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Oversee Responds to Illness Outbreak

I wanted to pass along an update I just received from Mason Cole, spokesman for Oversee.net. I am very glad to hear that the company and local health officials are investigating the matter.  They plan to email this update to all attendees tomorrow.

Here’s the update provided by the company this evening:

DomainSponsor, the organizer of the DOMAINfest Global conference, and its parent company, Oversee.net, have been made aware that several people in attendance at DOMAINfest and various evening events during the week became ill during the conference or after it concluded.

There has been significant speculation about this situation, but as of now, not many actual facts are known.   Only medical authorities are qualified to identify this illness and investigate its ultimate source, so toward the improvement and protection of everyone’s health, it’s important not to speculate or make unfounded assumptions.   Of course, should you have a concern about your health, please seek the advice of a doctor.

The health and safety of DOMAINfest attendees is our first priority, and thankfully, most attendees and staff did not become ill, and those that did appear now to be feeling better.   Even so, in order to accurately identify the health concern and prevent its further possible communication, we have consulted with Los Angeles County health authorities and at their request have provided them a comprehensive list of places we know gatherings were held (either organized by DOMAINfest or by others) during each day and night.   We also have notified our vendors and service providers of the situation, and have encouraged them to cooperate with authorities and take any steps they believe necessary.

Medical authorities have further requested, and Oversee has provided, a list of all attendees and their e-mail addresses.   You may already have received a link to a survey asking for more information.   It is important that ALL attendees complete the survey, whether you were ill or not.   This will help authorities narrow down the range of possible causes and sources.   Only health authorities will have access to this data—neither Oversee nor any other party will be able to see it, so please do your part to help.

Oversee will continue to work with health authorities, though at this stage, work is best left in their hands.   If there’s more we’re in a position to share about the situation, we will do so.

DOMAINfest was a great event—our best ever with more than 700 attendees—and it’s regrettable that this has cast a shadow over an otherwise good week.   We’re very encouraged that most everyone is in improving health (including those on our staff), and look forward to seeing many of you in Barcelona in June.

Good Strategy, Poor Execution from Easton-Bell Sports

Giro

I just bought a new Giro ski helmet the other day. Giro is a helmet company owned by sports equipment conglomerate Easton-Bell Sports. As I often do when shopping for a product, I researched who owned key category domain names related to my purchase.

I was impressed when I saw that Easton-Bell Sports owned SkiingHelmets.com and SnowboardingHelmets.com. These category defining names should either be used to funnel direct navigation traffic to the company’s main site, or smaller portals can be built, using the site as either SEO plays or to drive traffic to the main site.

When I visited both sites to see what the company was doing with them, I was disappointed. Not only are they undeveloped, but the Network Solutions landing page even has “Giro” related links.  They are essentially paying for visitors to click their own ads!

In looking at the historical thumbnails provided by Domain Tools, it appears that there was a site before or possibly a forward to the main site.  It appears that Network Solutions is now the primary beneficiary during this high season.

It’s a good strategy for a company to acquire keyword domain names, but it’s poor execution when those domain names aren’t being used.

Blogging Conflicts of Interest

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I have to say that I agree 100% with what Simon posted on his blog today about blogger conflicts of interest (not really about the other stuff). You should recognize who is advertising on what blogs and know that even if the writer tries to be unbiased, it’s really not that easy. I try to do my best to disclose any conflicts, but readers should be aware that in such a small industry, conflicts are everywhere and are difficult to avoid.

It’s bothersome to hear that another domain blogger suggested that someone else “buy up big” when it  came to an alternative domain extension – or anything in general. IMO, if someone is recommending that someone else spend alot of money on something, you should immediately be suspicious. Why on earth would that person be sharing his map to a supposed gold mine? You don’t think Frank Schilling shared his buying secrets while he was in acquisition mode, do you?

I personally have never done a paid review, despite turning down a whole lot of opportunities. As I’ve told people in the past, if it’s interesting for my business and I want to try it, I will (like the new Estibot tool I can’t wait to demo). If it’s something helpful to me, I may share it with others but I won’t be paid to do it. I can’t in good faith recommend a shitty product simply to make a few bucks, and I don’t have time or desire to review products I have no use for or interest in using. I never want to feel obligated to write something positive because someone is paying me.

You should know that I do very little affiliate advertising (I think the ThemeForest banners on the bottom right and the Mozy links are the only active ones aside from a few links in articles of interest – both services I’ve used before). I believe those might encourage people to promote services they might not otherwise promote. If you do see an affiliate link, you should know that it’s almost certain I am a happy user of the product or service.

I do my best to report on the things impacting my business and the things that I believe are impacting the domain space as a whole.  I hope you take everything I write with a grain of salt, recognize that I do make money from my advertisers, but know that my goal is to be helpful to you.

DFG Illness Update

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I know there are a lot of people like myself who became really sick after getting home from DomainFest. I had a fever from Saturday night until yesterday when it finally broke.  I still have a cough, but my doctor prescribed a z-pack for what he diagnosed as bronchitis.

Ron has been great with his updates on this situation, but unfortunately nobody can comment on DN Journal. I’ve seen a number of comments on Nico Zeifang’as Facebook wall, but if you aren’t a FB friend of his, you can’t comment their either… LOL.

Anyway, feel free to comment here if you’d like. I know a number of people have doctor’s appointments scheduled for today, so any additional info might be helpful to those that need it. I would recommend making an appointment to see your doctor though, just in case, especially with the weekend approaching.

I am up at Stowe, Vermont for my company annual meeting, but am not skiing yet to make sure I first get rid of whatever infection I have. I think I am on the tail end of this thing since the fever and chills are gone, but I will keep you posted.

I hope you have an easy recovery… BTW, to those who didn’t get it, you are VERY lucky.  I can usually work through everything, but this just about knocked me on my ass for a few days.

Oversee Update with CEO Jeff Kupietsky

One of my favorite sessions organized by Oversee.net during DomainFest was a breakfast for bloggers and domain news sites with CEO, Jeff Kupietsky. It was a good opportunity to learn about the company’s plans for the upcoming year.

My biggest takeaway from the meeting with Jeff is that Oversee is working to drive the maturation of the domain industry, and that will help bring new investment and growth into the domain space.  Jeff noted that there has been much more  collaboration among big companies (like Bob Parsons speaking at DomainFest), and this is essential for the domain industry to mature.

In addition to its collaboration efforts, Oversee is looking to build and grow additional revenue streams. Similar to individual domain investors who are building businesses on domain names, Oversee has been building infrastructure on some of its key domain assets. The company currently operates in 3 verticals: travel, shopping, and finance.

One way domain investors will benefit from this is that Oversee has been gaining insight into consumer behavior. This should not only help the company with its own projects, but it can also be used on the company’s domain monetization platform.  Domain Sponsor recently launched its Precision Targeting Engine, which should help increase a domain owner’s revenue by being able to predict consumer behavior and push the right offer at the right time.

In addition, the company’s biggest parking customer is itself, and it’s able to leverage its own domain assets to get insight into traffic and visitor habits/patterns. The company owns over 1 million domain names, and 99.9% of them are parked with Domain Sponsor.

Jeff mentioned that in 2010, Oversee had a net gain of  50 employees. Out of this group, between 10-15 people were added to this infrastructure group. He reiterated that he and the company are “very bullish on this” area of growth.

When economic conditions are poor, companies are forced to develop alternative ways to generate revenue, especially when outside investors need to see growth. Oversee is no different, and the company is working on ways to grow its bottom line. The good news for domain investors is that we should be able to profit from the company’s learnings, too.

Afternic Sells Close to a Half Million in Domain Names Last Week

I just received the weekly sales report from Afternic, and the company closed over $460,000 in publicly reported sales last week. The highest value sale was DoubleYourBusiness.com for $22,500.

Interestingly, the highest value non .com sale was NewYorkNewYork.net, which sold for $5,400. As you may recall, NewYorkNewYork.com was subject to a legthy legal battle, in which the owner had to give up the domain name and pay over $100,000 in fines to the New York New York Casino in Las Vegas. I hope the new owner of the .net has other plans for this name.

Here are the top Afternic reported sales for the week:

doubleyourbusiness.com $22,500.00
fabo.com $15,000.00
vistausa.com $14,000.00
SeniorsLiving.com $12,000.00
successathome.com $10,000.00
tvonpc.com $9,000.00
persianworld.com $8,300.00
DryShampoo.com $8,000.00
happybags.com $6,932.00
amap.com $6,600.00
originalteile.com $6,488.00
FreedomCards.com $6,000.00
newyorknewyork.net $5,400.00
rungirlrun.com $5,000.00
whistleraccommodations.com $4,777.00
globalreferendum.com $4,688.00
dreambath.com $4,500.00
rallycall.com $4,500.00
mysoftwaresolutions.com $4,400.00
tothenines.com $4,288.00
kinderclinic.com $4,188.00
suphanburi.com $4,140.00
livinglean.com $4,000.00
transmute.com $4,000.00
creativedc.com $3,988.00
thehangman.com $3,988.00
fotons.com $3,800.00
experienceclient.com $3,788.00
sappeople.com $3,769.00
agricolo.com $3,700.00
viabank.com $3,688.00
destinationservice.com $3,591.00
takken.com $3,500.00
vertueux.com $3,500.00
eblogger.com $3,500.00
sophiesworld.com $3,500.00
sliceofnewyork.com $3,488.00
managementlink.com $3,388.00
stylegift.com $3,321.00
shiplogic.com $3,188.00
directfromnewyork.com $3,188.00
ecoforum.org $3,188.00
sweetsales.com $3,088.00
socialgravity.com $3,088.00
mcfr.com $3,000.00
bestvitamin.com $3,000.00
quality-assurance.com $3,000.00
carpetcleaningny.com $3,000.00
strength.net $3,000.00
marruecos.net $3,000.00
mediamagnate.com $2,988.00
epdesign.com $2,988.00
womx.com $2,959.00
automotiverecruiting.com $2,888.00
officedaily.com $2,888.00
uebersiedlung.com $2,879.00
x-perience.com $2,800.00
goingonholiday.com $2,799.00
happystudio.com $2,788.00
anonymousfeedback.com $2,788.00
seosystems.com $2,788.00
sewco.com $2,788.00
racional.net $2,788.00
sustainablelife.com $2,779.00
enjoytv.com $2,738.00
salesleadership.com $2,700.00
caviarstore.com $2,700.00
DashReport.com $2,695.00
ssfusa.com $2,688.00
presis.com $2,688.00
yorkpage.com $2,688.00
friendgame.com $2,588.00
growlite.com $2,588.00
macplaza.com $2,588.00
thepartypeople.com $2,500.00
vanitylicenseplates.com $2,500.00
wellbalance.com $2,500.00
homeeffects.com $2,500.00
chocolateroom.com $2,500.00
theranking.com $2,500.00
thefirefly.com $2,500.00
dubstep.net $2,500.00
sophielee.com $2,488.00
carincentives.com $2,488.00
takefive.org $2,488.00
integergroup.com $2,477.00
fiksu.com $2,444.20
mcmtelecom.com $2,400.00
cheapstudent.com $2,400.00
dowhatyoudo.com $2,388.00
inblack.com $2,388.00
roomsearch.net $2,388.00
parksoft.com $2,350.00
triennale.com $2,300.00
rainbowjewelry.com $2,241.00
playpolitics.com $2,200.00
clearmed.com $2,200.00
americanartisan.com $2,188.00
samthompson.com $2,188.00
jreynolds.com $2,160.00
lightofislam.com $2,100.00
catastrophicinsurance.com $2,100.00
platinumfinish.com $2,088.00
lovelights.com $2,088.00
buenacocina.com $2,088.00
chicgift.com $2,088.00
sizzlenewyork.com $2,088.00
tutorbuddies.com $2,059.00
youthfellowship.org $2,056.00
migrationpath.com $2,000.00
bestwayto.com $2,000.00
blingbeauty.com $2,000.00
fixedup.com $2,000.00
trilogysoftware.com $2,000.00
sidebike.com $2,000.00
dejame.com $2,000.00
winterfestival.com $2,000.00
orchidenergy.com $2,000.00
entuitive.com $2,000.00
accessasia.net $1,888.00
solutec.net $1,888.00
bioresource.org $1,700.00
buildlink.net $1,588.00
freedomainnames.net $1,500.00
chitosan.net $1,500.00
lasiksurgerycost.net $1,488.00
whistleraccommodation.net $1,488.00
healthtips.net $1,415.00
webmatrix.org $1,300.00
booknetwork.org $1,300.00
iranianmusic.org $1,288.00
learningexchange.org $1,288.00
preciousjewels.net $1,180.00
lasereyesurgeons.net $1,111.00
4front.net $1,100.00
maxforce.net $1,088.00
partyfood.net $1,088.00
digitune.net $1,088.00

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