No more affiliate links.

I used to include affiliate links on Domain Name Wire, but I took them off a few weeks ago. Here’s why:

1. Everyone has conflicts of interest. But the affiliate links made it easy for people to question if I was writing about a particular auction or product because I wanted to make money off of it. So, problem solved. (Of course I still accept paid advertising. But with a wait list, I don’t have a need to promote companies on the blog just to keep their ads.)

2. I used to make a lot of money off of parking affiliate programs. I no longer do. That makes it easier to kill the links. (How’s that for honesty?)

3. The FTC recently released new rules regarding what you must disclose when you get paid for referring a product. I don’t know the rules inside and out, but it’s one more reason not to use affiliate links on this site.

The majority of affiliate links on Domain Name Wire were automatically inserted with a plug-in. I’ve turned that off, so most links are removed. However, there are hard coded links from over the years that will remain.

My decision in no way suggests that I view other bloggers using affiliate links in a negative way. Indeed, I think affiliate programs are one of the great pillars of ecommerce.

Domain price index now includes data for ten top level domain names.

Today Sedo and its research partner (now an employee) released an updated version of the IDNX, a price index for domain names.

Included in the latest refresh are sub-indices for 10 different top level domain names.

Top level domain options now include .com, .net, .org, .biz., .info, .mobi, .eu, .de, .co.uk, and .es.

With the TLD analysis, Sedo draws two key conclusions that are relevant to companies considering introducing new top level domain names.

First, historic performance of .net and .org could not close the gap market leader .com. Both price trends and registration numbers show that demand for “second-best” substitutes has been modest, at best.

Second, the relative success of .info vs. .biz and .eu shows that a TLD can be successfully introduced to the market, which Sedo says provides encouraging news for aspiring registries.

This latter point is worth noting, although I think the introduction of new TLDs will be very different from when .info and .biz were introduced. .Info was well marketed. Neustar, which operates .biz, looked at itself as more of a technical provider than a marketer for that TLD. Lesson learned.

AMEX and The Georgia Department of Agriculture buy domain names.

Here’s a look at end user domain purchases from Afternic over the past week.

Switzerland’s Deesse AG, which operates web sites at Deesse.de and Deesse.com, bought Deesse.net for $1,688.

The Broadway Consortium, which produces and invests in a variety of theater projects, bought BroadwayRecords.com for $1,200.

Sevier County Electric System bought SCES.net, its acronym, for $1,316.

Salt River Materials Group also ponied up for its acronym, SRMG.net, but at a cost of $5,000.

Market research company Marketview Research, Inc, paid X for Survey123.com for $4,800.

Prestige Resorts and Hotels of Minnesota paid $1,288 for PrestigeAccommodations.com.

ManageStaff, Inc., which until now used the domain name managestaffinc.com, bought ManageStaff.com for $1,888.

StreetInkCorp, owner of Swingtowns.com, bought Swingtown.com for $12,000. This may have been a bargain given the TV show of the same name.

The Confidentiality Group, LLC, which operates SecureZone 360 and owns SecureZone360.com, bought SecureZone.net for $2,588.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture bought GeorgiaGrown.com for $2,000.

American Express bought DevExchange.com for $3,188.

International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers (how’s that for a mouthful) paid $17,000 for IronWorkers.com to match its IronWorkers.org domain name.

TheRetirementCentre.com followed Facebook’s lead by dropping the ‘the’ for $2,000.

Marchex gets smacked around in the stock market.

The stock market isn’t showing any love to Marchex, one of the world’s largest holders of domain names.

Shares closed today at just $6.38, down nearly 40% from their $10.57 opening price on August 15.

This is despite the company topping both earnings and revenue estimates for the third quarter in earnings released November 2.

The company is focusing heavily on its pay-per-call services.

Here’s how some other companies tied to the domain name industry have done during the same period:

Tucows (TCX) is up 6% to $.75
Demand Media (DMD) is down 24% to $6.99
Web.com (WWWW), which recently closes its acquisition of Network Solutions, is virtually unchanged at $10.57.

.Com prices jump 7% in January.

Time is running out if you want to save money (or not spend more) on your .com and .net domain name renewals.

VeriSign’s price hikes on its wholesale cost for the domains goes into effect January 15. The wholesale cost from VeriSign for .com domain names will increase from $7.34 to $7.85 and the registry fee for .net domain names will increase from $4.65 to $5.11.

That doesn’t include ICANN’s 18 cent tax, which bumps the .com price up to over $8.00.

If you have a portfolio of 5,000 .com domain names then the extra renewal cost will be $2,550.

It won’t give you a heart attack on a bill of nearly $40,000, but it’s much more than you would have paid five years ago before all of these 7% price hikes began.

I just renewed the bulk of my .com and .net domains that expire next year at GoDaddy. As an added bonus, if you use cash accounting and renew before the end of the year then you can deduct your costs from this year’s income.

Price increases in other extensions are also on their way.