1. New bido release, multiple auctions & more

First and formost on my list, we’ve been hard @ work on a new upcoming bido release. This release will bring multiple auctions per day to the bido community. Also, Bido experts will be soon voting on all submitted domains, upcoming auctions. We want to be as much hands-off as possible and shift the focus to the community to make these important decisions. Transparency is good business.

2. Professional business brokers

I put few partnerships together to explore deals, whether they come to us or we go to them. We have not done much of it in the past but times are ripe and since all is hungry, all want to be a part of it, and all listen.

3. New site developments

We’ve always worked on new experimental projects, the difference is there is more urgency to produce today than ever before. No time to delay, to take your time. Everything is ROI and sooner you get to positive ROI, the better.

4. Major partnerships, accounts

Some of our businesses we’re putting much focus on bringing major accounts in, that is, accounts which are worth six, seven, or eight figures per year. Major players, as the rest of the world, are in need to produce aggressively for their shareholders. For that, they must explore more than ever before, while at the same time be pickier than ever before.

5. Raising capital

Raising capital is a full time job. We have never focused much on it however, to grow faster, to scale higher, capital helps. If you are a six/seven/eight figures investor and interested in investing with us, see our site for contact details.

6. Buying domains

Contrary to others who are holding back, we feel much safer to invest in domains than having money in the bank. We’ve been buying lately and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. There are many deals out there, and those may never be back to those level ever again. Remember GOOG at 250$? You snooze you lose.

And I’m sure am forgetting a couple of other things I’m busy @ work. There’s much to do, so little time.

Have a great day.

Sahar

(comments are blocked as I’m on a blog break, if you wish to reply, on my Twitter page please)

eMail from Francois now, reversing this action.

Dear feed member,

Yesterday, I made a decision that generated some publicity: If you are not aware, I announced that bloggers advertising competing news aggregators on their sites would no longer be listed in our newsletter.
From a business perspective, why should I do extra to help those who help promote my competitors? In retrospect, the language and tone of my email may have been misinterpreted or misunderstood, and I want to make my position clear to all.

Today I have a strong advantage over my competition, but due to this fact I realized I also need to take care to not create a monopolistic situation. It’s mad to create a climate of injustice and I don’t want to give my
competition any possible issue by blocking the market.

So this will be my revised and official position:

- Each feed participant can advertise any site he wants in his pages without impacting his exposure on Domaining.com

….

I consider this a small win to all. Thanks for participating and voicing your opinion about this important matter. If we do not take care of fairness within our industry, no one else will.

——————————————————————–

Francois never understood why I never sent a reply privately. It is simple: The email was not addressed to me privately, nor personally. As it turned out, Francois sent the same exact email to others. Since then, as this issue is now in the public eye (as it should be), all communication is now public.

What is anti competitive behavior means?

Via Wikipedia:

Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent and/or reduce competition in a market

While I do not see eye to eye with Francois on many levels for a long time, this one was the one I felt I had to draw the line. There’s a big difference between what was done previously to this last event. While I did not like some of the ideas Francois implemented in the past, I admire his willingness to try new things, find what works, adapt. With that said, that last event was none of it. That last event basically told bloggers that in order to be included in syndication (site or newsletter, it is the same principle), a blogger must remove competitors from their site. While I’m not an attorney I’m quite sure this is illegal in many countries. But more than that for me, it is highly unethical business practice.

Many have said that Domaining.com is a good source of traffic therefore they will make the decision based on that. I highly disagree. I believe at times we all call our higher set of values, those that tell us what is right and what is wrong. This is plain wrong.

The only acceptable conclusion here is a sincere apology and reversal of this action by Francois. Anything else is selling ourselves short.

As I’m still on a blog break comments here are blocked. You may reply on the issue at the links below or on my Twitter page.

Further readings:

Domaining.com and anti-competitiveness, Too Many Secrets blog

On the subject at LLLL.COM (see WIRE’s commentary)

Hello,

Just a quick note to tell you we’ll no longer will include headlines of bloggers promoting other RSS feed agregators in their pages.
As normal we cannot be promoting competitors… plus most are old members who simply copy cated our site.
Plus we think our industry will benefit of a strong central feed agregator site most than have traffic diluted in many, united we are stronger.
We checked your site and it’s your case, so if this change further please drop us a note to update your account.

Best Regards,

Francois Carrillo
Domaining.com

I did not plan to post for a while on the blog as I’m on a blog break. I wouldn’t really mine if my blog was dropped due to inactivity, but due to anti competitiveness? I feel this is just plain wrong.

I believe Francois & Domaining.com have done much to further the domain industry. With that said, I can no longer align myself with such a venue, and such beliefs. I believe the best should win, not because of blocking competitors, but because of best service.

To those who wonder who that other service is (domain aggregator), I believe he is refering to NameBee.

As I’m on a blog break comments here are blocked. You may comment on this post on my Twitter page.

And yet today another great experience with Fabulous, this post is well overdue! Just to be clear, this isn’t a paid post nor a request by anyone, it is based on the many years of experience with many within the company, from monetization services to registrations, and more.

Choosing a brand name such as “Fabulous.com” is a risky proposition. If we take the long term view, there’s always going to be ups and downs. Is it possible to be fabulous all the time? Having such a brand name, if things go wrong, what would people say? In my view, taking on such a name simplifies everything for a company, as the identity could have not been any clearer to anyone in the company, its customers, and potential customers. Now being able to deliver on such a promise, that’s a whole different story.

The folks at Fabulous.com have been able to do so time and again. While the company had its fair share of ups and downs, one thing has always been there: Fabulous service. The Fabulous folks come to most if not all industry trade shows. If you drop a line to Support, response usually is within a couple of hours or less. If you have a special request, as long as it is reasonable, they always accommodate.

And how about Fabulous excellence? Fabulous yesterday issued a bonus/compensation to all its affected parking clients because of their Google (their upstream provider) downtime (did you even know about that?). It was news to me however since we have names there, it is always a surprise to get those emails where “money was added to account due to downtime issues”.

Feel free to share your “Fabulous” experience!

Have a great day,

Sahar

After a long weekend, I’m finally glad to be back home. See, I spent this last few days somewhere in Trinidad, “meeting the Fockers!”. Good food, great hospitality, was good to finally meet the family. The place is as hot as Florida if not hotter. A lot of things made no sense to me. Why the rooftops are made of metal sheets in such a hot place? Why Rum is so popular? Why the roads, houses, and living conditions are so horrendous when it seems the country is doing well from its natural resources (Gas, Oil)? Why many are not trying to better themselves?

During the weekend we spent quality time with the family, drove around the island to meet Michelle’s extended family, and in between I had time to chat with some about business, life. Internet there, while common, isn’t yet to where it should be. It should be all over, it should be more affordable.

Rum and killing one another seems to be the favorite past time there. Laventille, one of the most dangerous places in Trinidad, counts well over 200 killings since the beginning of the year. And Rum? Not only locals make little money, they choose to spend it on drinking for the most part. Pausing reality keeps one away from making a better one. I found that sickening.

On the way back to the airport after spending the weekend there, seeing a stray dog walking on a busy highway calmly towards cars as if they were not there, head down, described my feeling there. Feeling of no hope, no future, nothing really matters.

I’m going to stop here, let you think it over for a day or two.

Have a blissful day!

Sahar

The topic of the day, no doubt, is the recent development between Jay Westerdal and Thought Convergence (PDF copy of lawsuit here, learn more here).

Today in the Bido chatroom we will discuss those recent developments, and try to understand better what went wrong, where, why, and how you can avoid those issues in your own dealings. We’re inviting all to participate, including but not limited to somain professionals, attorneys, search engine professionals (Search engine optimization, Search engine marketing), investors and venture capitalists, and web professionals in general.

Where: The Bido.com chatroom (must be logged in to participate)

When: Today, May 14th 2009, 1PM Est.

See you in the chat room.

Cheers

Sahar

As you all know we work extremely hard on Bido. We do so because we truly believe this is what domain owners need. How do we know? Because we own a large portfolio ourselves. Building liquidity is essential to the health of the industry.

The stronger the liquidity in the domain channel the better we all are. If you do not agree with this statement better stop here and surf away. This post is not for you.

If you are still reading.. I’ve talked much about liquidity in the past, about the importance of accurate pricing. What I did not talk much about is how you can help build such liquidity, how you can do so with Bido.

1. The public is tired of being “sold” into things

Aren’t you? The internet finally gave us all easy access to unbiased opinions. From travel to cars to funerals and marriage. “Hard selling” is out, unbiased is “in”. We welcome all with open arms to contribute at Bido. You may apply for a Bido expert status and contribute your unbiased commentary on domains listed. All commentaries are submitted to the site in real time and without any manual approval by us. All we ask is to stay on topic and be professional.

2. The more buyers, the better we all are

By participating you are helping to attract more potential buyers into the domain game. As the public is tired of being sold into things, they highly appreciate your unbiased commentary. It is what we believe to be one of the main reasons why buyers continue to come back to Bido.

3. The more turnaround, the safer your holdings are

The more domains are sold in the domain channel, the safer your holdings are in case you need to liquidate. Liquidity creates a healthy market environment, it creates a vibrant market. Without liquidity there would be no domain sales. The more liquidity means more buyers, more options. Your best alternative to a given buyer is to have another buyer.

Of course there are many more reasons and benefits to participate than commentaries, from building your own brand, to building your site links, to market your services through your Bido profile tabs, or to win exclusive prizes which are only offered to Bido experts (last prize we gave away to a Bido expert, Traffic ticket, valued at US$ 2,000). No matter what reason brings you to Bido, what we want you to know is that Bido is for you as much as it is for us. Together, we’re so much stronger.

Have a great day,

Sahar

Via Hitwise:

Hitwise data indicate that the share of search traffic coming from paid listings is decreasing at the expense of organic traffic. In the four weeks to May 9, 2009, 7.25% of search engine traffic to All Categories of websites was from paid clicks. This compares to 9.84% in the same four week period in 2008 - representing a 26% decline in the share of paid clicks

Most in the domain industry know the trickle-down effect has been definitely felt as domain name parking revenues have fallen since last year by about the same percentage, if not more. Talking to parking companies lately there are good indications we’ve hit bottom and things will now start to get better. This is to be seen.

Cheers

Sahar

A year ago Thought Convergence acquired Jay Westerdal’s Name Intelligence. Today looks like Jay is no longer with the company.

Details are fuzzy but from what I’m hearing (edit: and now reading) it isn’t a friendly breakup. Maybe expectations have not been met, maybe ideals and ideas weren’t aligned. Bringing organizations together is extremely hard and from our own experience, often does not work well. Jay as all know is extremely talented and I’m sure we will all hear much about his new businesses. While not loved by all (who is?!), Jay’s contribution to the whole internet through Domain Tools WHOIS archiving is one that cannot be matched by many.

Of course, I wish all the best here, and hopefully, things will work out positively to all involved.

Cheers

Sahar

Reinvent Technology is making a big move toward become a major player in the convergence of TV and the Internet. To that end, Reinvent has just appointed award winning TV producer David R. Sams to the newly created position of Executive Vice

President for Strategic Development, Marketing, and Creative Affairs. Sams is also an expert in TV syndication, direct marketing and Internet marketing.

(David Sams’ MySpace and bio here as well as Video interview with David Sams here)

Later in the article, David Sams added (added emphasis):

I see the Internet as being where TV was in its early years. Dr. Ham has acquired thousands of premium dot-com domain names over the past decade that collectively garner millions and millions of monthly viewers. In my opinion, these domain names are no different than TV stations or networks. Each domain serves a specific niche—just like today’s leading cable networks. Each Internet domain has access into the home—via the same coaxial cable as TV is delivered. Now that many television set manufactures are beginning to make Internet-ready TV sets, I see, for example, the day when kids passively watch the Disney Channel and the interactive DisneyChannel.com on the same tube.

Dr. Ham and Reinvent are in the unique position of creating branded Internet channels based on company-owned premium domains like Attorney.com, CheapTravel.com, God.com, Menopause.com, How.com, Hairstyles.com, Audition.com, Mother.com, Stockbroker.com, and thousands of others. The opportunity to create joint ventures, content partnerships, and clustered ad networks targeting specific niche audiences is tremendous. TV had its golden age; I now see the dawn of the medium’s platinum age as it converges with the Internet, and could not resist the opportunity to be a part of it.

The emphasis above, if you believe it has merit, is as true to any premium domain owner as it is to Reinvent. The one thing to note here is that Reinvent is looking further in the future, into something that somewhat visible but isn’t here yet, and they are making a move today. It reminds me of Mark Cuban’s move with HDNet (in video, six minutes in video) long before anyone thought a HD only channel would make sense.

The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealised past.

Robertson Davies, “A Voice from the Attic”, 1960

As happened with many other industries, it also seems to be that the future may be similar to the past, with a little change. Once it was TV, now it is the web. Once it was radio, now it is podcasting. Once it was CD’s, now it is MP3’s. Once it was a Walkman, now it is the iPod. The content/concept are similar or identical, the medium and delivery are changing. When the TV and the web come together, consumers would be able to surf channels by visiting different web addresses. So in the future, would that make domain names “surfing channels” on your TV screen? While it may be the case, how good channels are is largely Dependant on their content. If you surf your tv channels today, you will see it doesn’t really matter if you landed on one channel or another, the next one is a click away and if the content isn’t there, then you are quickly gone.

Have a great day,

Sahar