Marchex Buys IndustryBrains for $30 Million

Marchex, which kicked the domain monetization market into high gear with its $164 million deal for the UltSearch portfolio, has purchased contextual advertising firm IndustryBrains for $30.6 million. Some details about IndustryBrains:

IndustryBrains provides contextual pay-per-click links to approximately 1,500 advertisers on publishing sites such as Forbes.com, USATODAY.com, BusinessWeek Online, The Motley Fool, and Travel + Leisure. ... its network of online publishers display IndustryBrains' advertiser listings on approximately 1 billion page views per quarter.

In the press release. Marchex notes that the acquisition may help introduce higher-quality advertisers onto their massive pay-per-click domain network. "IndustryBrains' advertisers, who buy site-specific placement on vertical and branded Web sites, could potentially opt for inclusion on Marchex's vertical direct navigation Web sites," the announcement notes.

Posted by RichM July 28, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

July 8, 2005

All Your Typos Are Belong to Google

Search Engine Watch reports that Google has won an arbitration case giving it the rights to the domain names googkle.com, ghoogle.com, gfoogle.com and gooigle.com. Arbitrator Paul Dorf found that the owner of the typosquatting domains, Sergey Gridasov, was using the URLs to "direct Internet users to Web sites that attempt to download viruses, trojan horses and spyware to the users� computers. The disputed domain names contain links to various products unrelated to Google." The full decision is here. Some thoughts from Gary Price at SEW:

It will be worth monitoring to see if the Googlepex will begin asserting their legal rights over other registered domains that either resemble Google or include the word Google in the domain name.

Well, that would keep Google's lawyers busy for a very long time. A check at whois.sc finds more than 7,700 registered domains including the phrase "google." That's a lot of work. But the precedent can't be good news for the folks who registered all those domains.

Posted by RichM July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

Defensive Plays May Drive .xxx Signups

The introduction of the .xxx top-level domain creates a reputation management challenge for tens of thousands of corporations and celebrities intent on protecting use of their brands on the Internet. As a result, these "reputable" purchasers will likely be lined up alongside porn mavens and cybersquatters to get their .xxx domains. The issue is summed up in an article in E-Commerce Times:

"Let the unseemly cybersquatting begin," said Karen Whitehouse, an ICANN-watcher and author of the Weekend Geek blog. "What I envision is people paying $60 a year just to keep beaarthur.xxx out of circulation."

I think a lot of people might pay to never have to see that site.

Posted by RichM July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

July 7, 2005

.name Domains Offered Free (for 60 Days)

The operator of the .name registry is offering a "free trial" on its domains, and appears to be encouraging registrars to mass-register .name URLs for existing customers. The Global Name Registry, which oversees .name, is limiting the freebie to a 60-day trial period, after which the registrant must pay for the name or return it to the registry.

The promotion refines Afilias' offer of free .info domains, but places a shorter time frame (60 days versus one year) before the domain fees must be paid. "All Free Trial Names are registered in bulk, i.e. an ISP/Registrar can allocate a free trial name to each of its customers at no charge," the offer notes. eNom affiliate Sipence used the Afilias offer last year as an opportunity to bulk register 1 million .info domains for customers who owned the same name in .com or .net.

Posted by RichM July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

High Court Battle Spurs Domain Sales

Activists are buying up domain names related to potential Supreme Court nominees, apparently girding for a public relations offensive over the upcoming nomination by President Bush of a judge to replace the retired Sandra Day O'Connor. The National Review found the pro-choice group NARAL has registered stopgonzales.com - presumably a reference to Attorney general Alberto Gonzales, rumored to be in Bush's short list - as well as "stop" variations on the names of several other prospects. Another liberal group, People for the American Way, has also registered multiple domains related to possible Bush nominees.

Posted by RichM July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

July 5, 2005

Ostrovsky Sees .info as Investment Play

Will .info domains become sought after and appreciate in value? One believer is Marc Ostrovsky of Internet REIT L.P., who tees .info eventually becoming one of the most desired top-level domains (TLDs).

"I love .info, and I think .info is the next big play," Ostrovsky recently told host Monte Cahn on the Domain Masters podcast on WebmasterRadio.fm. "I have a large investment in .info. What do people go to the Internet for? I think people go to the Internet for information."

Posted by RichM July 5, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

Cuban Investment A Boost for Domain Industry

Mark Cuban has been one of the most successful investors of the Internet era, with a reputation for recognizing trends early and selling at opportune moments (especially with Broadcast.com, which he co-founded and sold to Yahoo for $6 billion in 1999, prior to the dot-com collapse). While venture capitalists have been sizing up the domain name game for months, Cuban's investment in Register.com makes him perhaps the best-known investor putting money to work in the domain sector.

Since April 21, Cuban has invested approximately $18.3 million in shares of Register.com, according to SEC filings. Here's a breakdown of his purchases and the results thus far, based on today's closing price for RCOM of $7.83 a share:

Not counting transaction fees, Cuban is ahead about $923K on that $18.3 million investment - a gain of 5.05 percent in just over two months - and it's a fair bet that the price of Register.com will rise further as Cuban and Barington Companies vie for board seats. The attention to Cuban's investment is likely to focus additional attention on investment in the domain name market, which can only be good news for domain owners and portfolio owners.

Posted by RichM July 5, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

Mark Cuban Increases Stake in Register.com

Billionaire Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban has raised his stake in Register.com to 13.7 percent, according to SEC filings, which indicated that Cuban is likely to be among nine people nominated for the Register.com board of directors by Barington Companies Equity Partners, LP. An excerpt from the filing:

On June 30, 2005, Barington delivered to the Secretary of the Company a letter notifying the Company of Barington's intention to nominate nine persons, including Mr. Cuban, for election to the Board of Directors of the Company at the 2005 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company. Mr. Cuban intends to serve as a director of the Company, if elected.

Barington is an affiliate of RCM Acquisition Co. LLC, which recently attempted to purchase Register.com for $7.10 per share, but was rebuffed by management. Cuban's investment and alignment with Barington would appear to increase the likelihood that changes lie ahead for the Net's second-oldest registrar.

Posted by RichM July 5, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter