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Google to consider “page experience” in rankings

by — Services 2 Comments

Experience metrics to be used in rankings.

A Google sign with the words "new ranking signal"

Google is going to start using “Core Web Vitals” as a ranking signal for websites.

Core Web Vitals measure critical aspects of the user experience. These include load time, interactivity, and the stability of content as it loads.

Google said the changes wouldn’t happen until at least next year, and the company will give six-months’ notice.

It’s worth noting that Google uses hundreds of signals to determine rankings. It will always prioritize good content over things like Core Web Vitals. The company noted:

While all of the components of page experience are important, we will prioritize pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar. A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search.

I’ve found that much of the concern over penalizing sites that are not mobile-friendly was overblown. You can expect the addition of this new signal to be modest at first.

Short domain with a long history sells for $70,050

by — Expired Domains 0 Comments

Once owned by CNET China, 55BBS.com sells for big bucks at DropCatch.com.

House sign with "sold" notice

As someone who enjoyed the golden days of BBS, I thought I knew exactly what 55BBS.com was developed for. How wrong I was!

BBS is the acronym for “Bulletin Board System”, an internet service very popular in the 1980s and 1990s. I still remember that day when I posted a message on a BBS, which resulted in a long-term partnership with a Japanese company.

Actually, 55BBS.com has nothing to do with BBS. It was launched in 2004 as a forum for young Chinese women to discuss fashion, shopping, and other life style issues, with discounts on products offered to registered members. The brand name was Wo Ai Da Zhe (我爱打折=I love discount). The idea was a big hit, yet the company did not upgrade to the matching WADZ.com (which did not resolve at that time).

In 2008, 55BBS.com was sold to CNET China for about 55 million yuan ($8.3 million) as CNET was expanding into the lifestyle and fashion areas. The brand name remained Wo Ai Da Zhe, but apparently, no efforts were made to acquire WADZ.com, which still did not resolve.

In 2015, CNET sold 55BBS.com for only 6.8 million yuan (about $1 million). The new owner changed the brand name to “55Style” and then applied to list it on NEEQ (新三板). However, they did not upgrade to the brand-matching 55Style.com, which was listed for sale with multiple contact methods.

On May 29, 2019, the website disappeared from Wayback Machine records, so apparently the business was gone. Just a few days ago, 55BBS.com sold for $70,050 in an auction after it had expired.

The domains WADZ.com and 55Style.com were not expensive to acquire, but the companies failed to recognize the importance of acquiring brand-matching domains. In fact, this issue exists even today, so there are still a lot of opportunities in selling your domains to China as upgrades.

20 end user domain sales including a $50k .in sale

by — Domain Sales 16 Comments

An online event platform, several software companies, and a cosmetic laser franchise bought domain names.

Picture of bundles of 500 euro notes with the words "End User Domain Sales" and the logo for Sedo

 

It was quite a week for end user sales with nearly 20 hits including one of the highest .IN sales to date, Hop.in. This is their company name so it makes perfect sense that they invested in it even at its high price tag.

Here’s a look at some of the domains end users bought at Sedo this past week. You can review previous end user sales lists here.

Hop.in $50,000 – Hopin is an online events production company. I wrote about its domain Hopin.to last week. This will be a nice shortener.

Hoss.com $29,995 – Hoss allows people to track and manage third-party APIs.

FullPlay.com $23,500 – The domain resolves to a website that claims FullPlay is the “Future of Marketing”.

JobsRUs.com $9,999 – CorTech LLC, which operates a jobs listing site on the domain. It’s not my favorite domain, but it beats its old one: JobStalker.net!

RentALev.com $9,888 – The buyer of ElectricCar.com (which was the top sale last week).

Klient.com $7,000 – Krow Software, a Professional Services Automation software company.

MaVacation.com $5,000 – Forwards to charlestonmedia.online, a “locals-led” travel site.

TopGene.com $5,000 – TopGene’s original core business is personalized non-invasive diagnostics to treat cancer but they have since established a new business unit dedicated to medical and KN95 masks.

Ravona.com $3,900 – A Korean professional sports gear manufacturer and design company.

ESigner.com $3,800 – The whois shows eSigner as the company name but it’s difficult to attach this to a specific company.

Gynaekologie-Muenchen.de €3,600 – Forwards to Gynaekologie-Koeln.de, a gynecology practice in Cologne, Germany.

LaserAway.com $3,500 – Laser Away is a cosmetic laser service franchise with multiple locations in the U.S.

Welt.net €3,500 – Forwards to Welt.de. “DIE WELT” is a German newspaper and this site is their corresponding online magazine for their news items and live video streams of political speeches and news.

KetoDiet.ch €2,900 – Forwards to KetoDiet.eu, a website about the popular Keto diet with related supplements and products for purchase.

Arbeitschreiben.de €2,499 – This is an individual’s website in German offering information and know-how on writing scientific papers.

ZeroTolerance.de €2,380 – Forwards to Thomas-Teleservice.de, a service provider for smartphone repairs. You can also buy single components to make repairs yourself.

TampaWebDesigner.com $2,355 – Forwards to Ideas4.com, a digital and web design agency.

Sundr.de €2,000 – Forwards to the website for Sendatzki + Rosenthal Autoteile und Lacke, a group of auto-related companies.

Immocom.de €2,000 – Forwards to Wundr.de, a political and PR consulting firm in Eastern Germany. They handle marketing and public relations for companies within the real estate industry.

TaxFix.nl €2,000 – Website about taxation in the Netherlands aimed at individuals and small entrepreneurs.

GoDaddy fixes glitch that upgraded privacy

by — Uncategorized 6 Comments

Some customers were upgraded to a much more expensive privacy product.

Picture of a lock on chain with the words "Whois Privacy"

A month ago, a man in Scotland reported an unwelcome charge from GoDaddy:

Whois privacy protection on Cameron Gray’s domain was upgraded to GoDaddy’s much more expensive “Ultimate Privacy Protection”.

Gray said that a GoDaddy support representative told him that he was upgraded because regular Whois privacy was no longer needed due to GDPR.

As it turns out, the support representative gave him incorrect information. GoDaddy says the service change was a bug that it has fixed. It is unclear how many customers were impacted.

Customers outside of the European Union also might not have to pay to have their Whois information redacted in the future. GoDaddy is working on changes to the information it provides.

Someone wants to trademark “makeOffer” for domain forwarding

by — Policy & Law 4 Comments

It’s a ubiquitous term in the domain industry.

Screenshot of domain listings on Sedo

Someone is trying to trademark “makeOffer” for domain forwarding. This screenshot shows the common use of the term at Sedo, a leading domain marketplace.

An Austin man has filed a trademark application (serial 88833592) for “makeOffer” for “Computer services, namely, domain forwarding services.”

Make Offer is, of course, a common term in the domain name industry for unpriced domain names seeking an offer.

Mark Estabrook operates a site at MakeOffer.site. He submitted a screenshot from the site as his specimen. The page reads:

makeOffer

you landed here because the domain name you typed in your browser’s URL was forwarded here. a person or organization owns the name and wants us to broker it for them privately. it can be yours. to begin the process, tell us which name you are interested in and SUBMIT a reasonable offer. as seller’s agent, we will forward your offer and if seller wants to respond we will contact you.

The trademark application cites a first use date of March 8, 2020.

I emailed Estrabrook yesterday to understand his objective in trademarking the term. I have not yet heard back.



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