Happy new year and may this year bring you continued health, increased wealth and blessings in all areas of your lives.

I read recently on TheConceptualist.com that Bido.com domain name auctions will be returning soon. I will definitely have to submit some of my better domain names for inclusion.

The auction of PuntaPacifica.com went reasonably well, with the domain selling for $4,000.

I own a few good geo names with .org and .net extensions, and I’ve been thinking of developing these.

My social network for martial artists, HapkidoNet.com, is progressing nicely. Thank you to those who helped me choose the best domain name for that site.

My new year’s advice to my readers: keep your head up, breathe deep, and discover the sources of your own strength.

Does domain parking provide a useful service? Or is it utterly valueless to the public? Many bloggers and tech writers are vehemently critical of domaining in its essence, calling it cybersquatting, typosquatting, or domain hoarding. They overlook the fact that domain parking provides at least one very basic service.

I’ve recently read two mainstream articles on cybersquatters – here’s one from CNET of all people (CNET has a large domain portfolio) – in which all domainers have derisively been lumped into the cybersquatting bin. These authors, who don’t seem to have a clear idea of what cybersquatting is, seem determined to negate any value that may exist in domain parking. They insist that parked pages generate clicks only by fooling the reader, who apparently is a dummy who doesn’t know what he’s looking for.

Domainers typically respond to these articles with the argument that parked pages provide a service by marrying people who are looking for something specific to businesses that provide that thing. Some domainers insist that these authors are simply jealous because they missed the boat.

Be that as it may, both these authors and the domainers are failing to mention one very basic service that parking provides: when a user navigates to a parked page, at least there’s something there. For example, I just registered several domains related to biometrics, including BiometricCars.com (I’m excited by the future possibilities of biometric devices). Anyone who navigates to that page is presented with links on relevant topics, including biometric security, biometric locks and biometric safes.

On the other hand, let’s say someone is curious about the use of biometric devices in motorcycles and navigates directly to BiometricMotorcycles.com. What happens? He gets a blank page with a “server not found” message, because at the time of this writing no one has registered this domain name (there’s a freebie for you, readers; it’s yours if you want it).

Which of these two experiences is more user friendly? Which provides more value?

Clearly a parked domain provides a fundamental service. There’s something there, and it provides relevant links to boot. How can anyone argue with that?

Jay Westerdal has been a consistent innovator in the domain name industry, and now he’s come up with another good idea: insurance for domain names. You might think this sounds bizarre – insurance for something that costs $6.95 a year? Consider two factors, however, and it begins to make sense:

1. The skyrocketing value of premium generic domain names in recent years.
2. The development of a new criminal industry to steal or hijack those domains.

Jay, a 29 year old computer science graduate from Washington state, is CEO of the domain name registrar Name Intelligence, Inc., and founder of the Domain Roundtable and DomainTools.com. On his DomainTools.com blog, Jay has recently been reporting on an alarming trend: domain theft.

So in a recent blog post, he’s announced that in response to the recent hijacking or theft of several valuable generic domain names, Name Intelligence will now offer insurance for any high-value domain hosted by them. $100 per year, for example, will get you $100,000 in coverage. Furthermore, if your domain is insured at that level and is stolen, Jay will pay you $1,000 a day until it is recovered. Jay is confident, however, that no domain under his protection will ever be stolen, because he will maintain a high level of contact with the owner.

Right now Jay’s just one guy out there on his own looking brash, and I suspect that some registrars are looking askance, wondering why he would take on such a risk. But that’s how innovation happens. If the other registrars don’t rise to meet the challenge posed by new security threats, they could very well begin losing business to those who do.

What you’re seeing is the birth of a concept. Prediction: within a few years, Moniker, GoDaddy and perhaps some others will begin offering a “high security” domain hosting package for a fee, and an insurance plan for premium domains, for another hefty fee. Homes are insured. Businesses are insured. A premium domain name can be worth much more than most homes. Insurance is an obvious next step.

I see this as a sign of the continuing maturation of the domain name industry. The industry is having to face certain rude realities (like become a target for fraud) and must implement real-world solutions.

The made-up company name trend continues… In March 2007, News Corp. and NBC Universal announced that the two giants were teaming up to bring prime-time TV programming to the web. They had no name yet for the web service they would create, and they did not specifically state what shows it would feature, or when it might make its debut. Just that it would be exciting.

Five months later, the companies just revealed that the new website’s name is Hulu.com. They are now accepting requests for an invitation-only test, to begin in October.

Enough media affairs. Let’s talk domain names.

The Domain Name

Hulu is a made-up word of course, at least in English.

Regarding their choice of the name Hulu.com, News Corp says:

“Why Hulu? Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we’re building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world’s premier content when, where and how you want it.”

The Radio Test

Sahar Sarid asks if hulu passes the “radio test.” In other words, if the average person heard an ad for this website on the radio, would he/she know how to spell it? Sahar wonders if people would hear hooloo.

I think they might also hear wholu, wholoo, wholew, or hulew, or more likely hula, since that is a Hawaiian dance that everyone has heard of, or maybe just hello. We Americans can barely spell real words, so made up words have little chance unless they are plainly phonetic.

I do not register or buy typo domain names anymore, but if I did I’d be checking hooloo.com right now, and a few others.

Hulu in Other Languages

Regarding the word hulu, Michael Arrington on Tech Crunch checked the meaning of the word in different languages and came up with a pretty funny list:

So if you find yourself in Indonesia, don’t go around telling people that you’re into hulu. I can just see the discussion now:

“Are you enjoying your stay in Indonesia, sir?”

“Yes, but I’ve been busy looking at hulu.”

“Oh, yes!?”

“Yeah, I love that hulu. Gotta get some hulu every day.”

Arrington suggests that News Corp. and NBC should demand a refund from the pricey consultants who came up with this name.

Enough Made-Up Words!

It would have been better to spend some money and acquire a real word. I know the made up word strategy worked for Yahoo and Google (though a yahoo is actually a crude or brutish person, and google is most likely a misspelling of googol, a massively large number), but there are just too many of these invented names now. (can you say Orkut, Kijiji, Mahalo, Jaja, Skype…) I’ve visited some of these sites multiple times and I still can’t remember how to spell them without looking them up!

To be effective an invented word must be clearly, plainly phonetic. The spelling should be obvious. Examples: Alexa, Firefox, Mozilla.

That’s not to say that these short, made-up words don’t represent good investment value for domainers. They do, for exactly the reason that News Corp chose this Hulu. Short, CVCV domains often have a catchy sound to them and are quite brandable. If you can’t afford to invest in generic dictionary dot coms, then these represent a good alternative.

1. CircleID.com – http://www.circleid.com/
   More of a social media site than a true blog, CircleID.com is a community hub for the internet’s infrastructure & policies.
2. The Conceptualist – http://www.conceptualist.com/
   Sahar Sarid’s is co-founder of Recall Media Group and self-made domain entrepreneur. I check this one every day.
3. David Carter’s Blog – http://www.david-carter.com/blog/
   David is a domainer and internet marketer from Birmingham, U.K.
4. DailyDomainer.com – http://www.dailydomainer.com/
   I’m not sure what’s going on with the Daily Domainer. This blog was inactive from June to October, then there was a small flurry of posts, and now it is dormant once again. In any case there’s plenty of good archived material.
5. DirectNavigation.com – http://directnavigation.com/
   A recent addition to this list, DirectNavigation.com is written by an experienced domainer. Frequent updates consist of short domain industry news briefs.
6. DNBizBlog.com – http://www.dnbizblog.com/
   DNBizBlog just debuted in November 2007, but is a truly welcome addition with excellent advice and personal experiences of a long-time domainer. This is what we need more of.
7. DomainBits.com – http://www.domainbits.com/
   Jeff Behrendt’s blog debuted in November 2007 and has already garnered a lot of attention for its well-researched posts.
8. Domain Name News – http://www.domainnamenews.com/
   Run by two domainers, this blog supplies domain industry news, particularly coverage of domain conferences.
9. DomainPulse.com – http://www.domainpulse.com/
   Domain pulse provides a steady stream of domain name industry news.
10. DomainerPro.com – http://www.domainerpro.com/
    W. H. Abdelgawad’s new domaining blog is a welcome addition. Good information for beginning domainers, and general domaining strategies.
11. The Domainer’s Gazette – http://www.domainersgazette.com/
    Billed as ” Domainers Covering the Domaining Industry”, this is Peter Askew’s domaining blog. Peter started this blog in March 2007 and has posted much useful information.
12. DomainTools Blog – http://blog.domaintools.com/
    Jay Westerdal’s blog is updated frequently and provides heavy coverage of domain name conferences and auctions. Jay is a frequent poster on NamePros.com as well.
13. Domain Name Wire – http://www.domainnamewire.com/
    News source for the domain name industry written by industry experts and edited by Andrew Allemann.
14. Dominik Mueller Domain Name Consulting – http://www.dmueller.com/
    Dominik, who has been in the domain business since 2003, specializes in the sale and acquisition of premium domain names.
15. DotSauce Domain News Magazine – http://www.dotsauce.com/
    DotSauce was founded in April 2007 by Mark Fulton who says, “we understand that you want more than drab news and controversy concerning ICANN, so we will often times include articles, reviews and news on innovative applications and resources you may find useful.”
16. Elliot’s Blog – http://www.elliotsblog.com/
    Elliot Silver is the owner of Top Notch Domains LLC, which owns a strong portfolio of generic domain names. His blog is definitely a must-read, not least for his superb “5 With” series of interviews of major domaining personalities.
17. Inside Domaining – http://www.insidedomaining.blogspot.com/
    Steve Granville-Smith’s blog: “This is Your Time, You Were Born to Be A Domainer!”
18. The Key – http://blogs.business2.com/sloan/
    Paul Sloan’s blog is a member of Business 2.0′s Blog Network, and is very industry oriented.
19. Name Brief – http://www.namebrief.com/
    Bret Fausett is not a prolific poster, but his writing is interesting and relevant.
20. RickLatona.com – http://www.ricklatona.com/
    Rick Latona is a top domainer who has recently debuted a blog and a daily newsletter in which he offers premium domains for sale at low prices.
21. The Rick Shwartz Domain and Traffic Blog – http://www.ricksblog.com/
    Rick Schwartz, the “Domain King,” says that he is “famous for ruffling feathers.” In any case, he is one of the leaders of the domain name industry and his blog is indispensable reading for any serious domainer.
22. Seven Mile: the Official Frank Schilling Blog – http://frankschilling.typepad.com/my_weblog/
    Frank Schilling is one of the dukes of the domain name industry. Any domainer can learn a lot from him.
23. Tropical SEO – http://tropicalseo.com/
    Crude language but insightful posts on search engine optimization (obviously), domaining and “competitive webmastering.”
24. Whizzbangsblog.com – http://whizzbangsblog.com/
    Michael Gilmour’s domaining blog.

Other Important Blogs

These blogs are not focused specifically on domain names, though some of them do address the topic from time to time. But they are very useful for anyone interested in website monetization and profitable web publishing:

25. Aaron Wall’s SEO Book.com – http://www.seobook.com/
    An important blog about online marketing and search engine optimization.
26. CopyBlogger.com – http://www.copyblogger.com/
    Copywriting tips for online marketing success.
27. DNXpert.com – http://www.dnxpert.com/
    Domain name industry news. Blogger John Motson also regularly shares lists of good expired or available domain names with his readers and subscribers.
28. doshdosh – http://www.doshdosh.com/
    Subtitled “helping you make money online”, doshdosh.com is an incredibly useful blog. Updated daily, there is a wealth of information here about blogging, website monetization and promotion strategies, and online entrepreneurship in general.
29. Tony Hill’s Ad Publishing Blog – http://www.tony-hill.net/
    Great guidance on effective web publishing.

Extras:

These are not necessarily must-read blogs, but they make for interesting reading nonetheless:

30. Ambler on the Net – http://www.ambler.net/
    Christopher Ambler’s industry blog, covering Internet industry news, ICANN, the Domain Name System, Domainers, domain monetization, and other items of interest.
31. The Amateur Domainer – http://www.amateurdomainer.com/
    He portrays himself as a total bumbler, just trying to make a few cents. But for a beginner he’s doing a lot of things right. I ended up reading almost every post he’s written.
32. BorgHunter’s Blog – http://www.borghunter.com/
    Though only a high school student, Mitchell Bundy’ – the “Borg Hunter” -has notably developed a domain name portfolio plugin for WordPress.
33. BVTD.com: Buying, Valuating and Trading Domains – http://bvtd.com/
    A new blog introduced in March 2008 by a fellow who collects LLLL.com and LLLLL.com domains as a hobby.
34. Domaining.org.uk – http://www.domaining.org.uk/
    An excellent blog that focuses on .uk domains.
35. DNVW: Domain Name Values Weekly – http://www.dnvw.com/
    This blog recently changed hands and David, the new owner, has given it a fresh breath of life. With its new design and updated content, this is one to watch.
36. Income.com – http://www.income.com/
    John Reese’s Income.com blog contains a lot of useful information about marketing, traffic generation and SEO.
37. Quad Letter Domains – http://www.quadletterdomains.com/
    Market trends, news and personal experience of four letter domains for enthusiasts and investors.
38. StevePavlina.com: Personal Development for Smart People – http://www.stevepavlina.com/
    Steve Pavlina’s blog contains enough material on personal development to fill several books. He also writes about blogging and making money online.Inactive Blogs:
    
39. DomainEditorial.com – http://www.domaineditorial.com/
    This blog has not been active since July 2007 but has some good archived material.
40. Domain Rookie – http://domainrookie.com/
    Subtitled, “Stumbling through the domain investment world one day at a time”, this is another blog that had some promise but petered out in July 2007.