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There has been a considerable amount of mainstream media coverage on the new gTLDs, and it’s interesting to see how these media outlets discuss the new domain names and the impact they will have on the Internet. I want to share links to some of the mainstream articles that I’ve found from the last week that might be of interest to you.

By the way, do you care about gTLDs? Vote now!

• “After .xxx, here come .sex and .porn sites” CNN
• Battlefield Internet: A Saga of the Year 2012 – Financial Times
• .What? June 13 is Domain Reveal Day – Portland Business Journal
• How the Internet will get new domain name suffixes – Boston.com
• ICANN to reveal gTLD applicants – BtoB Magazine
• This Week in Tech: Tech world braces for wave of new domain names – The Hill
• Master of Their Domains – AdWeek
• ICANN Says Will Unveil New Web Addresses June 13‎ – Investor’s Business Daily
• Donuts Raises $100M-Plus To Deliver ‘Dot-Anything-You-Want’ Domain Names – Wall Street Journal
• .Cash: Domain Name Wholesaler Donuts Raises $100 Million – Forbes
• The Latest Domain-Name Gold Rush – Business Week
• Are Web domains .lol and .sucks coming soon? – Financial Post

I believe that many people who buy domain names as investments have a short term outlook on things that impact the business. Many people want to make money quickly from their domain purchases, and they think about how things in the short term will impact them rather than having a longer horizon.

In my opinion, gTLDs will take quite some time to implement, and it will be even longer before they impact the domain sales aftermarket. Because of this, some people might not really care about gTLDs or be interested in reading about them right now. With all the news about gTLDs and the  upcoming “big reveal,” I am wondering if the domain investors who read my blog care about gTLDs, and further, if they want to read about them.

This is a simple question, but I am curious if you care about gTLDs.

Pay per click parking provider TrafficZ has announced a big change to its default landing page template. According to the company, after an undisclosed testing period, the “TrafficZ Royal” landing page showed “significant increases in click through rates (CTR) and RPM.” This should be good news to clients as the company notes that “all data points to increasing clients’ payouts on the TrafficZ system.”

To help ensure that clients payments are improved, TrafficZ has selected this new template as the system default across the board. If clients do not wish to use the new template, they can manually choose another template. I would imagine clients should review performance, to ensure that performance is actually better with this new template.

It’s good to see companies continuing to test their core products and not being afraid to make major changes when necessary. The full press release the company sent to clients is below.

Rapper and mogul Snoop Dogg is a well known smoking connoisseur. In a video currently playing on TMZ and embedded above, Snoop Dogg announces his involvement with a new brand of cigar called Executive Branch.

If you want to learn more about Executive Branch, you can visit the company’s Facebook page,  its Twitter account, or its website, which can be found at ExecutiveBranchCigars.com. Unfortunately, the company does not own ExecutiveBranch.com, because it’s a domain name owned by Internet mogul, Mike Berkens and his Worldwide Media, Inc. company.

ExecutiveBranch.com is a domain name that was registered all the way back in 1997. Mike has been known to sell domain names that aren’t strategic to his company, so perhaps Snoop Dogg should give him a call.

I just received the press release below announcing that WhyPark is now officially known as Domain Apps. If you are a WhyPark customer, there is some important information that you need to know in order to make the transition seamless. The full press release is below with all of this important information.

What do you think about the name change?

Press release sent to WhyPark customers:

Thank you for being a valued WhyPark customer. We continue to look for new ways to earn revenue for our customers while making domain monetization as simple as possible. Starting today, you will manage your account and domains through Domain Apps (www.domainapps.com) rather than WhyPark.

How This Affects You

The WhyPark dashboard has been retired and forwards to Domain Apps (www.domainapps.com). Login with the same email and password that you previously used on WhyPark.
The first time you login to Domain Apps, you will complete a very quick, five-step migration. When finished, all of your domains will be available to manage, view reports, etc. through Domain Apps.
Domain Apps Advantages

More monetization options; Choose to develop your content sites as you previously have through WhyPark, or monetize through traditional domain parking from one interface. You can switch back and forth at any time with a single click.
More payment options; receive payments via PayPal, check, direct deposit (US only) or International Wire Transfer.
New reports; view your estimated revenue for the current day, prior to any final stats being received by our advertising partners. Revenue from your parked domains and content sites are consolidated into a single report.
Future growth; we’ve laid the groundwork to enable even more monetization options to be added in the future.
New, but familiar; The Domain Apps brand more accurately reflects a wider range of monetization options than WhyPark. We feel we’ve outgrown the original brand with the launch of our apps in 2010 and our future plans. However, the Domain Apps interface and functionality will be very familiar to WhyPark customers.
What You Need to Do

The first time you login to Domain Apps, you will complete the migration process. That’s it! Your domains will remain unaffected and you will be able to quickly start managing your domains again. You will receive an email when the migration process has been completed. This can range from under 1 minute to several minutes, depending on the number of domains you have with us.
Nameservers

In order to take advantage of the ability to switch between parking and content sites, be sure to change your nameservers to use ns1.domainapps.com and ns2.domainapps.com. Please note that our existing nameservers will stay online. Your domains will continue to resolve without issue, but will not be able to be switched between content and parking. Any changes you make will continue to be live.
We’re Here to Help

Even though we feel these new additions will be a benefit to our customers, we also understand that change can be difficult. We’re here to help and answer any questions you may have. Please contact us through live chat in your account or at support@domainapps.com
Best wishes for a successful 2012!

In an effort “to stand up against SOPA,” Namecheap has pledged to donate $1.00 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for every inbound domain name transfer initiated on December 29, 2011. The EFF is a San Francisco based non-profit, digital rights organization that protects the rights of Internet users around the world.

Namecheap has been able to capitalize on Go Daddy’s public support and then flip flopping on SOPA. According to Namecheap CEO Rick Kirkendall, between December 22 and December 25, over 31,000 domain names were transferred to Namecheap using SOPA-specific coupon codes. I would bet this number would have been greater had it not been Christmas.

Back in March, Namecheap was able to capitalize on another GoDaddy publicity issue involving a video of the hunting of “problem elephants” by GoDaddy CEO and founder Bob Parsons. Namecheap donated over $30,000 to the Save the Elephants organization  as a result of an effort similar to the one planned for December 29.

I think it’s very smart marketing by Namecheap.

The press release announcing the special offer is below:

On December 29th, 2011, domain registrar Namecheap.com will be spearheading a domain transfer initiative known as  Move Your Domain Day, prompted by the recent news of its competitor’s support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Namecheap has made an official statement on its company blog  openly opposing SOPA  and will be donating $1 for every domain name transfer made on December 29th to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Shari Steele, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, stated, “EFF is pleased to support Namecheap’s efforts to bring attention to the proposed SOPA legislation and its consequences for Internet users worldwide. With the funds donated from the MoveYourDomainDay effort, EFF will continue to defend your right to free expression in the digital world.”

One of the primary goals of designating December 29th “Move Your Domain Day” is to heighten awareness of the potential dangers of SOPA, a bill that some say may potentially break the Internet as we know it.

The CEO of Namecheap, Richard Kirkendall said, “A free and open Internet is the only option that will continue the legacy of innovation and openess that stands for everything we all value in our modern society. However, if SOPA passes, the rights of every user on the Internet will be trampled, as the bill as proposed infringes on liberties, privacies, and freedoms without due process.”

On Move Your Domain Day, Namecheap will process transfers of any .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, and .BIZ domain from any registrar for the below-cost price of $6.99. For each transfer made on this day, Namecheap will be donating $1 to EFF.

“We’re proud to have the Electronic Frontier Foundation supporting this important initiative, and are confident that our customers can help us raise a significant sum to help continue the fight against SOPA, PROTECT-IP, and other overbroad and ill-considered legislation,” said Kirkendall.