Monday, January 02, 2006

Auctioning Domain Names

I just recently heard about the secondary market for auctioning old domain names

Apparently there is such a demand for the expired domain names that registrars are now setting up a place to bid. The winner of the bid gets to have it.

Now, from a standpoint of hearing that, it sounds like a good idea. However, if someone has set out to get an expiring domain name using one of the services provided by the registrars and it is somewhat of a more visible domain name, is there financial insentive to hold off giving the expired name to the company requesting it? Could some of the unethical registrars actually buy the name themselves and then place it up for auction?

Certainly there have been large companies that buy thousands of expired domain names in order to try and gather the traffic flow from these sites. Eventually this traffic flow subsides, or if it does not subside, visitors will quickly click off the website when they see it is not what they wanted. Typically these types of websites have advertisments only with many links or copied text from others. The content value dimishes with the search engines over time. So, these companies spend their dollars continually scarfing up old website domains.

I am sure there are some ethical registrars that follow proper procedures and would not try to squeeze an individual or business. There probably is a code of ethics or ICANN maybe has some sort of procedure in place to help with Auctioning Domain Names.

Professional Web Services, Inc., Internet marketing services, online advertising strategies and website branding solutions to increase Web exposure for your business. The bottom line is more sales for your B2B or B2C business.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Your Network Solutions

Dealing with domain name transfers and account changes can be very difficult with some of the Domain Name Registrars.

To transfer your domain name from one registrar to another sometimes requires jumping through a number of network hoops.

Recently I received a request for help on getting their domain name renewed and updated with the correct account information and administrator on record at the place where it was registered. This particular place wanted to charge an arm and a leg to have the registration renewed. I suggested a Domain Name Transfer to a New Registrar.

Under ICANN (Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers) policies, domains can be transferred from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another by contacting the new registrar and initiating an Initial Authorization for Registrar Transfer form. Most registrars have a menu system to initiate the process. See: FAQ for Domain-Name Holders

Once this process is initiated, an email is sent to the current administrative contact with a security code (Auth-Info Code is a unique code generated on a per-domain basis) that must be entered into the process at the new location. It is imperative to have access to the old registrar in order to perform certain items to allow the transfer to go through.

One: must unlock the domain name. When the domain name is in a locked mode the name is protected from any types of transfers.

Two: must be able to receive the transfer request as the administrative contact. If you are not the Administrative Contact then you will have to either, contact the person who is, or change the administrative contact person in the control panel. If you do not have access to either of these then see: The importance of keeping your administrative contact information close to you.

Three: make sure the whois is updated. Note: updating the administrator does not necessarily change the whois data base. Network Solutions for example, makes it so that changing or adding a new administrator does not change the whois area. It takes a lot of looking around and scanning to the bottom of one of the pages to find the whois update link.

Once these criteria are meet then initiate the transfer request. Transfer requests must be allowed unless certain other items are present. Refer to the FAQ for Domain-Name Holders.

Completing the transfer can take up to five days under the ICANN rules. If difficulties arise contact your new registrar.

Bottom line

If your company has many domain names locked away for potential future use and your current registrar is charging thirty dollars or more per name, that can add up to large dollars annually. Most domains can be registered for less than eight dollars a year or additional savings if done for extended years.

My recommendation is Godaddy.com for all your domain name registration needs.

If you need assistance services in this area contact Professional Web Services for help. We offer full Internet marketing, Online advertising, and SEO services and Online solutions for the B2B and B2C industries.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Domain Name Clone

Interesting story last month about Wal-Mart having a domain name URL stripped away from an individual.

In this story Wal-Mart went to the WIPO Arbitration Center.

Wal-Mart's Domain Name Battles by ZDNet's Phil Windley -- A recent decision by the WIPO Arbitration Center took the domain name walmartfacts.biz away from Jeff Milchen, a self-described Wal-Mart critic. The panel found that Milchen had "registered the name in bad faith," a term that has specific meaning under ICANN's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). According to Evan Brown:In taking this "totality of [...]



There were four points that the arbitration panel had found that were in violation by the individual. In essence what this individual was doing was in direct conflict with ICANN policies.

Is this a watershed case? What about all the cloned url websites? How will this affect free speech? Where does free speech stop and protecting legitimate trade marks begin? Will we see more cases brought to arbitration?

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