Neustar, who manage the .US and .biz domain name extensions, are now offering a unique .US blog and .US discussion forum for those interested in the dotUS namespace.
Neustar appear to be growing their services and raising their own profile. Their domain name registry services have been a leading product for years although Neustar are now offering web performance and risk management services too.
Forbes’ survey of the fastest growing tech firms in America placed Neustar in the Top 25 in 2009. To make the list, companies had to meet certain revenue and sales gains milestones. Neustar trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol: NSR.
My favorite .US premium domain names are United States cities. Geo domains are such good fits for the extension and provide lots of website development angles. Two cities I worked on last year were Charlotte .US and Detroit.US, both leading cities in their respective states and also with good national recognition ranking in America’s top 20 cities for population.
.US Domain Names
.biz, .us, Neustar
Couple of news items for those who follow .US and .INFO web addresses. Sedo announced that the OnlineCasinos.US domain name sold earlier this week for $9,999. Online gambling is quite popular worldwide. While laws against it exist in the USA, there remains great interest in U.S. based gambling.
Proponents of internet gambling claim government hypocrisy in that states sponsor lotteries which bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. Some states profit from gambling on horse racing while also hosting gambling casinos that bring in enormous amounts of money and which financially benefit the local economy.
Another notable .INFO sale via Sedo this past week was coupons.info which went for an impressive $17,600. Relationship.net was purchased at Snapnames for $12,950.
Neustar, who manage the .US domain space, posted an announcement on their website that they are seeking to release one and two character .US domain names. Neustar did something 
similar last year with the .BIZ (Business) top level domain which resulted in a number of five figure sales.
.INFO Domain Names, .US Domain Names
If you type “Lease a domain name” or “Rent a domain name” into Google search, you will see LeaseThis.com in the number one position. LeaseThis.com was the talk of the domain name industry several years ago and at first glance had what appeared to be a novel business idea.
Domain owners could submit their domain names to LeaseThis.com who in turn would lease the domain on a monthly basis to a business wanting to use the domain name to boost web traffic or to adopt a higher profile internet address for their company’s web presence.
While I did not use LeaseThis.com, I have checked their website from time to time curious to learn if their domain name leasing concept ever took off. It appears that it did not.
First, I have heard very little about the company on other blogs regarding any high profile leases, and the company’s homepage displays recent company news whose most recent entry is unfortunately dated June 2008.
Secondly, I notice that when I try to search or browse for domain names to lease, they have all been removed from the online database and a search defaults to a message directing interested parties to email the company with their request.
Lastly, clicking on the advertiser account sign-up yields a message which simply says “Currently, we are not accepting any more applicants to our program. Sorry for any inconvience this may have caused.”
It appears that LeaseThis.com were not able to move their unique concept forward in a sustaining fashion. However, there is a new player in the game. The next domain name leasing company to be testing the waters is Root Orange. I recently wrote about them in an article entitled: Root Orange Localized Domain Name Leasing. Time will tell if they are able to successfully work the domain name leasing model on a large scale. I would very much like to see this happen.
Domain Name Leasing
lease a domain, LeaseThis.com
US Physical Therapy, Inc. are a leading chain of clinics providing outpatient physical and occupational therapy in 43 states. The company is publicly held and trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol USPH. Their focus is on providing post-operative care for a variety of orthopaedic and sports-related injuries.
Interestingly, the company has secured their domain name acronym, USPH, in all of the leading top level domains: .com, .biz, .us, .info, .net, and .org. It appears that each domain extension hosts USPH’s complete website (no forwarding). This insures that anyone who types in “USPH” in any of the top web addresses will land on the company’s official website.
This is a forward-thinking corporate approach that locks in the company’s online identity and effectively blocks out anyone else from using the “USPH” designation on the internet. Typically, a company’s head of marketing, or contracted marketing firm, will propose this kind of strategy to help build & expand the company’s brand in every way possible.
US Physical Therapy currently operate 372 clinics. The company is particularly well positioned in the states of Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas where they have 40 or more clinics in each of the three states. When a corporation seriously considers the importance of reaching current and future customers, establishing a powerful online presence becomes a number one priority.
.BIZ … the official business web address of the internet.
.BIZ Domain Names
domain name marketing, online marketing
Steve Leber, who works in the music industry as a manager and producer, recently acquired Grandparents.com. The purchase price was not publicly disclosed, and does appear to be the acquisition of a complete business and not just the pure domain name (original article here).
The site is listed by compete.com as having drawn over a half million unique visitors in March 2010. The TMCnet article also writes that Grandparents.com became a top ten website in February 2010 for females over age 50. So it sounds as though the proper demographic is being reached.
The website is very content rich which would explain the substantial traffic numbers. The domain name itself, Grandparents.com, is obviously of very high quality and the perfect portal for family-oriented adults. Another premium domain name put to good use.
Domain Sales
domain name sales, grandparents
A very interesting piece made the front page of Yahoo news this morning. It’s about a movement called “I need a freakin’ job” located at inafj.org (an acronym domain name for “I need a freakin’ job”). The organization has purchased a billboard in Buffalo, NY that was seen by President Barack Obama as his motorcade entered the city on Thursday May, 13th.
The organization’s website states that the administration has paid lip service to job creation and failed to take sufficient action to address American unemployment. The domain name in use by the “I need a freakin’ job” movement is becoming somewhat iconic having been placed on billboards, t-shirts, the internet, and in several videos making their way around the web.
INAFJ.org have an online petition and facebook page for those interested in learning about or supporting their cause.
.ORG Domain Names
The premium domain name Slots.com is reported to have been sold via Moniker for $5.5 million (source: DomainNameWire). What an incredible sale!
Gambling is obviously popular around the globe, and apparently playing slot machines is something which appeals to a wide range of gamblers. Slots.eu sold for $31,200 through Sedo in January 2009, and VegasSlots.com was purchased for $10,600 at Namejet in March 2009. Slots.net sold for an even $7000 back in 2003 through Afternic.
Also just announced this evening is the sale of Dating.com at the DomainFest show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. How much? $1.75 million (source: TheDomains). Internet dating has evolved into a huge online business based on the marketing efforts of such companies as Match.com and eHarmony. Dating.com qualifies as a true premium domain name. Very generic, totally descriptive, and of interest to literally millions of people around the world.
Domain Sales
gambling, internet dating
A quick post to mention several notable industry happenings. Photo.com was purchased via Moniker for $1.25 million. The buyer remains private at this point as their public whois information is currently shielded at Network Solutions. This is a common practice as many big ticket buyers are still acquiring premium domain names and wish to remain anonymous.
Sadly, Bido.com closed its doors effective today. Bido was an online domain name auction platform whose owners focused on a “social auction” model that allowed site users and bidders to vote for domains. The owners did an excellent job of designing a rather sophisticated interface with many features. One of Bido’s strengths and weaknesses was both its site’s diversity and complexity. Bido struggled somewhat in defining its market niche. Its demise seems at least in part a result of trying to sell lower quality domain name inventory on volume. This, in my opinion, moved the company in the wrong direction.
However, Bido’s owners are very creative, entrepreneurial types who constantly look for new opportunities and who can take a mere idea to final form through discipline and hard work. I have no doubt we’ll hear of other new ventures coming from Sahar Sarid, Jarred Cohen, and Jeff Bhavnanie.
Lastly, SanDiego.com (the complete business, not just the domain name) will be auctioned off on Friday, May 7. SanDiego.com was reported to be generating about $700,000 per year in revenue … which most estimators conclude is a significant underutilization of the site. Geo domains, and most any elite domain name, must be properly optimized. San Diego is a very large, popular American city with enormous potential. SanDiego.com will likely be acquired, and hopefully relaunched, by a media savvy organization. For more on this story, please visit Ron Jackson’s DNJournal.
.COM Domains, Domain Sales
domain names sales, Domain Sales
