Survey: domain name registrars must focus on security and price

by — Domain Registrars 2 Comments

Domain name registrars must offer strong security and price to attract customers.

There are some questions I’ve asked on the Domain Name Wire Survey over the past ten years that have predictable answers year after year.

One of these is “Rank the importance of these items when choosing a domain registrar.”

Just about every year, security and price are the top two. That was the case again in 2015.

The weighted score for these two factors was essentially a statistical dead heat for the most important factor when selecting a domain name registrar. Click here to continue reading…

Radix serving up Grilled Cheese at SXSW

by — Domain Services 0 Comments

New top level domain name company hopes to reach tech audience at SXSW this month.

Radix SXSW

Radix is giving out t-shirts, such as this one for .tech, along with grilled cheese sandwiches at SXSW.

People love free food, especially during a busy conference. I recently wrote about Sedo’s Froyo truck at SXSW; new TLD company Radix is also giving away free food at the event in Austin later this month.

The company will have a large booth at the SXSW Tradeshow and will be handing out free .space-branded grilled cheese sandwiches.

Radix will also offer discounts for on-the-spot registrations of its domains, such as .space and .online. It will promote its upcoming TLDs, including .online and .tech, as well.

Radix CEO Bhavin Turakhia believes SXSW is an ideal way to reach the target market for some of these domain names.

“SXSW is a great platform to reach out to innovators, techies and creative persons. We are really excited to be at the conference and have planned exciting promos to connect with the SXSW community and get the word out there about our domain extensions,” he said.

Miami chef alleges web designer is holding domain name hostage

by — Policy & Law 7 Comments

Personal chef claims he can’t get his domain name back and former web marketing firm is sabotaging his new website.

TheMiamiPersonalChef.com

Chef Stuart Shaw switched his domain name to TheMiamiPersonalChef.com (pictured) and claims his former web firm is holding his old domain hostage.

A Miami personal chef has sued the owner of a web design/marketing company, alleging (pdf) that the company held his domain name hostage after he canceled services.

Stuart Shaw says he contracted with Need Marketing Group in 2007 to develop a site for him at MiamiPersonalChefs.com. He canceled the services in 2010, but claims that the defendant (an individual) would not allow him to transfer the domain name. Click here to continue reading…

2015 Domain Name Wire Survey: By the Numbers

by — Domain Services 0 Comments

Here’s who took this year’s survey.

SurveyThe submission period for this year’s Domain Name Wire Survey, the tenth annual version of the survey, is now closed.

You may recall that I changed the format of the survey last year. The topics are no longer “stuff the ballot box” questions; they focus on overall trends in the domain name business. Survey takers also have to provide some identification details.

That means fewer — but higher quality — responses. Click here to continue reading…

Last week’s NameJet Expired Domain Sales

by — Expired Domains 0 Comments

Joseph Peterson details recent expired domain name sales at NameJet.

After a couple of weeks during which Chinese purchases topped the expired domain auction list at NameJet, English is back. In the driver’s seat sits an exact-match domain that defines a ubiquitous commercial category: SignPrinting.com ($4.9k). ChicagoDivorce.com ($2.8k) called shotgun – an EMD as well yet geographically specific. Although this duo was fairly expensive, both are ultimately worth more. You can’t walk 1 city block in Chicago without passing a printed sign or a divorcé(e).

Some day, SecretLover.com ($2.6k) might be to blame for a few of those divorces! And you’ll need that lawyer to hold onto your BahamasProperty.com ($2k). Somebody out there can use these very domains to spell out his life story, beginning with excessive use of HairSprays.com ($2.1k) in the 1980s. Click to continue reading…