at the domain, sharing 15 to 20% of the product revenue with the domain owner. For example, if you own the name JazzDecor.com, Metaverse will launch a store which directly offers for sale several hundred Jazz art prints and posters. Users who visit this domain find relevant products related to their intention in visiting the site and make purchases. The resulting revenue share can be a hundred times higher than what the domain owner would earn with traditional advertising based methods.
Metaverse will only work with domain names in which it has retail products to compliment the domain name. Currently Metaverse offers products for domains in the wall art, posters, and home decor markets, but will be adding additional product types. More information is available at http://www.metaverse.com.
About Metaverse Corporation – Metaverse is the parent company of FulcrumGallery.com and wholesale distributor Lieberman’s and has been a leading online retailer in the wall art space since 2005. The company has offered private label solutions of its e-commerce platform since 2007 to several hundred clients including many big box retailers. Metaverse currently employs 60 in its South Brunswick, NJ offices.
# # #
(c) 2010 DomainNameNews.com (6)
Advertisement
DomainConvergence 2011, May 12-13, Montreal, Canada
