After seeing some nice LL.ca sales this year already, another one has been put up for offers at DNForum.com with an asking price of $15,000.
The domain is OO.ca which is a better quality LL domain because it has repeating letters.
If the past LL.ca sales are any indication, this domain will likely sell at or near the asking price.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
.CA domains sold at TBR today
Reported sales from the Sibername .ca TBR today. These are domains that were dropped by their previous owners, and now sold at auction.
VancouverCondos.ca $1,556
toddlers.ca $315
canadasavings.ca $235
wsa.ca $110
rma.ca $110
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Namespro - Register .ca domains at Namespro.ca Click here to register .ca domains
VancouverCondos.ca $1,556
toddlers.ca $315
canadasavings.ca $235
wsa.ca $110
rma.ca $110
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Namespro - Register .ca domains at Namespro.ca Click here to register .ca domains
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Top .CA domain sales of past two weeks
Here are the top reported sales of .ca domains for the past two weeks, from Ron Jackson's DNJournal.com site. The .ca sales fall under the country code section.
PentictonHomes.ca $2,500
ChrisJohnson.ca $1,000
6X.ca $1,250
Temperature.ca $1,161
Also, at Afternic there was an auction started for SXX.ca, it was around $100 the last time I saw it.
A huge range of country code extensions were present in the sales list, including .de .fr .la .at .nl .tv. .eu .cc .br .nr .ch .gd .es .pl .ag. I think this shows that there is a lot of interest in country code domains, maybe a factor of 'national pride'.
For most countries, the country code extension is as good, or maybe even better than .com, especially if you are using the domain to market within that specific country.
PentictonHomes.ca $2,500
ChrisJohnson.ca $1,000
6X.ca $1,250
Temperature.ca $1,161
Also, at Afternic there was an auction started for SXX.ca, it was around $100 the last time I saw it.
A huge range of country code extensions were present in the sales list, including .de .fr .la .at .nl .tv. .eu .cc .br .nr .ch .gd .es .pl .ag. I think this shows that there is a lot of interest in country code domains, maybe a factor of 'national pride'.
For most countries, the country code extension is as good, or maybe even better than .com, especially if you are using the domain to market within that specific country.
Monday, February 25, 2008
You can own part of Flowers.mobi
I just found out about a new site today called FUSU.com, at least it's new to me. Not sure how long it's been around.
I joined and checked around the site, and found it to be very much like a stock exchange, except it has to do with buying shares in domain names.
Three of the domains that were interesting to me were eel.com, warning.com and flowers.mobi.
It seems like once a domain is submitted, the owner determines the total number of shares and the entry price per share. For example, flowers.mobi has a total of 250,000 shares with 37,500 of these available for public buy-in. Minimum buy-in price is $1.00, but you can bid higher to make sure you get some shares.
At the closing, the 37,500 shares are awarded to the highest bidders. Afterwards, you can buy and sell these shares on the Fusu market. You also get to share in any future revenues or a sale of the domain for whatever percentage you own. It looks like you can buy even in small amounts (e.g.: 10 shares) so you don't need a lot of money to get started.
It looks like this site will give small and big investors a chance to partner with top generic domain owners like Rick Schwartz (flowers.mobi) and the Castello brothers (eel.com).
One thing that isn't clear, or that I couldn't find on the site, was how can a shareholder be sure of what revenues a domain is making, and how would any ppc income be distributed to shareholders?
It's definitely an interesting time to be in domaining, with new ideas and markets continually evolving. From domain leasing, to domain financing, and now a domain stock market!
I joined and checked around the site, and found it to be very much like a stock exchange, except it has to do with buying shares in domain names.
Three of the domains that were interesting to me were eel.com, warning.com and flowers.mobi.
It seems like once a domain is submitted, the owner determines the total number of shares and the entry price per share. For example, flowers.mobi has a total of 250,000 shares with 37,500 of these available for public buy-in. Minimum buy-in price is $1.00, but you can bid higher to make sure you get some shares.
At the closing, the 37,500 shares are awarded to the highest bidders. Afterwards, you can buy and sell these shares on the Fusu market. You also get to share in any future revenues or a sale of the domain for whatever percentage you own. It looks like you can buy even in small amounts (e.g.: 10 shares) so you don't need a lot of money to get started.
It looks like this site will give small and big investors a chance to partner with top generic domain owners like Rick Schwartz (flowers.mobi) and the Castello brothers (eel.com).
One thing that isn't clear, or that I couldn't find on the site, was how can a shareholder be sure of what revenues a domain is making, and how would any ppc income be distributed to shareholders?
It's definitely an interesting time to be in domaining, with new ideas and markets continually evolving. From domain leasing, to domain financing, and now a domain stock market!
ZZ.ca up for auction
ZZ.ca was put up for auction today at DNForum.com
Recent two letter .ca domains have fetched prices in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, including vv.ca, rr.ca and bu.ca.
It will be interesting to see if ZZ.ca sells, and for what price. It might make a good domain for a website about sleeping.
Recent two letter .ca domains have fetched prices in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, including vv.ca, rr.ca and bu.ca.
It will be interesting to see if ZZ.ca sells, and for what price. It might make a good domain for a website about sleeping.
Friday, February 22, 2008
L-L.ca a good investment for the future?
Are L-L.ca domains a good investment for the future?
L-L means letter hyphen letter, for example, d-k.ca or g-w.ca
If you are just getting into buying .ca domains, or already own some, you are probably wondering what kind of names have value now or will in the future. I think it's worth owning some L-L.ca for various reasons:
They are short, three character, two letter domains.
They can be used as initials for someone's name, or for a company.
There are only 676 possible combinations. Rarity alone isn't necessarily a good thing, because there is only one of every domain, but combined with the shortness of L-L domains it's a good thing.
LL.ca have sold recently into the $5,000 to 15,000 range. There is only a one hyphen difference between these two types of names.
All LL.ca are owned by someone, and many are unavailable to purchase at any price. L-L.ca domains are a good alternative.
The L-L combinations have been registered in all the top domain extensions, like .com, .net, .org, .biz, .mobi. Yet, you can still find some available in .ca. In Canada, .com and .ca are the two best extensions to have.
LL.ca and even LLL.ca domains have all been registered. Out of 676 possible combinations, only 218 L-L.ca domains are unregistered. I own some myself, and if I didn't I would buy at least a few for investment.
One example of a L-L.ca being used for a website is www.M-X.ca which is the Montreal Stock Exchange. I even found an active L-L-L.ca website, which was G-P-S.ca
If you want to know which L-L.ca are still available, check out the list on this blog by Domain Magnate.
L-L.ca list of remaining combinations
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L-L means letter hyphen letter, for example, d-k.ca or g-w.ca
If you are just getting into buying .ca domains, or already own some, you are probably wondering what kind of names have value now or will in the future. I think it's worth owning some L-L.ca for various reasons:
They are short, three character, two letter domains.
They can be used as initials for someone's name, or for a company.
There are only 676 possible combinations. Rarity alone isn't necessarily a good thing, because there is only one of every domain, but combined with the shortness of L-L domains it's a good thing.
LL.ca have sold recently into the $5,000 to 15,000 range. There is only a one hyphen difference between these two types of names.
All LL.ca are owned by someone, and many are unavailable to purchase at any price. L-L.ca domains are a good alternative.
The L-L combinations have been registered in all the top domain extensions, like .com, .net, .org, .biz, .mobi. Yet, you can still find some available in .ca. In Canada, .com and .ca are the two best extensions to have.
LL.ca and even LLL.ca domains have all been registered. Out of 676 possible combinations, only 218 L-L.ca domains are unregistered. I own some myself, and if I didn't I would buy at least a few for investment.
One example of a L-L.ca being used for a website is www.M-X.ca which is the Montreal Stock Exchange. I even found an active L-L-L.ca website, which was G-P-S.ca
If you want to know which L-L.ca are still available, check out the list on this blog by Domain Magnate.
L-L.ca list of remaining combinations
--------------------------
Thursday, February 21, 2008
.CA domain name appraisal service launched
The first domain name appraisal service that specifically deals with .ca domains was launched today. Here is a copy of the news release:
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This week saw the launch of Canada's only Canadian domain name appraisal service.
"It's an exciting time to be registering and developing businesses on dot ca domain names. Canada is one of the most connected nations on earth whether that be people using their home or office computer or one of the growing market's mobile devices for accessing the Internet," explained Kyle Kerr of FYO Canadian Domain Names.
Domain name values have exploded over the past few years, and Canada's own domain name has seen growth as well. Buying and selling domain names have become not only a legitimate business, it is making people really rich.
This market was absent an appraisal service by Canadians for Canadians. The only appraisal service prior to this would be the myriad of overseas companies offering this type of service. With the introduction of FYO Canadian Domain Names' appraisal service, such a service now exists.
"We were getting many requests from Canadian owners of .ca domain names inquiring about the true value of their domain name and/or website. Without deep working knowledge of the industry it can be hard to ascertain the value of your dot ca domain," continued Kerr.
"This service is geared towards domain name portfolio holders to those who purchased a domain name but never got around to using it. When it comes time to sell your domain names, don't under-sell. Be sure to get a proper market appraisal first. We have been very successful in our own domain name buying and selling, so you can be sure to get the most accurate and thorough appraisal on your domain names and websites."
Link to .ca appraisal site:
http://www.fyo.ca/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=2
------------------
This week saw the launch of Canada's only Canadian domain name appraisal service.
"It's an exciting time to be registering and developing businesses on dot ca domain names. Canada is one of the most connected nations on earth whether that be people using their home or office computer or one of the growing market's mobile devices for accessing the Internet," explained Kyle Kerr of FYO Canadian Domain Names.
Domain name values have exploded over the past few years, and Canada's own domain name has seen growth as well. Buying and selling domain names have become not only a legitimate business, it is making people really rich.
This market was absent an appraisal service by Canadians for Canadians. The only appraisal service prior to this would be the myriad of overseas companies offering this type of service. With the introduction of FYO Canadian Domain Names' appraisal service, such a service now exists.
"We were getting many requests from Canadian owners of .ca domain names inquiring about the true value of their domain name and/or website. Without deep working knowledge of the industry it can be hard to ascertain the value of your dot ca domain," continued Kerr.
"This service is geared towards domain name portfolio holders to those who purchased a domain name but never got around to using it. When it comes time to sell your domain names, don't under-sell. Be sure to get a proper market appraisal first. We have been very successful in our own domain name buying and selling, so you can be sure to get the most accurate and thorough appraisal on your domain names and websites."
Link to .ca appraisal site:
http://www.fyo.ca/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=2
Top domain sales at Traffic Las Vegas
The big Traffic domain show is being held this week in Las Vegas. Yesterday they held a live domain auction, for interest here are some of the top sales from that auction with prices in US dollars.
skiresorts.com 850,000
meds.com 470,000
DVDs.com 300,000
CPC.com 200,000
GarageSales.com 110,000
Autoclassifieds.com 110,000
Porn.mobi 110,000
husband.com 100,000
SearchEngines.com 92,500
niche.com 85,000
SKINNY.COM 80,000
GoldDigger.com and GoldDiggers.com 80,000
cotton.com 75,000
Hoax.com 70,000
WeddingVows.com 62,500
The new .mobi extension for mobile had some good sales, some of which were:
Tickets.mobi 60,000
Property.mobi 26,000
Vegas.mobi 20,000
shows.mobi 20,000
You can find a complete list on this thread at DNForum:
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/complete-traffic-auction-results-2-20-08-a-thread-279804.html
skiresorts.com 850,000
meds.com 470,000
DVDs.com 300,000
CPC.com 200,000
GarageSales.com 110,000
Autoclassifieds.com 110,000
Porn.mobi 110,000
husband.com 100,000
SearchEngines.com 92,500
niche.com 85,000
SKINNY.COM 80,000
GoldDigger.com and GoldDiggers.com 80,000
cotton.com 75,000
Hoax.com 70,000
WeddingVows.com 62,500
The new .mobi extension for mobile had some good sales, some of which were:
Tickets.mobi 60,000
Property.mobi 26,000
Vegas.mobi 20,000
shows.mobi 20,000
You can find a complete list on this thread at DNForum:
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/complete-traffic-auction-results-2-20-08-a-thread-279804.html
Why do top domainers come from BC, Canada?
It has been a long standing joke that a lot of top domainers have come from BC, Canada. And in particular, the Vancouver area.
Yun Ye acquired the bulk of his domain portfolio while living in Vancouver. His portfolio eventually sold to Marchex in a low 9 figure deal. Today, Marchex is worth only somewhat more than double what they paid for Ye's portfolio (which might make them a good buy). But that's another topic.
Frank Schilling lives in the Caymans now, but got started in domaining while living in Vancouver.
Kevin Ham, who was profiled in Business 2.0 magazine as the man who owns the Internet, also lives in Vancouver. He might be the most successful domainer ever.
In the Okanagan area of BC is another top domainer who keeps a fairly low profile, but owns many great names and also mentored Frank Schilling early in his domaining career. Too bad we haven't seen a profile on this person yet, maybe DNJournal will get his story one day.
Now, in an article that might explain this, BC Business magazine suggests that the climate of Vancouver has something to do with higher creativity and entrepreneurship.
"There are creative and smart business people in every region of Canada. But after working on three national business programs, I have to say, there must be something in the air in B.C. And if someone could figure out how to bottle and export that, the entire country would be Lotusland."
Link to article:
http://bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/business-sense/2008/02/01/something-air
Yun Ye acquired the bulk of his domain portfolio while living in Vancouver. His portfolio eventually sold to Marchex in a low 9 figure deal. Today, Marchex is worth only somewhat more than double what they paid for Ye's portfolio (which might make them a good buy). But that's another topic.
Frank Schilling lives in the Caymans now, but got started in domaining while living in Vancouver.
Kevin Ham, who was profiled in Business 2.0 magazine as the man who owns the Internet, also lives in Vancouver. He might be the most successful domainer ever.
In the Okanagan area of BC is another top domainer who keeps a fairly low profile, but owns many great names and also mentored Frank Schilling early in his domaining career. Too bad we haven't seen a profile on this person yet, maybe DNJournal will get his story one day.
Now, in an article that might explain this, BC Business magazine suggests that the climate of Vancouver has something to do with higher creativity and entrepreneurship.
"There are creative and smart business people in every region of Canada. But after working on three national business programs, I have to say, there must be something in the air in B.C. And if someone could figure out how to bottle and export that, the entire country would be Lotusland."
Link to article:
http://bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/business-sense/2008/02/01/something-air
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Domain video story on CNN website
Here is a link to a news report about the domain name market on the Fortune website. The reporter gives a brief discussion of the domain market being big business, with some examples of recent sales, and names for sale.
Link to video clip:
http://money.cnn.com/video/ft/#/video/fortune/2008/02/19/tt.domain.fortune
Link to video clip:
http://money.cnn.com/video/ft/#/video/fortune/2008/02/19/tt.domain.fortune
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
970,000 .ca domains registered
We are just about to hit 970,000 .ca domains registered today, February 19.
Since my last post a week ago on the total count, there has been an average registration rate of 571 .ca domains per day.
If this rate keeps up, within 50 days the total .ca domain registrations will reach One Million.
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Check today's domain deals at Godaddy!
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Since my last post a week ago on the total count, there has been an average registration rate of 571 .ca domains per day.
If this rate keeps up, within 50 days the total .ca domain registrations will reach One Million.
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Check today's domain deals at Godaddy!
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
New York Times - more old media job cuts
Just days after job cuts were reported at the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times has announced 100 job cuts from their newsroom due to "a weak economy and competition from the internet".
The lost jobs represent almost 8% of the NYT newsroom staff.
The Times has had other job cuts in the recent past, but these are the first to affect their newsroom.
It really looks like newspapers are going to lose out to online media, meaning they will be cut back to a certain level and never be able to recover.
I still like to read a weekend newspaper myself, but who really has time to read a major city paper every day anymore? We get our news on the go now; on the internet, and on mobile devices. You don't have to wait for tomorrow morning's newspaper to get what you need. You just need to log on anytime, 24/7.
The lost jobs represent almost 8% of the NYT newsroom staff.
The Times has had other job cuts in the recent past, but these are the first to affect their newsroom.
It really looks like newspapers are going to lose out to online media, meaning they will be cut back to a certain level and never be able to recover.
I still like to read a weekend newspaper myself, but who really has time to read a major city paper every day anymore? We get our news on the go now; on the internet, and on mobile devices. You don't have to wait for tomorrow morning's newspaper to get what you need. You just need to log on anytime, 24/7.
Friday, February 15, 2008
.CA domains mentioned in Sedo Feb. newsletter
Just received my February 2008 Sedo newsletter, and the feature article is a spot on .ca domain names and their growth (by Monica Ibrahim). It's too long to post here, but a few highlights are:
"One thing is for certain, the demand for quality .CA domains will continue to grow." He couldn′t have been more on target as we continue to see demand for the extension increase from year to year.
The overall availability and affordability of the .CA Top Level Domain (TLD) are among the top desirability factors. With almost one million .CA domains registered to date, the relatively low price of $9.95 a year for registration costs and affordable website hosting costs, more and more people are hopping aboard the .CA train.
If you find yourself traveling through Canada, you’re bound to see countless advertisements on highway billboards boasting a .CA domain.
Presently, when acquiring a generic one word .COM, it has the potential of costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. It makes the most economical sense for Canadian companies hoping to stay competitive to brand their businesses around the .CA.
Nowadays, the likelihood of interacting with a business or individual in Canada electing to use the .COM over the .CA is slim to none.
There′s also a trust element involved. Canadian citizens are less prone to fear working with a multinational using the .CA TLD and are more inclined to buy from them, knowing full-well that the business is most likely located in Canada.
Currently, there are over 18,000 .CA domains listed for sale in our marketplace.
Prospective domain buyers will need a Canadian presence in order to own a .CA domain.
With the recent push by NetFirms to register more domains with the extension, the possibility of registering millions more two or three word premium domains, and the relative ease in transferring .CA domains in Sedo’s marketplace, the future of .CA domains is only looking brighter.
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You can sign up for Sedo's newsletter here. Couldn't find a link on their site to their newsletters though.
http://www.sedo.com/links/showlinks.php3?tracked=&partnerid=&language=us
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"One thing is for certain, the demand for quality .CA domains will continue to grow." He couldn′t have been more on target as we continue to see demand for the extension increase from year to year.
The overall availability and affordability of the .CA Top Level Domain (TLD) are among the top desirability factors. With almost one million .CA domains registered to date, the relatively low price of $9.95 a year for registration costs and affordable website hosting costs, more and more people are hopping aboard the .CA train.
If you find yourself traveling through Canada, you’re bound to see countless advertisements on highway billboards boasting a .CA domain.
Presently, when acquiring a generic one word .COM, it has the potential of costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. It makes the most economical sense for Canadian companies hoping to stay competitive to brand their businesses around the .CA.
Nowadays, the likelihood of interacting with a business or individual in Canada electing to use the .COM over the .CA is slim to none.
There′s also a trust element involved. Canadian citizens are less prone to fear working with a multinational using the .CA TLD and are more inclined to buy from them, knowing full-well that the business is most likely located in Canada.
Currently, there are over 18,000 .CA domains listed for sale in our marketplace.
Prospective domain buyers will need a Canadian presence in order to own a .CA domain.
With the recent push by NetFirms to register more domains with the extension, the possibility of registering millions more two or three word premium domains, and the relative ease in transferring .CA domains in Sedo’s marketplace, the future of .CA domains is only looking brighter.
---------------------------------------
You can sign up for Sedo's newsletter here. Couldn't find a link on their site to their newsletters though.
http://www.sedo.com/links/showlinks.php3?tracked=&partnerid=&language=us
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Thursday, February 14, 2008
More Job Cuts in Old Media - Chicago Tribune
Saw an article in my local newspaper today about 100 job cuts at the Chicago Tribune. It's a well known fact that newspapers have been losing out to online media in recent years, and here is another related story.
The cuts at the Tribune amount to 3.5% of their workforce. They reported that total revenue was down 5% in January, and "ad revenue was down double digits, a continuation of the trend late last year". Cash flow had dropped more than 8%, in addition to a drop in 2007. From the company: "The near term outlook shows few signs of improvement".
The cuts were necessary due to "the weak economy and significant declines in advertising volume at our newspapers".
We all know where that advertising is going, and the trend will continue. It will be interesting to see what the growth of online advertising will be for 2008, even with a weaker economy in the US. Hopefully the people who lost their jobs will find new employment, maybe even providing content or services to online media.
The cuts at the Tribune amount to 3.5% of their workforce. They reported that total revenue was down 5% in January, and "ad revenue was down double digits, a continuation of the trend late last year". Cash flow had dropped more than 8%, in addition to a drop in 2007. From the company: "The near term outlook shows few signs of improvement".
The cuts were necessary due to "the weak economy and significant declines in advertising volume at our newspapers".
We all know where that advertising is going, and the trend will continue. It will be interesting to see what the growth of online advertising will be for 2008, even with a weaker economy in the US. Hopefully the people who lost their jobs will find new employment, maybe even providing content or services to online media.
Can you still hand register a good domain?
I think the answer to this is "Yes"!
Recently, I was looking for some real estate related .ca domains for Canadian cities. Where I look up domains, at NetCheap.com, you can see many extensions in the results (.com, .net, .info, .biz, .ca and so on).
For fun, I started checking pure city names, and found that NorthVancouver.biz and PortMoody.info were available. These are cities close to Vancouver with 100k and 30k populations, respectively. I know .biz isn't great, but for a city name it's worth the reg fee. And .info is a great extension for information type domains (check Spain.info for example).
Also, checking for Whistler domains because the Winter Olympics are there in 2010, and lots of people will be searching for Whistler information, I saw that WhistlerSkiing.net was available (and other top extensions taken). Again, this is a high search term for Whistler, and very applicable because Whistler is known for it's skiing.
So don't give up on fresh regging, you might still find some gems out there!
Recently, I was looking for some real estate related .ca domains for Canadian cities. Where I look up domains, at NetCheap.com, you can see many extensions in the results (.com, .net, .info, .biz, .ca and so on).
For fun, I started checking pure city names, and found that NorthVancouver.biz and PortMoody.info were available. These are cities close to Vancouver with 100k and 30k populations, respectively. I know .biz isn't great, but for a city name it's worth the reg fee. And .info is a great extension for information type domains (check Spain.info for example).
Also, checking for Whistler domains because the Winter Olympics are there in 2010, and lots of people will be searching for Whistler information, I saw that WhistlerSkiing.net was available (and other top extensions taken). Again, this is a high search term for Whistler, and very applicable because Whistler is known for it's skiing.
So don't give up on fresh regging, you might still find some gems out there!
.CA domains for advertising
Seems like I often see big companies in Canada using slogan type .ca domains for advertising campaigns instead of generic words, or even their own company name.
For example, this morning I saw the domain www.shirtoffourback.ca on a banner on a financial site for a company called Trade Freedom. I guess it's a slogan to make a point of how they are willing to give more as a broker to make you switch to them. The domain goes to a nice flashy site with a video. From a quick look I see that Scotia Bank just acquired Trade Freedom. Also, they were smart enough to own TradeFreedom.ca and TradeFreedom.com.
My point is, if they are going to use a URL in a campaign, why not TradeFreedom.ca or TradeFreedom.com? Who knows how long this campaign to do with "shirt off our back" will last. Some slogans have staying power, like "Have it your way" or "Coke is it". But if you're a smaller company than Burger King or Coke, with limited money for advertising, why not concentrate on your main url for visual advertising? TradeFreedom.ca is a lot easier to remember than shirtoffourback.ca. I even typed it in wrong as "shirt off my back" the first time I tried it.
I can even see using a domain like trade.ca, onlinebroker.ca, or invest.ca, because they are easy to remember, describe the business, and might even get you type in traffic.
Too many companies seem to use these 'slogan' type domains. I call them 'throw-away' domains, because once the campaign has ended, the domain often becomes useless. These types of domain choices might have a lot to do with traditional advertising firms who do the advertising for these companies, because they often think in terms of a limited length campaign, and ignore generic potential that lasts forever.
For example, this morning I saw the domain www.shirtoffourback.ca on a banner on a financial site for a company called Trade Freedom. I guess it's a slogan to make a point of how they are willing to give more as a broker to make you switch to them. The domain goes to a nice flashy site with a video. From a quick look I see that Scotia Bank just acquired Trade Freedom. Also, they were smart enough to own TradeFreedom.ca and TradeFreedom.com.
My point is, if they are going to use a URL in a campaign, why not TradeFreedom.ca or TradeFreedom.com? Who knows how long this campaign to do with "shirt off our back" will last. Some slogans have staying power, like "Have it your way" or "Coke is it". But if you're a smaller company than Burger King or Coke, with limited money for advertising, why not concentrate on your main url for visual advertising? TradeFreedom.ca is a lot easier to remember than shirtoffourback.ca. I even typed it in wrong as "shirt off my back" the first time I tried it.
I can even see using a domain like trade.ca, onlinebroker.ca, or invest.ca, because they are easy to remember, describe the business, and might even get you type in traffic.
Too many companies seem to use these 'slogan' type domains. I call them 'throw-away' domains, because once the campaign has ended, the domain often becomes useless. These types of domain choices might have a lot to do with traditional advertising firms who do the advertising for these companies, because they often think in terms of a limited length campaign, and ignore generic potential that lasts forever.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
NNNNN.com domains almost all gone
The pace has picked up on people registering NNNNN.com, which mean five number .com's. For example, 90210.com or 53762.com
There are only 100,000 possible combinations, and at the time of this writing probably less than 7,800 are available to register. Yesterday, there were over 10,000 available. Domain forums have a lot of discussion on NNNNN.com getting sold out, so that is probably increasing the pace of registrations.
Three number domains and four number domains (NNN.com and NNNN.com) sold out long ago, so the next shortest numeric domain that is still possible to register are the five number .com's.
100,000 might seem like a high number, but when you consider there are 6 billion people on the planet, it isn't so high. In addition, one company allegedly owns over half of these types of domains for use as US zip codes.
Some people speculate that it is an 'artificial' buyout, driven by domain investors only. But over the past few years, we have seen short three or four number/letter .com domains increase in price substantially. The thinking is the same thing will happen with NNNNN.com. Even if they attain a re-sale price of 20 to 30 dollars in the next year, that is still a 100% to 200% increase on an investment, which isn't bad at all. Every year domains have to be renewed if you want to keep them, however, which typically costs 7 to 10 dollars.
There are only 100,000 possible combinations, and at the time of this writing probably less than 7,800 are available to register. Yesterday, there were over 10,000 available. Domain forums have a lot of discussion on NNNNN.com getting sold out, so that is probably increasing the pace of registrations.
Three number domains and four number domains (NNN.com and NNNN.com) sold out long ago, so the next shortest numeric domain that is still possible to register are the five number .com's.
100,000 might seem like a high number, but when you consider there are 6 billion people on the planet, it isn't so high. In addition, one company allegedly owns over half of these types of domains for use as US zip codes.
Some people speculate that it is an 'artificial' buyout, driven by domain investors only. But over the past few years, we have seen short three or four number/letter .com domains increase in price substantially. The thinking is the same thing will happen with NNNNN.com. Even if they attain a re-sale price of 20 to 30 dollars in the next year, that is still a 100% to 200% increase on an investment, which isn't bad at all. Every year domains have to be renewed if you want to keep them, however, which typically costs 7 to 10 dollars.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
.CA domains inching to One Million
Total .ca domain registrations are now at 966,200.
Since I posted two weeks ago, that's a gain of about 10,000 names.
At this rate, .ca registrations will reach 1,000,000 within two months from now, about the middle of April.
Since I posted two weeks ago, that's a gain of about 10,000 names.
At this rate, .ca registrations will reach 1,000,000 within two months from now, about the middle of April.
Monday, February 11, 2008
TRAFFIC domain show Feb 18-21 Las Vegas
The next TRAFFIC domain show starts Feb 18 in Las Vegas. They do a number of shows every year in different locations, and it's a good chance for anyone involved in the domain market to network, attend information sessions, and buy domains at auction.
I'm thinking the auction at this next TRAFFIC show could break some records, as there are some spectacular domains on sale. Some of these sales might even make mainstream news headlines as they have in the past.
I've never seen a .ca domain at these auctions, but I can see it happening one day.
Here you can see a video and find out more information about TRAFFIC
http://targetedtraffic.com/index.html
Some of the better names in the auction are:
Daily.com
Meds.com
Baseball.net
DiscountTravel.com
BabyFood.com
Beverage.com
EscortServices.com
Temp.com
Wife.com
Husband.com
SanJuan.com
Necklace.com
Fiesta.com
GrandPrize.com
Organ.com
Affiliate.com
Trusts.com
Dance.com
CPC.com
SearchEngines.com
Sabbath.com
CustomerService.com
Bachelor.com/.net/.org
Communication.com
Introduction.com
HomeVideos.com
There are also some premium .mobi domains that will be offered for the first time ever. These include:
Banks.mobi
Broadway.mobi
Doctor.mobi
Hollywood.mobi
Lottery.mobi
Naked.mobi
Porn.mobi
Property.mobi
Score.mobi
Tickets.mobi
Vegas.mobi
I'm thinking the auction at this next TRAFFIC show could break some records, as there are some spectacular domains on sale. Some of these sales might even make mainstream news headlines as they have in the past.
I've never seen a .ca domain at these auctions, but I can see it happening one day.
Here you can see a video and find out more information about TRAFFIC
http://targetedtraffic.com/index.html
Some of the better names in the auction are:
Daily.com
Meds.com
Baseball.net
DiscountTravel.com
BabyFood.com
Beverage.com
EscortServices.com
Temp.com
Wife.com
Husband.com
SanJuan.com
Necklace.com
Fiesta.com
GrandPrize.com
Organ.com
Affiliate.com
Trusts.com
Dance.com
CPC.com
SearchEngines.com
Sabbath.com
CustomerService.com
Bachelor.com/.net/.org
Communication.com
Introduction.com
HomeVideos.com
There are also some premium .mobi domains that will be offered for the first time ever. These include:
Banks.mobi
Broadway.mobi
Doctor.mobi
Hollywood.mobi
Lottery.mobi
Naked.mobi
Porn.mobi
Property.mobi
Score.mobi
Tickets.mobi
Vegas.mobi
BU.ca sells for $13,500 at auction
The domain name BU.ca has reportedly sold for $13,500 CAN at domain drop catcher Pool.com
This domain name expired and was snapped up by Pool, one of a number of businesses that 'catch' expired domains and auction them off to the highest bidder.
The previous owner of BU.ca either forgot to renew it, or purposely let it expire because they didn't want it anymore. Once a .ca domain name expires, it goes into a 30 day suspension period where the previous owner can still renew it. If they don't, it is released back and becomes available to anyone. Highly desired names like this usually get registered within seconds of becoming available.
The acronym BU could be used for a website about Bishops University, or Brandon University, or a subject to do with Business.
This domain name expired and was snapped up by Pool, one of a number of businesses that 'catch' expired domains and auction them off to the highest bidder.
The previous owner of BU.ca either forgot to renew it, or purposely let it expire because they didn't want it anymore. Once a .ca domain name expires, it goes into a 30 day suspension period where the previous owner can still renew it. If they don't, it is released back and becomes available to anyone. Highly desired names like this usually get registered within seconds of becoming available.
The acronym BU could be used for a website about Bishops University, or Brandon University, or a subject to do with Business.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
New article - What's in a Domain Name?
Nice article at the Christian Science Monitor today about the general domain name market, and why domains are increasingly being seen as assets by all types of investors. The article doesn't specifically mention .ca domains, but much of what it says about the domain market would also apply to good .ca domain names.
"Several venture capitalists now consider domain names to be appreciating commodities, much like stocks and real estate."
Link to article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0207/p13s01-stct.html
"Several venture capitalists now consider domain names to be appreciating commodities, much like stocks and real estate."
Link to article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0207/p13s01-stct.html
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
.CA domain sales of past week
There was only one .ca domain sale to report in the last week at dnjournal.com, and that was:
VV.ca $10,000
that's two letter V's (not a W). I wrote earlier here about why these types of short domains have value, especially with repeating letters.
Interestingly, the top domain sale of the week was Cruises.co.uk, which went for $1,099,798. Usually a .com domain takes the top spot.
.co.uk is the domain extension for the UK, and it serves as a good example of how valuable a country code domain can be, especially if it targets a lucrative market.
VV.ca $10,000
that's two letter V's (not a W). I wrote earlier here about why these types of short domains have value, especially with repeating letters.
Interestingly, the top domain sale of the week was Cruises.co.uk, which went for $1,099,798. Usually a .com domain takes the top spot.
.co.uk is the domain extension for the UK, and it serves as a good example of how valuable a country code domain can be, especially if it targets a lucrative market.
Superbowl ads with .ca domain names
Courtesy of the Tucows blog (link below), here are some of the .ca domains that were mentioned on Canadian TV during the Superbowl game last Sunday.
I should start keeping a diary of every time I see a .ca domain in advertising, just to see how widespread the use of .ca is. It sure seems like they show up a lot.
One of the reasons .ca has caught on in Canada is because so many companies are using them, and the government too. People see .ca domains everywhere and get used to them.
waramps.ca
mini.ca
nissan.ca
ctv.ca
airmiles.ca
forthegreenergood.ca
apple.ca
bestbuy.ca
doritos.ca
builtfordtough.ca
monster.ca
dodge.ca
vw.ca
mazda.ca
seeingandhearing.ca
spend.ca
forces.ca
siriuscanada.ca
cdic.ca
truehd.ca
ikea.ca/mattress
nestle-bowlblitz.ca
http://about.tucows.com/2008/02/05/superbowl-means-superurl-to-some/
some others I've see around include:
bienchoisir.ca
pcpoints.ca
rd.ca
pepsiaccess.ca
cheese.ca
I should start keeping a diary of every time I see a .ca domain in advertising, just to see how widespread the use of .ca is. It sure seems like they show up a lot.
One of the reasons .ca has caught on in Canada is because so many companies are using them, and the government too. People see .ca domains everywhere and get used to them.
waramps.ca
mini.ca
nissan.ca
ctv.ca
airmiles.ca
forthegreenergood.ca
apple.ca
bestbuy.ca
doritos.ca
builtfordtough.ca
monster.ca
dodge.ca
vw.ca
mazda.ca
seeingandhearing.ca
spend.ca
forces.ca
siriuscanada.ca
cdic.ca
truehd.ca
ikea.ca/mattress
nestle-bowlblitz.ca
http://about.tucows.com/2008/02/05/superbowl-means-superurl-to-some/
some others I've see around include:
bienchoisir.ca
pcpoints.ca
rd.ca
pepsiaccess.ca
cheese.ca
Monday, February 4, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Real Estate .ca domains heating up?
Recently, PentictonHomes.ca was selling on Sedo.com for $2,500. Didn't see how the auction ended, but real estate .ca domains could be a good bet for the future. City names + homes, or realestate, or realty are great for realtors to use in marketing. They are easy domains to remember for home buyers or sellers, and might even get some type in traffic. Every town has dozens or hundreds or thousands of realtors, so these types of quality domains could be in high demand in the future.
LL.ca domains on sale lately
Hot on the heels of the sales of RR.ca and VV.ca for five figure amounts, two more LL.ca were put on the market for offers.
OP.ca was bought in a TBR drop in January, and the new owner is testing the market for offers.
The seller of VV.ca has just put up FF.ca on the market for offers, and is looking for another five figure price.
Domains with only two letters are very rare, because there are only 676 possible combinations, and many are owned by big companies. Even rarer are two letter domains of the same letter, because there are only 26 possible combinations.
It's a great start to the year for the .ca domain market, with much healthy competition for quality names.
OP.ca was bought in a TBR drop in January, and the new owner is testing the market for offers.
The seller of VV.ca has just put up FF.ca on the market for offers, and is looking for another five figure price.
Domains with only two letters are very rare, because there are only 676 possible combinations, and many are owned by big companies. Even rarer are two letter domains of the same letter, because there are only 26 possible combinations.
It's a great start to the year for the .ca domain market, with much healthy competition for quality names.
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