Frank Schilling’s new InternetTraffic.com service claims to help you make more money than other parking companies. He is apparently using some of the same techniques he uses on his own domains, and reports I've read suggest that the domains can contain both Google feeds and Yahoo/Bing feeds. At first glance this seems to violate the... Continue Reading →
When is an Incentive Plan not an Incentive Plan?
Monte Cahn, a domain pioneer and founder of domain registrar Moniker, has sued Oversee.net over the terms of a a $13 million incentive plan that Oversee never paid. Oversee apparently claims that Cahn failed to meet the terms of the incentive plan, while Cahn contents that Oversee shifted his responsibilities in such a way that... Continue Reading →
Google Ordered to Release Parked Domain Metrics
Online Media Daily reported on Friday that U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd has ordered Google to release metrics related to it's domain parking and "errors" program. The judge is presiding over a potential class-action lawsuit by search marketers against Google. According to the report Google must disclose concerns its assessment of the quality of sites within... Continue Reading →
We’re No Longer Recommending Bing-based Services
Earlier this month I dropped my recommendation of Bing-monetized parking companies Parked and SmartName. Income has just not rebounded Since Bing took over monetization of these services from Yahoo. As of this month I recommend the Google-based services DomainSponsor, NameDrive, and Sedo/SedoPro. Income has been dropping at Google services too - but it's been... Continue Reading →
“Bing Sucks”
Donny Simonton shoots straight. After trying to spin the horrible numbers domain owners were seeing from domain parking company Parked this past month he finally came right out and sait it - "Bing Sucks." (Read down this thread to see the transformation in his attitude.)
Domain monetization companies such as Parked (and WhyPark), TrafficZ, and SmartName, have depended on Yahoo's ads to power their services. Yahoo switched their ad inventory to Microsoft's Bing service in November and lots of problems cropped-up.
Domain monetization is new for Bing. They have had an AdWords-like platform for some time, but they have not worked with domain parking companies. It seems that their stats reporting system was not up to the challenge initially. They had to start from scratch figuring out issues like traffic quality - a multiplier they use based on how likely they think your traffic's clicks will result in an actual sale. In most cases they seemed to estimate low, and there were reports that these quality scores would change on a daily basis for no reason.
I reached out to Parked and WhyPark, TrafficZ, and SmartName with some questions about their experiences to date. Only Parked and WhyPark have responded to date. Donny asked Craig Rowe of WhyPark to respond for both services, since they work together to optimize their Bing feed.
Here are Craig's responses to my questions:
TrafficZ’s New Monetization Models
TrafficZ is one of the companies reeling from the drop in revenue associated with the switch from Yahoo to Bing. They recently announced a sneak peak of a new monetization model that will be less dependent on pay-per-click parking. Their new model includes CPA (Cost per Action) - "Clients get paid when a user... Continue Reading →
Don’t logon to eNom or GoDaddy on an Unsecured HotSpot
The new FireSheep FireFox plugin is reportedly capable of letting another user see and change your eNom account if you are logged-into an unsecured wifi hotspot. If you log-onto eNom and they are running this plugon they are also logged-in. They can push your domains to their account, change your password, disable security settings, and... Continue Reading →
Staying Afloat in 2011
As domain income gets tighter and tighter people are looking for creative ways to fund their domain portfoilo expenses. There were a couple of really good articles in the past month that gave people tips on how to do this. Rick Schwarz posted an excellent article on his blog giving newbie domain investors advice on... Continue Reading →
Development to be Showcased at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
I'm getting tired of just writing more about how parking income is flat and development is too difficult to do on a large scale. I'm still bullish on WhyPark, Epik, and SmartName as companies who offer scalable development options that are almost as simple as parking. If you are attending T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in Miami Beach... Continue Reading →
DOMAINfest Global Registration Opens
DomainSponsor's parent company Oversee.net continues to offer versions of DOMAINfest in different cities. From October 1-3 the event will be in Prague. Meanwhile registration has opened for DOMAINfest Global February 1-4 2011 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows on the Pacific Ocean at of Santa Monica, California. Register this month to save $200-$400 off later... Continue Reading →
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