Home Blog Page 1174

Problem With Facebook Comments Plugin

Elliot Silver
-
17

I read Alan’s blog post the other day, and while I hope it really isn’t his last post, I understand what he’s saying about the noise. Comments on my blog and others often spiral out of control, but it’s certainly not something isolated to the domain industry. It happens on just about every website that accepts comments.

There have been several times I’ve thought about installing a Facebook comments for WordPress plugin. I don’t think it will be the panacea for the problem, but I do believe it will cause another problem.

If I install Facebook comments so that people are held more accountable for what they write, I believe I will then lose all comments from before I installed the plugin. Four years of comments could be gone, and that wouldn’t be fair to anyone who took the time to comment. Further, if the plugin was installed but later removed, all of those comments would be gone, too.

Despite the fact that additional moderation on my part might make things stay more on track, I don’t want to begin censoring my blog. I appreciate the time it takes for people to comment, and I like the fact that people are comfortable sharing their opinion.

At some point in the near future, I may prohibit people from posting without identifying themselves since I am held accountable for everything I write, but I don’t necessarily want the responsibility of ensuring that everyone is who they say they are.

I’d love to hear some feedback from you on how to keep things more on track.

Frank Schilling Spends Seven Figures on .XXX Domain Names

Elliot Silver
-
97

For over ten years, the ICM Registry tried to get approval for the .XXX TLD. They first proposed it in 2000, resubmitted an application to ICANN in 2004, was approved in 2005, and then rejected in 2006. The ICM Registry persevered and continued its efforts to get .XXX approved, and it finally was approved in March of 2011.

Wired has a pretty comprehensive history of the .XXX tld if you’re interested in learning more about the trials and tribulations.

As I mentioned a few days ago, some of the first .XXX domain names have come online in recent days. Many of these were part of the Founders Program, which awarded .XXX domain names to companies and publishers who agreed to build and promote websites on their domain names.

I just learned that an additional batch of .XXX domain names recently went online, and they are owned by Frank Schilling’s Name Administration. These include some of the best .XXX domain names, and the back story is interesting. According to Schilling, “they were actually purchased in January (at Domainfest) before the contract was awarded. It was a huge risk buying names that didn’t exist.” (The list of .XXX names Schilling acquired is listed below).

Although the exact purchase price was not disclosed, I understand it was seven figures and it was an all cash deal.

This shrewd business decision made by Schilling is another example of his foresight in the domain space. By taking a risk on .XXX, he could have ended up owning non-existent domain names had the extension not been approved. Now, he owns a chunk of significantly valued domain names, since these are some of the best possible .XXX domain names.

Name Administration’s .XXX investment:

  • amateur.xxx
  • amateurs.xxx
  • anal.xxx
  • asian.xxx
  • asians.xxx
  • bollywood.xxx
  • book.xxx
  • celeb.xxx
  • celebs.xxx
  • chat.xxx
  • dating.xxx
  • free.xxx
  • gratis.xxx
  • hardcore.xxx
  • hot.xxx
  • indian.xxx
  • latin.xxx
  • lesbian.xxx
  • lesbians.xxx
  • live.xxx
  • milf.xxx
  • milfs.xxx
  • oral.xxx
  • porno.xxx
  • pornos.xxx
  • pussies.xxx
  • pussy.xxx
  • sexe.xxx
  • sexo.xxx
  • sexy.xxx
  • video.xxx
  • videos.xxx
  • webcam.xxx

“Stay Cool” With Godaddy for $1.00 Domain Names

Elliot Silver
-
13

I saw a “cool” promotion being promoted by Go Daddy on Twitter and also on the Go Daddy Facebook page about an hour ago. If you call their customer service phone number right now and say the phrase, “stay cool,” you can register one domain name for $1.00 (there is some fine print). Among other tld, you can hand register a .com domain name for $1.00.  The US phone number is (866) 463-2339

I love seeing companies offer fun special offers like this via social media. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I probably will… there aren’t too many opportunities to buy a name for $1.18.  It looks like this offer is good for the first 10,000 names registered.  The rest of the  fine print for this offer is below.

Register any available .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain for just $1.00* (plus ICANN fee, if applicable)! Applies to the first year only of new registrations. This offer may not be used for renewals, transfers, bulk registrations, premium domains or Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations. Limited to one order per customer, expiring after 10,000 redemptions or at 11:59 PM on Aug 15, 2011 (whichever comes first). Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion. Customers may not use gift cards, PayPal ® or AliPay to redeem this offer.

* Plus ICANN fee of 18 cents per domain year. Certain TLD’s only.

stay cool

Deleting Tonight: Make Money on Your Expiring Domain Names

Elliot Silver
-
16

WhenI visited  DeletingTonight.com, I immediately thought of the saying, “one man’s trash is another’s treasure.” A Facebook friend posted a link to the site on her wall, and I thought that this was a great idea and has some serious potential with some additional work.

Owned and operated by Tasha Kidd, DeletingTonight.com currently lists her inventory of soon to be deleted domain names that are for sale inexpensively. The first to agree to buy the name before it deletes gets it with the next year renewal paid. Instead of making no money on domain names she plans to drop, Kidd is selling some of them.

At the present time, it only appears that Kidd’s names are for sale, but I can see some potential for the site. If she permitted others to list their dropping names on the site and then connected via API with Freshdrop and/or DropDay, it could be a very good opportunity for others to pick up names inexpensively, without having to compete at auction.

Yes, you are buying names the owner doesn’t want to renew, but it may be a deal for both parties.  Domain owners would get some compensation for names they otherwise wouldn’t keep and buyers would get some good deals. I think it’s a pretty good idea.

These Domain Questions Need Answers

Elliot Silver
-
7

When I started the DomainQuestions.com website, I knew that it would be highly likely that I would need to answer most of the questions. I enjoy helping others, so that’s totally fine, and I do appreciate it when people are able to provide their own answers and insight since many of the answers are more of a matter of opinion than fact.

I’d rather answer questions on a site like DQ than via email since many questions I get are repetitive and I can just refer to my previously answered questions when asked again.

That being said, there are some questions I just can’t answer. If you have a moment and want to give someone some assistance, please see the list of unanswered questions below. When someone posts a question, any responses are automatically emailed to them, so even if the question is old, the person will receive the answer… Thanks for helping!

I’m out of town again, so comment approval may be delayed here.

Will You Invest in .XXX Domain Names

Elliot Silver
-
5

Yesterday afternoon, I posted some information about the upcoming launch of .XXX domain names with insight provided by ICM Registry Chairman and CEO Stuart Lawley. I am curious if you plan to purchase any .XXX domain names for development or investment purposes.

As with many other gTLDs that are anticipated, I will likely purchase a few as investments.


1...1,1731,1741,175...1,573Page 1,174 of 1,573