SuperMedia Launches “Super” Domains

Super Media, LLCPat Quinn from Big Iron Design emailed me this morning to share information for a follow-up to a post I wrote about SuperMedia’s acquisition of “Super” domain names. The company spent quite a bit of money acquiring domain names in the aftermarket, and it looks like they’ve launched a number of them.

Some of their new portals include:

When you visit the websites above, SuperMedia seems to be using a redirect to AskLearnHire.com, followed by an immediate second redirect back to the website you visited (you can only notice it if you watch your url bar change). If you visit AskLearnHire.com directly, you can learn more about the purpose of these mini-websites. It appears that the company wants to build small websites for social networking and interactivity between businesses and consumers. In my opinion, this is a smart move.

SuperMedia hasn’t built all of their websites out yet, as SuperPainters.com, SuperMoving.com, and SuperFlorists.com, which were mentioned in my original article, have not been developed yet. It is very possible that they are testing these portals, perhaps supported by television and/or print campaigns.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

14 COMMENTS

  1. Hhhmmm this is one of those cases where it sounds nice until you realize no one looks for super stuff, I mean when has anyone ever searched or typed in anything super?

    Based on that the names are crap, reg fee each imo.

    The idea too has everything to do with marketing/ads nothing more. Since thats the case would have been better to buy one name like super.com and make these services available from it… fools and their money.

  2. Can you imagine how tired folks will get typing in “super” all the time?

    I predict a crash no matter how much money they spend on it.

  3. I can relate to the “super” brand, because it’s been used hundreds of times to describe certain PRODUCTS, but very rarely for SERVICES.

    I purchased about 12 “super” domains, thinking carefully regarding how an “infomercial” company hawking a new product would like to brand their product. I even went mainstream with two home appliances defined by “Super”. The appliances sit side by side and work in tandem to complete the job, unless you go to a laundromat.

    I don’t know about “supermechanics.com” and “superplumbing.com” as “service” brands. Maybe they will work, with some good promotion and advertising. I like to give anyone’s project a chance to succeed… I don’t think anyone can diss an idea by someone else with confident “they’ll fail”, because surprises have made thousands of people rich, yes?

  4. Hmm…layout and color schemes look nice. While most here seem to bash the name quality. I think they’re doing a “super” job.

    Then again, everyone here says they’re only worth Reg Fee, however look at gizmodo or engadget…what would you think those names / domains be worth if they weren’t big publications as they are now?

    Uh huh…exactly!

  5. At the risk of committing domainer heresy, they’d have had a much easier time promoting and branding one site than a bunch of smaller ones. For one thing, the lack of consistent naming – like the use of the gerund (“ing”) for some terms and the plural for others – will be problematic. Is it “superplumbing”, “superplumber” or “superplumbers?” I’m guessing many of those similar names are already in use. It’s CSNstores and Netshops all over again. (BTW, Netshops changed its name to Hayneedle and is now putting its branding efforts into the central site.)

    From a visitor perspective, what about the people looking for a plumber AND an electrian? Their new portals are totally ignoring the other verticals when they could be using them to drive additional, targeted traffic.

    They have a head start establishing their “super” brand and the capital to put into it, I’m sure they’ll make it work. But IMO, they’re not taking the easy way out.

  6. @ Mary Anne

    “what about the people looking for a plumber AND an electrian? Their new portals are totally ignoring the other verticals when they could be using them to drive additional, targeted traffic.”

    I think that’s actually smart because it’s more than just Yellow pages or a directory. It allows people to ask questions of a specific professional, so they can connect and then contact. I think it’s taking Yellow Pages to the next social networking level… it’s a good and smart test.

    The problem they’d have is that if it works and they need to get a lot of other “Super” names, they’d be SOL because the prices would go up exponentially once they tipped their hands. I am sure they bought the most important names – the ones that they feel would make the best portals for them. I don’t know if it’s the best strategy, but it’s a beta.

  7. It is just “Super!”

    Seriously, not much of a marKeting move, and more gimmick. Like copying ServiceMagic’s ServiceGuarantee and relabeling it the SuuperGuarantee, or some bogus 500.00 guarantee that looks good until you read the Ts and Cs of it!

    Hmmmmm. SuperScam.com or?

    How about http://www.YellowCroooks.com ?

    Cheers,

    Mike

  8. @Elliot – I agree that the topic focus and social features are great and I’m not suggesting something that draws people out of the funnel , but there will be a certain percentage of DIY’ers who stop by just to “ask” and “learn” – the sites could use something subtle to raise awareness of the other “super” sites where they may be inclined to “hire”.

    This is the part of their plan that iss, imo, really smart:

    “Any business can register to participate directly on the sites. The more they interact on the site by answering questions, contributing articles and accepting leads, the more visibility they will have.”

    Getting quality UGC by dangling a visibility carrot over the business owners’ heads. Looking at their signup terms, they will be charging business owners for leads, posting content will earn points that defray the cost of accepting leads. Supermedia either gets paid the old fashioned way or in free authoritative content. I like it. I still don’t think separate domains are going to provide any real benefit, but good strategy.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

Squadhelp Adds Escrow.com as a Payment Option

1
Squadhelp has added Escrow.com as a payment option for buyers. The addition of the Escrow.com option was shared by ARIYAS on X this morning: 👍...

Some Thoughts on .AI Domain Names

14
There is no question that .AI domain names have become a hot topic of late. With considerable amounts of venture funding flowing into AI...

Handoff to Dan on Imported Leads Can be Confusing

0
I've been using the lead import option at Dan.com more regularly. Although the 5% commission is not ideal, transactions tend to move more quickly...

ArtificialIntelligence.com Goes Up for Sale

11
I tried to buy the ArtificialIntelligence.com domain name multiple times over the last 10 years. The emails I sent to the registrant went unanswered,...

EU Gives More IP Protection to Food & Drink Producers

0
Did you know that some well-known food and drink varieties are protected intellectual property regulations? Popular types of drinks and foods that are protected...