Web.com To Sponsor PGA Tour

Elliot Silver
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As you can see from the embedded tweet, Web.com has announced a 10 year sponsorship of the PGA Tour. In a blog post  posted this morning on its website, Web.com “signed a 10-year contract with the PGA to become the title sponsor of the newly renamed Web.com Tour.” The Tour was previously known as the Nationwide Tour.

This is pretty good news for domain name investors, as it will certainly bring additional attention to domain names. The great thing about the PGA Tour (in my opinion) is that many business decision makers watch golf tournaments, and any time attention is brought to domain names, it’s a very good thing.

Go Daddy has done very well with its sports sponsorships, and it seems that the company continues to increase its visibility, with auto racing, Super Bowl, bull riding and other sporting event sponsorships and marketing campaigns. 1 & 1 has also been advertising during popular sporting events, although the focus seems to be on small business websites in its commercials.

Web.com’s primary focus is on business websites, and in the last couple of years, the company acquired Register.com and Network Solutions.

.Org Prices to Increase on July 1

Elliot Silver
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Public Interest Registry (PIR), the domain registry that manages .org domain names, will be raising the wholesale prices for .org domain names on July 1st, 2012. Most domain registrars typically follow suit, and the amount of the price increase generally depends on where you register domain names.

Domain registrars have been sending out emails to clients, and registrars like NameCheap have also been blogging about the price increase. While the increase isn’t much, it can be a burden for people and companies that hold a significant number of .org domain names.

There are a couple of ways you can save money though. First, you can renew, register, or transfer your .org domain names for the 2012 price prior to the July 1 price increase. A second way to save money is to see if your preferred registrar is running any .org registration or renewal deals in advance of the deadline. I’ve found that companies may run special offers to encourage customers to renew for several years to save money.

After June 30, prices on .org domain names will be going up, so if you have any in your portfolio, now is a good time to renew them.

Thank You For Helping Me Support a Great Organization

Elliot Silver
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Yesterday morning, I offered the opportunity for three companies to post a guest post on my blog in exchange for a donation to Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit organization that helps children with cancer and their families. Since I learned about RMH, it’s been my favorite organization to support.

Within hours after posting my offer, three companies have reserved the guest posts, and I want to say thank you in advance for their support. Thank you to Peter Askew of DudeRanch.com, Go Daddy, and iWhois.com for each agreeing to donate $500 to my fundraising effort on behalf of Ronald McDonald House in exchange for a guest post on my blog.

The blog posts will appear on my blog sometime in the next few weeks.

Thanks to them and to you for continuing to read and visit my blog! If you want to help Ronald McDonald House, I invite you to donate today. We’re getting closer to the $10,000 fundraising goal, and I thank you for helping me help them.

Go Daddy Back On Top – Did Google+ Have Something To Do With It?

Elliot Silver
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When it comes to organic results on Google searches for the keyword terms “domain name” and “domain names,” it’s been a battle between NameCheap and Go Daddy  (at least in terms of commercial websites). I am sure the higher ranking means a noticeable difference in business, so these terms are ultra competitive.

A few weeks ago, NameCheap outranked Go Daddy  for the “domain name” search, but it now appears that Go Daddy is ranking higher, although both companies trail the Wikipedia definition page.  I am wondering if Google Plus +1 has anything to do with the rankings.

Here are a couple of observations I made:

When NameCheap was ranked higher for the “domain name” SERP, the number of +1 the company had on Google Plus was shown below its listing. At the time of my article, NameCheap had 1,019 Google +1, and  the company now has 1,367 +1  .

I initially wrote about the NameCheap vs. Go Daddy ranking battle on April 20th. I did not see how many Google +1 that Go Daddy had at that time, but the company currently shows 1,522 +1 below its listing on the search results page.

According to GoDaddy’s Google Plus page on March 9, the company announced, “we’re setting up shop here on Google+.” From March 9 – April 20, GoDaddy had just nine posts on its Google+ wall. From April 21 – today (approximately the same time period), Go Daddy has posted 22 times on its Google+ wall, and that has increased its Google+ activity.

While I wouldn’t label this statistically significant information, it seems possible that Go Daddy’s Google Plus activity led to more +1, and  perhaps this helped lift them over their competitor.

Domain Holdings Announces Monte Cahn Hiring

Elliot Silver
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DomainHoldings.comDomain Holdings continues to acquire to do a great job of luring domain industry talent to work for the growing company. In a press release distributed this morning, the company has announced that Monte Cahn “has joined Domain Holdings as an Executive in Residence & Advisor to the Board.”

Monte has extensive experience within the domain industry as the founder of Moniker, a company he grew into one of the ten largest domain registrars. He has also brokered the sale of millions of dollars of domain names, and was the organizer of several very large multi-million dollar domain auctions. He later sold Moniker to Oversee.net. Monte is currently the President of the domain consulting firm, Right of the Dot.

This is a big win for Domain Holdings. Monte knows virtually everyone in the domain industry, and he knows how this business operates. Many people I know reduced their business with Moniker primarily because Monte left the company, and that says a lot.

In the last year or so, Domain Holdings has hired several domain industry experts, and it bodes well for the company.

Press Release follows:

Delary Beach, FL – Domain Holdings announced Wednesday that domain industry pioneer Monte Cahn has joined its team as an Executive in Residence and Advisor to the Board. In his new role, he will help shape the company’s growth and strategic direction while also taking a more hands-on role with the premium domain brokerage, domain auctions and domain monetization.

Currently, Cahn is the President and Director of RightOfTheDot, LLC, an Internet consulting and advisement firm, co-founded by him and domain industry legend, Mike Berkens. RightOfTheDot, LLC specializes in new and existing TLD consulting, board advisement, as well as other domain services sales, marketing and strategy. Currently the firm is helping companies maximize profitability and strategic direction for the new and existing gTLD program set to roll out later this year.

“I chose to invest and take an active role in Domain Holdings because I really believe in and respect the leadership, like the differentiating and leading technology offering, and know that my contribution can further the strategic direction and success,” Monte Cahn said, also noting that RightoftheDot, LLC has chosen Domain Holdings Group as one of its partners for providing premium domain sales and monetization for new and existing TLD clients.

Prior to starting RightOfTheDot, LLC, Cahn founded and was the CEO of Moniker.com in 1999, which he grew to become a Top 7 ICANN Accredited Registrar and a leading domain monetization company during his 10-year tenure. Cahn successfully brokered the historic sales of Wallstreet.com and Autos.com, recognized as the first $1 million and $2 million sales in the industry respectively. Cahn is also responsible for selling more than $300 million in domain names in the last 10 years, including seven-figure sales of Cameras.com, Dating.com, Photo.com, Bored.com, CreditCheck.com, as well as industry-leading sales of Slots.com for $5.5 million and others. Under Cahn, Moniker was widely considered the industry’s leading premium domain auction and brokerage company.

Cahn is also credited with starting the very first domain brokerage company in 1996. He pioneered and innovated what are now considered industry standard services, including: WhoIs privacy, domain escrow, domain appraisals, bulk domain management, domain security and theft prevention, stealth acquisitions and live domain auctions.

“Monte brings with him a range of knowledge dating back to the mid-90s where he was able to contribute services that widely shaped the industry and are still in use today,” Domain Holdings Co-Founder John Ferber said. “That type of forward thinking fits with our philosophy as we add to our brokerage and monetization services.”

About Domain Holdings

Domain Holdings is a world-class service provider in the buying, selling and monetizing of domain names. The company was co-founded by Chad Folkening, a longtime domain industry veteran, and John Ferber, co-founder of Advertising.com which was acquired by AOL for approximately $500 million in 2004, and whose collective online products and services have grossed more than $3 billion since 1996. DomainPower is an end-to-end domain monetization platform and marketplace. Like us on Facebook and Follow Us on Twitter.

$500 For The Best Domain Industry Account Manager

Elliot Silver
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In my opinion, a great account manager is someone who helps you with account management tasks, keeps you up to date on special promotions, cuts through company red tape, and helps resolve account issues, all in a timely manner. There are quite a few excellent account managers in the domain industry.

Last week, I asked for nominations from readers to find great account managers and account representatives from companies throughout the domain business, and I recognized many of these names, having worked with them or heard great things. I have included the nominees in the poll below. Now it’s your turn to vote for your favorite account manager.

The person who receives the most votes will get a check in the amount of $500 from me. In the event of a tie, the prize will be split by the winners. If the winner’s company won’t allow an award like this, I will make a contribution in the winner’s honor to a charity of his or her choice.

Voting ends on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 8pm Eastern and winner will be announced on Friday. Names appear in random order.

** POLL IS NOW CLOSED – THANKS FOR VOTING! Winner will be announced on Friday, May 25! **

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