SANTA CLARA, CA - Researchers from security vendor Infoblox have uncovered an actor known as “Prolific Puma” that has been revealed as having provided link shortening services for countless cyber criminals for a span of time of at least four years or longer, an act that has likely been responsible for an immense number of scams targeting innocent people. As an example of how Prolific Puma lives up to the "prolific” part of their name, the actor reportedly … [Read more...]
Casino gTLD Domain Owners Continue to Cash In As “Betting.online” Sold at $400,000
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - As verified by domain registry operator Radix, Casino.online, a casino review website, has announced they have purchased the “betting.online” domain for the price of $400,000. The price is record-setting for domain transactions within the generic top-level domains (gTLDs) category and currently ranks as the joint fifth-highest domain sale across all top-level domains (TLDs) for 2023. Casino.online’s CEO, Patrick Gerhard, issued a statement … [Read more...]
FEDs Seize 17 Domains Suspected of Being Used for Fraud in U.S. by North Korea
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, the United States Justice Department announced it has seized 17 website domains utilized by North Korean information technology (IT) workers to purportedly evade government sanctions, conduct cyberattacks and defraud U.S. businesses, with the millions of dollars in illicit proceeds generated from such activities being used to fund North Korea's weapon development program. The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that the … [Read more...]
Domain History As Google Ranking Factor Highlighted Again in Search Engine Journal
BOCA RATON, FL - The history of domain name can have a decisively significant factor in terms of its Google ranking. If a user owns a domain that is new and has never been used before then they essentially have a clean slate, but if the domain name was previously owned and has changed hands – perhaps even more than once – how it was utilized by its previous owner and/or owners could absolutely have an impact on your ranking going forward. Most people don't pay much … [Read more...]
Early Access to Google’s New Domain Will Require Overwhelm “.ing” Investment
Later this month, Google will be launching a new top level domain name that is sure to attract attention. Known as a “domain hack,” the new “.ing” domain name can be used to spell out clever takes of common phrases to create memorable website names; examples include “Fish.ing,” “Out.ing,” “Engineer.ing,” and “Breed.ing,” among countless others. As with many new gTLDs, there will be A) a sunrise period for trademark holders and then B) an auction-style initial … [Read more...]
Google Ceases Selling New Domains as Transition to Squarespace Continues
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Back in July of this year, Google abruptly announced that it would be ending its Google Domains service after nearly 10 years and would be selling the business and all of its assets to Squarespace, a New York-based website building and hosting company. This month, as the transition from one company to another continues, the soon-to-be-shuttered Google Domains quietly revealed that it has ceased the sale of any new domains going … [Read more...]
Seven Years Later, New gTLD “.Cars” Still Driving Long & Winding Road to Nowhere
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – I recently wanted to see what was going on with the “. Cars” domain name, so I tried visiting a site I thought would probably be one of the best names; “used.cars”…. Not much is going on there; the page just fails to load. Same thing with “used.car”, “new.car” and “new.cars”. A “.cars” domain name costs $2,499 per year to register, renew, or transfer at Dynadot, one of the largest domain name registrars in the world. Same thing with ".Car" which was … [Read more...]
VeriSign Says “.COM” Registrations Up, “NGTLDS” Up, Legacy “.NET” Down
RESTON, VA - VeriSign Inc., a global provider of domain name registry services and internet infrastructure, announced that their total number of Top-Level Domain (TLD) registrations worldwide have reached 356.6 million as of the end of the second quarter of 2023, as per the company’s latest quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB). Verisign, based out of Reston, Virginia, operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen … [Read more...]
GEO Domain Names, Newspaper & Media Companies, Sales Prices, and Usage
PALM BEACH, FL - The purchase of big city, state and/or regional domain names have always been a strategic move for media companies to control their presence and brand in a particular market. For example, The Boston Globe acquired the domain name “Boston.com” in 1995, The Philadelphia Inquirer acquired the domain name “Philly.com” in 2004, and the McClatchy newspaper chain acquired the domain name "Miami.com" in 2005. Additionally, the Tallahassee Democrat, the only … [Read more...]
Domain Registrar Namecheap Gives Away Half a Million Free .me Domains to Students
PHOENIX, AZ - Namecheap, the Phoenix, Arizona-based domain name registrar and web hosting company originally founded in 2000, recently announced that they have given away a total of 500,000 free .me domain names to students in conjunction with their Namecheap for Education program. The company originally started the program in 2014, which provides students, teachers, and others involved in academia who are located in North America, the United Kingdom, and … [Read more...]
WordPress Offering 100-Year Domain Registration, Hosting Plan for $38,000
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – WordPress – which recently made headlines when they offered up to one million Google Domains customers free transfers to their service after the company's assets were acquired by Squarespace – announced this week a new plan where they will be selling domains with a registration length of 100 years for a one-time payment of $38,000. Known primarily for its content management system that allows users to create simple and easy-to-use … [Read more...]
44,000 Domains Have Taken Up WordPress’ Free Transfer Offer from Google Domains
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - After previously announcing on August 1st that they would be offering free domain transfers for current Google Domains clients following the sale of the company's assets to Squarespace for $180 million, WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg announced that 44,000 customers have taken him up on his offer so far, with many more expected to cross over as well in the near future. Customers of Google Domains – which sold off its assets in June, including … [Read more...]
WordPress Offering 1 Million Google Users Opportunity to Transfer Domains Free
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - One month after Squarespace entered into a deal to purchase Google Domains – which encompasses all of it’s assets, including approximately 10 million domains that are owned by millions of customers – web content management company WordPress has announced they would be offering former Google users free domain transfers for the first million domains that choose to move to their platform for a limited time. Currently, Google Domains customers … [Read more...]
Threat Intelligence Firm Recommends Blocking All .ZIP Domains Due to Phishing
SUNNYVALE, CA - FortiGuard Labs reports that they have discovered many .ZIP domains are responsible for phishing attacks on users by automatically downloading a malicious executable titled “file.exe” to their computers. Phishing attacks have been a thorn in the side of computer users for years due to the fact that they often are able to camouflage themselves as innocuous programs or prompts that seemingly pose no threat, but in reality can cause a great deal of … [Read more...]
Interest Continues In Alternative Domain Name, “.io” By Internet, Tech Firms
PALM BEACH, FL - When it comes to building a successful company, two of the most vital components to first establishing your digital presence – the main way that your customers are most likely to discover you – is to create a website and to choose an appropriate domain name. While the.com extension is by far the most commonly used by companies – and the one most consumers seek – there are a plethora of other extensions available out there to choose from. For the … [Read more...]