A friend shared something interesting that he noticed when typing in random keyword domain names this afternoon. If you visit KneeBraces.com, a domain name that is owned by Frank Schilling’s Name Administration and parked via DomainNameSales.com, check out the link below the PPC advertising links:
“This domain is registered. Click here to buy KneeBraces.Email”
When you click the link, it takes you to
One of the things I believe may help make the new gTLD domain names more appealing to small businesses is if there are special products or services associated with the TLD that can only be used in conjunction with a particular TLD. Rightside, through a proprietary (yet to be named) platform, will be offering One.Menu, a product targeting restaurants who want to operate websites on .Menu domain names that allow people to easily see dining menus no matter what browser they are using.
Many restaurants have trouble displaying their menus on their website without having to use pdf files. The One.Menu product will allow restaurants to create customer friendly websites with an easy to use website editing tool. There are many designs that restaurants can choose from, and it looks like it will be easy to add products, descriptions, pricing, and photos. The product will be especially helpful for restaurants to create mobile-friendly menus and menus that can be viewed on phones, desktop computers, tablets, and other devices.
Although Rightside is
Domain Incite and TheDomains have reported on the retrieval of some new gTLD domain names that were sold by registrars and in the accounts of domain owners. This is something that all of us should keep in the back of our minds when investing in and/or developing gTLD domain names, as I assume this is covered in the terms and conditions we agree to when registering domain names.
As someone who frequently buys domain names in private and who prefers to quickly re-sell domain acquisitions, the primary issue I thought about when I read this news is the implication of what could potentially happen if the original buyer had already flipped one of the domain names, and a domain name was retrieved from the account of an aftermarket buyer. Unless the seller refunded the buyer because of this issue, the buyer would be out of luck. In a situation like this, I would hope the seller would give a refund – I know I would without question, even though the claw back was not my fault.
Another issue is what happens in the event
I’ve been following along on the reported numbers of registrations for new gTLD domain names. Earlier this morning, I shared my thoughts on what sunrise registrations might mean. According to Domain Incite, as of March 5, there were just over 200,000 domain names registered in the new gTLD extensions (As Kevin comments below, this figure doesn’t include brands protected with Donuts’ DPML).
This is a lighter number than I anticipated would be registered by this time. My anticipation isn’t based on anything more than a gut feel I had along with an assumption that there would be more companies looking for “brand protection.” I don’t know for sure if this number is lower than the domain registries anticipated and projected, but I have a feeling the registration numbers aren’t as strong as many hoped.
Despite this, I don’t think these
A week ago, Calzone shared some information about the sunrise registration numbers for new gTLD registries. In the report, Calzone shared that “by any measure, the rolling average of 115 Sunrise domains per TLD falls far short of what many new Registries included in their revenue forecasts.”
Although it might be obvious to many people, I want to share why I believe this may make things more challenging for the new gTLD registries and how this may change things a bit. I certainly don’t believe these numbers are predictive of doom for the registries, but this adds a level of difficulty to break even and reach profitability.
I believe sunrise registrations serve two important purposes for the new gTLD registries.
Yesterday morning, I shared some thoughts on new gTLD registries doing tradeshow marketing to let their targeted audience know about the new domain names that are (coming) on the market. I want to share how Radix did some great tradeshow marketing at the recent Parallels Summit in New Orleans.
According to Michele Neylon, founder and director of Blacknight Internet Solutions, an Ireland-based hosting company and domain registrar, Radix used an excellent marketing tactic to let hosting companies know about the upcoming launch of the company’s .HOST domain name registry. Here’s what
