Andrew Rosener: Slang.org is “Kicking Ass”

Elliot Silver
-
16

Slang.orgI want to share an update about the success of Slang.org, a website that was launched in December by Media Options. When I published my article about Slang.org several months ago, I promised that I would follow up, and Andrew Rosener was kind enough to give an update on how this search engine play is performing.

According to Andrew, “the site is kicking ass.” Slang.org is now seeing 7,000 unique visitors per day, and it makes $25 a day in revenue. The primary reason for why it is doing so well is that the website currently ranks on page one in Google for almost 4,000 words or phrases. That’s pretty solid considering there are 10,000+ pages indexed in Google on the website.

In addition to seeding the website with

Read More

Domainers Choice Awards Nominees Announced

Elliot Silver
-
30

The nominees for the 2014 Domainers Choice Awards have been announced, and I have posted them below by category. Thank you to those who nominated me for awards. It’s always nice to be recognized by my peers, and I appreciate it, although I don’t believe I am deserving of either award. From the looks of it, there were some excellent nominations made.

Voting for the Domainers Choice Award winners will be made using a third party voting system. beginning on May 8th and run through midnight on May 30th. Award winners will be announced on June 28th at a ceremony in Dana Point, California. More information about the Domainers Choice Awards, voting, sponsorships, and the award ceremony can be found on the DCA website.

2014 Domainers Choice Awards Nominees

Read More

What Does SnapNames Acquisition Mean for Domain Investors?

Elliot Silver
-
8

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

Read More

BBB Warns About Domain Name “Scam”

Elliot Silver
-
3

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

Read More

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

Elliot Silver
-
9

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
-
10

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

Read More
1...666768...124Page 67 of 124