Today in the Lowdown at DNJournal.com: .Biz bags over $360,000 in an auction of 1-character domains (including $66,000 for a single domain), Sedo co-founders sell their remaining stock to the Adlink Group and the U.S. government loosens (but doesn’t release) its leash on ICANN.
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Sedo creating network to provide more exposure to domain name listings.
Domain broker Sedo will introduce its own version of a “domain name multiple listing service” in 2010. Although details are limited at this time, it appears to offer sellers expanded reach, similar to AfternicDLS and Domain Distribution Network.
There are two technical keys to domain MLS systems working. First, domains must be instantly transferred to buyers in a process known as “instant fulfillment”. Second, domain names need to be priced. Buyers who discover a name when searching for names at a registrar — typically end users — don’t want to haggle and are willing to pay more to close a deal now. But most of the domains listed at Sedo aren’t priced, so Sedo must address this problem first.
To encourage fixed price listings, Sedo is changing it “no minimum commission” offer on October 21. The current promotion charges no minimum commission if a domain is parked at Sedo when it sells. The new promotion will require the domain to be parked at Sedo and have a fixed price.
To help customers set a fixed price, Sedo has a newly released price suggestion tool.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Domain Name Wire interviews ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom.
We have a new acronym to add to the domain name lexicon: AOC, for Affirmation of Commitments.
Earlier today the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) formally announced its new agreement to replace the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with the U.S. Government.
On the surface, the AOC (pdf) sounds like a wish list of everything a domain owner could want: explanations from ICANN about how it makes particular decisions, a requirement to address important issues before releasing new gTLDs, and more openness and reviews. The problem is that the agreement lacks teeth.
I talked with ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom this afternoon to dig into some of the details of the agreement.
Beckstrom explained that the AOC replaces the JPA, allowing for more control by world governments; not just the United States. But the AOC is just one piece of the puzzle, and the U.S. government still has a hand by awarding ICANN the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) contract.
“The IANA agreement gives us the authority to be the policy function globally for internet names and numbers, and that’s what holds the web together,” explained Beckstrom. “The JPA was the review process, a separate agreement that was trying to make sure that we grew up as an organization as a multi-stakeholder body.”
The AOC represents the handing off of the formal review process from the United States to the world.
But the AOC isn’t a binding contract and lacks teeth. If ICANN doesn’t fulfill its promises under the agreement, the U.S. government can’t do anything about it, other than make its voice heard on the review panels. In fact, the agreement has a clause that allows either the U.S. government or ICANN to cancel the agreement with 120 days’ notice.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see [the cancellation clause] invoked, but like any partnership agreement it’s prudent to have an out clause,” said Beckstrom.
Beckstrom explained that, as the priorities of ICANN change over the years, it may make sense for the agreement to be modified. For example, it might not make sense for frequent reviews of the effects of new TLDs ten years from now.
Section 9.3 of the AOC calls for ICANN to address many issues prior to releasing new top level domains. It’s unclear if this will slow down the introduction of new top level domains. However, “fast track” IDNs, which are essentially IDN ccTLDs, appear to be full steam ahead.
“It looks like the IDNs are tracking very much on time and feedback seems to be ubiquitously positive,” said Beckstrom.
Non ccTLD IDNs will be introduced as part of the new gTLD process.
The AOC, if followed, should be a positive thing for the domain name industry. And for those that thought the web would die when the JPA did, it appears to still be working.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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e.Biz steals the show at successful one character .biz auction.
It’s no surprise that e.Biz was the top selling domain name in Sedo’s one character .biz domain name auction.
But $66,001?
That will certainly turn a lot of heads. Especially since the winner could have picked the domain up for a few hundred dollars and a commitment to develop/market it had it gone through .biz registry Neustar’s RFP process.
About 20 bidders participated, but just two bidders fought it out after the bidding hit $25,750.
The sale will attract a lot of attention to the .biz top level domain name, and perhaps stoke a bit of fire into .biz domain values.
Although e.biz was the show-stopper, many other domains sold for respectable prices, too. 1.biz sold for $32,003. It will be interesting to see how this domain is used, as I’d think you would also want to one one.biz.
Please note that these are unofficial results that I collected.
1.biz $32,003
2.biz $5,801
4.biz $7,601
5.biz $6,100
6.biz $8,100
7.biz $7,877
8.biz $8,200
9.biz $7,901
a.biz $10,099
b.biz $10,005
c.biz $8,988
d.biz $26,110
e.biz $63,001
f.biz $8,250
g.biz $9,400
h.biz $5,300
j.biz $8,250
k.biz $6,900
l.biz $5,000
m.biz $15,611
n.biz $8,001
p.biz $7,878
r.biz $8,855
s.biz $8,211
t.biz $7,602
u.biz $10,009
v.biz $6,100
w.biz $13,500
x.biz $10,099
y.biz $8,988
z.biz $8,988
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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No Tags specified :-)If there is something we know about here at Sedo, its how to sell domains. And weve found that few things help sell your domains faster than…
If there is something we know about here at Sedo, it’s how to sell domains. And we’ve found that few things help sell your domains faster than parking them with Sedo and listing them at a fixed price. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new “No Minimum…
No Tags specified :-)AdLINK has purchased the remaining 24% of Sedo and promoted its managing director.
Sedo parent company AdLINK Group has purchased the outstanding 24.06% of Sedo shares owned by its founders. AdLINK will purchase the shares for 5.5M EUR in cash plus 4.25 million shares of AdLINK. At today’s exchange rates and stock price, and assuming no restrictions on the stock, that values Sedo at about $130 million.
Sedo Managing Director Tim Schumacher has also been named as the new CEO of AdLINK. AdLINK will also be changing its name, to be finalized in 2010.
AdLINK group had sales of 102.1M EUR in the first half of 2009, a 10.3% drop compared to the same period in 2008. Its earnings fell to 1.4M EUR, a 72% drop from 2008.
Sales in the Sedo division dropped 23.4% year-over-year to 22.6M EUR. Due to a “quality and efficiency” process, the number of domains available on Sedo also dropped in the first half of the year. However, the number of registered users jumped to 894,000.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Sales network picks up inventory and distribution.
Dark Blue Sea’s Domain Distribution Network (DDN) has partnered with Oversee.net and its Moniker and Snapnames divisions.
Customers that have their domain names at Moniker and list them for sale can have the domains syndicated through Domain Distribution Network’s partners. If a domain sells, fulfillment will be automatic and not require any action from the domain seller.
Other distribution partners currently listed in DDN’s web site include Network Solutions, Register.com, and Tucows/OpenSRS.
DDN’s inventory will also be listed for sale on SnapNames, which may have the effect of “crowding out” current seller listings on the service.
This is a nice win for DDN and Dark Blue Sea, although it is still reeling from the loss of a sales agreement with GoDaddy earlier this year.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Earlier last week, and with much anticipation (from me anyway), Facebook launched their new ad manager. I was lucky enough to get access to the beta, but I have to admit that I’m very disappointed with the new interface. Which is way worse than being angry, right?
According to Facebook, the new ad manager includes “in-line editing capabilities, improved navigation and search abilities”. I’ll admit that the in-line editing capabilities are a big step up from the previous interface, but adding a search box and the ability to edit multiple ads simultaneously just isn’t quite what I had in mind from this juggernaut.
I would love to see Facebook step it up and really take advantage of their potential, but at a minimum, the new interface leaves me wishing for more. For example:
I really don’t want to be a hater, as I wrote about Facebook’s ad manager being weak sauce back in May. But let’s be serious, the new ad manager is lamer than Facebook Lite and the changes made are so minimal that it’s not even worth having a beta.
This flimsy launch is just the latest in a string of issues that I feel will contribute to the inevitable downward spiral so typical in the world of social media. Last month, the NY Times came out with a thought provoking article surrounding Facebook’s shelf life. Apparently there are a small but growing number of users jumping ship for a variety of reasons but namely, privacy concerns. The article examines how the novelty has worn off now that everyone has “been found”, and that users are increasingly concerned about privacy, (which they are regularly reminded about by ads that are getting eerily more and more personal). Like the recent Gmail one that dynamically inserted my first name in the headline and plastered it to the sidebar of my FB profile page.
MySpace followed the same trend: got creepy and spammy and users started to feel violated. And so they moved on to Facebook, a space that – at the time – was much more private.
And so between the lame new ad manager, growing privacy concerns and historical trends the way I see it, Facebook is heading towards a much less engaged audience within the next year. Unless they hurry up and bring it, Zuckerberg will be forced to reactively deal with the repercussions.
Rachel Andersen works for the Portland based SEM agency Anvil Media, Inc. She has expertise in all aspects of search engine marketing and specializes in SEO for large sites. Andersen has been responsible for the development and execution of dozens of search and social marketing campaigns over her time spent with Anvil.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Are You There Facebook? It’s Me, Rachel
To separate online content from product listings that are being submitted to its Google Base product, Google has split Base it into two components, creating the Google Merchant Center specifically for product listing and retaining Google Base to accommodate other online content submitted by users.
Google Base is an online facility provided by Google to publishers and companies to make their content searchable online. What makes Google Base different from the Google index is the fact that content owners can assign useful attributes to their content that will make them easily searchable. Anyone can submit content to Google Base, whether it be the type of material which is used for a jacket or the length of a specific auto part.
The Google Merchant Center on the other hand offers almost the same functionality. But this one is dedicated for product related content submitted by their respective owners. Google also promises to improve on the Google Merchant Center to at least make it at par with the status of Google Base.
According to Google Merchant Center Product Manager Loannis Kalafatis:
“If you submit products to Google, Google Merchant Center is now the place to upload your feeds, check on the status of your items, and get information on the performance of your listings.”
Despite the creation of the Google Merchant Center, Google Base will still be optimized to meet the needs of owners submitting their product for inclusion.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Google Creates Merchant Center for Product Listings
We just received an email from Jeff Behrendt at the Aviva Directory (one of my favorites) stating that the current 40% off deal that Aviva is running will be expiring tomorrow. If you’re waiting to do some directory submittals, then I highly suggest taking advantage of Jeff’s generous offer/
Aviva Directory’s biggest special ever – giving you a whopping discount of 40% – ends tomorrow, September 30, 2009.
So please submit your website now to drive traffic and sales to your website.
Click on this link to submit your website: http://www.avivadirectory.com/submit.php
To take advantage of this 40% discount, enter this coupon code when you are submitting your website: alist09
You can use this coupon code for multiple submissions, and for annual or permanent listings.
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
Aviva Directory 40% Off Discount Ends Tomorrow
