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

Belgard is a leading interlocking pavers manufacturer who make high-quality materials used in the construction of beautiful walkways, driveways, gardens, pools & patio environments. You have likely seen their hardscape materials used in retaining walls and what is referred to as “outdoor rooms” often found in luxury estates.

Belgard is owned by Oldcastle who are a leading international materials company with 1900 locations and 40,000 employees worldwide.

Belgard have an extensive presence in both the United States and Canada with their products having been successfully used in thousands of residential and commercial projects.

The company are utilizing the .BIZ (Business) web address at Belgard.biz, and have designed an attractive website containing plenty of colorful photos of their many projects. Belgard have independent contractors in every state who are well versed on the various Belgard products. The company hosts ongoing training sessions across the country and provide several certifications as well as business development & expansion courses.

.BIZ Domain Names, Site Development .biz, belgard

Poker.org was just purchased for $1 million by PokerCompany.com (source DNJournal). Sedo is reported to have brokered the deal. Pure poker, casino, and gambling domain names are high interest keywords, and generally have sold for substantial amounts in recent years. Poker.org is the highest ever “publicized” .org domain name sale.

Also of special interest is a post at DomainNameWire regarding Afilias. The entry reports that Afilias has requested approval from ICANN to release 1 and 2 character .info domain names from their reserved list. The Neustar Registry did something similar several months ago with the .BIZ web address resulting in a number of 5-figure sales for 1 character .biz domain names.

Lastly, consider this a public service announcement -> Avoid automated domain name appraisals. Like the ones you find advertised & sold on domain name registration websites. Sadly, I have noticed a new wave of people selling (pushing) automated domain appraisals, quoting them in domain forums, and referencing them in email inquiries.

Quality domain names in particular cannot be properly appraised using the simple metrics that automated appraisals employ. Those who sell automated domain appraisals are looking to cash in on the gullibility of new domain investors and buyers. An experienced domain professional will never make reference to automated domain appraisals as they are uniformly understood to be nothing more than a gimmick or toy.

There may come a day when automated appraisal algorithms are sophisticated enough to tap into real value and produce a defensible price range for premium domain names. At the current time, nothing comes close to doing this. All automated appraisals have enormous margins of error such that they consistently fail tests for validity and reliability.

.ORG Domain Names .biz, .info, gambling, las vegas

I have been writing for some time about the corporate world gaining increased awareness of the .biz (business) web space. The trend appears to be occurring in both the United States and abroad (on a truly global basis).

A number of large corporations are operating parallel websites on both the .com and the .biz web address while some companies are solely establishing their primary website on the .biz domain. This makes sense in that dotBIZ is recognized globally for “Business”. Dotcom has the largest footprint, but is not necessarily representative of “business” on a world wide basis.

Below are examples of both international corporations operating with a .biz presence, and also a few privately held companies doing the same.

	WaveSecurities.biz – Merrill Lynch’s online financial management & investment platform.
	RBSGroup.biz – The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Huge international bank with over 40 million customers worldwide.
	Cisco.biz – Cisco Systems Inc. is a well known international computer networking giant.
	EarthLink.biz – Well known internet access company offering business solutions.
	F-16.biz – Yes, the F16 fighter jet, other F-series aircraft and a range of other hi-tech defense products.
	CorporateSuites.biz – East coast based private company who specialize in corporate office suites.
	CitizensManagementInc.biz – One of the largest service companies in the midwest. Part of the Hanover Insurance Group.
	Pepsico.biz – The Pepsi Bottling Group, the manufacturer of Pepsi-Cola beverages worldwide.
	uk-ipo.biz – The official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the (UK) United Kingdom.
	Start.biz – The National Business Register which keep data on 10 million businesses, trademarks, and brands in the (UK) United Kingdom.
	Billboard.biz – The Music industry web portal for world famous Billboard magazine.
	BaylorCollegeofMedicine.biz – One of the leading medical schools in the United States.
	DSI.biz – A leading provider of management & consulting services offering business valuation & acquisition, forensic accounting, and corporate restructuring.
	TheNCAA.biz – The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
	DollarCar.biz – Dollar Rent A Car Inc. was founded in 1965, has over 640 worldwide locations, is in 53 countries, and has maintained a fleet of over 185,000 vehicles in the USA & Canada.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, .biz domain, corporate marketing, dotbiz, Neustar

Sedo’s 2009 market study is out and summarizes sales data from all of last year. Sedo reported that their company comprised 64% of the top 100 domain sales for 2009.

The 4th quarter of 2009 was marked by a 5% sales increase. Increases were attributed to a surge in geographical and descriptive domains. These types of domains have long been considered the gold bullion of the domain name industry.

Of particular interest was Sedo’s specific mention of the internet’s official .BIZ (Business) web address in the study. They indicated …

In terms of the best-performing extensions for average sales price, Sedo’s study saw the sharpest rise in .biz domains. This growth can be attributed in part to the growth in sales of one character .biz domains, which first became available through the .biz registrar in September 2009.

Jeremiah Johnston, COO of Sedo, said that he expects to see ongoing demand for premium domains as marketers & businesses leverage domain names to meet their goals.

Among some of the hottest categories of domain sales from 2009 were city domain names and employment domain names. Getting more into the game are marketing and advertising firms who are beginning to realize the power that generic, quality domain names have in attracting consumers.

Sedo’s Johnston is quoted as saying that domain names which match the search terms of a particular business are in demand. An example of this would be a domain like DenverRealEstate.biz which was just sold by my company a day ago. The buyer being a real estate company located in Denver. Get the picture?

To shop for premium domains, visit: PremiumDomains.US or PremiumDomains.biz 
or our Sedo Portfolio.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, Sedo

Some time ago I noticed a mall complex in my home city of Greensboro, NC and a large road sign for the real estate firm handling the mall’s property management. The firm is Collett & Associates based out of Charlotte, NC. The large road sign showcasing their company read www.Collett.biz.

This trend is being replicated across the country with an increasing number of realtors and real estate companies moving to the .biz (Business) web address.

Some realty companies are still maintaining their initial .com site while also launching their newer .BIZ web address. Often with a slightly shorter or more intuitive .BIZ version of the company name.

Collett & Associates were founded in 1987 and currently manage commercial properties in 12 U.S. States. Not only do they manage, broker, and lease commercial properties, but they are also involved in client commercial property investments and a number of ongoing development projects.

My online research produced an impressive number of real estate companies setting up shop with the .biz web address. Since the extension is business-focused, it is an ideal choice for a wide range of companies both internet-based and of the brick-and-mortar variety.

A sampling of others: PeakProperties.biz, ClarkCommercial.biz, NewResorts.biz, MLS.biz, BellMarcRealty.biz, Avalar.biz.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, business domain names, real estate

I work in the healthcare industry as my primary profession. Domain names are my hobby. I was standing in the nursing station this week and noticed a company logo on a large box full of supplies. The company was Dart Container Corp. and their web address printed on each side of the cardboard box was www.Dart.biz.

Since I very much like the .biz web address, I checked out the company. They are rather large having offices and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Argentina. In the U.S. alone,  Dart have 13 facilities spread across 11 states.

The company used to operate on DartContainer.com, but have since switched to the better domain name, Dart.biz. Dart was established in 1937 with their early roots planted in the town of Mason, Michigan. Dart specialize in food service packaging and have since become the world’s largest manufacturer of foam cups.

The Dart.biz domain name was originally registered in March of 2002. This short, memorable domain name coupled with the internet’s official business extension makes for a great company web destination.

.BIZ – The Internet’s Official Business Web Address!

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, business, business domain names

The local FOX news TV affiliate in Seattle Washington, Q13 FOX, has created an online business directory at Q13fox.biz. The main station website is still Q13fox.com and contains the typically expected pictures and story links characteristic of most news sites.

The Q13 Fox business site (.biz) lists a number of “Biz Categories”. Each category provides a list of local companies and their contact information in the traditional online biz directory format. Local vendors can also display an ad for their products and services in the classifieds section.

Also on the Q13fox.biz website along the top is a “Biz Search” box which yields fast results if you prefer to search specifically for a company as opposed to browsing business listings. A few other links include local business coupons for discounts on services. Movies, Events, News, and Weather are additional links to round out a viewer’s choices.

.BIZ is an excellent business-oriented extension, and in this instance nicely compliments the Q13 primary news website. Based on steady growth with the .biz web address, I suspect we will see an increasing number of companies and professionals utilizing the internet’s official business domain, .BIZ.

FOX Seattle are following close on the heels of the recent launch of Overstock‘s .biz website at O.BIZ.

.BIZ Domain Names .biz, business, corporate