Domain News

In a case that is well over a year old, Vulcan Golf and other plaintiffs in the “Vulcan vs Google” case where handed a set back this week as the court denied their class certification.  The court’s decision can be found at this link on Docutek (pdf).  DNN caught wind of this news through Eric Goldman’s blog where he provides a summary of the the court’s decision and it’s implications.

” The court rejects class certification for the trademark infringement and Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act claims because the individual questions of fact predominate over the common questions of law.”

Some take-aways from the court papers.  The court recognizes that ownership issues and claims to each trademark would have to be examined for every potential class member.

“Even if the court has to conduct hearings regarding ownership on even a tiny fraction of the potentially millions of registered and unregistered marks or personal names of the putative class members, such an undertaking would render proceeding as a class unmanageable. . . .

In this court’s view, the possibility of hundreds if not thousands of individual hearings related to ownership,
distinctiveness and the applicability of affirmative defenses, including managing probable discovery to be conducted prior to those hearings, precludes a finding that a class action is a
superior method of adjudicating the trademark-related claims,

The distinctiveness of a trademark is also brought up.

Caselaw on the issue of distinctiveness indicates that it is a multi-faceted, fact-specific inquiry particular to each putative mark, which includes a detailed inquiry into whether a mark is generic, descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary, or fanciful. . . .

. . . were the class to be certified, the court would be required to engage in thousands (or more) of individual inquiries as to whether a class members’ mark is distinctive.

Goldman points out that “this case reinforces the difficulty of establishing class action lawsuits to enforce trademark rights. They are possible, but so often the idiosyncrasies of each trademark preclude summary adjudication.”

This case originally involved IREIT, Dotster, Sedo and Oversee as defendants. The plaintiffs most notable addition was former baseball star Bo Jackson. For more information on the case, refer to DNN coverage  here and here and Goldman’s coverage.

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Original post by Adam Strong

I mentioned in my last editorial, “The Evolution of Domain Parking and Mini Sites” that domain parking will gradually transition to feature rich mini-site development. Google recently announced the public launch of it’s AdSense for Domains program. As with all things Google, it is getting alot of buzz in the industry.

Will AdSense for Domains be worth your time? Let’s take a look at some of the benefits and shortcomings of Google AdSense for Domains.

What are the benefits of AdSense for Domains?

• Higher Conversions - There have been case studies and numerous reports on conversion rates for simple domain parking pages. Direct navigation (typing a domain into an address bar) has proven to be highly targeted traffic.
• Possibly Higher Revenue - This may turn out to be the opposite as Andrew of DNW points out here, Google has contracts for the advertising feeds it provides to parking companies. It is within Google’s power to “dial back” or reduce revenue shares for both parking companies and new AdSense for Domains users.

What is AdSense for Domains lacking?

• Search Indexing - Obviously Google is not going to index any domain enrolled in this program, a major drawback to anyone interested in driving more traffic and increasing site value.
• Domain Sales Contact - As far as I am aware there is no option to notify visitors that your domain may be for sale or how to contact you, please correct me if I am wrong.
• Unique Landing Page Design - Google is good at simplicity.  Pages may convert but won’t look good.
• Unique Keyword Rich Content - It is impossible to add any custom content whatsoever to your domains.
• Alternate Revenue - There will be no option to include affiliate links, products or leads of any kind.
• Customization - No real way to fix any of the above.

These are huge features that benefit domainers by increasing the short and long term value of your domain name properties.

Google’s AdSense for Domains is simply boring domain parking for the general public repackaged and sold direct from the provider. They are taking a step backwards in the evolution of domain parking.

Don’t worry about activating your AdSense for Domains account, it will probably just disappoint and waste your time. However, I must admit I will be interested to hear about initial conversion rates and revenue earnings per click.

What’s a Better Alternative?

Soon I will be announcing an amazing new product/service for domainers that will allow you to almost instantly develop full mini-sites with unique content and multiple revenue streams including Google AdSense direct from Google! There are many other great features I can’t wait to share. I am currently in beta testing and will have a full review completed when the product officially goes live.

What are your thoughts on Google AdSense for Domains versus automated mini-sites or more advanced domain parking?  Please comment.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine - The Domain Industry’s HOTTEST Publication!

Why AdSense for Domains is a Step in the Wrong Direction

Original post by Mark Fulton

Google announced today that they have extended their Adsense for Domains to all publishers. Although, the program is being opened to all publishers, Google will continue to monitor compliance. The Adsense Blog states that the program will be rolled out to North American English-speaking markets first and then expanded into additional markets and languages in the future.

One interesting point that is made by Google in this post is that advertisers are asking for their ads to appear in this AFD program and they feel that the traffic from domains converts well. From the blog :

Advertisers also have additional opportunities to find their customers, and ads on these pages convert well. In addition, we regularly receive requests from advertisers who have found domains to be an effective way to reach their users.

[Thanks to Bill Hartzer for bringing this to our attention]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

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Original post by Adam Strong

With all that’s happened with Yahoo! recently, this may come as no surprise, but Jerry Yang has stepped down as CEO. Yang, who co-founded the company in 1995, has come under a great deal of criticism in recent months, most notably for turning down Microsoft’s $47.5 Billion dollar buy-out proposal (almost 3x what the company is now worth).

Yahoo remains in a very vulnerable position as their market cap plummets , the Google-proposed ad partnership has reportedly disappeared . There have also been no new developments coming from the rumored AOL deal and Yang’s departure could signal the end of that possibility.  Yang’s decision is better late than never, but in this economy it will take a lot of work to get the company back where it was just months earlier.  With the close connection domainers have to Yahoo, this is important news. Hopefully this move is a sign that the company is making a turn around.

Camera.co.uk , Saws.com , Medicinas.com , Coed.com - All For Sale at Aftermarket.com Online Domain Auction November 20th . Click here to register for the auction.

Original post by Adam Strong

Just announced on the official Google Webmaster Central blog, a best practices guide for Search Engine Optimization has been published for those new to SEO or not familiar with all of the best ways to improve your listings on Google search.

I quickly read the 22 page PDF guide and can confirm it does have some great tips and guidelines for improving your websites by optimizing all the things GoogleBot looks at when crawling you site. The guide features lots of illustrations, tips and tutorials, things to avoid, even some information on using social networks.

If you’ve been doing SEO for awhile now you may be aware of all the suggestions Google provides in their SEO guide.  I personally found it refreshing to read the guide over and see that I am doing things right! So, check it out and see what the Google SEO guide can help you with.

Get it: Google’s Search Engine Optimization Guide (PDF)

Google has also mentioned they plan to keep the guide updated as often as possible to keep suggestions and tech advice current.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine - The Domain Industry’s HOTTEST Publication!

Sponsored By midFlux.com! Providing affordable and accurate domain appraisals. We also provide domain articles and valuable information to help you with your domain needs.!

Straight From Google: Best Practices SEO Guide

Original post by Mark Fulton

Benjamin Edelman, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, has continued his quest against Google for profiting from “millions” of typo-squatting websites through Adsense advertisements.

Edelman - who is serving as the co-counsel in the Vulcan Golf, et al., v. Google et al.; trademark-holder class-action litigation - has recently resurfaced in the news for an article published in the McAfee Security Journal (Fall 2008, pages 34-37 - .pdf via wired).

In this report, Edelman explains the many issues surrounding typosquatting and its effects on domain owners before noting: “If Google ceased funding typosquatting, typosquatters would have far less incentive to register infringing domains; no other ad network is likely to pay typosquatters as much as Google does.”

Edelman’s research with the McAfee SiteAdvisor service points out that there are over 80,000 domains typosquatting on just the top 2,000 websites - and the further you look the more you’ll find. “There sure are a lot of these sites, in the millions,” Edelman said in an interview with Wired. “The overall majority show Google ads.”

BankofdAmerica.com is a prime example of his complaint (site no longer shows ads, but there’s a pic of its previous state at Wired). The website is a blatant typo, yet Google placed advertisements for the Bank of America, Wachovia, Business.com, AccountNow.net, and others.

“This is one of the unsavory ways we all end up paying Google,” explained Edelman. “Users don’t have to write Google a check to receive Google’s services. But, one way or another, Google manages to get users’ money.”

[via Wired &amp DNExpert]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

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Original post by Chad Kettner

Domainers Reporting Bigger Squeeze on Google Feeds

Domainers have been talking about the declines in PPC revenues for quite awhile now, but more recently we have been receiving consistent reports of recent declines in Google-fed PPC programs. At the same time we are hearing this report, we’ve heard rumblings of Google exercising clawbacks on revenue.

Some chatter started at DomainState today about the issue of Google ‘clawbacks’, ie. Google taking money back for domain name revenue found to be fraudulent. The ‘clawing-back’ refers to Google taking back money that was previously paid out on these domains for a given time period. The PPC clawback topic was also mentioned in recent promotions from NameDrive.

it seems that others are trying to spoil the fun. Some parking companies are withholding earnings from their clients and even asking for money to be returned to them – so-called ‘Clawbacks’.

As economic problems lead to cutbacks in ad spending and thus cuts in revenue for Google, they, like many companies, will be focusing on tightening things up. It is likely under these conditions of declining revenue that Google is taking a much closer look at the domain channel and where the traffic is coming from and adjusting payouts accordingly. It surely doesn’t help that Google’s role in monetizing trademark domain names is also under the microscope now.  From DNN sources, Google contracts reportedly allow for a ‘clawback’ on previously earned revenue up to 60 days.  It makes sense that Google would be looking in to this closer now.

We expect more belt-tightening in the months to come and for poor performing domains as well as junk and fraudulant domain traffic to be scrutinized much closer. Stay tuned.

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Visit our Calendar of Domain Industry Events.

Original post by Adam Strong

Benjamin Edelman, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, has continued his quest against Google for profiting from “millions” of typo-squatting websites through Adsense advertisements.

Edelman - who is serving as the co-counsel in the Vulcan Golf, et al., v. Google et al.; trademark-holder class-action litigation - has recently resurfaced in the news for an article published in the McAfee Security Journal (Fall 2008, pages 34-37 - .pdf via wired).

In this report, Edelman explains the many issues surrounding typosquatting and its effects on domain owners before noting: “If Google ceased funding typosquatting, typosquatters would have far less incentive to register infringing domains; no other ad network is likely to pay typosquatters as much as Google does.”

Edelman’s research with the McAfee SiteAdvisor service points out that there are over 80,000 domains typosquatting on just the top 2,000 websites - and the further you look the more you’ll find. “There sure are a lot of these sites, in the millions,” Edelman said in an interview with Wired. “The overall majority show Google ads.”

BankofdAmerica.com is a prime example of his complaint (site no longer shows ads, but there’s a pic of its previous state at Wired). The website is a blatant typo, yet Google placed advertisements for the Bank of America, Wachovia, Business.com, AccountNow.net, and others.

“This is one of the unsavory ways we all end up paying Google,” explained Edelman. “Users don’t have to write Google a check to receive Google’s services. But, one way or another, Google manages to get users’ money.”

[via Wired &amp DNExpert]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Visit our Calendar of Domain Industry Events.

Original post by Chad Kettner

SEOmoz has just launched their own private index of the world wide web, currently 30 billion pages and growing.  So Google has done this already, right?  Well, SEOmoz is opening up this data to you through their new SEO tool, Linkscape.  Allowing you access to unprecedented domain and web page metrics which you can use to analyze and even compare 5 different domains simultaneously.

Linkscape is an awesome link research system where you can gather and study a domain or pages’ mozRank (similar to PageRank) and mozTrust.  Link information such as nofollow attributes, <img> tagged links, and many other cool metrics Google wouldn’t dream of sharing.

Snoop on your competitors and find out ALL their inbound links, the quality of those links and other deviously cool information that can help you drive your website to the top of search rankings.

I will leave SEOmoz to do the in-depth presentation of Linkscape.  Their website currently has a free demo available, lots of documentation and video tutorials and even a sweet comic strip detailing Linkscape in a humorous yet informative manner.

Linkscape is going to change the way SEO professionals live and work!

With an SEOmoz PRO membership ($79/month) you get full access to all Linkscape metrics plus full access to all their other sweet SEO tools.  I highly recommend it for any domainer.

This article is from DotSauce Magazine - The Domain Industry’s HOTTEST Publication!

Sponsored By midFlux.com! Providing affordable and accurate domain appraisals. We also provide domain articles and valuable information to help you with your domain needs.!

SEOmoz Announces Linkscape! Amazing Metrics for Domain and Page Valuation

Original post by Mark Fulton

After accidentally sending out a premature press release, Google is prepared to enter the browser market earlier than anticipated with Google Chrome - a cutting edge web browser that has been created with today’s internet user in mind. More details after the jump.

The browser will offer several unique features including…

• Advanced tabbed browsing where each tab gets its own process, significantly reducing browser crashes
• A distinct layout that places tabs on top of the browser window instead of underneath the address bar
• A new JavaScript engine that is geared for speed
• Increased browser security through automatically updated malware and phishing lists
• A default home page that displays your most visited websites and other customizable information…
• An “incognito” mode (aka “porn mode”) that lets you browse websites in complete privacy without recording any of your activity.

While Chrome is expected to challenge Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer in the browser battles, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch believes the true target is Windows:

“Expect to see millions of web devices, even desktop web devices, in the coming years that completely strip out the Windows layer and use the browser as the only operating system the user needs. That was going to happen anyway, but Chrome + Gears just made the decision a whole lot easier for hardware manufacturers to make.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is stuck with a bloated closed source browser that they don’t even tether to their search engine for fear of more antitrust woes. Google can push their search engine and other web services all day long on Chrome, with no government interference. So not only will Chrome drive lots of incremental revenue to Google, it also paves the way for a Microsoft-free computing experience.”

Chrome will be released later today is available for download now. If you haven’t seen the screenshots yet, head on over to TechCrunch for a quick preview.

[via TechCrunch]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Original post by Chad Kettner

After accidentally sending out a premature press release, Google is prepared to enter the browser market earlier than anticipated with Google Chrome - a cutting edge web browser that has been created with today’s internet user in mind. More details after the jump.

The browser will offer several unique features including…

• Advanced tabbed browsing where each tab gets its own process, significantly reducing browser crashes
• A distinct layout that places tabs on top of the browser window instead of underneath the address bar
• A new JavaScript engine that is geared for speed
• Increased browser security through automatically updated malware and phishing lists
• A default home page that displays your most visited websites and other customizable information…
• An “incognito” mode (aka “porn mode”) that lets you browse websites in complete privacy without recording any of your activity.

While Chrome is expected to challenge Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer in the browser battles, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch believes the true target is Windows:

“Expect to see millions of web devices, even desktop web devices, in the coming years that completely strip out the Windows layer and use the browser as the only operating system the user needs. That was going to happen anyway, but Chrome + Gears just made the decision a whole lot easier for hardware manufacturers to make.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is stuck with a bloated closed source browser that they don???t even tether to their search engine for fear of more antitrust woes. Google can push their search engine and other web services all day long on Chrome, with no government interference. So not only will Chrome drive lots of incremental revenue to Google, it also paves the way for a Microsoft-free computing experience.”

Chrome will be released later today is available for download now. If you haven’t seen the screenshots yet, head on over to TechCrunch for a quick preview.

[via TechCrunch]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Original post by Chad Kettner

According to an article by Information Week, attorney Hal K. Levitte spent over $887.67 on his Google Adsense campaign to advertise his legal services and is now suing Google for placing $136.11 worth of those ads on parked domain pages. Out of the 202,528 impressions on parked domains, Levitte only received 668 clicks and zero conversions.

Neither the article nor the suit addresses the fact that conversion rates can fluctuate based on any number of factors and do not depend entirely on the traffic source/quality.  Landing page, ad copy, placement, timing, audience, product offering and many other factors play into conversion rates. Levitte’s conversion rates from the other $751.56 were not mentioned, neither were those derived from other traffic sources. However, by taking a brief scan of his website, LevitteInternational.com, one can assume his conversion rates may be consistently low.

Levitte advertised his services prior to Google introducing the option to opt-out.

[via Domain Name Wire]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Original post by Chad Kettner

Image via Wikipedia

As per requirements of their main PPC provider Google, Sedo will now include unpaid search results on Domain Landers. From the Sedo announcement as posted on their site:

One of these industry-wide changes is the implementation of organic search results on parked domains. Organic searches will appear at the end of a search results page that is generated when visitors click on a related link or enter a search term. These unpaid links should improve the user experience and the relevancy of the content. Another change required of our advertising partner, is that visitor clicks on your parked domains will now open the target page in the same window.

Both of these changes will be rolled out globally and users may see variations in CTR. However, with the new Auto Layout Rotation tool improving CTR at 11% on average, this should counteract any negative effects. We are also working on several new parking features which will be rolled out in the coming months to improve your parking experience with Sedo.

Fabulous.com, also using a Google PPC feed, already had to make similar changes to their parked pages earlier.

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Original post by Frank Michlick

According to a TechCrunch post, Google and Yahoo will be announcing a partnership arrangement today (1:30 PST). Stay tuned for breaking news as it happens [more here]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

Original post by Adam Strong

As hinted earlier, Yahoo! announced today that they have reached a non-exclusive deal with Google around Search & Advertising. For more information read the Google Blog Post, Google Press Release and Yahoo! Press Release.

[via TechCrunch]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

Original post by Frank Michlick