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Could .Jobs Get a Boost and Help Future gTLDs?

Elliot Silver
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10

I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald today about the former President of Monster.com, Bill Warren, who is now working as the Executive Director of DirectEmployers Association, an organization that intends to utilize a network of domain names across the .Jobs domain extension. The effort could give a boost to the .Jobs domain extension, which has been around for a while but hasn’t made inroads in consumer awareness.

According to its website, DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit HR consortium of leading global employers formed to improve labor market efficiency through the sharing of best practices, research and the development of technology. In total, over 500 large companies such as AT&T, IBM, American Express, and Johnson & Johnson are involved with this organization.

DirectEmployers Association plans to combine its software with regional and career-related .jobs domain names. The article used Atlanta.jobs as an example, and that domain name was registered on February 4, 2010. The domain name currently resides on WowEmployers.com name servers, which are registered to DirectEmployers  Association. A reverse IP search of the Atlanta.jobs IP range shows other names such as Florida.jobs, Health.jobs, Europe.jobs, and many others.

According to the SMH article, this is how the organization will work:

Companies that belong to the association pay a $15,000 annual membership fee and will receive prominent placement on the “.jobs” Web sites. Smaller companies can purchase a “.jobs” domain name for about $125 a year and then post jobs for free. They can also work through their state employment agencies, which post jobs online at no charge.

At those prices, the new “.jobs” system could be another online innovation that undercuts what currently exists _ much as the invention of job boards themselves undermined newspaper help-wanted ads.

If this becomes a popular job search tool, it could provide a boost to future gTLDs. .Jobs is a relatively unknown extension, but it has much more actual meaning that extensions like .com, .net, .mobi…etc. It could train people to use actual words such as .Jobs when they are browsing the web.

Of course there will also be major obstacles to this. It will require human resource departments to ensure their listings are placed on the appropriate .jobs websites in addition to their own corporate sites. I am sure they will also use proven websites like CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com, in addition to other sites like TheLadders.com. Likewise, they will also have to get web browsers to visit .Jobs websites, which is something to which most people are unaccustomed.

This is going to be a very interesting project to observe, and it could provide a glimpse into the future if and when gTLD domain names are approved by ICANN.

Successful Domainer Starts Domain Blog

Elliot Silver
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32

One of the most successful domain investors is also probably one of the youngest and someone that has sort of flown under the radar. He is a 24 year old Czech domain investor who got his start in the business in 2007, and he has rapidly grown his business in a very short period of time. He prefers to keep his name private, but he is the real deal.

This past week, he announced the launch of his domain blog, Facing the Absurd, which offers his take on the domain industry. His business encompass many verticals, including domain names, lead generation, affiliate marketing, domain monetization, a car insurance broker, search, arbitrage, Facebook apps and games, and even a liposuction clinic. In total, his companies employee 70 people.

This blog promises to offer a different perspective on the domain industry than most, and it is destined to become one of the better resources for domain investors. Check it out when you have a chance.

Sex.com For Sale in Foreclosure Auction

Elliot Silver
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80

Sex.com

In exactly one month from today, we may see a new record set for the price of a domain sale. I just received an email from a friend with a link to a notice stating that SEX.com will be up for auction. The foreclosure auction will be held at the offices of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, 156 West 56th Street, New York, New York on March 18, 2010 at 11 am.

In order to bid on the auction, you must come prepared with a certified bank check in the amount of $1,000,000, made payable to “Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, as escrow agent.” The auction may be open to the public.

The auction description is as follows:

All of Borrower’s interest in and to all right, title and interest in an undivided 100% interest in the internet domain name and related INERNIC registration of the URL www.sex.com, and 100% of all cash proceeds, accounts receivable, licensing rights and intellectual property rights directly associated with or derived from the ownership of such URL.

The tale of Sex.com is actually very interesting, and a book was written about it a few years ago. The Cliff’s Notes version is that Match.com founder Gary Kremen originally registered the domain name, but it was then stolen by Stephen Cohen, and a 10 year legal battle ensued. A company called ESCOM, LLC acquired Sex.com in January of 2006, although terms of the deal were not disclosed. There was an article that pegged the sale at $14 million, but there was no confirmation that this number is accurate.

More information about the auction can be found on the David R. Maltz & Co website, and you can also download the auction notice pdf for more information. One interesting note from the auction notice is that it comes from a Dom Partners, LLC at 2050 Center Avenue (Suite 600) in Fort Lee, NJ – the same address as Domain Capital, who reportedly provided part of the financing.

.Mobi Numbers Aren’t Pretty

Elliot Silver
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34

I read the news yesterday about Affilias buying mTLD Top-Level Domain Ltd., the company that operates the .mobi domain extension. I don’t think I’ve owned more than a couple of non-premium .mobi domain names, so I haven’t followed the market, but according to an article appearing today in paidContent:UK, the .mobi numbers look fairly ugly to me.

The article references financial records for the mTLD company that were filed at Ireland’s Companies Registration Office, although there was no link to the source of those. If accurate, it’s a pretty bleak picture:

“In 2009 mTLD had a loss of €3.5 million on a turnover of €6.4 million, compared to a loss of €324,000 the year before on turnover of €9 million. Total assets less liabilities (eg money owed to creditors) in 2009 was €1.7 million.”

The article further states that there are just about one million registered .mobi domain names out of the 187 million registered domain names.

Thanks to George Kirikos for sharing the link to the article.

Correcting an Out of Context Article

Elliot Silver
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1

As I do every morning, I received a Google news alert today with the topic of domain names. The title of the article is “Expert says very few domains are worth millions,” and it was posted on GlobalGold.co.uk, “UK’s most progressive and innovative web hosting and web-based application providers for SME business today.”

Ordinarily I don’t post links to articles I believe are written poorly, but this one happened to include my opinion as the source, and the conclusion they drew was taken from a completely unrelated article. I don’t know if the article was written as SEO bait, but it got me to read it, and unfortunately, it caused me to write this post.

The article tried to juxtapose my article about the problems impacting domain auctions with the Media Post article, How Much Are Domain Names For Campaigns Worth?, in which Laurie Sullivan wrote, “Marketing and advertising agencies looking to strengthen campaigns might pay just about any price for a solid domain name if it means building a better relationship with consumers.”

The Global Globe article referenced me by writing:

Laurie Sullivan told Media Post that the most commercially attractive web addresses can sell for millions, meaning they can be prized business assets.

However, internet entrepreneur Elliot J Silver says multi-million pound transactions are the exception to the rule, as domains generally have a much lower value.

Although I do think that million dollar domain names are a very small percentage of overall domain registrations, I don’t think that this has anything to do with domain auctions, as the article further implies (“Writing in his blog, he reported that domain auctions have suffered lately due to firms being unrealistic as to the value of their addresses.”). The article was confusing to read, and it didn’t really make sense to jump to its conclusion based on an unrelated post of mine.

My opinion on valuable domain names can be found in Website Magazine’s Web Trends for 2010 article, in which I was asked for some predictions for the new year. In that article, I said  “High-value keyword names like toys.com and candy.com, which sold this past year, will continue to command high prices. Companies will continue to invest in their own businesses and will acquire high-value keyword domains names for growth and for competitive reasons.”

This puts my opinion more in line with Sullivan’s Media Post article than the Global Gold article insinuates.

Francois Makes Business Decision, Lazy Domain Investors Go Nuts

Elliot Silver
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32

Apparently Francois Carrillo of Domaining.com decided to add tech blog feeds to his website today. The result of the decision was that Domaining.com was briefly filled with non-domain related news articles. This made it difficult for domain investors to quickly find their favorite domain news and blog articles, and people publicly complained in blogs, Facebook, forums, and Twitter. That is, until Francois reversed course and took those feeds out.

I know Domaining.com has become popular because it allows people to easily find interesting domain-related news articles without having to visit a whole host of websites. I even get about 8-12% of my daily traffic from Domaining.com, so any confusion or excess articles might result in less traffic to my site. However, Francois has every right to make his own business decisions without public criticism from users who aren’t paying him a dime.

I don’t know if his business model is good (because someone may eventually buy him out) or it sucks (because it’s now a loss leader), but that’s not my business or anyone’s business.

The fact that we use and benefit from Francois’ website should not mean that we have the right to publicly criticize the guy and put him on blast when he tests things out in an effort to make some money. If you are paying for services and they aren’t what you agreed to when you signed up, you have every right to complain. When you are using someone else’s services at no cost to you, you have no right to complain.

I support the First Amendment right to free speech, but I think it’s uncalled for when people openly criticize the guy for trying to make a buck with his business. There are plenty of people who do worse things to make a buck.

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