Wired Magazine: Vote on Tech Trends

The mess of Sedo/mTLD auction number 3 is indeed a mess.

But something I think we loose track of is who, outside of domainers, have really heard of Sedo, mTLD, .mobi, and auctioning of domains?

Established corporations are already well entrenched with an online presence and are now finding viable options of reaching their customers, everywhere…no matter where that everywhere is.

The success of this extension is going to be dependent upon the consumer and the willingness to adopt and use this extension.

I still think the U.S. is lagging the European nations and Asian folks. But that gap seems to be narrowing.

Americans more wired: survey
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2844258220071228?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

But consider this…when was the last time you saw ICANN publically supporting or promoting anything under their watch? Or for that matter VeriSign taking their fees for regs and renewals to put into marketing any domain? I would imagine it happens.

Earlier in the week, Elliot pointed out the deals gone sour. I can not count the number of non-payment sales I have had this year alone on Sedo and Afternic…all .com’s. I assure you, without having any numbers at all, Sedo’s loses tally in the millions (gross) from fake schill bidding, false and multiple accounts, and non payment. The loses recouped by having a legitimate buyer “verification”, not some bogus “certification”, would go a long way to improving an often time pathetic customer service* and upgrades. (*currently waiting on payment for a sale in November and transfer into my account of a domain paid on 12/07/07).

When was the last time ElliotsBlog accepted advertising revenue from ICANN and VeriSign/

We know how it works. It is networking, getting the word out, linking, and most of all finding support among those that have like interests. Is it any surprise at all that the sidebars on this very site are predominantly domain and domaining related?

Surely none of us are depending on the likes of ICANN, VeriSign, or mTLD to make or break our sites, efforts, developments, or purchasing decisions?

Are we?

Until May 2007, I had never heard of .mobi or Sedo; it took a lot of research to figure out parking, etc. I had a vague idea about domaining, but that was it. I stumbled upon DomainTools blog and discovered a lot of terms I didn’t know, such as Keyword selection, Overture, direct navigation, and googled them. That was my education, and I’m still learning (sometimes the hard way). I still lack the tech skills, however. I can do FrontPage, Blogger, and Squidoo, but the other stuff is a bit beyond me. I’m learning my way around my registrar, such as managing DNS and CNAMES–a lot of info to stuff into this 57-year-old head in a short time.

But I will tell you this: when I first discovered .mobi, my first thought was “How cool is that!” What a natural!

I was enthralled with the extension because I could see the myriad possibilities. At this point, though, it’s mTLD’s mileu to screw up. If only they would promote the extension and stop the other nonsense going on, they could have an awesome TLD.

I see some shortsightedness going on; maybe some people just want to make a quick buck and get out, and that’s a shame. Then the .tel folks may pick up the pieces.

Maybe I’ll dust off rescuing.mobi and develop a blog about how to rescue .mobi from a possible crash, though I’m hardly an expert, just someone who’s distressed to see this TLD fall apart. Any ideas?

The domaining world will be watching the do-over .mobi auction with great interest.

I know I will.

Best from Vienna,

Ms Domainer

ms domainer come out come out wherever you are from behind your masked curtain
–oh it’s pinky brand- now it all makes sense

Jack Sparrow,

I’m hardly masked.

http://www.MsDomainer.com

I’m pretty open about my identity, which may be to my detriment.

BTW, is Jack Sparrow your real name? Just wondering…

Most of us have aliases; I sorta like mine.

Best, Ms Domainer