Domain Name Wire » domainsponsor

A Warning if You Use TrafficClub NameServers

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:49:18 +0000

Legacy nameservers no longer generating revenue for parking customers.

Oversee.net shut down Moniker’s traffic monetization solution TrafficClub shortly after buying the company. TrafficClub accounts were transitioned to DomainSponsor and the trafficclub.com nameservers continued to work.

But that changed back in March, apparently without notice as far as I can tell. Although the trafficclub.com nameservers continue to function and resolve to DomainSponsor parked pages, you no longer are receiving credit for any of that traffic.

Perhaps I’m the only one who didn’t bother to change my nameservers after the changeover. And clearly I don’t make much money from the domains I had there since I didn’t notice earlier. But if you were a TrafficClub user who never switched DNS, I recommend doing it immediately.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

DOMAINfest Announces Keynote and Improves on Winning Formula

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:14:11 +0000

Biggest domain name conference tweaks formula and adds famous author to agenda.

The biggest annual conference geared to domain name investors is less than three months away.

DOMAINfest Global 2011 will take place February 1-4 in Santa Monica, California. Last year’s event brought together over 600 internet and domain name professionals.

Yesterday DOMAINfest organizer DomainSponsor announced a fireside chat/keynote with Ben Mezrich, Author of “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal” — the book the popular “The Social Network” movie is based on. While a number of people have called into question Mezrich’s portrayal of the founding of Facebook in the book, Mezrich has no doubt researched a lot about the founding of successful companies. Perhaps this conference will stoke enough intrigue in Mezrich that he’ll consider writing a book about the domain name industry (similar to this one.)

Here are a few changes compared to last year’s main DOMAINfest Global event:

1. Shorter live auctions. The low/no reserve auction will be just one hour on Tuesday and the main auction will last only 1 1/2 hours on Thursday.

2. A new format for PITCHfest. At PITCHfest companies get to pitch their company or new product to the audience for 5 minutes. Last year they then faced questioning from an expert panel. This year there will be no follow up questions; the panel will vote on a winner and the audience will get to choose one, too.

3. Interactive workshops. These workshops will be aimed at beginning and intermediate domain investors and take place in a structured setting. These workshops will feature experts that can expand knowledge and give the kinds of tips and tools to increase the learning curve of people that have more recently discovered the potential of domain names as an asset class. Buying and selling, monetization options and website buildouts will be covered.

And in case you’re wondering: yes, the Playboy Mansion party is on again this year.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

DOMAINfest Announces Prague Party Locations

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:26:07 +0000

Networking and partying gets underway in a couple weeks in Czech Republic.

DOMAINfest has announced that it will hold networking events and parties at two exclusive locations during October’s event in Prague.

On October 6, Moniker and SnapNames have obtained exclusive use of the National Museum in Prague’s Vaclavske Square for a dinner party. It’s the oldest and largest museum in the Czech Republic.

On October 7, DomainSponsor will host a dinner and party at Duplex Club & Café. Guests will have exclusive use of the this rooftop lounge and dance club. It overlooks Wenceslas Square in Prague’s city center.

Of course we might be very tired by the time we head to the Duplex Club. Thursday will be sans sessions and focus exclusively on fun networking: from Grand Prix Go Kart Racing and a Pub Hunt Contest to AK47 and M16 Shooting Contests or a walking tour of Prague Castle and area churches and cathedrals.

Registration is available through the end of the month for only $595.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

DomainSponsor Doubles Revenue in Europe, Plans Two European Roundtables

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:58:04 +0000

Parking company sees results from new European operations.

The two largest Google domain name parking partners have long known their turf — DomainSponsor was strongest in the U.S. while Sedo was strongest in Europe. Many years after Sedo set up an office in the U.S., DomainSponsor finally decided it needed a home base in Europe, opening an office last year.

DomainSponsor said today that it’s getting results, doubling its revenues and customers since May 2010. Of course, who knows what the base of customers was, but this still shows good progress for the company.

The company will also hold two roundtables with customers this week. The first takes place August 3 in Cologne, followed by August 5 in London. Customers should email europe (at) domainsponsor.com for details on the roundtables.

The biggest European event for DomainSponsor is the continent’s return of DOMAINfest Global taking place in Prague October 6-7. I’ll be there, and I think the turnout will be strong.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

DOMAINfest Europe to Mix Business and Fun

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:47:30 +0000

DOMAINfest sets preliminary agenda for Prague show and opens registration.

DOMAINfest has opened registration for its European show taking place Wednesday and Thursday, October 6 and 7, 2010, at the Hotel InterContinental in Prague, Czech Republic. The agenda looks very different from most of the company’s previous events, as the second day is dedicated to fun networking and social events.

Wednesday will include a number of session geared to the European audience including European ccTLD and IDN Opportunities and European Legal Issues Impacting Domain Investors. On Thursday there will be several social activities to choose from:

Thursday morning -
Guided Walking Tour and River
Spy Game
Grand Prix Go Kart Racing
Bobsled Racing
AK47 and M16 Shooting Contest

Thursday afternoon -
Prague Castle and Church Walking Tour
Grand Prix Go Kart
Pub Hunt Contest
AK47 and M16 Shooting Contest
Skoda Road Ralley

Early bird registration is $395 through July 1.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

My 12 Picks for Thursday’s DOMAINfest Auction

Andrew Allemann — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:08:38 +0000

Here are a dozen domains worth watching at Thursday’s domain auction.

DomainSponsor’s first DOMAINfest Power Networking day is this Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. The day concludes with a live domain name auction featuring 120 domain names.

Several of the domains in the auction are tied to Rob Monster’s Domain Strategies. Karate.com, a partnership between Domain Strategies and Live Current Media, is on the block for $500,000-$750,000. Wifi.com, an early partnership for the company, is priced somewhere north of $1 million. Wifi.com was purchased by Salient Properties for $225,000 in 2006, and Domain Strategies partnered with Salient in early 2008. A lot of investment has gone into the web site. Monster also has HardDrives.com priced $500,000-$750,000, a domain he picked up last year for just over $200,000.

Hobbies.com, which was purchased in combination with iToys.com for $102,000 at the eToys bankruptcy auction, is up for sale between $250,000-$500,000.

Here are 12 domains in the auction that I think are worthy of attention:

Antidepressant.com – the plural would be better, but it might be worth the $10,000-$25,000 reserve.

BoardGames.com – I know the reserve is hefty at $250k+, but this domain could be awesome for a casual games web site or for one of the big board games companies. So far most board game sellers have gone with branded domains instead of category killers. As a bonus, it’s an active site with good traffic according to Compete.com. Probably only end users at this price, although I can think of a couple domain investors that might bid in the lower range.

CarSecurity.com – an entire category for under $5,000.

CherryTrees.com – a great buy at under $1,000.

Collapsed.com – I can think of a lot of things that have collapsed over the past few years. Worth the money at $1,000-$2,500.

EFP.com – good three letter domain for $5,000-$10,000.

FitnessStore.com – with a reserve between $10,000-$25,000, the price might be a bit hefty. But worth a look.

FrontSeats.com – Perfect domain for an online ticket brokerage, although you might need to snag frontseat.com as well.

GolfResorts.com – Priced $10,000-$25,000; I like it near the lower end of the range for sure.

Petroleum.net – I’m kind of down on .net these days, but a good one for under $10k.

Sentimental.com – I can get sentimental about this domain between $5,000-$10,000.

Taunt.com – OK domain, but at no reserve we should see some bidding action.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.

DOMAINfest Announces Two Single Day Events in U.S.

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:56:41 +0000

Oversee announces two “mini shows” for 2010.

DOMAINfest, a conference organized by Oversee.net and DomainSponsor, has announced two one day events taking place in the U.S. this year.

The first will be May 13, 2010 at the W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale and the second on August 18, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt in midtown Manhattan, immediately following the Affiliate Summit East conference. Each event will including networking and programming and a Moniker live domain name auction. Admission will be $175.

Oversee’s move makes sense for a number of reasons:

1. TRAFFIC inked an exclusive deal with Rick Latona for auctions this year. Without these one day events, Moniker would only have two major domain conferences this year at which to run auctions (its own DOMAINfest conferences). The company just added two more auction events to the calendar.

2. It allows Oversee to reach out to its regional customers, and new potential customers attending other conferences in the cities at the same time.

3. The entry fee of only $175 opens up networking opportunities to people that don’t want to spend more money to attend one of the major domain name conferences.

Registration for the events will be open starting April 12 at DOMAINfest.com.

Get Certified Parking Stats at DNW Certified Stats.