Holidays 2011 Issue #39
 

Renew your domains soon to save money

Date
VeriSign, Inc. announced back in July that they would be raising feed for .com and .net domain names effective January 15th 2012.  The registry fee for .com domain names will increase from $7.34 to $7.85 and that the registry fee for .net domain names will increase from $4.65 to $5.11.  That means that your registrar will be raising the price they charge you. The new prices are likely to be between 50 cents and a dollar higher, and they may vary depending on the tier of service you are on.  If you own 1,000 domains you can save at least $500 by renewing your domains before the January 15th deadline.  

 
You should also read any email announcement closely.  For a time I had an account with an eNom reseller which routinely raised their rates at least 2 weeks ahead of eNom and Verisign's actual date.  If your budget allows it, renew soon!

Above features new Parking Companies

Above.com is a good way to try your domain names at different parking companies.  Andrew at DNW.com noticed recently that they have integrated three new parking companies into their platform: Voodoo, ParkingCrew, and TheParkingPlace.  

I probably won't be immediately trying these services out - but it's interesting that new domain parking services are trying to make a go of it in a tough market.  If you have some of your domains set-up at Above.com you may want to give these new services a try.  

Sedo and Google Switch to Estimated Stats

Sedo announced recently that they are going to display stats that they receive from Google first, then adjust them to delete "spam" clicks.  In their words, initial estimates stats will be "based on the exact figures we receive from Google, our primary ad provider."  One intertesting aspect of their announcement is that they publicly identify Google as their primary ad provider.  In the past this was understood but not explicitly stated in their public statements.  

Parking companies are caught in a tough spot right now.  Google seems to be the only player that is paying even halfway decent income, and some formerly Yahoo/Bing-based parking companies have started using Google as well. The best approach for monetization these days is still to diversify.  Develop your absolute best domains and monetize through AdSense or other means.  Park most of the rest.  Actively market your domains for sale to end users.