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?

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

Cybersquatters aim US presidential candidates!

The bad guys are at it once again! Unscrupulous cybersquatters are taking up domain names that have the name of one or the other from amongst the US presidential candidates!!!

They have registered some really interesting names. Check it out…

The lead up to the US presidential election has seen a dramatic surge in cyber-squatters keen to cash in on the public’s thirst for information.

Domain name management service NetNames said that over 1,900 domain names related to the presidential candidates have been registered as online speculators try to cash in on the heightened media coverage.

Hillary Clinton is the most popular candidate online with 1,080 domain names registered in her name including sites such as Clintonsucks.org.

- VNU Net

Network Solutions Gets kicked in the butt!

Yeah, I have been waiting for this and was hoping it’d happen soon!

Network Solutions has been sued for its holier-than-though policy of reserving domain names a potential buyer searched for on its website, practically disabling the poor guy to register it anywhere else but with Network Solutions at a price higher than other registrars.

Being a victim myself, I was hoping that it would happen real soon. Had I been a US resident, I’d have done it myself! The bozos thought that they had a good little scam running that nobody would blow the whistle on. Now, as I rub my hands with glee… I wish I could see the guys squirming in their seats with a potential PR nightmare at hands… something not even a seasoned public relations professional would be able to get them out of!

For those who came in late, please read the heads-up on the practice of Network Solutions at DomainTools.com

Here’s the excerpt.

I am confirming that Network Solutions steals domain ideas when people check domain availability on the Network Solutions website. They seem to have started the practice of stealing domain ideas on December 16th 2007 according to our Domain History database but I was just made aware of this practice today. I am appalled at the concept of taking people’s domain ideas and registering it before the consumer has the ability to manually register the domain.It is a deplorable action that Network Solution would announce potential domain names to the entire world. If a customer chooses not to register the domain name with Network Solution they are forced to wait 4 days for Network Solutions to delete the domain name in the Free Add Grace period. After the four day hostage period the consumer is free from the hostage situation and can register the domain somewhere else. However Network Solutions has now exposed those domains to Domain Tasters that will snipe those domain up milliseconds after Network Solutions deletes them. By registering the domain Network Solutions is exposing the domain in the DNS and every computer in the world now knows about the domain. These domains are now easy fodder for scammers and it is mind blowing that Network Solutions would expose their customers queries to the world in this manner.

- DomainTools

Their strategy was as good as those of the lowly domain tasters and try to profit from people’s ideas and that too on an automated basis. What a bunch of creeps!

.Asia Landrush opens with 300k Domain Applications

DotAsia Organisation, the registry operator of the “.Asia” Internet domain has literally redefined the rules of new domain name extensions and has set kind of an example for newer registries to learn with its phased launch of the .Asia domain names.

Here’s their latest press release:

DotAsia Organisation, the registry operator of the “.Asia” Internet domain has announced the successful launch of its Landrush period. A total of 266,663 applications were received by the registry within the first 24 hours, demonstrating great interest from around the world to stake claims in the most prestigious cyber real estate in Asia. Including Pre-Sunrise, Sunrise, Pioneer programs and the first day of Landrush, the total number of domain applications to date is 298,861.

Asia Landrush opened Feb 20 and will close on March 12, 2008. Unlike conventional first-come-first-served processes, DotAsia is utilizing a model that treats all applications received equally no matter if you submit the application within the first second or on the last day of the Landrush period. For domains receiving two or more applications, an auction will be held between the applicants. Domains with only one application will be allocated directly without auction. It also means you must apply during the Landrush period (Feb 20 – Mar 12, 200 in order to be eligible to participate in the domain auctions.

“We are very excited about the smooth launch of Landrush. The volume of interest demonstrates strong demand for .Asia. Unlike conventional opening rushes where the best names are snatched in the opening seconds, you still have 20 days to submit your application without losing out,” says Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia. “We are also excited to see strong participation from Asia, with 5 out of the top 10 registrars coming from Asia.”

Over 35% of the Landrush applications received came from Asia, with 40% from North America and 24% coming from Europe. A total of about 28,000 domain names received more than one application on the first day. The top 10 registrars in the first day, in order, are: Dotalliance Inc. (www.dotalliance.asia), EuroDNS S.A. (www.asiadns.asia), Communigal Communications Ltd., GoDaddy.com, Gabia, HiChina Web Solutions Ltd., Key-Systems (www.domaindiscount24.asia), NamesBeyond.com, DomainPeople Inc. (www.domainpeople.asia), eName Corp.

Well, guys, domaining was never so exciting before

Am real glad to have become a domainer!

Perfect Domain for Design Studio

The first of my domains that I would like to showcase is UK Design Studio!

The domain makes perfect business sense for a web design or graphic design company offering services to the geographical market of Britain or the UK.

The additional benefit is that this particular domain is indexed in Google and has PageRank 2! Anybody in the domaining business knows that a PR2 domain could be an instant asset!

If you are a web designer or a graphic designer based in the UK, it could help you get interesting business online!

If interested, please visit the web page and send me an offer that I can’t resist!

What is Domaining

Domaining is what a domainer indulges in!

Domaining is the business of buying, selling, developing and monetizing Internet domain names.

A domainer’s domain name portfolio often includes marketable generic dictionary-word domain names, or domains whose registrations have expired yet still retain reasonable traffic.

Many a time, a domainer has no actual intention to use any of the domain names with the exception of generating advertising revenue through domain parking.

Domaining is quite a lucrative business for those who have the patience to master the art and the science of it!

Hello world!

I am a domainer and I am into domaining!

Need I say any more about what this blog is gonna be like?

Three cheers to the power of domain names!