WebProNews

Is Harmony.com Worth $5 Million?

Shortly after Fund.com raked in $10 million, reportedly a record-breaker for a straight domain price, Jay Westerdal, the 30-year-old CEO of Name Intelligence, Inc., put up Harmony.com at the starting bid of $5 million, a sale that went live officially today.

Is Google Driving Down the Value of Domain Names?

Robin Cannon in Search Engine Journal asks the somewhat puzzling question, ‘Is Google Trumping The URL?‘ Apparently more and more people use Google to find websites than type in the URL in the address bar of their browser. As he says:

The Return of Google's WHOIS Feature

Google had launched an application in January 2004 called WHOIS, that was later withdrawn. However, now according to Matt Cutts, the WHOIS feature has been released again. By entering a simplistic web address such as whois google.com, a user would be able to know the creation and the expiration date of the domain.

Advertising To The Non-Web-Savvy Population

Now suppose you wanted to buy your special someone a nice diamond ring. You'd probably type "diamond ring" into Google, right? So would I. But what would your not-so-savvy dad do? Is it possible that he'd type "nicediamondring.com" into the address bar of his browser? Read on to find out how you can advertise to folks like your dad.

Domain Frontrunning: A Ghost In The Machine

The domain frontrunning issue isn't exactly an open-and-shut case. In fact, it's more like an X-Files case. ICANN can't find evidence the practice really exists, and the one entity who says he has proof won't provide that proof.It's not like enacting policies against ghosts, exactly. You don't need proof of the existence of frontrunning to enact a policy against it. But in this case, proof might have helped Network Solutions not look so bad.

Network Solutions Backs Down, A Little

After a fiery uproar, Network Solutions (NetSol) is backing down some from the recently instituted practice of automatically registering domains customers search for on the company's site. If available, NetSol would hold the domain for four days and sell it for $34.99.

Network Solutions Charging For Protection

Controversy is brewing about domain registrar company Network Solutions' newly instituted practice of automatically registering domain names users search for and then jacking up the price during ICANN's return grace period.Critics call it "extortion," but Network Solutions calls it a service to protect customers from the practice of "front running." The extra charge is, assumedly, the protection fee -- you know, just like the one the mob offers.

Domains & Branding

In the past any large company could use subdomains as an effective reputation management strategy.

PubCon - Effective Domaining Strategies

Today’s domain picture is multifaceted and complex. This session will look at effective processes and strategies for successful domain buying today.

Google Shuffles Lots Of Domains

The DNS admins had plenty to do at Google this week, with a lot of domain names being moved to Google's servers.