I just read on Big Ticket Domains that Google is now letting people edit their own search results if they have a Google account. This new feature is called “Search Wiki” and it allows users “to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results.” Interestingly enough, users will be able to see comments made by other system users.
Although changes that are made will only effect the search results for that person, it will be interesting to see if they decide to give any weight to this in their algorithm. The power of public opinion is great, and it would be a good way to determine if a website has valuable infomation or not. The problem would be that competitors would have the opportunity to alter results.
The official release can be found on the Google blog.
Change Google Search Results
Google Chrome for Mac
Google Chrome looks like it’s going to change web browsing habits if it’s widely adopted. Unfortunately, Google Chrome for Macs hasn’t been released yet. According to the download page, “Google Chrome for Mac is in development and a team of engineers is working hard to bring it to you as soon as possible.”
At face value, after reading a few reviews, it looks developing domain names will be even more important, as users only have one box to enter a search term or domain name. If the user enters TropicalBirds.com, he will see this website and possibly other websites that are related (although I can’t confirm whether entering a specific website will return similar websites).
As I have witnessed with some domain names, Google does not seem to like parked domain names in their search results. In fact, many domain names I’ve purchased that were previously parked are completely out of Google’s algorythm and I’ve had to submit a reinclusion request. If you type them into the Google.com search bar, they won’t even show up. This doesn’t bode well for parked domain names that rely on type in traffic because if browsers type in the domain name into Chrome and it’s not in Google, they may not be inclined to visit – or they will be dissuaded by seeing a website that doesn’t look developed.
Again, user adoption is going to determine the impact Chrome will have on search.
Research Domain Names Before You Buy
The way a domain was used in the past could potentially impact a domain owner, so researching any potential domain acquisition is important. Not only could prior usage put a domain owner at risk of losing his domain name due to a UDRP, but there could also be untold legal risk when acquiring a domain name, and also issues with it appearing in search engines. All of these potential problems can cause much financial turmoil as well as take time to remedy and reconcile.
The first and probably the most obvious concern is prior TM infringement with a domain name that may have multiple meanings. If a domain name was previously parked, and the PPC links infringed on another company’s mark(s) where the domain name is also confusingly similar to that company’s marks, the company may have a legitimate complaint. If a new domain owner takes possession of the domain name, it doesn’t negate the issues that existed before. The complainant could cite prior use of the domain name, and the new owner’s claim of non-responsibility probably wouldn’t fly. I think this is especially so in the case of three letter .com domain names, where there may be many companies whose trademarks could be infringed upon.
If a domain name was involved in spam or phishing emails, the new owner may be held accountable. I am not an attorney, so I am not going to say what liability may exist, but from a public relations perspective, it could be detrimental. People may have posted their spam/phishing messages in forums or other websites, all linking back to the domain name. If the domain name gets developed into a website, it might be tough to be legitimized if enough questions were raised – forever linked in Google search results.
In addition to these issues, there are also spam blacklists that exist. If a domain name is put on the list, many mail servers may not accept incoming mail from certain domain names. While that may not be important for mini-sites or for parked domain names, if a business is built on that domain name, email access will be critical. A company may be able to appeal to the blacklists (like Spamhaus), but I don’t know how to handle that.
If a domain name was previously parked or if there were other major problems with it, Google and Yahoo may have banished the name from their listings. Upon changing ownership and/or building a new website on the domain name, it might not even appear in Google or Yahoo because of the domain name’s past history. There is a way to remedy this however, by filing a reconsideration request with Google or asking Yahoo to re-review the website. Neither of these will guarantee that your site will appear, but it’s a good start.
Research is key when buying a domain name. Archive.org offers a great tool to see what the website looked like at various points in time, allowing you to see the history of the site. Domaintools also offers many valuable research tools to see the ownership history, blacklist history, screenshots, and some other useful tools. While you may think you are buying a domain name with a clean history – or one whose history will be cleared when you buy it, but it reality, it’s always buyer be ware.
Google Implements Auto Fill in Safari
Google just rolled out with auto-fill in the Safari browser, following in the footsteps of Yahoo. When you enter a search term into Google, it makes suggestions to complete your search for you. This could be detrimental to domain owners, as people frequently type in the actual destination domain name into their search engine query, but with Google’s suggestions (which don’t include domain names), it may be less likely that people will continue their search entry.
As I posted in February, Google was testing this on other country sites, such as Google Korea.
YouTube.mobi…
…doesn’t have videos because Google doesn’t own it. If you want to visit YouTube on your mobile browser, you need to visit m.YouTube.com. I don’t understand why a major registry like .mobi (or any other new registry) would sell a clear trademark domain name to a private domain investor. In my opinion, a registry needs the leading companies (like Google/YouTube) to market their websites using these new extension in order for people to adopt, which would lead to the growth of the registry.
YouTube.mobi would have been the perfect way to show that Google had confidence in .mobi. Now, if a savvy web browser tries to visit YouTube on his browser using .mobi, he will be left with a website with no videos. Why haven’t they filed a UDRP or an injunction to stop the owner from using their trademark to get this important domain name? One reason can be seen in this article found in the Yahoo Tech Ticker. For comparison purposes, Google owns the rights to YouTube.tv, YouTube.asia, YouTube.me, YouTube.eu and many other newer TLD.
The point of this is to basically say that while I do believe that relevant domain names in alternative extensions are good if they make sense, I also think you need to consider exactly which extension to purchase. You need to see whether consumers are really adopting the extension, which would add value to your brand and domain investment. Also,
Likewise, the registries need to do all they can to make sure consumers adopt their brands. Consumer adoption will lead to investor adoption, and more domain names will be sold if people use them. When speculators own and don’t develop the prime domain names of a particular extension, consumers can’t adopt. If consumers can’t or won’t adopt, the domain names aren’t really worth much. The only sales will be to other investors, and eventually the bubble bursts when new money isn’t invested.
Google Funding: Google Should Buy Funding.com
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google will be adding a technology venture capital division to its continuously diversifying portfolio of businesses. In the past, Google has been known to buy rapidly growing companies whose products would fit in well with the Google ecosystem. Now it seems that Google is poised to offer seed funding to tech companies with great promise. Personally, I think this is a great move. Not only will they be able to capitalize on companies at the beginning, but in addition to funding, they can also provide invaluable advice and support, as they were once a new company with a great base idea.
What better way to do this than to buy Funding.com, which happens to be owned by a good friend of mine. Since Google is likely to direct traffic to funding.google.com, they might as well try to buy Funding.com before their launch. This domain name will become a necessary asset to their company, and once the currently incubating Funding.com company is launched, the name will be untouchable