America’s newspapers continue to lose favor with readers in a persistent negative trend which seems to go on and on. The latest report finds that U.S. newspapers lost another 8.7 percent of their readership in just the last 6 month period. That’s incredible.

These figures were released April 26, 2010 by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Even the ever popular Sunday edition of local papers dropped a sharp 6.5 percent.

USA Today, once the most popular paper in the country, is reported to have lost 13.6% of its circulation. That’s enormous. My theory is that developed premium city domain names in leading web addresses will eventually replace the traditional local newspaper. The logic, familiarity, and instant public recognition built into a pure city domain name creates the ideal portal for local news.

Local newspaper ad revenue is reported to have also slipped further although the degree of loss appears to be slowing over time.

Interestingly, the Audit Bureau report stated The Wall Street Journal is the only paper among the top 25 that actually experienced an increase in readership! It’s circulation increased .5% allowing it to surpass USA Today as the nation’s most read paper.

What this means is nearly self-evident. The news delivery model has experienced an unprecedented sea change, and traditional hardcopy news organizations found themselves on the wrong side of a new internet equation. Many of them continued to brand under an old moniker that was illogical, and yesteryear.

Want to see it done right? Visit Boston.com! They’re receiving over 3 million visitors per month and in excess of 20 million monthly visits (source: Compete.com). Try competing with that.

What about the #3 circulation, The New York Times, you ask? The answer: A staggering 8.5% loss of circulation in their weekday readership. No matter how it’s sliced, times are changing. The question is … what will these news organizations have to do to reinvent themselves? I believe they must look to the Boston.com example. Therein lies about 75% of the answer.

More on this topic …

Huge Newspaper Investor Pulls Out, Way Out!

More Shocking Newspaper Decline

Newspapers in America Being Led to the Exit

.US Domain Names, Internet Domains city domain names, news, newspaper

The premium geo domain name, Raleigh.com, is up for auction via Snapnames. The auction is occurring in association with the GeoDomain Expo® which will kick off in New Orleans on April 28. I just read about this very interesting geodomain sale on Michael Berkens’ blog, TheDomains.

Raleigh.com is one of many stunning geo domain names owned by Boulevards New Media. Boulevards have a massive stable of top-of-the-line city domains including Detroit.com, StLouis.com, Indianapolis.com, and Memphis.com to name a few. Raleigh is North Carolina’s second most populated city. It is the state capital, and home to Research Triangle Park and NC State University. Raleigh has been ranked as one of the fastest growing cities in America.

The current auction reserve on Raleigh.com is set at $1 million to $5 million dollars. This premium domain name is certainly an incredible portal for the Raleigh, North Carolina area and presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the appropriate buyer to acquire a top domain.

Raleigh.info is owned by me. Raleigh.US is registered to Sigmund Solares, and Raleigh.biz was acquired by a South Korean registrant named Song Dongil.

Geodomains, Internet Domains geo domain, raleigh

A 2010 survey by property consultants, Knight Frank, ranked the most influential cities on the plant according to four factors. These factors were economic activity, political power, knowledge base, and quality of life. The results were reported by CNN.

Coming in on top as number 1 was New York City. Number 2 was London. Number 3 was Paris. And number 4 was Tokyo. Los Angeles made the top 10 list as did Berlin and Beijing.

Geo domain names have been of interest to a majority of domainers since the introduction of the internet and domain names in general. New York City (and Manhattan) are two geo domains that have been on my radar for a number of years due to their huge population, unrivaled luxury real estate market, and role as the economic center of the country.

The CNN report pointed out that several rising Asian cities have begun to garner increased economic relevance and political influence. But, they have not yet arrived as locations where the world’s wealthiest would have a first or second home.

The value (and price) of a geo domain name is not easy to calculate, and is heavily dependent on a variety of inter-related variables. Some of these include city proper population (within the city limits), surrounding urban population (larger metro/suburb area), city relevance as a center of business, importance of the city as a vacation destination, current growth rate, and projected importance in the state/region.

Internet Domains city domain name, geo domain, new york city

Domain blogs and domain news sites have recently written about a new domain name leasing company, Root Orange. Root Orange are offering a unique way for local companies to utilize premium domain names in their respective local city or region. 

Root Orange’s technology allows local businesses to lease a localized version of a domain name. When someone types in the domain name, the user is delivered to the business who has leased the domain in their own respective home city.

For example, let’s use the domain name “DivorceLawyer.com” and the city of Los Angeles, CA. When someone in Los Angeles visits DivorceLawyer.com, they will be delivered to the website of the Los Angeles law firm who leased the domain name for the Los Angeles area.

Currently, Root Orange are leasing DivorceLawyer.com in Los Angeles for $899/month. To lease DivorceLawyer.com for Phoenix, Arizona would cost $289/month, and only $129/month for Fresno, California. Lease pricing is based in part on the size of the city/region and its corresponding population number.

The advantages are obvious in that a particular attorney can capture all of the traffic for DivorceLawyer.com in his or her city.

Root Orange are currently leasing city spots for the premium domain name, Attorney.com. Attorneys across the country can have this domain name redirect visitors to their legal website if they lease the rights to Attorney.com in their city. Pretty interesting approach to the monetization of a premium domain. And of course, a more affordable means of capturing high-quality traffic without having to invest in a multi-million dollar premium domain.

Internet Domains root orange

Within the past year, two distinctive companies have emerged who specialize in online domain name auctions. One is Latona’s Domain Brokerage & Auction House and the other is Bido. Both companies have invested considerable capital and time in constructing a sophisticated auction platform dedicated to domain name sales.

I am happy to say that both company sites are very professional in appearance. Both are a definite plus to the domain name industry.

Rick Latona of Latona’s Domain Brokerage & Auction House is a go-getter, energetic, and someone who makes things happen through sheer will and creativity.

Sahar Sarid, Jeff Bhavnanie, and Jarred Cohen are the primary driving forces behind Bido and they too have created an impressive auction format full of features.

The domain name industry is inextricably linked to internet growth and the mass migration of businesses to the net. While the story of domain name expansion is both interesting and exciting, many chapters have yet to be written.

The domain aftermarket has many players, some new and some old. I have used most all of them for both buying and selling premium domain names in various extensions. It is gratifying to see the industry mature, and to witness the continual influence that good domain names have on start-ups and business expansion.

Bido have been in operation for a number of months and are continually reassessing and improving their technology and approach. Latona’s is brand new and preparing to launch within the next few days.

If you are a buyer or seller of domain names, check out these two companies. Chances are you will be hearing about them for a long time to come.

Internet Domains bido, Domain Auctions, Latona

2009 was a relatively good year for the domain name industry compared to the rest of the economy. Domainers still re-evaluated their portfolios and trimmed their domain name collections. This was partly driven by declining PPC revenues as companies scaled back their advertising expenditures.

The USA faces a number of challenges in order to get the economy rolling again. Internet growth will somewhat coincide with the larger economy’s movement. And internet growth is the central mechanism pushing the adoption and use of domain names as business portals.

Two of the most prominent drags on economic recovery have been: 1. lack of job creation, and 2. a pervasive fear that massive commercial real estate defaults would re-ignite another financial crisis and meltdown.

On the positive side, recent news points to indications that the feared commercial real estate meltdown may actually be more manageable than was predicted. The Wall Street Journal has published an article quoting Morgan Stanley analysts who suggest that commercial real estate concerns are now …

only a moderate headwind for the economy,

Another article by Reuters further supports this contention quoting a top Federal Reserve official who says …

Community and regional banks can probably manage their exposure to souring commercial real estate loans.

These sentiments suggest that some of Wall Street’s apprehension is being replaced by a more clear view of America’s financial health. However, the last ingredient in a full recovery is the much needed expansion of America’s manufacturing base.

Jobs, jobs, jobs is indeed the cliche’ of the day. But more than that, they are the true driving force behind a robust economy. To some extent, domain name utilization and further internet assimilation will likely move forward regardless of the immediate job situation.

Many companies have survived this economic recession, and they will be preparing themselves to push their products and services out to the online global consumer. That means having a quality internet presence … which will be part of strategy 101 for 2010 and beyond.

Internet Domains advertising, domain names

Domain name sales have always driven widespread interest in the domain name industry. No one knows when the first domain sale occurred, but it foreshadowed a vibrant market that was to emerge in the years ahead.

Novices should be informed that there is not one, singular market that represents all domain transactions. Most people are aware of Sedo and Afternic sales as well as those documented in Ron Jackson’s DNJournal. However, many sales are undisclosed and never become publicly known due to privacy & non disclosure agreements.

There are reasons why domain sales privacy is fundamental to good business. A buyer does not want others in the marketplace to know what he has paid, or can pay, for future acquisitions. And a seller does not want others to know the level of proceeds received from a sale because that seller often reinvests those proceeds into more purchases.

Publicly disclosed sales information can weaken future negotiations for both buyers and sellers. So “smart money” typically operate outside the public’s radar and prefer to keep quiet their most strategic moves and acquisitions.

This phenomenon greatly impacts public perception of domain sales and creates the somewhat false impression that all aftermarket sales are known. They are not.

Many people try to extrapolate domain trends from known sales data, but they are always operating somewhat in the dark since so many total domain name sales are never made public.

Domain Sales, Internet Domains Domain Sales, nda, non disclosure

Premium domain names are gateways to the internet superhighway. All domain names are actually avenues of access to the world wide web. Prior to the year 2000, many people (and companies) could not yet visualize how important the internet would become to business and everyday life.

The tipping point was reached however. And the internet is now recognized as a landmark technological achievement with massive implications for the future of business. Not just in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, but on a global basis.

More evidence of the world’s migration to the internet is evidenced in two recent stories.

First, Ticketmaster have announced the sale of over 1 million paperless event tickets for year 2009. Consequently, no more standing in line for hours waiting to buy a ticket. What’s the price tag for that level of convenience? I purchased some of those tickets and can tell you firsthand that it’s a huge, huge plus. While the 2009 top countries for paperless ticket sales were the U.S. and Canada, the single biggest online event was the Metallica concert at the O2 arena in London, England.

Second, is the metamorphosis occurring within the television broadcast industry. Much has been written about traditional newspaper organizations losing out to the internet, but now we see that television programming distribution is being challenged as the internet continues to siphon off advertising revenue. “Free” TV, which has survived exclusively on commercial advertising, are now seeing their revenue dramatically decline as advertisers pump more and more dollars into cable TV advertising and internet advertising.

Very interesting is that traditional cable TV providers have all switched to digital distribution (no more analog). This is no different than the digitized video signal coming in over the internet connection, and thus raises the inevitable question -> Why subscribe to cable if I can obtain everything I want though a single delivery mechanism = the internet connection?

Case in point. My wife and I have been watching some of our favorite TV programs online. On the computer via the internet connection, not the cable TV connection! This signal can be run out to a high definition TV if you prefer, or simply viewed on your laptop. Ultimately, you will not need both a cable TV provider and an internet provider. A family will have access to everything they want from one point of contact, the internet connection. This is a media war in the making. Mark my words.

For domain name entrepreneurs, their quality internet properties will enjoy increased relevance as the world (particularly local consumer markets) participate in this massive migration to a single portal internet connection for everything they want and need. The big losers are traditional newspapers, traditional free TV distribution channels, and to some extent even traditional cable-only distribution channels.

The future is the single, all-encompassing internet provider who will deliver all media & communication through one digital line. Media companies around the world are diligently examining this issue at this very moment. A huge sea change is on the way. Big shifts are on the horizon and they will all revolve around the power of internet distribution. Quality domain names will be an integral piece of internet access.

Internet Domains