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Get a Premium .CO Domain Name Before Others

Elliot Silver
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I was looking through the .CO corporate website today when I noticed information about their Founders Program. Similar to what .mobi tried to do with reserved domain names, with no cost for an application, .CO is banking on companies or individuals to COme up with a great idea for a .CO domain name, which will become a centerpiece of sorts to show off .CO domain names.

Applicants can choose a premium domain name to develop, and if awarded, they will have the chance to develop their domain name before others will have an opportunity to acquire them on the aftermarket or through a registrar like Name.com.

Personally, I think this concept is smart. Not only will it reward great ideas, but it will help promote the .CO brand, and it will help bring greater consumer awareness of .CO, which is important when a new registry launches. Like I’ve said in the past, if consumers are aware of the extension and they adopt it, the domain names will become more valuable for domain investors.

Applications can be downloaded on the .CO website.

It’s You! No, it’s Not Yahoo – it’s My Friend, Gregg Ostrick

Elliot Silver
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ItsYou.comTechcrunch is reporting today that Yahoo is going to spend a whopping $100,000,000 on a new marketing campaign centered around the catchphrase, “It’s You!” In typical Yahoo fashion, they did not spend any of the $100 MILLION to acquire the rights to the domain name ItsYou.com, which is owned by my friend Gregg Ostrick (and has been registered since 2002 – back when Yahoo was… well… you know).

Now Yahoo is heavily promoting, “it’s you” to millions of people around the world in a variety of different channels. Of course, they are still directing people to Yahoo.com, but people tend to add .com to everything, and I would expect “it’s you” to be no different than any others. Well, the difference is that Yahoo will be spending millions and millions of dollars on the catchphrase it’s you, and they didn’t even buy this domain name – just in case.

Yahoo is another company whose stock I am very glad to have sold.

Oprah’s Next Chapter With No Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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10

While Oprah and her people were excitedly (I am sure) announcing the news that Oprah will debut a new evening talk show called “Orpah’s Next Chapter,” someone else was excitedly racing to his computer to see if Oprah or her Harpo Productions had registered the matching domain name, OprahsNextChapter.com.

I can just imagine the feeling of exuberance and jolt of energy that must have ripped through the registrant’s body as he quickly typed the domain name into his Dynadot account, racing other would be cybersquatters from claiming this seemingly valuable piece of Internet real estate that was available for the taking. In my humble, non-legal opinion, just because Oprah didn’t register the domain name doesn’t mean the domain name is fair game – especially when it’s monetized with pay per click links.

In the Wall Street Journal article I read, there was also news that Oprah was starting her own television network (maybe not new news, but I don’t really know), aptly named “Oprah Winfrey Network.” Unfortunately for would be cybersquatters, it looks like Oprah’s crew won the registration race on OprahWinfreyNetwork.com, as that domain name is owned by Web Infringement,  LLC an intellectual property protection firm. The do not own OWN.com, a generic domain name purchased   many years before this new network was consummated.

It seems unlikely that Oprah wanted the domain name for her television show, as she would have acquired it for the registration fee prior to the announcement. However, who knows what will happen with the domain name now that someone else has bought it and is monetizing it with PPC links.

Latonas Set to Challenge Bido with Daily Domain Auctions

Elliot Silver
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Latonas.comI just received Rick Latona’s Daily Newsletter email, which informed subscribers of a change to its format. Instead of listing domain names for sale at fixed buy it now prices, each listed domain name will be for sale in a 24 hour auction on Latonas.com. This is big news, which is sure to drive up interest and participation in upcoming newsletters.

To be eligible to bid, domain buyers must register for an account on Latonas.com. Bid increments will depend on the current price of the auction, but auctions are slated for 24 hours each. Full details can be found on Latonas.com.

Since Sahar launched Bido, he has been discussing the importance of liquidity in the domain space. Similar to Bido, Latonas.com promises to bring liquidity to the marketplace, as buyers will set the price/value of domain names in auction rather than the sellers. It’s a gamble, but as Latona revealed in his newsletter, at least “15,000 domain, internet marketing professionals, and businesspeople” are subscribers.

The quality of domain names is what will set these two competitors apart. With Rick Latona’s ability to offer great in-house domain names as well as pawn-default domain names, he immediately brings a strong product to the market. Likewise, with good names bringing good buyers, it’s likely that others will be willing to take a chance and list their domain names for sale on Latonas.com.

In fact, I am going to be placing several bids today and will probably send a few of my domain names to sell in the coming days.

When It’s Critical To Own Your Product Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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Some companies argue that as long as they own their brand domain name, it’s much less important to own their product domain name(s). They may believe this because they carry many products, and it’s easier to manage one domain name and website than a group of them. In my opinion, when a company’s product is more well known than its manufacturer, it’s critical for them to own the product domain name, as that’s what consumers will obviously be looking to find when searching Google or typing in the domain name.

Case in point. I read an article in the Boston Globe yesterday about a new cleaning product called “Spaghetti Scrubs.” This cleaning product is apparently less abrasive than steel Brillo pads, and it molds to whatever pot or item you are cleaning. The idea is that it takes less effort to clean your pots and pans than if you were using a sponge, and it can cause less damage to your pots and pans.

The article mentioned that Spaghetti Scrubs were invented by a Japanese designer, and it named a couple of stores where it’s available to purchase. However, the key takeaway for me is the brand name’s domain name, SpaghettiScrubs.com, is unregistered. From direct navigation and SEO standpoints, this is a mistake. There really is no reason why the manufacturer shouldn’t spend the $10 to buy the domain name. Even a simple forward to the Crate & Barrel website would be better than nothing.

Using Your Domain Name in Another Company’s Google Local Listing

Elliot Silver
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9

I found something very interesting today while looking for a hotel in Paris and think it’s a pretty great way to drive traffic to a domain name, although I am not exactly sure if it’s legit if Google were to know about. I am not going to name the url but want to share this story anyway.

I found a hotel that looked interesting to me via Orbitz, and I wanted to see where it was located in the city. I did a Google search for it, and the top result was the Google Local business listing, which contained the address, map, phone number, and url for the hotel (3 hyphen .com name).

When I clicked the url and opened it in a new window, it was a hotel booking engine that looked very familiar to me. It was a one page website, and although it was in French, I saw that there was very little to the website aside from the booking engine. A Whois search confirmed what I suspected, and the domain name was privately owned and unrelated to the hotel.

I don’t know if this is legit and/or against Google’s TOS, but it’s pretty ingenious for a company or person to have their domain name inserted into the Google Local result, especially when that comes up #1. Ironically, the hotel’s official website is ranked #3 for a search of the hotel, with TripAdvisor.com coming in at #2.

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