DoorHardware.com sold for high xx,xxx range

I haven’t posted blogs regarding domain sales for past few days. Today I noticed a good domain sale and the domain sold was DoorHardware.com.  The domain was sold at the Sedo domain marketplace. I thought it was definitely an end user sale due to the price range it was sold and the keyword quality. I also guessed there would not be a lot of searches per month (EXACT search volume). The domain, DoorHardware.com was sold for $85,000 and it was a very healthy domain sale for such a domain.

When I did the research on the keyword “door hardware“, I found out that there had been around 18,100 EXACT searches per month for the keyword with CPC (cost per click) about $1.5 per click.

A nice payday for the domain seller.

Women Com in GE/ NBC Legal Dispute

Sometimes big dollar domain sales go wrong. Witness the legal issues between NBC Universal, the seller of both Women.com and Women.net from NBC and iVillage to Ben Padnos. The ex parte motions read like civil matters gone amok, except that a huge amount of clicks are at stake. Benjamin Padnos of Done Ventures bought the names on Sedo. This happened May 24th of 2010.

But minus amenable settlement of the deal he had tried filing a restraining order on NBC Universal, to cease them from using the names online. NBC, one of the biggest names and companies in entertainment with an ambitious online campaign for programming and marketing, evidently wants to keep them. How did things go so wrong? NBC claims Jeff Zucker countermanded the sale after Sedo informed the principal contacts at NBC the names were sold.

With control of the actual name(s) staying with NBC, every day that goes by is a win for the Peacock, and a loss for the Sedo buyer. Question: Are sellers and Jeff Zucker not bound by Sedo Terms of Service? The poor domain buyer thought he could actually fork over a million bucks and actually get two domain names. Per the filed legal text, NBC currently points the names to iVillage for traffic.

This legal hootenanny comes after receipt of an email every domainer dreams of getting:  ”Alan and Ben, Congratulations!  The offer for Women.com has been accepted!” Sedo’s reply email indicates that NBC/GE would be creating a Bill of Sale for the $ 1 million sale.  ” The legal case will determine much for the future pathway of online legal binding sales.Furthermore, do GE/NBC stockholders know they just lost a cool million?

Female audiences for online female products and women’s sites for everything from makeup to venture capital funding is a titanic market. Hence GE and NBC Universal’s interest in keeping the name. Parent company GE is based in New York, although key NBC Universal offices are in Burbank and Los Angeles, California. Domainers should bookmark their legal case watching to make sure their next big dream bid goes through.

Bill Clinton Addresses ICANN March 2011

Remember back in the day when the Internet was in full swing and no TLD seemed out of bounds? This year’s March ICANN meeting in Silicon Valley/San Francisco gives domainers a sprinkling of that same flavor when Former United States President William Jefferson Clinton gives the keynote address for the domain namers gathered there.  Clinton formed ICANN back in 1998, when the World Wide Web needed strong controls, formal structure, and organized oversight. Domaining partners sponsoring the upcoming  event will shoulder the fee, which will not be insubstantial. Predictions of  the opening line of the address go something like, “Ask not what your domain can do for you, but what can you do for your domain”. The deep pockets of the players and the global reach of the talent has raised eyebrows, making one domainer comment, “Bob Parsons could probably get the Queen”.

Domain Niche Markets in 2011

Big Domain Opportunities in 2011: The domain markets have shifted and slanted but reformed into the same structure they started 2010 with. But domain growth and site development will happen apace, especially in markets where organic domains can be exploited for end user traffic in organic wares, organic consumer product ideas, organic and environmentally friendly lifestyle coaching and tutorials. Niches like insurance (child insurance) financial products( reverse mortgages), and technology devices (Androids, Ivos, Windows 7, etc. continue to offer domain revenue potential.

The pivotal monster domain and website market for 2011 is gaming. Recreational gaming has become bigger better broader and better implemented worldwide. Universals of multigame, multiplayer, multiuser, online destinations attract more users every day. Veteran users exit one game and look for the next game title. Traffic from these end users come from a player looking for a strategic screenshot or playthrough. Any site with a bot, (skill advancing program), hints for gaming playthrough, game reviews, physics tips, scoring cheats, leveling tips & codes, and storyline summaries will find search engine results.

Godaddy Shows Its Auction Color to $350K

Color.com has been sold by Godaddy for $350,000 via account Executive Brad Parsons. This marks yet another resonant gong for the big ticket domain auction heard in every sector of this business. Sedo and other big auction house sites have been rolling domains in flour and frying them up large in tombstones all this season, and it looks like Big Daddy  isn’t going to be left out in the cold.

To generate fees and pay for the electric bill ($4 million party this week) , Godaddy.com has been succeeding in the domain name arena lately selling single name two party domains via auction in the five to six figures. Flexing its muscles in the domain auction slice of the industry, Godaddy also recently strong-armed Homeownersinsurance.com for $570,000.

Google Wants Your TV Names

There is a burgeoning hybrid opportunity for Google and TV domain names. The possibilities for names that Google can use, or that customers of home televisions with Google search capacity can see, opens up a new range for end users for websites, portals, and TV calendar listings. Names with “TV”,3D, set, “watch”, screen, home, channel, and other tech keywords are in demand.

Video plays a new role in ever more congruent SEO to domain name partnerships and value building online. Sites with “best of’ lists and video links will be fun home entertainment, family fun instead of programmed network shows stuffed with commercials. Websites composed of programmed TV viewing that families or niche watchers want can win the SEO wars. Nostalgia TV and cable viewing from video uploads and film segments has already made Hulu.com and Guba.com popular sites.

How does this change the business model for site development? Movie content makes search engine optimization the new driving force for website development. Articles and links to other TV based sites can also bring up the searchability quotient for these names and the sites behind them. Fansites becomes destination viewing with the new Google home TV site model. Your email list can start the home viewing wave and help get the word out.

This gives the SEO campaign for any TV name new legs. Given that entertainment is already a huge market for domainers and name auctions, and even deleting names and drop list auctions, domain developers should have at least one television name in the launch works with Google home-TV potential. Do fans want to blog or chat the shows while they watch? You bet they do. This is social TV networking.

Site managers and webmasters can formulate affiliate strategy to reach the home consumer. As home television and computer driven apps converge, a website with video and Google SEO matrices plugged in, wins. Because home viewers can surf your YouTube channel and maybe move on to your site if the spirit moves them. The webmaster without YouTube sinks in the SERP.

Chrome TV-searched visits to your site could be the elusive end user your sites has been waiting for. Google-owned YouTube connected sites will have a little more depth in the Google SEO than random video sites. All those domainers holding TV names and HDTV names and 3D names, as well as the Dot-TV extension of any relevant television or big screen tech name, there is a new focus for your end users and resale customer buyers.

Pool Skim for Sunday September 26th

Many exotic noms churning the shark infested bidding waters at Pool.com. Foaming at the top of the froth are the likely numericals. The domains 100 ItalianRecipes.com and 100MovieQuotes are born traffic magnets. the likely follow-up name 100quotes.com has quizzical potential. 123bids.com could be the store portal of tomorrow. 12monthcarlease.com could have a domainer in the driver’s seat.

The march of the 1800 number names commences tomorrow at Pool.com. The name set includes 1800files.com and many others. 1800chase.com, 800carkey.com, and 1800golfbag.com as well as 1800nyctaxi.com make geo and niche ideas come to mind. 1dollarbiz.com gives a lot of bang for the buck. The domain name 1roomlife.com could be a minicam video hit.

The nom url 1stopkid.com makes a domain shortstop out of a parenting search. And the sport name 2010-football.com could be a hyphenate traffic touchdown. The shorty domain 2-cp.com could also be a high scorer. The name 20dollargolf.com could be a gift site or a geo locator. Many, many 247 names on the pool.com list wave. Such as 247livemd.com. The domain 2cool4mail.com is a philosophy statement.

The url 300gas.com could be a buck saver in the neighborhood. The name 30minrecipes could take a half hour to resolve. The domain name 3daydeal.com could be a trifecta of domain value. the name 3-dpods.com could phone it in. The url 3gbike.com could be a dimensional cyclic name. A seris of 411 names fall from the Pool.com waves, 411bid.com among them. 411ww.com could be warcrafty, and 411hiv.com isn’t about the birds and the bees, specifically.

The name 4drealm.com is for domainer namer gamers. 4Fresno.com is geo specific. The name 55to.com could be speedy. 5rules.com is short and sweet. The domain 7daygames could mean a day of rest. 8000g.com is cryptic but memorable. 80day.com and 80web.com could be link mirrors. The site at 96tv.com could be a video site for nostalgia tubes.

More deleting names at the drop at Pool.com.

Pool Skim for Saturday Sept. 25th

The Pool waters are swimming with opportunities to be picked off by wary netters.

Backorders still possible on these names. Antbp.com could be the environmental hotsite of all BP haters for all time. Apple-faq.com and Apple-faqs.com could be very good but a copyright fight could also be in store. The domain name appzweb.com could be a very good link directory name. And 2014 green.com could be an outstanding blog portal with pre-programming to beat the band.

Numerical names as always have some special domain names coming up for the bid. 1-888-quoteline is a possible url. 1-800vote.com could be the pax populus of the Web. (or a survey site). The name 1800got2010.com could be cryptic but relevant through this year or for 2010 dated products ongoing. The domain 2010 laptop.com practically begs a bid just for the hybrid keywords alone. 21links.com could be an economic but interesting paid links portal.

More at Pool.com.

OnlineCollegeDegrees.com Sells Big for $22K

Get your wallets out, domainers are buying. The indications are good for developing education market and niche domain names again. The SEDO hot nom de jour was Online CollegeDegrees.com, sold for $22,800. This long but focal domain name will be successful capturing a huge and active traffic segment of both online services and education click and SEO eyeballs.

Also from the SEDO list, SwissTV.ch also headed the top European list of continental domains abroad. A domain movieshowtimes.com rang in $16K in change, and  visitnyc.com sold for just over $10K. Domain names such as modernspa.com sold for $5,5K and RussianTube.com vended at $5000. Sportsads.com sold for $3,000.

1st (Annual) Epik Seattle Starts

An old/new name in the world of domain names (Epik) is starting with some tasty speakers lined up.  Editor of Domainnamewire.com Andrew Allemann, followed by Luke Webster (DevRich), Chad Fisher of Pyramid SEO, as well as Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome (Gnomedex). Colin Pape of Shopcity.com and David Fairley of Website Properties will also shed light on the future of developing domains.

Jay Lohman of DomainDevelopmentFirm.com also contributes to the speaker’s wisdom, and John Lawler as Senior VP of product management at Epik reigns in the audience with feature product news. Rob Monster of Epik displays his Dutch-American common sense which many Internet companies pay good money for.

Hint to domainers: if you don’t know who these companies are or what they do, get Googling. Development IS the future of domaining. Godaddy.com knows that, which is why they are the Gold sponsor of the Epik event. Moniker.com will be holding an auction and serves as thePlatinum sponsor. Silver sponsors of the 1st annual Epik conference of domainers are ….WebsiteProperties, Lockergnome, Estibot.com, and more.

Glancing at the site, Epik does offer a free site analysis and evaluation. Hard to believe many domainers won’t act on that, especially as it could attract some feature bidders if the url shows “Epik” potential. A webcast of a Powerlunch with Rob Monster can be enjoyed by clicking here.

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