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Report: Kate Middleton .com Domain Name Bought for Under $2,500

Elliot Silver
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19

I read a report on TheProvince.com (a Canada-based website), this afternoon that said KateMiddleton.com was acquired by a Canadian couple for just $2,350. The domain name was originally registered in 2003, and the new owners have already launched a website on the site.

This has to be one of the better deals I’ve seen in a while, although generating revenue from it may prove to be difficult from a legal standpoint. Based on the content on the website, it seems that the couple is obviously targeting Kate Middleton, who is marrying Prince William in the “Royal Wedding” this Friday. Some day, it’s very likely that Kate Middleton will be Queen of England. There is no doubt that she is a famous person.

While many people have successfully defended owning domain names of famous people, there have been many that have lost. Generating revenue seems to be one of the ways a domain owner can risk losing a domain name via UDRP since it’s making money off of another person’s famous name. IP attorney Enrico Schaefer discussed this issue on his website a while back.

I am not a lawyer nor do I have any legal expertise, but it would seem to me that it’s a risky proposition to have Google Adsense or other revenue generating links on this website (which it currently has). I know that making money is tempting, but to me, it doesn’t seem to be worth the risk, should the British government (or Kate Middleton) lay claim to this domain name. Not only is it a UDRP risk, but it may also be a financial risk as well.

Kate Middleton has been in the news for the last several months, and her name will continue to make news as she becomes a Princess. I think KateMiddleton.com is a great domain name, but monetizing it is a pretty big risk in my opinion.

DomainFest Europe Price Increase on 5/1

Elliot Silver
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1

domainfest globalI’m torn. I’ve wanted to travel to Barcelona for a while now, but I just can’t commit to DomainFest Europe in Barcelona, which will take place from June 7-9, 2011 at Pullman Skipper Hotel. The current registration rate is $695 through April 30, and then it increase to $795 on May 1.

The excursions look like a lot of fun: backstage tour at FC Barcelona, a  Gaudi Walking Tour, tapas cooking/eating, wine tasting, and more. I am sure the panels will be interesting as well – you can check out the agenda which has been posted. There will also be a good opportunity to meet with people who don’t regularly travel to US conferences. Oversee is expecting 250 attendees.

For me, it’s a bit cost prohibitive for a three day trip (would make a vacation out of it but my wife is working), and it’s a long haul to Barcelona. The cost of the flight is over $1,000, and that’s not even direct. I may end up traveling to the conference, but I won’t make a final decision until I know what’s on my plate in a few weeks.

As of now, TRAFFIC is the only conference I have firm plans to attend this year (October) and I will likely attend the one day DomainFest event in New York City.

Anyway, if you have plans to attend the conference but haven’t purchased your pass yet, now’s the time to do it before the price goes up in a few days.

WuFoo Bought for $35 Million: Should Now Buy WooFoo.com

Elliot Silver
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WuFooThis afternoon on TechCrunch, I read that popular online form website, WuFoo, was acquired for $35 million (cash and stock) by SurveyMonkey. I’ve used WuFoo before, and I like how easy it is to create and implement forms on websites.

One downside of the WuFoo branding is that it can easily be confused with WooFoo.com. According to Compete, WooFoo.com doesn’t get a lot of traffic, but it does get up to a few thousand visits a month, likely misdirected type in traffic. The owner isn’t monetizing this traffic, but does have a for sale notice on the landing page.

Now one might suggest that the owners of WuFoo file a UDRP for WooFoo.com and be done with it, but not so fast on that. WooFoo.com was registered in January of 2005 and WuFoo.com was registered a year later in January of 2006. This quite obviously means that the domain owner did not register the domain name to capitalize on the WuFoo brand since it was non existent, and bad faith registration would be difficult to prove.

I have no idea what the owners of WooFoo.com want for the domain name, but I think the companies should work out some sort of deal. Any buyer of WooFoo.com would very likely know that WuFoo exists, and it would be likely that WuFoo/SurveyMonkey would file a UDRP for the domain name if sold.  Additionaly, the current owner would be  hard pressed  to monetize this domain name without  infringing  on the rights of WuFoo.

Most importantly, WuFoo is losing some traffic to this typo. Of course, some people will then go to Google to find it, where WuFoo will have to compete with other companies either with sponsored ads or with SEO when the visitor searches for something like “online forms.” This is probably not a lot of money, but over time it may be, and it’s something that can be avoided with a relatively inexpensive acquisition.

If SurveyMonkey is willing to spend $35m on WuFoo, the company should reach out and try to buy WooFoo.com. The owner likely can’t sell it to anyone else, and there likely wouldn’t be a better buyer for it.

ABC Gets Lucky With Happy Endings

Elliot Silver
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Happy EndingsI was watching the Boston Celtics beat up on the New York Knicks yesterday afternoon, when I saw a preview of a new television show on ABC. “Happy Endings” is a modern comedy starring Damon Wayans Sr. and Damon Wayans Jr. If you’d like, you can read more about it on ABC’s website.

The term “happy endings” has a sexual connotation (Google it), and the HappyEndings.com domain name has been owned since 1996. Luckily for ABC, HappyEndings.com is owned by a Oklahoma City book store called Happy Ending Books, and the website hasn’t really been developed. Similarily, HappyEnding.com forwards to a tribute website rather than something more pornographic.

As you can see from the Compete statistics, GreysAnatomy.com and SharkTank.com both have (moderate) traffic spikes when the shows are in season, despite not being owned by ABC or their respective production companies.

I have no idea whether ABC considered the usage of HappyEndings.com before finalizing the name of the new television show, or if they tried to purchase the domain name, but they’re very lucky it’s not an adult website. Judging by the NY Times review of the show, it was probably a very smart move not to purchase this valuable domain name.

Easter Sunday Update

Elliot Silver
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21

Hope you’re having a Happy Easter, Nice Passover, or a great weekend (or all of the above). It’s just a week away before our big 40+ mile bike ride on Team Ronald, so we went on a 25 mile ride today. Not that you really care, but it’s my blog 🙂

Here are some Sunday thoughts:

  • One of the best (but rarely stated) reasons to add relevant articles to a website is because of the links they may receive from other websites. It’s exciting to see a big spike in traffic to one of my sites that can be traced back to a link from a much larger website, citing an article I wrote. Good, cheap traffic and interest, especially if you’re selling a product or service.
  • I love Freshdrop. I made another nice sale from a name I wouldn’t have found had I not used Freshdrop. There were only a couple of other bidders and I made a very good purchase. The only bad part was that it was locked at Enom for a month and a half, so it wasn’t a quick flip.
  • Speaking of Freshdrop, I saw that FatAndUgly.com is dropping and you’ll need to back order it on NameJet tonight if you want it.
  • I find it quite ironic when some people say .CO and other new extensions take advantage of new domain investors since they don’t know any better. I am very sure these people would more than happily to sell these new domain investors some of their own .com domain names if approached, yet they are concerned that new registries may be taking advantage of them. Give me a break. This is a business, not summer camp, and nobody is forcing anyone to make investments.
  • Similarly, I find it quite annoying (albeit humorous) when people seem to become cheerleaders of one extension or another. If a domain extension is going to find success, it will be based on its own merits rather than hype.
  • If you aren’t on Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out (HARO) email list, you should get on it.  The list connects reporters with questions to people like you and me who have answers. It can be beneficial to you if you have an expert website, where you are quoted in an article with a back link.
  • In case you are interested, it looks like Francois Carrillo is looking to sell PremiumDomains.com.  According to a post on his Facebook page, he said, “it’s time for me to focus on my new projects, so I am selling one of my best name to generate cash flow: PremiumDomains.com – As you may imagine it’s not a cheap name, so only very motivated offer will be considered, just send me a PM.”

Anyway, that’s it for me today. Time to get in a hot tub and relax my legs. Hope you have a good one.

.CO vs. .Net for Geodomain Names

Elliot Silver
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122

There seem to be quite a few people adamantly opposed to investing in .CO domain names for various reasons. There are also plenty of people who believe .CO domain names are great investments, both in terms of current value and future valuations. I am of the belief that .CO domain names will become valuable in the future (I have a 3-5 year timeline).

That being said, I am wondering your opinion on .CO vs. .net for geodomain names.  This is clearly hypothetical, but would you rather pay more for Boston.net (currently on auction at Sedo) or likely pay less for Boston.CO, which does not appear to be on sale but I will use it for the sake of this question?

I know that some people think .CO would be a nice hack for cities in the state of Colorado, but I am just wondering how you’d rate city .net vs. city .CO domain names. Please vote in the poll below and feel free to discuss.


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