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Here's the The Lowdown
from DN Journal,
updated daily
to
fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry.
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson. |
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DOMAINFest
Europe Gets Underway - Latonas.com and Podcast.com
Re-Launch With New Business Plans and Zappy Zapolin Goes Big Again
With Huge.com
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The
2011 DOMAINfest
Europe conference
got
underway today in Barcelona, Spain with a
4pm (local time) cocktail reception in the
Exhibition Hall at the show venue - The
Pullman Barcelona Skipper Hotel. That
four-hour icebreaker ran until 8pm. The
conference continues with a full day of business
tomorrow capped by Moniker's
Live Premium Domain Name
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Auction
that is scheduled to begin at 4pm local
time Wednesday (in the U.S. that will be
10am Eastern time/7am Pacific). Today the show's
organizers, Oversee.net,
announced that one of the top names in the
auction. Data.com, has been withdrawn
after they were able to broker a private sale
of that name at a price described
as "significantly" higher than
the $1.5 million auction
reserve.
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The
conference closes Thursday (June 9) with
a full slate of relationship-building excursions
during the day and a farewell dinner party at
night. I did not make the trip to Barcelona but
have made arrangements to get some photos and
highlights from Spain for a show wrap-up article
that will be posted in this column after the
conference concludes.
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Rick
Latona |
Elsewhere,
two industry companies have announced
major site re-launches and
another well-known figure has debuted a new
site positioned to cash in on the
Daily Deal boom.
On
the re-launch front Rick
Latona revealed a new
direction for his company's Latonas.com
auction platform. The site previously
focused on selling domain names but
Latona has decided to cast a much wider
net and offer all kinds of web
properties that come with a positive
cash flow. Latona said, "The
term web property we are loosely
defining as a digital asset that resides
in cyberspace such as a website, domain,
Facebook fan page, Twitter account,
YouTube channel, email marketing
lists, mobile and tablet applications." |
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Latona
indicated the reason for the change is
that is has become much harder to make
significant income as a domain broker
because fewer high value domain sales
are being made than was the case before
the recession started in late 2008. |
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In another
major revamp, Domain
Holdings Group in
conjunction with DomainCapital.com
announced
the re-launch of Podcast.com.
The site's new business model will
allow podcast producers to advertise
their programs through paid
placements. |
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Domain
Holdings CEO Jason Boshoff said,
"Podcast.com approached us with the
challenge of better monetizing their
traffic while simultaneously enhancing
the user experience. The paid placement
platform we developed offers podcasters
of all sizes the opportunity to gain
visibility and increase their listener
base for targeted traffic.”
Podcast hosts wishing to advertise their
show will have access to various
sponsored sections across a site and the
home page offers a prominent rotating
billboard giving sponsored podcasts
static visibility to nearly 250,000
unique monthly visitors.
Sean
Sullivan, Director of Tier 1 Domain
Development for Domain Holdings, added
"By leveling the playing field,
smaller podcasts can pay for premium
placement at an affordable price. The
re-launch is only the start, and we will
continue to roll out new products and
services to enhance the user experience
and our partner relationships.”
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While
Podcast.com and Latonas.com were
re-launching, domain industry
pioneer Mike "Zappy"
Zapolin rolled out his
latest in a long string of
websites developed on the
foundation of a memorable generic
domain name. This time it is
Huge.com,
a Miami-based site focused on
finding "deals for
dudes" - discount
offers that guys will
love. |
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In
announcing
the launch, Zapolin
said the deals they are finding
for men range from extreme
adventures like driving a race
car or sky diving to deals on
car stereos, cross fit/MMA
training and discounts to the
hottest clubs in Miami.
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Zapolin
explained the focus on
men by noting,
"Just like the
dating space that was
dominated by large
players like Match.com
and eHarmony, the
next wave of winners focused
on the niches, like JDate
and ChristianSingles."
He said zeroing in on
deals for guys also made
the selection of offers
a lot easier. "We
just think about what we
would like to do,
where we like to
go, and we get those
specific deals - and our
customers love it!"
Zapolin
added, "Our deal
team is overwhelmed with
businesses who want to
tap into our unique
audience. Our job is to
pick the most exciting
opportunities and fight
for the best prices.
We're already backlogged
on deals for the next
few months, and the
offerings keep getting
cooler and cooler."
Miami
residents have seen the Huge.com
billboards around
the city, most
notably |
Mike
"Zappy"
Zapolin |
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on
Interstate 395 heading
into South Beach,
and on 826 as they drive
their morning commute.
Zapolin said the
marketing effort has
produced a very pleasant
surprise. "Huge.com
is an
impossible-to-forget
brand that we originally
thought would become
known to every guy in
Miami. As it turns out, 50%
of our customers are women
buying really cool gifts
for their guys,"
Zapolin said |
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(Posted June
7, 2011)
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