http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2007/12/10/b-king-on-three-letter-com-sales/

***FS*** There are only 17,576 3 letters in .com ..  This piece probably explains which a have gotten scores of spam sales offers for my three letter and 3 number domains over the past few days.
Google reduces the importance of sub domains in it’s ranking system.

Excerpt: “As eBay and others have aggressively used subdomains to dominate branded AND unbranded search results, and Google has improved their sitelinks technology, any relevancy gain by treating subdomains as a separate site will be going away. Google is going to start  treating subdomains like subfolders, and limit the number of results from any site to just two.” http://www.domainnews.com/general/2007120823/google-changing-handling-of-sub-domains/#more-1905

***FS*** Enjoy getting google traffic.  Don’t rely on it as the primarily source for traffic for your website/business. The best traffic is the traffic tha Google wants to “buy”  and that traffic comes from generic type-in traffic producing domain names.

Microsoft introduces free Live.in email addresses to Indians.

http://www.domainnews.com/general/2007120817/microsoft-india-introduces-new-livein-e-mail-domain/

***FS***  I think many more folks would run email on their own proprietary domains (for email) if they understood how to go about it.  There is a knowlege gap where getting email or getting a domain is not simple enough for regular folks.  Domain values will have their next dramatic leg-up when an intermediary comes along that makes the registration, management and renewal of names and email easier for the average person…  and once that application “takes off” in a significant mainstream way. Perhaps a mechanism that allows anyone to get an email on anyone else’s name or pays a fee for each email account to the name-holder.

Josh: Elliot Silver takes some of Jay W’s advice…

.. and thanks him for it. Elliot bought an existing site that google didn’t include in it’s results.  By following Jay’s advice, his name was reincluded, now appears as the #1 listing, and he’s getting additional traffic.  Even the experts learn something from time-to-time. There’s alot of learning from each other going on in the domain/development realm. http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2007/12/08/thank-you-jay/

More from Elliot:  Honesty and integrity critical when doing business in the domain realm.  To be fair it’s critical everywhere http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2007/12/08/domain-industry-lesson-1/

Sahar opens his blog wider,

..and hopes to spark discussions and learning in his new area call “Debates”. http://www.conceptualist.com/category/debates/

***FS***  Another great idea from Sahar

79.1 percent of marketers plan to increase their online budgets for 2008.

No surprise here, but good to see nonetheless.

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/FREE/71207006

ParkingWhois.com

Smart idea that’s in beta.  Tells you if a domain is parked or not, and where.  Problem is i tried 5 examples.  Two worked, and the other 3 said the domain is not parked,.. and it is.  It was a bit slow on a couple of the searches.  They need to make it more accurate or this service won’t get used.

Music business in Japan sees 1% rise in sales

…industry observers attribute this to mobile music downloads. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7130596.stm

ConsumerReports.org

…Paid subscriptions, no ads.  3 million viewers who pay for web access. 4.5 million who buy the print vrsion. 208 million in revenue and operating margin of 28 million. http://www.news.com/Success-without-ads/2100-1038_3-6222063.html?tag=nefd.top

***FS***  Only 13% margins..  Sounds low for a publishing outfit. 

Ad company installs tracking capabilities at the ISP level.

SP’s hold alot of power.  With great ower comes great responsibility.. Without great responsibility, comes great regulation. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071209.wsniff1209/BNStory/Technology/home

“The Ultimate Domain Name Guide”

I think it’s from 2006.  It’s relevant today.

The headline is over the top.  That said, it’s a good overview, especially for people just getting started.  The writer, Sebastian Robinson, thinks that the right domain name is critical for your business. Excerpt: “Domain names have become more than just an address on the web. Today they can make or break a business.”

Josh says:  I don’t think a domain name can make a business. (Unless your business is buying and selling domains, or parking names that have type in traffic.)   But, i agree with the basic sentiment that having the right name / domain name is important, if not very important.  The writer is mistaken that the .XXX extension has been granted. http://www.micromart.co.uk/features/article/default.aspx?id=22516

   ***FS***  So much loose money and price swings in the domain business…  a perfect opportunity for ne’er-do-wells to profit..  Only one problem..  it’s hard to keep a secret on the Internet. Crime doesn’t pay..  especially online.

http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2007/12/07/everybodys-doing-it/

***FS*** Investing in domain names that is

Domain Valuations : Chris Stewart

Domain Value (DV)=Traffic Value (TV)+Brand Value
(BV)+Utility Value (UV)+Discretionary Value (DiV) : Part 1
http://marketforlemons.com/?p=5

Via.com sells for 157,000.

(scroll down.) http://www.domainstate.com/showthread.php3?s=bf857a50211d7889c72645f54b38beb6&threadid=84867  Great name to build on.  Good price for buyer (fully valued for name-investor), esp if they are going to develop.  Via would be a good name  for a search engine or some kind of portal.  Lot of other possibilities.  Has meaning in multiple languages.

 From Danno:

AfternicDLS Member Sells UI.com for $275K (nice story)

http://afternicdlsblog.com/2007/12/07/afternic-success-story-uicom-sells-for-275k/

 ***FS***  Still sooo much untapped opportunity in the name business for those who care to try. 

iREIT leaves the ICA

(Scroll down at the link.)
http://dnjournal.com/newsletters/2007/november.htm

***FS***  It was really more Bob Martin who was behind iReit’s participation in the ICA..  with Bob gone it’s no surprise the group dropped out.

Sedo.com now shows that invest.com sold for $ 1,015,000.

http://www.greatdomains.com/auction/auction_history.php?language=us&auction_id=21998&tracked=&partnerid=32392  Josh says :  I think the buyer got a good deal. You can buy a parking spot in Central London for  $50,000 – $90,000 and in some cases you’ll pay considerable monthly fees on it.  And to go with your parking space, you can buy this 3 bedroom, 3 bedroom flat for $13,000,000. http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=059058&agentid=07711
Renewal fee each year on invest.com: $ 7.50 . Taxes and maintenance costs on your $13,000,000 flat in London: Priceless.

***FS***  Agree with J’man’s logic but as a wildcat investor (me) who has to front the 1mm,  the carrying charge is about 70k a year.. so I’d say the name’s fully valued from an invetor’s perspective.

Considerable controversy around the sale of Music.mobi.

Excerpt: “Constantine Giorgio Roussos thought he was the winner of Music.mobi in yesterday’s.mobi auction at Sedo. He bid $66,000. The auction ended and he received an automated invoice from Sedo. He then received a  “personal” e-mail from a Sedo employee (which also may have been automated). But then something happened. Sedo extended the auction due to a server slowdown in the final minutes of the auction.” The name was then sold to someone else who bid $616,000.  http://domainnamewire.com/2007/12/07/musicmobi-winner-vows-lawsuit-against-sedo/

***FS*** This is the classic fight over nothing.  Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a publicity stunt.

Opportunity Cost of Lost Opportunities.

Interesting article by Elliot Silver.  Sometimes you “overpay” now, and benefit later.  Perhaps you never overpaid in the first place. http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2007/12/07/opportunity-cost-of-lost-opportunities/

***FS***  Historically speaking, if the name was generic and got type-in-traffic, it was very hard to loose money in the domain biz..  the market has consistently caught up to your overpayment..  That won’t go on forever tho.

Light of Logic Creeping Through

New York Times David Pogue blasts companies that have chosen wierd and hard to remember company names.He points out plenty of hard to remember names. Trulia and Zillow are two better examples than “Fark” which is witty enough.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/technology/personaltech/06pogue-email.html?ex=1354683600&en=e08b6ea2e4dad1dd&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Danno Sends Related

Seussical-Sounding Web Site Names

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/the-dr-seuss-jumble-naming-web-sites/?hp 

***FS*** Nice to see people having that..  “hayyy… waita minute.  “  moment of logic setting in.  Most Web2 names are awful.

Eric Litman becomes Managing Director of WashingtonVC.

http://www.domainnews.com/general/2007120709/eric-litman-becomes-managing-director-of-washingtonvc/#more-1890

***FS***  Congrats Eric.

Where’s the money?

Excerpt: “”The venture (capital) industry is headed into a wall. All the best companies are being sold,” Deninger said. “For seven straight years, the number of companies going public has declined. That means the number of (prospective) buyers is also declining. Eventually, the VCs will have fewer companies that they can sell their companies to.”"  http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9830529-7.html?tag=nefd.blgs

***FS*** Blame SarbOx man ..  People are getting sloppy overpaying for nothing and the good stuff never sees the light of day..  Irony: Rules meant to protect investors only serve to make the rich richer and give said investors fewer opportunities.