POSTS TAGGED : Domain Names

Jets over Sex?

The largest pure single domain name transaction belonged to Sex.com which was sold in October 2010 for a record breaking $13M. Now it appears Sex.com will have to a back row seat to PrivateJet.com which has more than doubled the previous benchmark for a pure single domain name sale.

Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC (Nations) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Nations has acquired the domain name http://www.PrivateJet.com, from privately held Don’t Look Media.com, a leading intellectual property holding company, for $30.18 million in cash and stock. – PR Web

Twitter IDs are the New Domain Names

Bill Sweetman from Yummy Names beat me to the blogging punch (not hard to do these days given my lack of posting!) and wrote a great post on a topic I had been thinking about for some time – the growing importance of claiming your Twitter ID. As Twitter continues its ascent into the consumer mainstream, and businesses continue to flock to the medium to engage with their customers and clients, your Twitter ID is fast-becoming a vital extension of your brand and persona.

Even if you don’t understand Twitter or don’t think it has a role to play in your company’s marketing efforts today, I strongly urge you to still secure your Twitter ID now. …I predict that over the next few years, millions of dollars will be spent by companies buying, selling, and fighting over Twitter IDs. I have already seen a number of nasty legal spats develop, and I have personally brokered the sale of several Twitter IDs already. And this is only the very beginning… If you are Acme Furniture, you should make sure you get your hands on @acmefurniture right away. Since there is no fee to register a Twitter ID, you have no excuse not to do this. Simply head on over to http://www.twitter.com and sign up for a free account. Don’t be the person who in a year or two is having to explain to their company President why you didn’t secure the company name as a Twitter ID. Take two minutes and do it today.

Bill also astutely mentions that if you fail to use your account for 6 months, Twitter will suspend it. While Twitter IDs are a use-it-or-lose-it scenario (not the case with domain names), at this time Twitter seems happy to keep your account active with very minimal usage ie, one tweet every few months should suffice. So if you were sitting on the fence about using Twitter, don’t wait until you’re done strategizing how to leverage this new social media juggernaut to grab your Twitter ID – do it now! via Canadian Marketing Association

CBS gets serious about TV.com

When CBS bought CNET a little while ago, I was quick to point out that the $1.8 billion paid for CNET included some lucrative and intriguing brand assets / web real estate / domain names. Now comes word today that CBS is getting serious about one of those acquired brand assets, TV.com.

CBS Interactive is relaunching TV.com, hoping to transform the well-named site known for its TV-related community and user-generated content into a serious video destination, paidContent has learned. The full-scale relaunch with new content partners is slated for January but the cosmetic changes will start this week with a new look and logo, according to sources familiar with the plans. …. CBS execs aren’t ready to discuss—or even confirm—the project, which is still in product development (likely to be a constant state) and is being rolled out in phases. But CEO Leslie Moonves singled out TV.com for investors last week as “extremely exciting,” explaining “we think TV.com will become the destination, or certainly one of the leading destinations, for anybody who wants to watch TV shows or have a community around TV shows, see clips, play games, etc.”

via PaidContent

China flexes its domain name muscles (.CN)

845653-media_httpwwwjamescogancomimagesdotcngif_EGaCFlCcCswjjatNot a big shocker by any means, but yesterday China’s .CN domain name extension became the largest country-code domain on the internet. What took you so long, China?

China’s .cn now stands alone atop the list of the largest country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLDs) in the world. It has shot past Germany (.de) at an alarming rate…Today, China accounts for nearly a fifth of the World’s internet use, an estimated 56 million users. Within the next 2 years, it is expected that China will account for a solid 25% of the total internet use around the globe.

The Hidden Value In The CBS – CNET Deal

I’m not suggesting CBS is paying $1.8 Billion for domain names. However, CNET does bring with them an impressive list of some highly brandable, extremely rare domain locations. Over time, CBS will leverage them to create lasting, high-recall brands in the marketplace and cornerstones to their overall online strategy. CBS has had trouble gaining traction beyond the Sports arena online, with the acquisition of CNET’s developed and undeveloped brand assets, they now have a platform of possibilities and potential to grow on.Another point to mention is that CBS has their toes dipped in numerous forms of media. These brand assets will give them value-added traction for every single ad dollar they spend marketing these locations be it in print, television, display etc. As the marketplace continues to get more saturated with brand messages, the high-recall nature of these brand assets will make each ad dollar CBS spends marketing these locations go further.

“Notice CNET is right there behind IAC on that value list. CNET has sites and domains they haven’t even fully launched/promoted yet along with fantastic content sites: TV.com, Radio.com, Chat.com, Kids.com, Browser.com, News.com, Download.com, UpLoad.com, MP3.com, etc… I mean think about the MAC.com example and wonder how many billions in subleases can be made from TV.com..– Owen Frager

Tech diva Sarah Lacy agrees…CNET’s domain assets include:
Auctions.com
Browser.com
Builder.com
Buying.com
Chat.com
Com.com
Community.com
Computers.com
Download.com
Events.com
Freeware.com
Gaming.com
Help.com
Kids.com
Labs.com
Marketplace.com
News.com
Online.com
Radio.com
Search.com
Shareware.com
Shopper.com
Silicon.com
Store.com
TV.com
Updates.com
Upload.com
Welcome.com
and more…

Domain names in the wild

Domain Names In The Wild
I’m working on a presentation that focuses on branding, nomenclature and domain names. Part of the presentation involves providing real-world examples of domain names being used as brands and/or key components for marketing campaigns. Over the next few weeks/months I’ll share some of the images I have collected of ‘domain names in the wild’.
This one courtesy of Petro Canada…
845649-media_httpwwwjamescogancomimagesiwilldreambigjpg_majxgHuFnmrAiJJ

Country-code domain map

845646-media_httpwwwjamescogancomimagescctldmapjpg_tEDkJbupyvuaGAn

For domainers, marketing execs or teachers – there is this cool map of the world that you can buy which displays 245 country-code domain extensions on a colour-coded global map. The sizing of the domain on the map is reflective of a country’s population, not the number of registrations. A neat map nonetheless. I now have one hanging in my office. Here is a list of country-codes that are currently a member of the ‘Million+ Domains Registered’ club:Argentina (.ar)Australia (.au)Brazil (.br)Canada (.ca)China (.cn)France (.fr)Germany (.de)Italy (.it)Japan (.jp)Netherlands (.nl)Russia (.ru)Switzerland (.ch)United Kingdom (.uk)United States (.us)