Following up on a post from a few days ago, it was revealed that Rick Schwartz sold the name iReport.com to CNN for $750,000. Also included in this price is the hyphenated version, i-Report.com. These great domain names will be used by CNN to supplement their i-Report program.
Founded in August of 2006, i-Report encourages viewers from around the country to send their own videos and photos of breaking news stories in their cities and neighborhoods. This user generated media feature has become popular, and it frequently allows CNN to break news stories before other networks are on the ground.
CNN Buys iReport.com for $750,000
Rick Schwartz Sells $750k Domain Name
On his blog today, Rick Schwartz announced that he recently completed a $750,000 domain deal. The deal will be announced on DNJournal’s Weekly Sales Report in the next week or two. This is great, as most large non-auction sales do not get reported. I believe the more public sales we see reported, the better for the domain industry, as outsiders frequently use completed sales as a means to evaluate the health of the industry.
I am currently in Lowell, Massachusetts taking pictures and doing research for my Lowell.com website. I had a great day exploring the city, and I hope to write more about it on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Breaking News: Oversee Acquires Moniker
According to this just distributed press release, Oversee.net has acquired domain registrar Moniker. I assume this is the news to which Rick Schwartz was referring this morning. More information about this can be found on Moniker’s homepage.
It will be interesting to see what will happen with the two major domain conferences (DomainFest and TRAFFIC) and their live auctions. Domain Sponsor (an Oversee.net company) is a founding partner of DomainFest, which features the SnapNames Live Auction from January 22-23, and TRAFFIC features the Moniker Live Auction on February 20 in Las Vegas.
I am sure we will soon learn more about how this news will impact the industry.
BIG News in the Domain Business
Unfortunately, I am not privy to what the news is, but if you didn’t already see, Rick Schwartz has announced that there is going to be some BIG news later today:
“2008 is about to start with a BANG. A very BIG bang. What will it all mean? Stay tuned. This is a biggie! We are going to start the year off right.“
Stay tuned…
Flowers.mobi: The Real Story
Rick Schwartz’s blog post, “The REAL story behind the flowers.mobi purchase” gives us the story behind his purchase of Flowers.mobi in order to dispel several myths about the sale.
Rick made a calculated $200k gamble on the domain name, and if things work out, he will be handsomely rewarded. I guess its no more or less than me playing blackjack for a much smaller stake.
There are two cliches in action:
1) It takes money to make money.
2) The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
Sometimes you have to overpay today to get a good deal tomorrow.
‘Tis The Season – For Online Spending?
Each year before the holidays, domain investors wonder whether the coming season will mark a breakthrough for interactive marketing campaigns. As online media continues to grow and thrive, we continue to wonder why companies still devote so much advertising spend on traditional media (print/tv) when statistics seem to indicate that people are spending more time online than reading the newspaper.
Will this be the year companies devote the appropriate advertising spend for online activities? Rick wonders aloud whether companies will finally “get it” and convert some of their traditional print and television advertising dollars into online spends. My gut says this won’t be the year, but I think things are beginning to change. Interactive marketing is fun, less inhibited, and better able to engage the viewer… I digress, but more on that in a future post!
From Rick’s Blog:
“So will THIS be the online Christmas many have always expected? Will the same sorry folks be marched out to tell you not to spend online? How dangerous it is? Marched out like a political attack machine because they know their days are numbered? These people who are funded by those with most to lose. Is this the year they get it? Can they figure out that Google is approaching $800/share for a reason? That they are the fastest growing, most valuable company in the world for a reason? Can they figure out that the newspapers are not only going down in circulation but in readerehip as well?? Same with other mediums. And talk about “Stickyness”…….Imagine how many MINUTES someone used to read a newspaper or magazine and how many minutes they read now?”
Read the rest of this post here.