Secondary market speculation

Posted by root on September 4, 2010 Comments Off

The secondary market for domain flipping covers previously registered domain names that have not been renewed by registrants or are available for resale. Sometimes these dropped domain names can be more valuable due to their having had high-profile websites associated with them. They will have links from other websites and could still have users searching for the websites because of these links. Others can be valuable because of the generic nature of the domain name or the length of the domain name, with two and three character names being the most sought after.

The business of registering the domain names as they are deleted by the registries is known as drop catching. It is a highly competitive business. The main operators in this business typically set up a number of front companies as registrars. VeriSign, in the case of TLDs COM and NET, allows each registrar a slice of the resources that may be used to register dropped domains. VeriSign drops domains in a random order, giving registrars only a vague idea of the particular drop time of a particular domain. Sometimes a group of drop registrars often work in confederation to increase their possibility of registering a dropped domain immediately after it is deleted by the registry. If the domain is caught by a confederation of registrars attempting to fulfill a domain backorder, then whichever domain registrar caught the domain will register it to the entity who backordered the domain. If the newly reregistered domain is captured by a company that has no customers who backordered it, the domain may be auctioned to the highest bidder by the registrar who captured it or an auction intermediary. The time between a drop and a capture is often measured in seconds or fractions thereof.

Some registrars do not allow domains to drop in the normal fashion, instead introducing an intermediary (e.g., Snapnames and Namejet) that auction the domain prior to their deletion. If nobody buys the domain at auction, it will pass through the normal deletion process.

Domain flipping versus cybersquatting

Posted by root on September 3, 2010 Comments Off

One of the most common accusations against domain name speculation and domain flipping is that it is simply cybersquatting. Cybersquatting is defined as registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The key element in this definition is that the intellectual property rights of another’s trademark are infringed by the cybersquatter. For a UDRP action to succeed one of the things that the complainant has to establish is that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights. Legitimate domain name speculation tends to steer clear of trademarks and concentrate on generic words and phrases as domains based on trademarks can be subject of UDRP actions by the trademark owners. As the number of registered domain names has increased, the number of UDRP cases has also increased. Trademark and service mark owners now use brand protection services that monitor TLDs for newly registered domains that potentially infringe on their trademarks. This is due in part to typosquatting, a form of cybersquatting where variations of the spelling of a brand’s domain will be registered in an attempt to profit from users mistyping the URL of the site they wish to visit.

Generic terms, such as the term “salt” when used in connection with sodium chloride, are not capable of serving the essential trademark function of distinguishing a product or service. This means that generic terms are generally not afforded any legal protection. The Canned Foods, Inc Versus Ult Search, Inc decision specifically deals with a case involving a generic term, “Grocery Outlet” and the domain name “groceryoutlet.com”. The decision contains the key sentence “Generic terms receive no protection in US trademark law when they are used to label the goods and services that they describe.”

One of the earliest examples of a written definition of cybersquatting was the Intermatic Inc. v. Toeppen, 947 F. Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ill. 1996). The definition was “These individuals attempt to profit from the Internet by reserving and later reselling or licensing domain names back to the companies that spent millions of dollars developing the goodwill of the trademark.”

As domain flipping has evolved alongside the domain name system, the most memorable and shortest domains tend to be amongst those registered first in any TLD. For old TLDs like COM (introduced in 1985), these domains will be long gone and people registering their first domains are often frustrated at the lack of short and memorable domains in this and other mature TLDs.

One of the main problems concerning trademarks and domain names in unrestricted TLDs and gTLDs is that of trademarks in general: the rights of the trademark owner have to be asserted in order to protect the trademark. The trademark owner has to take legal action, typically a UDRP, to defend the trademark after the potentially infringing domain has been registered. The UDRP action has to follow a procedure of notifying the respondent, receiving a reply from the respondent, appointing an adjudication panel and awaiting a decision. The process can take two months or more.

The global and unrestricted nature of TLDs and gTLDs effectively means that anyone in any country can register a domain name in them regardless of whether they have any intellectual property rights in that name. With country code TLDs the jurisdiction is more clearly defined. The affected intellectual property rights owner would have to take a legal action, typically a UDRP case to transfer or cancel the domain unless the registrant is in the same jurisdiction as the affected intellectual property rights owner. In this case, local law may be sufficient as the action may be considered as Common law tort of Passing off.

Modern Domain Flipping

Posted by root on September 3, 2010 Comments Off

Today, domain flipping has evolved in parallel with the domain name system. In the early 1990s, the web and internet access were not as prominent as they are today. Domain names were still being registered, however, even though the focus was almost entirely on business. At that time much of the ccTLD landscape had yet to appear, and the growing public awareness of COM TLD was gathering momentum owing to the growth of the Dot-com bubble. This inevitably attracted the attention of those who saw potential value in domain names, and by this time many of the most valuable generic domain names like sex.com and business.com had been registered. The problem was that there was no clear legal position on what was purely domain name speculation and what was cybersquatting. The open nature of the TLDs meant that anyone could effectively register any domain name. This led to the development of the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy in 1999.

Domain Name Flipping Overview

Posted by root on September 2, 2010 Comments Off

Sometimes, domain flipping involves finding domain names early in a market, particularly when a new top-level domain is launched, registering them and waiting until the market grows to sell them. Domains such as sex.com and business.com have sold for millions of US dollars.

The COM top-level domain (or ‘TLD’) is the focus of most domain speculation activity as it is the largest TLD. Domain speculation occurs in other TLDs as well, such as NET and to a lesser extent in ORG, INFO, and BIZ. Of the gTLDs, INFO is the most popular by registration volume compared to BIZ gTLD due to the low cost of initial registration and the recognisability of ‘info’ as being an abbreviation of ‘information’.

Also domain flipping occurs in country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as .uk, .de and .us. The German TLD consists of over 12 Million domains. The UK’s domain has over 7.7 Million domains registered according to Nominet’s domain registration statistics webpage, mainly in its commercial sub-domain co.uk. These TLDs are mature markets where good domain names may command high prices. The EU ccTLD is an example of what happens when speculative activity overtakes “ordinary” domain registrations. A combination of an inept registry (Eurid) and excessive speculation by businesses exploiting a poorly structured regulatory framework meant that, according to EURid’s own statistics at the end of 2006, over 50% of the registrations could be considered at best speculative and at worst domain name warehousing.

Specialist and repurposed ccTLDs have also seen elements of domain name speculation. One of the best examples is that of the .tv ccTLD which has found the fact that TV is an abbreviation for the word television to be rather lucrative. The .mobi TLD is a good example of a specialist TLD in that it is specifically targeted at mobile phones and similar mobile technology. The operators of .mobi, mTLD, have reserved some of the premium generic words which will be auctioned off. The intent is to create a more level playing field for those interested in developing websites. The .mobi premium generic words and phrases list is a good example of the domain names that are at the heart of most early-market domain name speculation.

Domain name speculators, sometimes known as domainers, also register domain names based on seemingly generic phrases such as propertyforsale in the hope that these domain names could be sold later to businesses. Typically, domain name speculators will try to stay away from domain names containing trademarks as this could be considered cybersquatting.

Some country code TLDs or sponsored TLDs will have what is referred to as an eligibility or nexus requirement to limit registration to specific geographical or national regions. However this does not deter domain name speculation as various options such as using a local agent or company to enable people to register domains in such TLDs exist and have been used.

Primary Market Speculation

Posted by root on September 2, 2010 Comments Off

The primary market for domain flipping covers newly registered domain names that have not been registered before. Such domain names are often linked to news and current events. The launch of a new TLD encourages primary market speculation as domainers rush to register generic terms and also phrases that make a pun on the TLD name (Domain hack). Other more organised domainers or domain name speculators register trademarks in advance of the launch of new TLDs specifically in order to register these short, memorable and potentially high value domains in the Sunrise period of new gTLD launches. The Sunrise period is when intellectual property rights owners (trademark owners etc) can register their trademark in the new gTLD in advance of the gTLD being opened for general registrations. In the last three years the main new TLDs launched were .eu ccTLD, .mobi TLD and .asia sTLD. All of these had landrush periods of varying success.

Domain Name Speculation

Posted by root on September 2, 2010 Comments Off

Domain name speculation is the practice of identifying and registering or acquiring Internet domain names with the intent of selling them later for a profit.

The main targets of domain name speculation are generic words which can be valuable for type-in traffic and for the dominant position they would have in any field due to their descriptive nature. Hence generic words and phrases such as poker, insurance, travel, creditcards, sex and others are attractive targets of domain speculation in any top-level domain.

The speculative characteristics of domain names may be linked to news reports or current events. However, the effective period during which such opportunities exist may be limited. Quick turnaround in the resale of domains is often called domain flipping.

Instant Domain Cash Review – How to Flip Domains For Easy Profits?

Posted by root on August 11, 2010 0 comments

Do you wish to learn how to flip domains for easy profits using the Instant Domain Cash guide? As I have discovered by using the methods inside this guide, buying and reselling domain names can be a great way to make a lot of money on the internet if done correctly.

1. What Is The Idea Behind Domain Flipping For Profits?

It is basically a business model whereby a person registers a domain at a very low cost and aims to increase the value of the domain name to sell it for a quick profit. The returns on investment with flipping domains are usually very good, since valuable domain names are usually purchased for much higher prices than their original purchase prices. In many cases, domains that are purchased for $10 to $20 can be sold for hundreds to thousands of dollars.

2. Can You Really Make Money By Flipping Domains With Instant Domain Cash?

Using the methods inside this guide, I have been able to flip many domains that I registered for cheap and adding value to them. I will further discuss some strategies of how value can be added to domain names below. Domain flipping can be very time-consuming and addictive, and I am certainly hooked by it now. It is making me very good money and I am very glad that I made the decision to try this business.

3. What Are Some Strategies That I Learned In The Instant Domain Cash Guide For Profiting With Domain Flipping?

One good way is to increase the amount of traffic that the domain receives. Many website owners are willing to pay a good price for domains that have a good amount of incoming traffic. You can increase the link popularity of the domain using link building, and this will require a small amount of effort and time from you. You can also monetize the domains with advertising or by adding content to them.

Is Instant Domain Cash a scam? Visit http://www.top-review.org/instantdomaincash.htm to read a FREE report about this Domain Flipping Guide!

How to Flip Domains – 4 Ways to Make Money Fast on the Internet

Posted by root on July 29, 2010 0 comments

Flipping domains can be a lucrative business. But what does a domain flipper do to make money?
As in many types of business, there are various models or techniques for domain flipping.
Learn how to flip domains and reap the profits.

1. Register a new domain

Registering a new domain name is simple and relatively inexpensive. I wish I had registered “cars” or “trucks” or “computers” or other fundamental product names years ago. I could auction off those names for large sums now. But I suspect every single-word domain name in the dictionary is owned already. Still, people frequently come up with new unique combinations of two and three-word domain names, and you can too. If the name has value to someone, then you can sell it by auction or via a broker. But there is another alternative for new domain names. Who would have thought that “twitter” or “squidoo” would become a popular domain name? If you are creative with names, maybe you can make up the next “digg” or “reddit”.

2. Buy expired domain names

Domain names expire every day. And many of the search engines value older websites over new ones. The websites may already have links which the search engines also use in ranking. Finally, the website may also have traffic — another desirable item in website valuation. So if you pick up an expired domain and find the right buyer, you can pocket the profit.

3. Buy an established website domain name

Many websites can be purchased for a reasonable price. Their owners may tire of running a website, or be dissatisfied with the amount of money they are making. This may be because they lack the time, marketing skills, or web development skills to exploit the website. If you have these skills (or you can hire them at the right price), then you can bump up the revenue and keep the website, or sell it based on its new value due to the increased income.

4. Use parked domains to generate revenue

Maybe you have parked some domains while you work on developing a website (or can also buy parked domains from others). However parked domains may show up in search engine results if the domain names have relevance to the search. Many domain name registrars and other websites provide domain name parking services that will put advertising (e.g. Google adsense) on your parked website’s page. The companies will charge you a fee for parking or share in the ad revenue (or both). You do not have go this route. You can take your parked domains and put your own ads on the pages and keep all the money.

Mike FurlongWhen I’m not working on the Internet, I’m playing on the Internet! Find out more about domain flipping at Domain Flipping or at Flipping Domains

Discover a Reliable Registrar to Manage Your Domain List Successfully

Posted by root on June 14, 2010 0 comments

Domain Flippers must be some one who has passion for domain flipping and for him to manage his domain well; he should have account with a reliable domain registrar and ideal knowledge to succeed in the business.

As a beginner in domain flipping business, you must first find out where to register your domains, so that you will not encounter problem when you intend to transfer to somebody who is ready to buy any of your domains from you. The Following tips can be of good help for you:
* By visiting domain forums you will surely get some of the reliable registrars.
* Their security records should also be of importance to study.
* Do not go for any free domain as advertised by some registrars, if you intend to flip the domain after development.
* Do not ask any web designer to register your domain for you, so that he may not register the domain in his own business name and you may not be in control of such domain when needed to transfer it.
* It is a good idea to have more than one registrar because of the cost and security measures, but it is advisable to have just one contact email address where all your registrars can contact you.

A good registrar should have a transfer and forwarding interfaces in their c panel for every customer, where you as the customer can transfer and forward domains at will and when necessary.

The following security measures should be among their major roles:

i. They should alert/contact you immediately when necessary through your contact email address.
ii. They should contact you if there is any failure attempt to log-in to your account by unknown person or you when mistyped your log-in details, and when having a new registration or transfer.
iii. Contact you when there is any new development in the company or in the domain market.
iv. You should be informed through your contact email address, when any of your domains is about to expire or about to be deleted and also, to inform you when deleted.

Record keeping is your vital duty; the record of your virtual properties should be kept offline in your business diary and should be well stated under each registrar account.

Most flippers don’t usually plan for unexpected incidence and this led to dropping of many valuable properties when unexpected happens; though no body pray for such portion, but details record of your account / log-in should be written out in your business diary but must be kept securely and let your next of kin have the knowledge of your diary to prevent your valuable domains from dropping.

Domain is a valuable property; therefore all necessary effort should be carry-out to see that domain hackers don’t have any access to your properties. You must always make sure you do not leave any of your account open without logging out especially your email address and most importantly when used public Computer.

You must not disclose your account details to any one even your closed friends and next of kin, your payment card details should also be kept securely.

In case you are no longer interested in any registrar or want to change for any reasons; you can transfer your domain from one registrar to another registrar, by simply log-in to your new destination account and find the “transfer” button, then click on it and follow the step by step instructions to the end. Normally transfer usually takes four to five days for the domain to appear in your account.

For a reliable registrar click here to read my review. To further read more details on this article you can click eMarketDirectory.com.

Domain Flipping – 3 Common Mistakes of Domain Flippers and How to Avoid Them

Posted by root on April 25, 2010 0 comments

Most budding internet entrepreneurs are looking for that perfect business opportunity to make a lot of money online. Buying and selling domain names is a great opportunity to do just that. Finding a good domain name can be like finding a million dollar home that has been foreclosed and is now selling for $50,000. It can be a great investment. But for many people just starting out in this business, there are a handful of mistakes that just about everyone makes. Some of these mistakes are minor and can cut into profit potential, while others can put you behind bars. No joke. In this article I reveal these common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Avoid These Domains at All Costs!

While good domain names can be hard to come buy, do not make the mistake of buying a domain name that contains a lot of dashes. For example, [http://www.dog-training-tips.com]. While this might be a reasonable site you use if you are developing it yourself, the resale value of the domain itself is going to be minimal. Google recognizes domains with lots of dashes as lacking the authority of domains without dashes. This greatly effects the search engine optimization capabilities of this domain. It is best to avoid domain names with even one dash, as it is likely to drastically cut into resale value.

2. Find Domain Names With Less Than 20 Characters

I use 20 characters as a rule of thumb, though this number is not set in stone. Generally speaking, domain names that have high value are going to be short and sweet. A few examples: loans.com recently sold for $3 million, cinemas.com sold for $700,000, and asseenontv.com sold for $5 million. These domains are simple and to the point. Granted, there are not a lot of domain names like these left, but you can imagine the resale value of cinemas.com as compared to thebestamericancinemas.com. The longer and more convoluted the domain name, the lower the resale value.

3. Misspelled Domain Names

Buying domain names that are common typos is a dangerous path to take. This is often called “cyber squatting” or “typo squatting.” There is now legislation to protect trademark and service mark owners from this practice. In order for a domain name to fall under this category, it must be “identical or confusingly similar” to some other trademark or copyrighted service.

A recent court case found a man guilty of “typo squatting” on over 5500 domain names that were variations of copyrighted terms. To make matters worse, when unsuspecting surfers arrived at his web pages, they were re-directed to pornographic web sites. This gentleman was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and forced to pay huge fines. The moral of the story: Do not be a “typo squatter!”

These are three of the most common mistakes people make when buying and selling domain names. Fortunately, there is an exact formula for domain flipping that has made a lot of people rich. The best part is, you do not need to be an internet professional or have any experience in running a business to make money from buying and selling domain names. Follow the blueprint and you will be well on your way to becoming a “domain profiteer.”

Chris is an avid domain flipper and internet geek. He runs an informational website about domain flipping and has recently produced an ebook and audiobook, The Domain Name Money Game, designed to help anyone make money buying and selling domain names. You can learn more about this informative guide at http://www.supernichemarketing.com/domainnamemoney.html