What Was The Deal With NQ.com?

Elliot Silver
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3

I read a couple of SEC filings from publicly traded NetQin Mobile, Inc. that discusses the domain name  NQ.com, although some of the language is a bit confusing to me and I don’t know the exact value of the deal or what type of transaction occurred.

The company that reported the transaction, NetQin Mobile, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the matching NQ symbol, and the corporate website can be found on NQ.com. Just recently, the company announced a name change to NQ Mobile.

According to a Form 20-F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NetQin Mobile reported, “Net cash used in investing activities amounted to $47.1 million in 2011, primarily attributable to net placement of term deposits of $47.1 million and purchase of domain name use right (www.nq.com) of $1.6 million, partially offset by proceeds from the repayment of the advance to a mobile payment service provider of $2.2 million.”

According to a second filing found on the SEC website, “In July 2011, the Company purchased a domain name NQ.com from a third party (the “Licensor”) with a consideration of US$1,550. The Company has been granted an exclusive license for the use of the domain name for ten years from July 2011 to July 2021. Unless renewed, upon the expiration or earlier termination of this agreement, the Licensor shall have the right to license the domain name to any other party as the Licensor desires. However, if the Licensor intends to transfer the domain name to another party, the Licensor must first offer the domain name to the Company for purchase. If the Company decides not to purchase the domain name, Licensor may then transfer the domain name to a third party.”

It would be interesting to know more details about what was transacted and what the value of NQ.com is/was at the time of the filings.  DNJournal reported  that NQ.com sold for $27,000 on Afternic in 2004.

Thanks to  George Kirikos  for the tip.

How Reddit and Hacker News Took Down My Blog, and How I Got It Back Up

Elliot Silver
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18

When I was writing my article about NameCheap out ranking Go Daddy in Google  for the key term “domain name,” I knew it would draw significant interest from NameCheap’s enthusiastic customers, but I had no idea how much traffic that would mean.  As soon as I saw a few vote ups on Hacker News, I knew my blog was going to be hit with a sh*tload of traffic.

On a typical day where I write one to three articles, my blog draws anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 visitors, give our take. Shortly after posting the NameCheap article, my blog was receiving dozens of visits a minute. In addition to the Hacker News vote ups, the article was voted up in the technology section of Reddit, which drew even more visits.

By late afternoon, my blog’s server (a VPS from Liquid Web with just one site) was struggling to keep up and had severe lag. When my server went down, I contacted Liquid Web to see if there was something they could do. Luckily, they have 24/7 support, and they were able to help me. Technical support staff explained that with the Smart VPS I had, I could re-size my server, allowing it to function smoothly despite the surge in traffic. They immediately re-sized the server for me, and within 30 minutes, it was back up and running without any problems or lag.

The nicest thing about the Smart VPS was that I could downgrade as soon as the traffic subsided, allowing me to pay only a pro-rated amount based on the amount of time at the upgraded level.

One other thing I learned from this experience is that if I expect to receive an onslaught of traffic to my blog, I can proactively re-size the server in advance, to avoid any downtime during a huge traffic spike. I really appreciate Liquid Web’s support and assistance, and I am glad I am using the Smart VPS.

Enom Also Having Whois Migration Issues

Elliot Silver
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4

I wrote an article about invalid Whois information on domain names that were transferred to Go Daddy from Moniker, and a representative from GoDaddy followed up to say that the issue was resolved. I experienced something very similar on transfers to Enom, and I hope the company addresses them, especially because these were sales and not simply registrar changes.

Last week, I sold a domain name that I owned in my account at Fabulous and another from my account at Network Solutions. The buyer of these two domain names requested a transfer to Enom, and both domain names made it to Enom (the buyer confirmed the first transfer via email, and I received a Network Solutions transfer confirmation email on the second transfer).

Both domain names now show up as being registered at Enom, but my company’s information is listed as the registrant, despite the transfer.

There are a variety of reasons why I think this is a problem, irrespective of the registrar:

  • My deal was finalized using Escrow.com, and if the buyer doesn’t confirm the transfers, it might be more difficult for Escrow.com to see that I actually transferred the domain names.
  • I would assume it could make it easier for me to take back the domain name(s) by calling Enom since the Whois information reflects all of my information. Since the names are in the buyer’s account, that may preclude me from this, but I would think it makes social engineering easier.
  • I don’t really want to have my name on the Whois information of names I sold. I don’t want people to email me offers for a name I no longer own, nor do I want to receive inquiries about buying similar names from people using Whois information to send emails.

This issue seems like it could be a widespread problem, and I hope it’s addressed. It doesn’t make sense that a transferred domain name would reflect the former owner’s details rather than the account details of the new owner.

Preview The New Escrow.com Website

Elliot Silver
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5

Last year, Escrow.com modernized its logo and color scheme, although it only published the new logo on its Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as its advertising banners. This is the first change to the Escrow.com logo in many years.

Because of the nature of its business, Escrow.com needs to be sure customers recognize its website, so  implementation  of a new website with a different color scheme, logo, and layout needs to be done gradually. To date, the company has not modified its active website.

The company just announced that a preview of the new Escrow.com home page is now available to view. Although the preview is still connected entirely to the current operational website, you can have a look at what the new site is going to look like once it’s re-launched.

In my opinion, it looks much more modern that the current site, and I am looking forward to seeing the new site implemented in its entirety. The company welcomes comments about the design and colors on its Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/EscrowService

Break Down of My Domain Names TLD

Elliot Silver
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28

Compared to many full time domain investors, I have a pretty trim domain portfolio. I keep anywhere from 15-25 significantly valuable domain names in my portfolio (like Torah.com, Burbank.com, Planners.com, CallCenters.com, DogWalker.com…etc) and the rest are names that are probably less valuable – let’s say under $10,000 each. Some may be worth a lot of money to the right buyer, but most are mid-level investments.

I want to share my portfolio breakdown with you so you can get some idea of my domain investments. I own roughly 475 domain names (possibly a few additional that I didn’t count held in various smaller accounts).

Here is the TLD breakdown for my domain portfolio:

  • .com – 97.4%
  • .net – .6%
  • .org – 1.2%
  • .CO – .6%
  • .info – .2%

As you can see, most of my domain names are .com and I would say my most valuable domain names are .com assets. They are easier to sell and aren’t very expensive to renew. I don’t think this will change in the near term, although I am open to other extensions should the market change in the future.

If you are willing to share your breakdown, I think it would be interesting to see where others are investing.

Contest: DNForum Scavenger Hunt

Elliot Silver
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11

DNForum is the first place I really learned that there was a community of domain investors. In fact, the person who told me about DNF was a domain buyer who told me that when I sign up, I would probably stop selling domain names to him, and he was correct.

Because of the popularity of the last contest I held, I thought it would be fun to have a DNForum scavenger hunt on my blog, with the winner receiving a $100 credit from Name.com, courtesy of me.

The winner of this scavenger hunt will be the person who first correctly answers the 10 questions below, or who answers the most questions first (let’s say the best result is 9 answers, the first to do that will win). Since some comments get moderated, the timestamp will determine the timing of submissions, and I will ultimately make rulings on ties or other issues. The contest ends on Wednesday March 14 at 5pm EST.

All of the answers can be found on DNForum.

  • What was Adam Dicker’s former username  on DNForum?
  • From whom did Adam Dicker buy DNForum (what is that person’s current username)?
  • In what month and year did I join DNF?
  • What popular (but  controversial) “gossip” website’s domain name was once listed on DNF for $19.95?
  • How much does it cost to buy a text link in the DNForum footer each month?
  • What are the user names of 3 moderators on the forum?
  • What DNForum user has the most  DNF$?
  • What US state .com domain name was offered for sale this month?
  • Domain Name Wire does an annual industry survey. How many times in the last 6 years did DNForum win for most popular domain forum?
  • What is the latest DNF sister website that was launched?
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