There are emerging signs of stabilization in the greater economy and early indications of real estate recovery. Both are helpful to the domain name & internet industries.

Per the Charlotte Business Journal, the National Association of Realtors have reported that the United States experienced the first back-to-back monthly gain in homes sales since September 2005. This included single family homes and condos. Condos and co-op May 2009 sales saw a 6.1 % increase over April.

The Realtors Association reported that the number of active buyers in the market is up 10% from one year ago. These numbers suggest that pockets of recovery are surfacing and that prices & opportunities are too good for some investors to pass up.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported this morning that local real estate professionals are seeing an uptick in real estate activity in the Columbus, Ohio area. They are expecting a significant spike in positive real estate statistics in 2 months as there are notable delays in home closings (up to 60 days due to stringent mortgage requirements and lengthy paperwork).

In my state, North Carolina, there are reports of some companies adding significant numbers of jobs. Obviously, good news and a sign of promise considering that most news reports in the past year have only identified job losses.

After a 6-month decline in the stock market beginning September 2008, the market began to turn the corner in March 2009 with the Dow Jones Average having held now for awhile above 8000. Without question, more time is needed to see how the larger economy plays out.

Domain interest during these turbulent times has remained fairly high. Domain values have also held steadfast. I believe that global interest in domaining will reach unprecedented levels within the next year. And to the extent that job creation becomes a reality, we may see considerable hot activity in the domain world.

With major corporations strategizing for the future & new media empires poised to rise, online business will become a central focus of every market. Quality internet properties will gain further status as independent businesses and likely targets of investment capital.

Internet Domains

Country code domains are in the news. Domaining in general appears to have weathered the economic recession. And Americans just can’t get enough of the internet.

Why? The answer to that is obvious. The internet has all bases covered. Comprehensive media access, on demand, right there … with you in control of it all. And it’s only going to get better!

CNN has released an article on the Pew Internet and American Life Project. This Washington-based research group surveyed over 2000 Americans to determine how much they utilized the internet compared to television and cell phones.

The study found that more and more Americans are buying broadband access. This year, 63% of those surveyed had high-speed service which was a 15% increase over last year. The biggest jump to high speed appears to be senior citizens with a whopping 58% annual increase in broadband usage for those over 65 years of age.

And get this! For those making less than $20,000 per year, there was a jump of 40% in broadband service. People want their internet no matter what. The study stated …

Broadband adoption appears to have been largely immune to the effects of the current economic recession.

So what are the implications for domain investing & development? It means that the concentric circle is growing wider week after week. Individuals of all ages and backgrounds are finding their own reason for embracing the internet. People, businesses, community organizations, nearly every element of our society & culture have awakened to the future.

Domaining, of course, is a natural outgrowth of this incredible technology forging ahead by leaps and bounds. The explosion of My Space, Facebook, and Twitter are easy examples of how social networking alone has elevated internet use to new levels.

Domain name investing is on an upswing somewhat in rhythm with the internet’s growth curve. How high and far this will go remains to be seen. From my point of view, we are in for a very long ride. As always, research your purchases carefully & go for the best quality domains you can reasonably afford. Domain name ROI continues to outperform many traditional investments.

Internet Domains

Royal Dutch Shell, a major integrated oil & gas producer, have their official United States presence at Shell.US. I was just reading Ron Jackson’s summary on the ccTLD conference which finished up in Amsterdam on June 4th. Ron’s enthusiasm was clear as he talked about the building world recognition of country code tld’s and their rising importance on the world stage.

Shell Oil are but one international corporation who have established a unique web destination utilizing country codes. As the internet becomes increasingly crowded with millions of websites, the top level domain will become a very important marker of authenticity and geographical relevance. .US is the perfect global identity for web destinations specific to the United States.

For more on this topic:

• .US in America – More Adoption
• Building Momentum For Country Code TLD’s
• Business.US – The Sky is the Limit

.US Domain Names

On May 15, I wrote about a J.P. King auction being held in San Francisco for a single portfolio of real estate domains. That auction was to have occurred Thursday, June 11.

The domains were mostly based on City + RealEstateListings.com and the owner had around 2300 such domain names. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the auction never really got underway due to low bidder interest in the portfolio.

Scott King, of the J.P. King Auction Co., was reported to have said that the domain name auction was somewhat of an experiment. J.P. King specialize in luxury real estate, and do not typically deal in domain name sales.

My original post on this topic disclosed my doubts about the domain names themselves which were rather long and of non-premium quality. An example would be HoustonRealEstateListings.com.

There is a tremendous difference between a true premium domain and a long tail domain name that has easy competition. When a single domain contains limited intrinsic value, having several hundred similar domains will not necessarily add to the cumulative value.

Such was the case here. The domain name string was ultimately compromised by adding “listings” onto the end. Not a bad domain. But not especially unique either. And in today’s market, buyers are somewhat better informed about domain values, and want to invest their money in an asset that will offer their company a noticeable marketing enhancement.

In reference to the marketing aspect of this particular auction, it was very well done. I was quite impressed. Very professional. Monte Cahn (Moniker) was involved in the overall effort, and had the names been of higher quality, the auction could have become a history-making event. Maybe next time.

If the J.P. King auction had been for City + RealEstate.com domains (as in HoustonRealEstate.com x 2300 similar domains), then major real estate industry players would have been involved, and the end result would have been near prolific.

Credit is due to J.P. King and Monte Cahn (Moniker) for putting together a highly professional endeavor. I am confident this effort will be duplicated in the future with much better results. Next time, the domain selection will hit the bullseye. With more careful name selection, the wow factor will be there … and will make the news in a big way.

Internet Domains

ICANN CEO Paul Twomey represented before a congressional subcommittee last week on several key issues of interest to all domainers and internet users. However, Twomey is not our advocate, but emblematic of an organization that has clearly gone astray.

When I first learned of ICANN some years ago, and their role in overseeing the domain name system, I thought well of them and the importance of their mission. I was a budding internet/domain investor and patron of the world wide web. I recognized the monumental importance of this new technological achievement and the key role that domain names could & would play in organizing the net’s information.

As the internet grew up, ICANN progressed in spurts during which time some positive accomplishments did occur. However, the events of the past few years have demonstrated to the world just how contaminated ICANN have become from within.

ICANN’s bottom-up, open policy development model has become the joke of all jokes in the internet community. Last week’s congressional meeting, whose focus was to evaluate the option to extend oversight over ICANN, exemplified just how critical it is that ICANN not be allowed to escape governmental oversight.

There are so many separate yet interconnected failures of ICANN leadership, and decision-making, that it is difficult to find a starting point. What has emerged day after day over the course of years is a disturbing picture. How so? Here are a few of my personal conclusions which happen to be shared by many well-informed and astute ICANN observers & critics:

1. ICANN have devolved into a self-serving organization driven by the minority interests of a few insiders & a handful of external deep pocket supporters.
2. ICANN no longer operate like a “non-profit”, and have adopted profit motives that have contaminated their objectivity, goals, and “bottom-up” development model.
3. ICANN leadership do not possess the appropriate characterological qualities to continue in their leadership positions.
4. ICANN fear & avoid accountability, and have an unnatural, indefensible desire to escape transparency and necessary oversight.
5. ICANN do not look out for consumer interests. ICANN have specifically failed to address the glaring need to protect registrant consumers from registrar price exploitation. This is a particularly egregious ICANN failure which at this point can only be attributed to greed from within and arrogant indifference to the needs of the larger internet business community.
6. ICANN do not listen (read that hear) the internet community, and are intent on steamrolling their own agendas forward instead of adapting to the superior logic & input of broad-based, insightful constituents and global stakeholders.

As obvious experts at side-stepping, ICANN now have much explaining to do. Before congress last week, Twomey responded to poignant important questions with pomp, curt answers that showed what many of us have known for years. That ICANN are elitist, and suffer from a pathological self-entitlement mentality.

ICANN are now on a hot seat, and will remain there. They have made frequent, deliberate choices to ignore common sense and good will. Particularly in regard to their biz/info/org contract failure of 2006 when many hundreds of stakeholders had to almost besiege ICANN offices to effect a proper contract revision & outcome … that any fair-minded person could have seen was necessary, true & correct on principle alone.

Then there’s the recent loss of over $4 million dollars of “non-profit” monies squandered in the stock market. Thanks ICANN. And there’s the current massive $40 million surplus being held by ICANN which was intensely questioned by members of congress who wanted to know what was ICANN doing with all that idle money & why were ICANN not reinvesting some of that money into establishing mechanisms to fight cybersquatting and other ills. Or to at least lower registration costs for consumers who are the literal backbone of the internet. ICANN had no substantive answer.

And there’s the foolish new gTLD proposal which has no legitimate rationale other than to drop $185,000 per application into ICANN’s bank accounts with a projected first year influx of $90 million dollars. And the accompanying $75,000 per year registry renewal fee. Congress were very interested in why ICANN had determined such high prices when current comparable application and renewal fees are only a fraction of that quoted price. Higher, not lower, is the ICANN way.

ICANN are now over-the-line and seem to semi-exist in the despicable world of exploitive corporate giants who grew to prominence while stepping on the backs of stakeholders. Sounds like a pretty hard-nosed indictment, doesn’t it? Reality is full of disappointments … as well as painful consequences. Exposing ICANN for who they are has become the mission of many interested parties.

Did I mention the moment in the Congressional meeting in which Twomey divulged his $800,000 per year ICANN salary? Those who heard the salary figure said to themselves “Did I just hear that right”? Apparently, leading a “non-profit” can be pretty damn profitable. Makes you wonder.

ICANN want more money, more power, and more influence. Give it to them and we are all screwed! Last week, Congress succeeded in their examination of ICANN. They asked the right questions. In fact, the probing has just begun. And more importantly, Congress took note of ICANN’s true colors which were clear for all to see. Let’s observe what ICANN’s next step will be. If history is any indication …

Congressional Video Part 1: http://energycommerce.edgeboss.net/wmedia/energycommerce/2009.06.04.sc.ti.wvx

Congressional Video Part 2: http://energycommerce.edgeboss.net/wmedia/energycommerce/2009.06.04.sc.ti.2.wvx

Watch these videos, and get a real glimpse into the organization that has compromised so many domain registrants and businesses!

Also read: ICANN Serve Themselves Above Everyone Else

ICANN, Internet Domains protect investment

Rick Schwartz recently posted pictures of his dog (and cats) on his blog. A pretty nice detour if you ask me from the world of high dollar domain names and business in general.

That being said, in case you’re interested, the top sales I could find pertaining to dogs were Dogs.de for $15,935, DogTrainers.com for $20,000, and DogsandCats.com for an even $25,000.

Of course, I couldn’t resist finding something myself fun to post.  This YouTube video reminds me of the boundless energy and enthusiasm that most dogs seem to have when they’re having a good time.

Speaking of domain names. Here’s a breakdown of how the current popular domain extensions are being used for the premium keyword “Dogs“.  It goes like this …

• Dogs.com -> Does not resolve! Well, defaults to Yahoo search page.
• Dogs.net -> Parking page.
• Dogs.org -> very low tech web page.
• Dogs.TV -> Great name! Modest development. Videos not loading for some reason.
• Dogs.US -> Parking page.
• Dogs.info -> Developed page with general dog information and lots of Google ads.
• Dogs.biz -> Parking page.
• Dogs.mobi -> Registry reserved.

Now go give your dog a snack and take a break from the internet.

Internet Domains