Posted: 01 Apr 2011 05:30 AM PDT

Bob Parsons, CEO of domain registrar Godaddy.com, announced today that his 2012 vacation hunt will be to Peterville, Illinois where Parsons will go on a kitten hunting expedition. Parsons, an avid hunter, recently posted videos of his 2011 hunting vacation in Zimbabwe where he helped local farmers kill a problem elephant.

This time Parsons will have his work cut out for him. “Kittens are really fast animals and really small” says Bob. “I’m going to need at least a 50 cal for this hunt.” The city of Peterville, population 723, has provided Parsons and his 20 person safari team with permits, right of way, as well as the key to the city. In addition to being rid of these problem kittens, the residents of Peterville will be provided with free Asian cuisine, and free Godaddy.com tube tops. Franklin Campbell, the Mayor of Peterville, talked about the problem “They (the cats) claw up the arms of chairs, they poop in sand boxes. One even drank milk right from Ethel Taylor’s milk bucket. It’s just a mess over here.”

When questioned about the need to hunt kittens Parsons stated “There are occasions all over the world where people fall prey to these kittens. Problem animals need to be killed and Peterville needs our help.” PETA officials recently named Parsons the Scummiest CEO of the Year, but have yet to respond to this recent news.

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Free Speech Coalition Announces Plans for .xxxxx New TLD

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 03:09 AM PDT

After countless attempts to block ICANN approval of the .xxx extension, the Free Speech Coalition announced a new strategy today. “We’re applying for dot-quintuple-X” says Executive Director, Diane Duke. "Until now we have been forced to work within the constraints of the ICANN process. FSC is now free to explore all options and we believe this is the best option possible.”

In a poll held on the adult industry website ShoveItUpYourHooHa.com, adult industry insiders voted unanimously that five Xs was a much better representative of adult content than a mere three. Four Xs wasn’t enough and six was considered over-the-top by the insiders. “What’s better that Triple-X ? Quintuple-X !” exclaimed webmaster Mike Oxlong. “It might be a longer extension, but in our business, a longer extension is always better.”

Demand Media CEO Rosenblatt’s Real Boat

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 02:11 AM PDT

In recent news TechCrunch reported that TMZ.com had revealed Richard Rosenblatt’s $40 million yacht is named Ad Sense. Well the joke’s on all of you. Arrington got you guys! DNN has learned the actual story straight from the Demand Media CEO’s Facebook page. He doesn’t actually own a yaucht (sic). He only has a small power boat for wakeboarding and it’s not named Ad Sense. It’s named Cyber SqWater. ;)

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Swing For The Fences

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:17 PM PDT

In the annals of baseball terminology, the phrase 'sweet spot' refers to an area on the bat roughly three inches in diameter.

If ball meets bat at that precise location and at the right moment – POW! The result is a perfect transfer of energy: from your legs through your hands, into the bat and then ball.

For ballplayers, the feeling is almost indescribable, like lifting a car without the effort. Feels so smooth and perfect, perhaps defining 'perfection' in the physics of life.

Yet the term and even the analogy suit the domain industry, and business overall, to a tee. A baseball tee, that is.

Domain Sweet Spot Du Jour
For that is what we do. We look for the sweet spot, swinging daily, failing often but occasionally ball and bat meet and the result is awesome to behold.

So what is the current 'sweet spot' in domains?

All signs point to 'brandable generics' as being the current patch where, if timed well, you can hit one out of the park. Porque, you say? A few reasons…

1. Color.com, Action.com, Coyote.com, Whoa.com…
Color.com could not be a better example of a brandable generic – for the potential buying pool is massive, perhaps global, and that is part of the equation. A name like this makes the sweet spot that much bigger. Imagine using a fat kid's bat as opposed to a toothpick.

2. Offers
I wrote and published a piece here on DNN several years ago extolling the virtues of these types of names and the future need for them, while everyone else was falling over themselves to bid on names like ChristianTunics.com and DoubleKnitSweaters.com.

Point is I have always taken my own advice and the result was I was able to purchase some very nice one word brandables in the process.

And now those names have witnessed a dramatic rise in the last 12 months not in quantity but in offer quality. Names that used to get an occasional $500 offer now get the occasional $10,000 offer. Dramatic, no?

From an owner's perspective it is because it signals a tectonic shift in the fundamental perceptions of buyers. In other words, paying large sums for domains is far less an obstacle for end-users than it once was. It is, perhaps, finally, accepted.

3. Inventory
Take a look around and you might find a real dearth of these types of domains on the market. In DM3, Gyrate.com, Pig.com and Evenings.com are the rare ones this time and not the other way around.

Truth is domainers are holding these names for end-user sales whereas in the past they sold them cheap or let them expire in favor of keeping HDsunglasses.com.

Your Sweet Spot
I once hit a baseball so far it went over the street and hit a casual pedestrian walking the sidewalk on the other side – some 400+ feet away.

It felt incredible (not the hitting a pedestrian part), seemingly and totally effortless. The second I hit it, I knew it was long gone.

And that's the key in domaining – find your sweet spot, swing hard and true.

Sure, you will strikeout, probably a lot, but every so once in awhile, you may grab that bat and crush one – knowing full well you hit the sweet spot and hit it good.

For domains, and for the moment, that sweetness might be in brandable generics.

So in this case, maybe, do as I do and set yourself up with a hitter's count.

Then wait for that fat pitch to come floating in and take a big cut, noting you have only 3 inches of wiggle room between a home run and a weak grounder to third.

So you might as well, as they say, swing for the fences.

- M.Fiol is a long-time domainer and runs BoxCar.com and the upcoming DomainMadness.com

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