Internet Companies Archives - Page 6 of 12

Did Microsoft Buy Vaccination.com?

-

November 2, 2009

I was doing some domain research, and I noticed that Vaccination.com is now registered to a company known as Media Market of Boise, Idaho. As of September 24, 2009, the domain name was registered to Internet REIT, but on October 20, 2009, the domain name changed hands and is now registered to Media Market.

I don’t know anything about Media Market, but I do know they were the company who registered quite a few Bing related typo domain names just before they were acquired by Microsoft. Interestingly enough, Jamie reported that Microsoft recently acquired H1N1Symptoms.com, and the domain name resolves to the Bing results page for the search phrase “h1n1symptoms.” This is great for the owner of h1n1symptoms.us, as that website currently ranks #1 for the search term.

Prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of H1N1Symptoms.com, it was registered to TenPenny Group, a company that among other things, acquires domain names on behalf of Microsoft and other large companies.

Big Day for Acme Media

Internet Companies

Elliot Silver

-

October 28, 2009

12

New York based Internet media company, Acme Media, LLC, had a big day yesterday. Keith Levenson, CEO of Acme, attended yesterday’s Rick Latona TRAFFIC auction intent on one thing – winning Rio.com. By the end of the afternoon, the company prevailed in the auction, winning Rio.com for $450,000. The company plans to build a comprehensive website about the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

“Rio.com wonderfully complements Acme’s portfolio and will play a vital role in our strategic plan. We are eager to implement our innovative business plan and make this one of the premiere destinations on the web,” said Levenson. “We are also grateful for all the shared excitement and well-wishes from our colleagues, clients and competitors which, coincidentally, demonstrates the class, character and professionalism of our peers within and without the domain industry. Thank you to all and all I have to say is “stay-tuned and hold on to your seatbelts!“‘

In addition to scoring this great domain name at auction, the company achieved another milestone later on in the evening. Acme’s adult toy store, Vibrator.com, which pulls in seven figures in annual sales, had a successful re-design and re-launch. I know how stressful a re-launch can be, and I’m glad to see that it went well.

In addition to these great domain properties, the company also owns Audio.com, Devices.com, Therapist.com, HomeImprovement.com, Mortgage.net, and many other great domain names.

Congrats to Keith and his team at Acme.

Time Warner / Road Runner Hijacking Tribune Company’s TVListings.com Typo?

Elliot Silver

-

October 4, 2009

10

I am sure you’ve heard about the hypocrisy of companies like Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, and other Internet Service Providers who display an error page laden with pay per click links when a user types in a domain name that doesn’t exist. It really irks me when ISPs monetize typo domain names – even for trademarked terms, especially when some of them file UDRPs and lawsuits against companies who monetize their marks.

I was so annoyed by this practice that I opted out of the Road Runner service, so when I typo a domain name that doesn’t exist, I am suppose to be taken to an error page that says “Server Not Found.” See screenshot below of a page that doesn’t exist to see the generic error page I generally receive in Firefox (I get a similar error page with Safari, too).

Error Page

When I enter a domain name without the .com in my browser, Safari automatically enters the .com for me, and I am taken to that site if it exists or an error page similar to the one above if there is no website. With Firefox, if I enter a domain name without the .com it takes me to the website I intended, or if the page doesn’t exist, it takes me to a Google search results page. If I enter a typo domain name and there is no website, I am taken to a page that looks like the one above. I am never suppose to be taken to a Road Runner error page since I opted out of their service.

This morning, I wanted to check out television listings to see what football games would be on TV this afternoon. I was a bit lazy, so instead of entering TVListings.com, I simply entered “TVListings” into my browser, assuming I would be taken to TVListings.com, a website owned by the Tribune Company, since Safari is suppose to add the .com for me (same thing happens in Firefox which generally takes me to the closest website). To my surprise, I was taken to a Road Runner landing page (see screenshot below and click for larger image).

Since I have opted out of the error page service, I don’t see how it’s okay for Road Runner to take me to their landing page instead of taking me to the page I intended to visit. I know Time Warner offers cable service, which I also have, so that’s probably their motivation for doing this. However, I don’t think this is right for them to take me to a page I didn’t intend to visit. They shouldn’t have one policy for some domain names and a different policy when they have a competing website.

Cisco Agrees to Buy Tandberg for $3 Billion

Elliot Silver

-

October 1, 2009

0

Back in January of 2007, the domain name Tandberg.com was purchased for $1,500,000. The domain sale led the DNJournal weekly sales chart, and it was one of the five largest publicly recorded domain sales of the year. The domain name was sold by Tandberg Data to another company from Norway known as Tandberg, a maker of video conferencing hardware.

Tandberg ASA had to pay $1.5 million to secure the domain name since it was being used by another company operating on it legitimately. Before buying Tandberg.com, Tandberg ASA operated on the Norwegian ccTLD extenion, and they used Tandberg.no as their URL, which they still use today.

This morning, it was reported that Cisco agreed to purchase Tandberg for $3 Billion. While it’s hard to speculate whether the domain name had any impact on the company that employs 1,500 people, with headquarters in Oslo and New York, it certainly made it easier for people to find them online.

The purchase price marks an 11% premium over the value of the shares of Tandberg stock prior to the announcement.

Oversee.net Founder Has New Startup

Internet Companies

Elliot Silver

-

September 29, 2009

0

AppBank is a new startup company founded and funded privately by Fred Hsu, a founder of domain services company, Oversee.net. AppBank is a social media quiz generation platform that operates on Facebook, allowing its users to create quizzes to pass along virally through the social media platform.

Although the company has two competitors, it is different because it has a revenue sharing model, giving its users the opportunity to generate revenue from their quizzes, which is something competitors do not allow. The company’s homepage highlights the amount of money some of the top users are making, which is sure to entice people into creating more quizzes.

I always wondered if it was possible for these quiz companies to generate revenue by selling user data to third party companies. Perhaps these companies could create quizzes to test new products or services offerings in lieu of – or in addition to consumer focus groups.

It’s always interesting to check in on people who have left the industry see the new and exciting things that are happening with them in business.

Thanks to Donna Mahony for sharing the article about the company. The company also received coverage in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Domain Industry Leaders to Speak on Panel at Ad:Tech New York

Elliot Silver

-

September 25, 2009

1

Ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition held several times during the year, in a variety of locations, including New York, Shanghai, San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, and other media centers throughout the world. If you are involved in the interactive space, you should make it a priority to attend Ad:Tech – even if you simply opt for the free exhibition floor pass. Ad:Tech New York will be held from November 4-6 at the Javitz Center in New York City.

I just learned that some of the domain industry’s leaders are scheduled to speak on a panel at Ad:Tech New York in November. The Domain Industry Workshop, “Domain Tips to Drive Your Business Forward and Save Money” is sponsored by leading domain investment companies, Sedo.com, Media.net, Name Administration, Inc., and NameMedia, Inc.

Featured panelists include Jeremiah Johnston, COO and General Counsel of Sedo.com, Div Turakhia, Founder and CEO of Media.net, Frank Schilling, Managing Director of Name Administration, Inc, and Bob Mountain, VP of Business Development at NameMedia. This panel will be held on Wednesday, November 4 from 2:10pm – 3:00pm.

If you want to sign up for a free exhibit hall pass, you must do so by October 2, or the price will increase to $35. You can also see all of the conference pricing options for the New York show on the Ad:Tech website.

Internet Companies

Did Microsoft Buy Vaccination.com?

Big Day for Acme Media

Time Warner / Road Runner Hijacking Tribune Company’s TVListings.com Typo?

Cisco Agrees to Buy Tandberg for $3 Billion

Domain Industry Leaders to Speak on Panel at Ad:Tech New York

Recent Posts

Darpan Munjal Comments About Sales on Atom

Change / Test BIN Pricing Regularly

Rick Asks on X ‘Accept or Counter?’

2 Major LTO Changes at Afternic

Escrow.com Q1 Report Shows Growth