.PRO domain names registrations pick up

EnCirca has announced that there has been a 100 percent surge in .pro domain registrations since RegistryPro relaunched the domain one month ago. This enormous surge in registrations demonstrates there is an unmet market demand for professional service firms who wish to develop their online brand.

Despite a very competitive market and assertions that the .com domain is the most desirable for small-business owners and professionals, the interest in the .pro domain signals that businesses and professionals are still investing in protecting their brands in niche markets. Customers that have registered their preferred .pro domain since relaunch include numerous trademark owners and professional service firms.

Dot-pro domain names work just like dot-com domains, with the ability to create fully featured websites and email addresses. The extension is already universally recognized on the Internet as the premium space for licensed professionals.

The .Pro domain is a restricted domain name, available to professionals who self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements of their profession. There are no restrictions on the types of names a business or professional may register: including trademarks, industry keywords, search engine terms, company names, or marketing slogans. There is no limit to how many dot-pro domain names an individual or company can register.

Licensed professionals from anywhere in the world are eligible to register dot-pro domain names on a first-come, first-served basis for just $24.99 for the first year. Subsequent years will be priced at $49/year. Renewals are priced at $59.99/year.

Types of businesses and professions now eligible for dot-pro include: Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Doctors, Architects, Dentists, Educators, Chiropractors, Veterinarians, Surveyors, Plumbers, Inspectors, Investment Advisors, Real Estate Brokers, Insurance Brokers, Nurses, Opticians, Optometrists, Podiatrists, Psychologists, Therapists, Social Workers, Building Contractors, Electricians, Patent and Trademark Examiners, Court Reporters, Police and Fire Safety Officers and any other profession where an official credential is required for a business or individual to offer services.

“Trademark owners and professionals that are serious about protecting and building their brands have made themselves clear. They see .pro as a valuable tool in reaching their target market,” says Thomas Barrett, President of EnCirca. “We urge licensed professionals everywhere that have not secured their .pro domains to move quickly to ensure they safeguard their brands.”

EnCirca is offering a special promotional price for .pro domain names of just $24.99 for the first year. All applicants will be required to submit license credentials to demonstrate eligibility. All international businesses and individuals holding professional licenses can take advantage of this domain.

Faulty Domain Name System threats the Internet

According to LA TImes, Dan Kaminsky, a leading technology security researcher has uncovered a serious hole in the foundation of the Internet that can allow unscrupulous hackers to attack corporate systems as well as individual computer users. The problem is currently being fixed, but many corporate systems remain vulnerable and the extent of any damage is unknown.

Dan Kaminsky, who is assisting major companies to patch the hole has admitted that the flaw was the most severe one discovered in the last decade and could provide a freeway for criminal identity-theft gangs to exploit.

Security holes, more typically found in Internet browsers, e-mail programs and other applications, enable thieves to operate from overseas and coordinate stolen information through underground online businesses.

Only this week, 11 members of one such gang were charged in the heist of information covering more than 40 million credit cards and debit cards that had been used for purchases at TJ Maxx, Barnes & Noble and other major retailers.

Israel.com sells for $5.88 million!

Another geo domain, Israel.com has been sold for $5.88 million to an unidentified buyer by its previous owner, Joel Noel Friedman, a 46-year-old Jewish American who bought the domain name originally in the year 1994.

The domain auction was managed by one of the leading domain name registrars, Moniker.com.

The new domain name owner has apparently parked the domain with SmartName.com hoping for some quick ROI (return on investment) through click monetization considering the interest the domain is currently generating in the cyber world owing to the publicity of its high profile sale.

This domain name sale is yet another example of how the business of domaining is on a roll with the booming virtual real estate market. A few prominent sales reported earlier this year include the $10 million sale of Fund.com, $2.6 million for Pizza.com and $1.7 million for DataRecovery.com

Also, another premium domain name America.com is up for sale and is expected to fetch record price.

America.com up for sale!

An ultimate geo domain,  America.com is on auction at Sedo.com and the domaining arena is abuzz with speculations that it could easily fetch one of the highest prices ever paid for a domain name.

There has to be a very strong interest among prospective buyers for such a premium domain and it remains to be seen if the final sale price exceeds the estimated $12 million paid for Sex.com a few years ago and considered to be the highest price paid for any domain name.

Geo domains, that contain the names of cities, states, or countries, have emerged as one of the strongest interest area for serious domainers and Sedo brokered Chinese.com for $1.1 million last year. The sale of America.com could turn out the largest sale ever for Sedo, which managed the auction of Vodka.com, its largest sale till date, for $3 million by a Russian vodka company planning to enter North America.

The potential of this domain name seems to be virtually unlimited as the buyer will be able to conduct almost any business from the domain, from hotel rooms to vacation packages and air tickets to real estate! You can be sure that the final buyer’s multi-million investment will be recovered within the first few years itself if he implements a sound business strategy.

In fact, I believe he could be making more money off this compared to any other business he could think of! Just imagine if he had a whole lot of subdomains like newyork.america.com, losangeles.america.com, vacations.america.com, realestate.america.com, onlinecasino.america.com, poker.america.com, sex.america.com, insurance.america.com and more… with each subdomain having its own business strategy headed by experts! The potential is indeed UNLIMITED, I say!

With a domain like that he wouldn’t even required any publicity to build his business. What do you say, guys?

Sunrise period for .me domains till May 20

The sunrise registration period for the newly launched .me domain names, the generic top-level domain of the country of Montenegro, is on till May 20 and companies having their company names and product names as registered trademarks can book them before the registrations are open for all on a first come first served basis.

The .me registry claims to have received thousands of domain name registrations in the first week of the announcement of the availability of the .me domains.

The sunrise applicants include companies Apple, which registered apple.me, ipod.me and itunes.me. Microsoft, Skype, Digg, MTV and BMW have also registered their .me domain names.

I have my reservations about this pricey domain name, available from 110 to 200 Euros per year for a minimum of five years, which is predicted to be very popular.

With that kind of money being involved, not very many domainers would like to register too many domains. What do you guys say?

Domain Names costlier! .org hiked by 10%

Public Interest Registry, the registry for .org domain names, has notified ICANN that it is increasing the wholesale prices for .org domain names by 10%. The annual wholesale price for .org domain name registrations will be $6.75, slightly below the $6.86 rate that .com domains are expected to be available at later this year. As the profit margins are thin on domain registrations, the price hike will pinch not your favorite domain registrar’s pocket but yours!

Public Interest Registry has given no rational for the price increase to ICANN. As far as I can make out, it has the most obvious business interest in its mind – profits!

One can’t really blame Public Interest Registry for thinking about ways to increase its profits. After all, it has monopolistic control over the .org domain names! In fact, when .biz registry NeuStar raised prices last year, it was belligerent enough to state the reason for the price hike as – everyone else was doing it. What bullshit!

Also, there are talks that Afilias is all set to hike prices of .info and that NeuStar is already planning another hike in .biz prices.

I have always believed that this whole system of ICANN and domain name registries is rotten to the core. They all have a cartel of sorts. Why does the government allow such monopolistic market conditions to emerge? I wish some intelligent guy in the US will hire good lawyers and file a lawsuit against all this!

Why am I mad? Well, the simple reason is that I have loads of domains that I need to get renewed every year and even now it is quite a lot of money I have to spend. With the price increase it will be a whole lot of new burden.

Yes, yes… I know… you will ask me to monetize the domain to sustain themselves. But bro, monetization doesn’t work on its own. It requires a lot of time, skills and effort, which again costs money. A domainer like me is not a programmer or web designer or an SEO expert. To hire them, I would need to spend money. Domaining is getting costlier by the day. Tsk… Tsk…

if I keep it spending on sustenance, when do I get to enjoy it?

Virtual Real Estate market is booming!

The real estate market may be facing a real tough time these days, but the market for virtual real estate properties, the domain names is flourishing with people making heavy investments in acquiring prized premium domains.

According to DN Journal, domain sales worth $38,029,543 were reported In the first quarter of 2008, which is a 78% increase over the $21,253,105 in domain sales reported for the first quarter of 2007! The average sale is reported to be with average sale at $10,103 and the total number of reported sales was 3,764.

Amazing… I would say

The largest sale reported was that of the $10 million sale of Fund.com during the first quarter of the year! Other prominent sales included $2.6 million for Pizza.com and $1.7 million for DataRecovery.com

I am thrilled with this all. Seems like I am in the right business after all

Pizza.com sells for $2.6 million!

The owner of the domain pizza.com is reported to have accepted an offer from to an anonymous bidder of $2.6m for the domain name pursuant to a week-long online auction. The domain was originally registered in 1994 for just $20 annual fees!

The sale is expected to be finalized within next few days.

Ooooooh man, I wish I was into buying domain names when the world wide web was just taking off in the early 1990s. What a return on investment! What a business! Domaining…

Casino.de sold for half million dollars!

Another BIG sale of a premium domain, casino.de for half a million dollars! What more could the seller ask for when .de domains are available for as low as $15 per year? He must be today one real happy domainer

The buyer intends to use Casino.de to guide online gamblers through the options available in online casino and poker room choices by offering independent and thoroughly researched information about gambling on the Internet.

The past few days have seen some impressive domain sales in the aftermarket including that of datarecovery.com for 1.7 million USD and fund.com for 10 million USD!

Domaining isbecoming more and more popular as each day passes by!

Fund.com sold for cool $10m!

A New York, USA, based company, Fund.com Inc. (earlier known as Meade Technologies Inc.), has bought the rights to the domain fund.com for reportedly almost $10 million in an all-cash transaction! Another world record of sorts!

The deal was brokered by Clek Media Inc. and the sale of the domain FUND.COM was actually for US$9,999,950.

It is yet another big dollars domain acquisition to make people and take notice of the excitement that surrounds domaining and the profit that the domain has fetched its original registrant.

Such transactions, though few and far between, keep the hopes of us small-time domainers alive! Though I do not have any single word .com premium domain, yet I have a few that my domaining sense tells me will be worth a couple of hundred thousands down the line and till then, I am holding them