NEW YORK, NY - Private-equity firm Permira has entered into a deal with Squarespace to acquire the website-building platform and domain host/registrar in an all-cash deal valued at $6.9 billion, according to an announcement made this week by both companies. The deal involves Permira paying approximately a 30 percent premium to Squarespace’s unaffected share price, which comes to $44 a share in cash; as a part of the transaction, the publicly-traded web company – … [Read more...]
Maximizing Marketing Potential With Google Ads (Formally Google AdWords)
FLORIDA - Online visibility is paramount for businesses striving to reach their target audience and drive conversions. Google Ads, now known as Google Ads, stands as a powerful advertising platform that enables businesses to promote their products and services across the vast landscape of the internet. However, navigating the complexities of Google Ads requires expertise, strategic insight, and ongoing optimization. In this article, we delve into the fundamentals of Google … [Read more...]
What Is Geofencing And How Does It Work?
FLORIDA - Geofencing is a location-based technology that creates virtual boundaries around a specific geographic area. These boundaries are defined by GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi, or cellular data. When a device, typically a smartphone or GPS-enabled device, enters or exits the predefined geographic area, it triggers a response or action. Here's how geofencing typically works: Imagine a virtual fence you can draw around any area, like your competitor's dealership or even … [Read more...]
Thousands of Domain Names Owned by Legitimate Brands Hijacked to Send Spam
TEL AVIV - As part of a sophisticated scheme involving spam proliferation and click monetization, over 8,000 domains and 13,000 sub-domains once owned by major, legitimate brands and institutions have been hijacked to allow millions of spam emails to bypass standard security blocks for nefarious gain. This coordinated malicious activity – dubbed “SubdoMailing” – has been going on since at least September 2022, according to Guardio Labs, the Israeli security … [Read more...]
New Top-Level Domains Disallowed from Using “Closed Generics” by ICANN
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain industry – announced that, in the next round of domain expansion and going forward, they will no longer be allowing entities registering new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) to utilize what is known as “closed generics.” Closed generics are essentially TLDs that are owned or are exclusive to one company that use generic and/or dictionary terms; … [Read more...]
.AI Domain Sales Exceed $5 Million in 2023, On-Track to Hit $10 Million in 2024
WEST PALM, FL - .AI is the internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. For years the small island country has been reaping a profit from the rising popularity among companies and projects related to the artificial intelligence industry who have been wanting to register .AI domains for their projects and business ventures. This phenomenon began to hit a fever pitch in 2013, to the point that Anguilla actually … [Read more...]
10 Billion Connections to Malicious Domains Blocked by NSA in 2023 via “PDNS”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Security Agency (NSA) noted that 10 billion user connections to known malicious or suspicious domains were blocked over the course of the past year as part of the agency’s efforts, according to its 2023 Cybersecurity Year in Review report released on Tuesday. The NSA‘s annual report is a public account of the agency’s work with government partners, defense industrial base (DIB) entities, and foreign partners to help keep the nation secure, … [Read more...]
Experts: 23andMe Hack Is DNA Catastrophe; Leaked Millions of Genetic Profiles
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Earlier this week, in a startling revelation, 23andMe conceded that a hack in October was significantly worse than initially reported. Affecting nearly 6.9 million people, the scale of this data breach was shockingly larger than the initially stated figure of 14,000 users. Regrettably, the stolen data contained not only sensitive information such as full names, but genetic profiles. Yet, the severity of the situation was met with indifference by some … [Read more...]
The Question Is Not “If” You’ve Been Compromised; It’s How Many Times?
NEW YORK - If you haven't done business with one of the companies in this extensive list, you probably do not live on planet Earth with the rest of us. In other words, if you are reading this article, more than likely, despite all of the precautions you might take, your personal information has already been compromised. Below is a list of 245 instances of data breaches all over the world; those that have been reported. Keep in mind that many data breaches are never … [Read more...]
Corporate Giant with New gTLD Explains What, How and Why It Chose New Domain
NEW YORK, NY - Canon Inc., a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, is one of hundreds of global corporations which have applied to operate their very own domain extension on the Internet. These new web addresses, specifically, this one, .cannon, will serve as one of potentially several official sites for the Corporation for ensuring users are on the actual Cannon site as it is an internet address only Cannon will be permitted to use. Other more common addresses … [Read more...]
Making Their Mark: “Big Brands” Invest Hundreds of Millions on .Dot Alternatives
NEW YORK, NY - Regardless of what your position is on new gTLD domains "Big Brands" are buying in hook, line and sinker while ICANN is raking in hundreds of millions of dollars on new gTLD fees. Each new application cost its applicant $185,000.00 and with it, an annual maintenance fee of $24,000.00 (yearly recurring). This doesn't include potentially hundreds of generic domains that were applied for and went to auction (I didn't count each one [Full statistics here] … [Read more...]