PALM BEACH, FL - Richard Lau, it’s a name many in the domain industry will be familiar with, as he was a Co-Founder of NamesCon, the domain industries “main event” so to speak, now owned by GoDaddy.com through its acquisition of World Hosting Days. Richard is also known for his long-term support of WaterSchool, a global nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. It was a staple at NamesCon events – at least that is where … [Read more...]
Alternative “.News” Domain Name Gets Big Plug With Exclusive Trump Interview
PALM BEACH, FL – “Full Measure,” a news show that I had actually never heard of is sure to get a big spotlight on “.news” domain names as there was recently an interview with the President of the United States at the White House which took place last weekend. The interview was conducted by writer, journalist, and television correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, a five-time Emmy Award winning investigative correspondent, formally of CBS News. She also wrote a book titled … [Read more...]
What Are the Key Benefits for “Dot Brand” nGTLD Owners; What’s In It for Them?
PALM BEACH, FL – Although I am not a huge fan of new gTLDs or even “Dot Brands”, today I watched a video by the Chief Marketing Officer of Afilias domain registry, Roland LaPlante, who explained ‘in detail’ the value of owning your own “dot BRAND.” LaPlante discusses the benefits in marketing, user security and what is likely one of the most desirable aspects achieved for the owning brand; “full control” of their own corporate space. I believe it is the best explanation … [Read more...]
5 Years In, Where Are “.NYC” Domains Now? Landrush Registration Opened Oct., 2014
PALM BEACH, FL – “.NYC”, it’s called “The Official Web Address for New Yorkers”, and a top level domain name which is restricted to being registered only by “lawful” residents and/or businesses within the New York City area (the five boroughs). The slogan of being the “Official” web address of the City its named after isn’t just fluff marketing material either; it actually is, The Official URL, according to NYC.gov. The legal entity-registry is recorded as “The City … [Read more...]
Sources Say “Money.com” Sold for $20M; Net’s Seller Double Without Print Product
PALM BEACH, FL – The Internet domain name “Money.com” and its live website was all that was left when failed Money Magazine ceased printing its tangible physical copies last July. The entire business was for sale including its 400,000 or so monthly subscribers for $10 million by it’s owners Meredith Corp, publishers of newspapers, magazines, television stations and websites; with no buyer in sight, they ceased print and planned to focus only on its digital edition; lo and … [Read more...]
Generic Domain Name “Cola.com” For Sale
PALM BEACH, FL – Most people who hear the generic dictionary word “Cola” more than likely associate it with the Coca-Cola beverage manufacturer, mostly known from its flagship carbonated soft-drink “Coca-Cola”, invented well over a hundred years ago in 1886. However, the 4-letter generic word represents a slew of Cola manufacturers and carbonated soft-drink brands - over 100 of them, including some which are considered “Cola-like” brands. It seems safe to assume … [Read more...]
Amid Declining Revenues And Tenant Bankruptcies, Simon Taking Malls Online
PALM BEACH, FL – It seems that one of the biggest mall owners in the U.S., Simon Property Group, is getting ready to take their physical shopping mall and real estate business online, likely before their physical malls completely empty out. Simon, which owns 235 malls and premium outlet centers across the globe has been testing two ‘beta’ sites called “PremiumOutlets.com” (SIMON PROPERTY GROUP, L.P. ) and “ShopPremiumOutlets.com” (SHOP PO, LLC.) since about March; they … [Read more...]
Chrysler Corp “Stops the Bleeding” With Release, Cancellation of Branded Domains
PALM BEACH, FL – Better days are ahead for the Chrysler Corporation, who according to Domain Name Wire, has terminated its [unfortunate] “obligation” to continue “flushing money down the drain” with the drop/release of the following “dot brand” domain names: .Uconnect, .SRT, .Mopar, .Dodge, .Chrysler, all of which, according to DNW, were owned and administrated by what is now known as FCA US LLC, (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). Just one “gamble” remains, “.Jeep”, which, … [Read more...]
Pay-One-Price Domain Names? Imagine Registering Your Domain Name “Forever”
NEW YORK, NY - During the 63rd International Public Meeting of global domain industry regulator, ICANN (between October 20-25, 2018) in Barcelona, Epik’s Rob Monster discusses “Forever Domains”, a registration service made available by Seattle-based Epik which allows a domain registrant to not 'lease' a domain by the year, or the generally available maximum of 10 years, but to "own" a domain name, indefinitely. The interview was conducted by Filip Borcov of Website Builder … [Read more...]
Gargiulo Reiterates Necessity for .COM in New Forbes Domain and Branding Article
NEW YORK, NY - Michael Gargiulo, owner of VPN.com, a group of virtual private network consultants, is also part of what Forbes Magazine calls its “Forbes Technology Council”, an invitation only community for senior technology executives. Gargiulo, who I have begun to follow for his ‘straight-shooter’ domain advice, writes periodically for Forbes Magazine and certainly believes in the value of a great domain name, indicated by his decision in 2017 to purchase VPN.com for … [Read more...]
The 472 Domain Names That Couldn’t Stop The Inevitable Collapse of ‘Toys R Us’
NEW YORK, NY - Toys R Us is a brand we’ve all grown up with. The company was originally founded by Charles P. Lazarus (October 5, 1923 - March 22, 2018), the son of a local entrepreneur who wished to someday mimic his father’s work with his own enterprise. Those dreams became a reality in 1948 when young Charles, 25, opened his first children’s furniture store called “Children’s Bargain Town” in Washington, D.C. After years of early success, Lazarus added toys and changed … [Read more...]
Rand Fishkin: If I Could Go Back to 1991 and Get Any Name, I Would Grab Porn.com
NEW YORK – Rand Fiskin, the original founder of Moz.com, has gone out on his own new venture called “Spark Toro”, using the domain name, SparkToro.com. Lucky him, he’s fairly accurate when he said it is a decent name you can easily remember, proven to me by the fact that I did not need to go look it up (again); I did in fact remember it a day later as I write this article, but in full disclosure, I typed it in Google’s search box yesterday while watching the video and I … [Read more...]
Why I Told My “New gTLD” Project to “Suck It” – Will Rebrand with King of all URLs
NEW YORK, NY - It takes a lot for a guy like me to give-up on a project or otherwise throw-in-the-towel, especially when I am not even sure how hard I really tried to begin with, but I like to be two steps ahead, and I like to work smart, not hard. That’s why I told Uniregistry to keep the Find.cars URL domain - forget it, let it expire, I’ll just re-brand as FindCarsforSale.com. Here’s my thought process and how it all went down; hill. Two years ago, when .cars domains … [Read more...]
McDonald’s Terminates Plans for Branded gTLDs; Requests ICANN Not Delegate String
NEW YORK, NY – According to a letter written to ICANN on May 2, 2017, the McDonald’s globally branded empire has indicated it has lost interest in running and maintaining its own gTLD domains, (.McDonalds and .MCD), by terminating its registry agreement. McDonald’s is one of the world’s most visited restaurants, serves over 117 countries feeding millions of customers every day. In its top five markets (U.S., France, the U.K., Germany and Canada) nearly 75% of the … [Read more...]