Advertisers Launch their Own Social Media Sites

USA Today reports that Advertisers have tried and many have failed to gain recognition for their brands through social media advertising. Analysts claim the next step may be creating their own social networking destinations. “Marketers are creating social networks that have lots of legs,” says eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “They have one in Facebook, one in Twitter that links back to a corporate site. They don’t expect to do all their social networking in one site.”

Read more here

MSN Reveals Bing earlier then scheduled

The long awaited, much maligned challenger to Google search is now in live.

While it was supposed to debut June 3, Bing apparently went live yesterday. The search engine is supposed to yield fewer but more-focused results, especially with the video. Scrolling over the video results, prompts the videos to start playing in their windows.

Learn more about Bing here

Top 5 Most Expensive Domains

This CNET TV video post goes over the Top 5 most expensive domain names…is yours on the list? (GRIN)

Rick Schwartz Quote from 1999

Legendary Domainer Rick Schwartz recently published a quote of his from 1999…..
Below is the quote, which I feel is as impactful today as it was a decade ago!
Domains can be so powerful and effective if used properly; yet there is still a major disconnect between the majority of small business owners and the value of domains….

“The reason I say this is there are so many facets of a domain name. It has the face value. It has the value with the mineral rights in the form of traffic. It is a collectible like stamps, coins, art baseball cards. They are real estate on a scale never known before. They are power in a way that has yet to be fully exploited. They are TV stations. They are magazines. They are soap boxes. They are an advantage on many fronts. They are a permanent direct mail piece. They are almost anything you want them to be and so much more. You are an instant broadcaster able to compete with the likes of NBC, ABC, BBC, and all the rest. Your domain can create a situation to capture more eyeballs than all the TV stations put together.”
~~ Rick Schwartz 1999

The Man Who Owns LiveSearch.com (No, He Doesn’t Work For Microsoft)

According to PaidContent.org, one thing that has likely hampered Microsoft’s efforts to boost Live Search’s market share and perhaps contributed to its decision to consider renaming the search engine to Kumo is that it does not own the LiveSearch.com domain name. The domain belongs to Tyler Tullock of Bothell, Washington, who says he has rejected several offers for the site. “I’ve had many offers they’ve always been really stealthy saying ‘I represent a client blah blah blah,’” Tullock told us. He says that the most recent offer came about six months ago, when an entity offered him $40,000 for LiveSearch.com. Tullock asked for $800,000. They countered with $200,000, but Tullock had to answer within a day. He says he passed. Microsoft did not confirm whether or not it or one of it proxies had tried to buy the domain.

FixedMortgage.com Quietly Goes for $10k+

About a week ago, while I am scanning a list of domains for auction at NameJet, I spot a gem… FixedMortgage.com and place my bid for $300.  A day or two goes by and the bidding goes up and I basically need to bid over $2,500 which I was fine with; HOWEVER, I didn’t know that I have to be a “verified” buyer to bid over $2,500….Oh No!  Thursday morning, the day the auction is ending, I fax in my information to NameJet and the day gets the best of me as I was speaking at a local business trade show…..

I would have easily spent $5k - $8k for the domain…maybe $10…and the domain FixedMortgage.com actually sold for $10,211….great acquistion.  Too bad it wasn’t mine!

Special Auction of Premium .tv domain names

June 4^th 2009, in Amsterdam, during the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. domainer event in Europe, Rick Latona Auctions will be auctioning off .TV domain names that normally have well above average premium renewal fees.

Some of these premium .tv domain names include:

One question that most people will be asking is whether or not these can be transfered. According to Rick, the answer is yes. As long as the names are renewed, they can be transfered at this special renewal fee. They can never be transfered out of eNom, however.

This is the first time these names have been offered like this and the chance may not come again.

Success Strategies - Prescription for Prosperity

Came across this in Success Magazine…so true!

Success Strategies

• You must be willing to sacrifice
• Anything can be achieved by hard work
• Education is the most important tool
• Be the best at what you do
• TUrn negative energy into positive energy
• Don’t let criticism phase you
• Raise your children to be contributors to society
• Be a mentor to others
• Believe that you can change the world for the better

RealChocolate.com - put to use by candy maker Mars Inc.

Candy maker Mars Inc. rolled out a new promotion and is using a great domain name -  RealChocolate.com

RealChocolate.com is offering a coupon for some real chocolate every Friday. You have to sign up for the coupon and it appears they “snail mail” it to you.

J Lo Wins a Domain Name Lawsuit

Celebrity Jennifer Lopez wins her lawsuit against cybersquatter Jeremiah Tieman. Tieman registered both domain names and asserted that he ran primarily a fan site devoted to providing news and information about the star.

Reuters reports that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has ruled that the disputed domain names directed users to a website that generated paid advertising revenues.

An independent arbitrator has ordered the domains jenniferlopez.net and jenniferlopez.org be transferred over to the Jennifer Lopez foundation, which promotes better access to healthcare for women and children.