What Does SnapNames Acquisition Mean for Domain Investors?

Elliot Silver
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On Friday evening, I reported that two Web.com employees tweeted that Web.com had acquired SnapNames, a once thriving domain auction platform. SnapNames may still be thriving, but truthfully, I have not participated or followed very many auctions on the platform in a few years. This morning, Web.com officially announced the acquisition in a press release, although terms of the deal were not disclosed.

From my perspective, in the last few years, SnapNames became more well known for its private domain auctions rather than its expiring domain auctions. I remember when SnapNames reported “bonkers” sales numbers for expiring domain names. The numbers may say otherwise, but that’s what it seems like to me anyway. When thinking about expiring domain auction houses though, I still consider NameJet, SnapNames, and GoDaddy to be the “big three,” again keeping in mind that I almost exclusively use NameJet these days.

For a while now, SnapNames has maintained one of the

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BBB Warns About Domain Name “Scam”

Elliot Silver
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BBB LogoThe Better Business Bureau published a “Scam Alert” warning related to domain names. Specifically, the BBB warns businesses that there are companies looking to get business owners to unnecessarily register expensive ccTLD domain names with their brand name or keyword. The emails are typically sent from domain registrars or others under the guise of a trademark or brand warning.

Emails like this have been making the rounds for quite some time, and they probably have a decent success rate because they can appear to be legitimate warnings. I don’t know if it really qualifies as a “scam” per se, but it’s definitely annoying to receive these emails, and businesses should know to be on the lookout for them and avoid the hefty cost of registering a bunch of unnecessary and sometimes expensive ccTLD domain names.

According to the BBB, here’s how the scam works:

“You receive an email addressed to the owner of your company. It appears to be from an Asian domain registration service. The email says that a third party company has requested to register your business’s brand name as a website domain in China or elsewhere in Asia.  

According to the email, the “domain registrar” realized your company owns that brand name. And they decided to do you a favor and offer to register the domain for you instead of this other company.  

The catch? There is no competing business, and the price to purchase the domain is much higher than you would pay elsewhere. Often, the email sender isn’t even an actual domain registration business. He/she simply purchases the domain elsewhere for a few dollars and immediately sells it back to the victim for an inflated price. “

If you own domain names, you’ve

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Gox.com Acquired by Mt. Gox Parent Company (Update)

Elliot Silver
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It appears that domain investor Andy Booth has sold his Gox.com domain name to the parent company of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, which is currently offline as of this posting. Based on the Whois information, the deal appears to have been transacted within the last few days. Gox.com is still listed on the Booth.com website.

On February 21, 2014, Andy Booth was listed as the domain name registrant, according to a historical Whois record. According to the current Whois record, the registrant of the domain name is now Mark Karpeles of Tibanne Co. Ltd., the company that operates the MtGox.com Bitcoin exchange. If you visit Gox.com, you will notice that the domain name currently forwards to MtGox.com.

During the last month, Mt. Gox has faced some serious issues that prevented clients from withdrawing their Bitcoin holdings. I don’t own any Bitcoin, so I am not the best person to discuss what has been happening with the company.

It is interesting that the company made this domain name acquisition in light of all of the news about the company. I am sure there will be more details revealed in the coming days.

I reached out to Andy seeking details, and when he responds to my email, I will update this article.

Update from Andy Booth: “Basically I got gox.com like any other LLL – didn’t directly target Mt Gox. My brother met domain broker Joe Politzer in Singapore who got excited about gox.com and then I said he could try to sell it if he wanted. He called Karpeles and Gox to find out if they wanted it and immediately they expressed pretty strong interest. I’ve asked Mark if it’s ok to publish details (no response as yet).”

Here’s an update from Joe Politzer of DN.BIZ, broker of Gox.com, with more details.

2014 Domainers Choice Awards Update

Elliot Silver
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DCA LogoLast September, I shared the news that Donna Mahony announced the Domainers Choice Awards would be returning. The Domainers Choice Awards were established as a way for people in the domain investing business to honor their peers, and they were originally handed out at DomainFest in 2008. Donna Mahony shared an update about the 2014 Domainers Choice Awards, and I want to share it with you.

Nominations can be made by anyone, and submissions are welcome beginning on the morning of March 8, 2014. The nomination period will conclude on March 22 at midnight EST. Once the nominees have been tabulated, the top 3 most nominated people or companies will be up for each award, and voting will be managed by Votenet.com, a third party voting platform. Voting will run from May 8 through midnight on May 30th. Anyone is eligible to vote for the Domainers Choice Awards.

The winners of the Domainers Choice Awards will be announced

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Terrell and Penny Miller on Cover of American Cattleman

Elliot Silver
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CattleMaxI want to share some exciting news for two domain investors who are also heavily involved in the cattle business. Terrell and Penny Miller, who shared their story about the successful development of LonghornMounts.com, are featured on the cover of February’s print edition of American Cattleman  magazine.

American Cattleman is a monthly magazine that “showcases beef cattle, cattle breeders, cattle equipment and producers with cattle for sale and cattle products and herd management tools.” The publication has a national circulation of about 80,000, with the primary focus being beef cattle producers.

Terrell and Penny created a software tool called CattleMax to help them manage their family’s cattle herd. They later began selling the tool to other ranchers, and it is now

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David Clements Starts Restaurant Report Indiegogo Campaign

Elliot Silver
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I learned about an Indiegogo fundraising campaign started by David Clements, and I want to share it with you. From the email I received about the campaign, David had this to say:

“I have great news, my new project, an Indiegogo crowdfunder called Restaurant Report just launched a few minutes ago.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been pouring my life into Restaurant Report – the first national app that lets you pick restaurants with good grades on their health inspection before you eat out.

Today, I’m unveiling my crowd funding campaign. Please check it out”

You can read all about David’s project

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