Major Adult Affiliate Program Closes Down

One of my readers recently sent me information about WEGcash closing down their affiliate program. From what I am told it was one of the more popular adult affiliate programs. I am told that there are many other profitable affiliate companies offering adult services so I think it is a company issue and not an industry wide problem. Here is the letter that was forwarded to me regarding Wegcash:

Today’s communication with our affiliates comes after much deliberation, as well as a heavy heart. After 10 years, and millions of dollars in affiliate payouts, WEGCash has decided that the continuation of the affiliate program is no longer sustainable. Therefore, we will no longer be accepting referrals effective May 21st 2010, at 4PM PST.

The reasons, many of which are obvious to all of us, revolve around the decline in membership revenue. The continued proliferation of free adult videos has spawned a market which does not support an affiliate program. This communication should in no way be interpreted as an industry, political or ethical stance, nor should it be deemed dispiritedness; rather, we choose to look at this as a time to embrace the future.

While our company is closing one door, we are working steadfastly on new opportunities. While we could all engage in the revisionist history of “what ifs,” events leading up to the current free tube models aren’t negotiable; we are better served focusing on the future. We also feel that energy is better served realizing the true successes that our affiliate program brought to us, and to our thousands of wonderful affiliates (without whom we would never have achieved the success we did).

The gravity of this announcement is in no way lost on our company’s staff, from executives and programmers, to its owners. The Wegcash brand was conceived by two passionate and driven entrepreneurs. Throughout the years, its continued prosperity is attributable to the hard working staff members, past and present, who stayed late, came in early, and passionately put their heart and soul into the product. It is also very much attributable to the thousands of affiliates that entrusted our brand with their business.

While today undoubtedly is revealing in terms of the current market, it’s also the lore for the successful future.

Our sincerest thanks to each and every one of you for the past decade of fruition,

WEGCash

I’m Booked for DomainFest 2011 – Are You?

When I spoke yesterday with my contact at Oversee, I told them again how great Domainfest 2010 in LA was. The speakers, networking, hotel and parties were all first class. They told me I would soon be hearing about Domainfest 2011. So one day later the Press Releases comes out and I am extremely excited to see that they are continuing with the great formula that worked last year. I just booked the hotel. You should also book now if you want to stay there as it sold out last year.

Here is the full Press Release:

Press Release:
Largest domain conference sets date for 2011.

Oversee.net’s flagship DOMAINfest Global conference is moving back a week this year to the first week of February. The conference will take place February 1-3, 2011 and will again be held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

Hotel reservations for the event are already available. If it’s anything like last year, the hotel will sell out in a hurry even though the entire hotel is reserved for the event.

Early bird admission is $995 and available through September 30, 2010.

Last year’s event attracted about 650 people including domain investors, service providers, and lawyers. It was highlighted by a night at The Getty and a private charity fundraising party at the Playboy Mansion.

There are two additional DOMAINfest conferences between now and the main event in February. In August there will be a one day “power networking” event in New York City, and the company will hold a European show in Prague this October.

SmartName Shuts Down Smartname Classic- The End of An Era

A week or so before June 1st, I received a call from Namemedia telling me that Smartname Classic, the last system that Ari and I used when we ran Smartname, was being eliminated. I was told that all clients still operating on that system would move to current Smartname system which most of their clients were on anyway.
Over 3 years have come and gone since we sold Smartname. Ari and I have no affiliation with the current company, but seeing that system shut down was a very sad day for me. It brought back memories of what we had built, the friends that we made and how we changed the value of domains. It was great sharing ideas with other domainers on a daily basis. It seems that most parking companies have employees which are not domainers thereby unable to feel the bleeding of revenue in the past few years as we felt it. It’s sort of like me telling my wife, that during labor that I understand what she is going through. No way in hell could that be the case.

Before we started Smartname, there was no such thing as domain parking. When people started to realize how much revenue could be produced from domains, the world caught on that domains were a great investment.

While I still try to speak with many of our old clients and friends, I miss the constant interaction on a daily basis. Who knows, maybe it’s time to come out of retirement.

How I turned a domain making less than a dollar a day into one making 18k per year.

Recently, I took a long look at my domains. I ran various analysis patterns. Some names have dropped in revenue while other names are actually making more money than they did last year at the same time. As i went over the lists, one domain popped out. This domain used to be a constant earner, but had dropped down over the past few months to practically nothing. I decided to investigate. I called the parking company with which I had this name parked. They were at a loss, or more precise, I was at a loss and wanted to know if they can think of any reasons that would help me get this name to perform better. It turned out that the name been banned by the primary PPC. Banning a name can be for a variety of reasons, some of which are just stupid. (FYI – You can appeal a ban and many times the ban will be taken off. This was not done in this situation.) After it was banned, the parking company had put the name on a secondary feed, but the revenue from that feed was terrible for this name. I decided to try a third feed. Guess what? The name is making over $50 per day. That an $18,000 per year improvement.
I suggest when you look at your domain revenue reports, see if there has been a large drop in any one name. If so, make sure it has not been banned from the parking companies primary feed provider. If it has, make sure you try a different feed provider.

Sedo Weekly Sales – Omusic.com sells for $45,000, homeequityloan.net at $38000, Shoes.tv 18000K

Here’s the weekly Sales figures for Sedo. The top sale was Omusic.com at $ 45K. I was not shocked to see the $ 38k for homeequityloan.net. Good key words and .net sales and offers have been up. Shoes.tv is an interesting buy at $ 18k.

The complete list follows:

Domain name Price Currency

.COMs
omusic.com 45000 USD
autocircle.com 25000 USD
mobigo.com 15000 EUR
youcloud.com 11800 USD
aulani.com 10000 USD
ijaw.com 10000 USD
meitian.com 9999 EUR
etools.com 9900 USD
wwdating.com 9888 USD
thehousecafe.com 8600 USD
pariez-plus.com 8500 EUR
pcbooster.com 6385 USD
htj.com 6000 EUR
desertpoker.com 5500 USD
bestellen.com 5260 EUR
e-ways.com 5000 EUR
knowledgeworker.com 5000 USD
carbonindex.com 4900 USD
rentalsinrome.com 4700 EUR
taxrite.com 4500 USD
millwallonline.com 4500 GBP
feima.com 4188 USD
rigor.com 4000 USD
netbettv.com 3750 USD
claddingmaterials.com 3500 USD
baseballgame.com 3500 USD
yjhy.com 3000 EUR
undid.com 3000 USD
motrade.com 3000 EUR
digihome.com 3000 USD
saekaphen.com 3000 USD
sutao.com 2550 USD
pentaxforum.com 2500 USD
cbfront.com 2500 USD
fairtravel.com 2500 EUR
realestateparty.com 2500 EUR
bestweddingspeeches.com 2499 USD
skimode.com 2400 EUR
megatudo.com 2400 USD
destinationrv.com 2250 USD
add-link.com 2245 USD
exxy.com 2220 EUR
360registry.com 2200 USD
enlis.com 2200 USD
zofo.com 2050 USD
jbww.com 2000 USD
txcs.com 2000 EUR
desibel.com 2000 USD
herrenfrisuren.com 2000 USD
dodb.com 2000 USD
ourtutor.com 2000 USD
fgppr.com 2000 USD
wheaty.com 1800 USD
sevenbaby.com 1750 USD
studentcoupons.com 1750 USD
automationblog.com 1600 USD
1ad.com 1551 USD
limousinen.com 1550 EUR
cinemaalademande.com 1550 EUR
bzing.com 1500 USD
medicalpremium.com 1500 USD
snabid.com 1500 EUR
financinghealth.com 1500 USD
0333.com 1500 USD
4443.com 1500 USD
alphabuy.com 1500 USD
pesoideal.com 1350 USD
algaculture.com 1325 USD
whatsnew.com 1325 GBP
cdvd.com 1269 USD
hotel-leipzig.com 1250 EUR
discountautosupply.com 1250 USD
homeflip.com 1250 USD
accurix.com 1250 USD
greetland.com 1200 EUR
taira.com 1200 USD
runwayrack.com 1200 USD
campmanager.com 1200 USD
coquines.com 1150 EUR
gartenarbeit.com 1143 EUR
hormonefree.com 1100 USD
twilightfans.com 1065 USD
y80.com 1050 USD
dsoftware.com 1050 USD
schoolyear.com 1050 USD
usedvan.com 1050 USD
3dpornvideo.com 1000 EUR
phim-film.com 1000 USD
moshigames.com 1000 USD
great-content.com 1000 USD
immigration411.com 1000 USD
kitchencooked.com 1000 USD
sellhousequickly.com 1000 USD
live-longer.com 1000 USD
vijia.com 1000 USD
padsync.com 1000 USD
sachwerte.com 999 EUR
titanads.com 999 USD
rvpartswarehouse.com 995 USD
papiervert.com 950 EUR
tv-search.com 950 EUR
tvcrowd.com 900 USD
moviearena.com 900 USD
chinesecoin.com 900 USD
affiliatemarketingcompanies.com 875 USD
8384.com 850 USD
bigcheer.com 850 USD
q-i.com 802 USD
lacosecha.com 800 EUR
agrotourismus.com 800 EUR
pennyscallan.com 800 USD
cctm.com 800 EUR
leadership-excellence.com 800 EUR
idconfirm.com 800 USD
akagroup.com 800 USD
paardekooper.com 750 USD
farmille.com 750 USD
hottyfinder.com 750 USD
howtowriteabio.com 750 USD
rentmystuff.com 750 USD
familyliesure.com 750 USD
z-l.com 702 USD
freeonlinegames24.com 701 EUR
cocobello.com 700 EUR
adanna.com 700 USD
moviehd.com 700 EUR
bestinsuranceplan.com 700 USD
antiquités.com 700 USD
lawissues.com 700 USD

cc.TLDs
shoes.tv 18000 USD
traiteurs.fr 10000 EUR
onlinecasinos.us 9999 USD
diamondengagementrings.co.uk 9975 GBP
shops.ch 9000 EUR
s.co.za 8500 USD
better.co.uk 7200 GBP
giochiamo.it 6000 EUR
brokers.asia 5000 USD
inoxpa.co.uk 4500 EUR
rakeback.cn 4500 USD
steuern.eu 4325 EUR
roboter.at 4000 EUR
snapstore.nl 4000 EUR
epc.be 3500 EUR
winterbekleidung.de 3300 EUR
gewichtswesten.de 3200 EUR
kartengenerator.de 3000 EUR
gewässerhaftpflicht&gewässerhaftpflichtversicherung.de 2750 EUR
welpenkauf.de 2500 EUR
kidswear.de 2500 EUR
gartenarbeit.de 2500 EUR
malta.ch 2500 EUR
antitranspirant.de 2500 EUR
sottocosto.it 2400 EUR
geschaeftsideen.de 2300 EUR
potters.co.uk 2200 GBP
aktiencharts.eu 2200 EUR
bubbleroom.co.uk 2100 GBP
omnivision.de 2050 EUR
firmenlogos.de 2000 EUR
facedocument.com.ar 2000 USD
sex.st 2000 USD
stellengesuche.tv 2000 EUR
uebernachtung.de 2000 EUR
walter-schuhe.de 2000 EUR
askyourneighbour.co.uk 1950 GBP
fuergamer.de 1800 EUR
tratos.eu 1750 EUR
dm.tv 1750 USD
fussballsocken.de 1600 EUR
mensch-gegen-maschine.de 1500 EUR
edreams.se 1500 EUR
pinnaclesports.de 1500 USD
yacht.sg 1500 EUR
elektrofahrrad.eu 1500 EUR
wireless.eu 1450 EUR
glueckauf-moers.de 1400 EUR
youthhostels.asia 1400 USD
casablanca.tv 1399 USD
itaxi.de 1312 EUR
theknot.co.uk 1300 USD
debuyer.de 1250 EUR
cosmetic.eu 1250 EUR
espressamenteilly.pl 1240 EUR
espressamenteilly.com.pl 1240 EUR
verzekeringvergelijk.nl 1200 EUR
yourid.nl 1175 EUR
archive.tv 1100 USD
werkblad.nl 1051 EUR
sabian.nl 1050 EUR
ouch.co.za 1050 USD
coded.co.uk 1050 GBP
manwithvan.co.uk 1040 GBP
juste.fr 1000 EUR
inkclub.es 1000 EUR
coso.it 1000 EUR
baer.im 1000 USD
snowboard24.de 1000 EUR
cloudservices.de 1000 EUR
intermind.us 1000 USD
doughnuts.eu 1000 GBP
psykoterapi.eu 1000 EUR
duet.me 1000 USD
haushalttipps.de 990 EUR
bargain.tv 950 USD
gafasdesol.com.es 950 EUR
casino.as 950 USD
doorman.us 950 USD
pickupartist.de 950 EUR
rabatto.de 910 EUR
viti.de 885 EUR
bingochat.co.uk 855 GBP
sextoy.eu 850 EUR
tv-apps.de 850 EUR
treppen.tel 800 EUR
toronto.ch 800 EUR
skeip.de 800 EUR
asiatische-lebensmittel.de 800 EUR
cfds.asia 800 USD
yalla.co.uk 800 USD
stilfest.de 770 EUR
metservice.co.uk 759 GBP
jurway.de 750 EUR
beschwerdemanagement.eu 750 EUR
whiteshirts.co.uk 750 GBP
airporttv.de 750 EUR
geschenke-trends.de 750 EUR
golfschweiz.ch 710 EUR
hotelclub.co.in 700 EUR
miet-recht.de 700 EUR

OTHER TLDs
homeequityloan.net 38000 USD
coupons.info 17600 USD
12.net 13500 USD
vinylsiding.net 10000 USD
lte.org 9888 USD
balancetransfercreditcards.org 5750 USD
pflegeversicherung.net 4999 EUR
4×4.net 4500 GBP
wahrsagen.net 3500 EUR
englishgrammar.org 3000 USD
newsletter.info 2800 USD
akiba.net 2400 USD
further.info 2200 EUR
07.org 2000 EUR
frisuren.info 1999 EUR
naturstein.biz 1950 EUR
jackpotparty.net 1850 EUR
highspeedinternetaccess.net 1675 USD
buergerentlastungsgesetz.org 1600 EUR
frozen.info 1500 USD
yeastinfection.info 1500 USD
vibratoren.net 1400 EUR
cheap-insurance.org 1400 USD
brocantes.net 1400 EUR
privatinsolvenz.org 1300 EUR
228.net 1250 USD
managementjobs.net 1200 USD
respublica.org 1200 USD
oyunlar1.net 1111 USD
expenses.net 1105 USD
ulp.org 1100 USD
71.biz 1074 USD
ökostrom.info 1050 EUR
forward-darlehen.net 1000 EUR
unified-communications.org 1000 EUR
banen.org 1000 EUR
motorcycle-parts.net 1000 USD
plattenspieler.net 1000 EUR
phillyrealestate.net 1000 USD
midtown.info 1000 USD
bathroomvanity.org 899 USD
spannbettlaken.net 890 EUR
fad.info 850 EUR
hotelreview.net 800 USD
approval.net 800 USD
salesleads.info 800 USD
tierpension.net 795 EUR
idio.net 755 USD
bettor.org 750 USD
mietwagenpreisvergleich.org 750 EUR
beschwerdemanagement.org 720 EUR
bestonlinecolleges.net 700 USD
cosmeticos.net 700 USD
quartier.info 700 EUR

Namejet Auction Currently at $37,559 for a Misspelling (Sold for $53,022)

For the last few hours the domain name GovermentGrants.com has been in an extended auction at Namejet. I went to watch the season end of Fox’s 24 thinking that the auction would soon close. To my amazement, 2 bidders are locked in a very slow bidding war. It goes to show that an auction between 2 people that both want an item can get caught up and possibly act irrational. Is the misspell worth it? I guess to these 2 bidders it is. BTW, the episode of 24 was much more exciting that this auction.

Btw , I’m going to bed as its almost midnight on the east coast with the high bid at 53,022. I’ll post the final number in the morning, if it ends by then.

Update it sold for $53,022.

Jeff Bennett, President/COO of NameMedia, Leaves Direct Navigation Industry

Jeff Bennett, an icon in the Search, Direct Navigation and Domain Media business, Is leaving NameMedia. He has taken on the role of CEO for Swaptree.com. Jeff is one of the smartest and nicest people that I have been associated with in this business.

Jeff was instrumental in the purchase of SmartName, which Ari and I sold to NameMedia a few years back. Last year, when my son Jeffrey was looking at schools in the Boston area, Jeff Bennett, along with Brian Carr, took time out of their schedule and took us to lunch. They answered questions and told us about their experiences at Bentley and Babson, which helped my son in his college decision process.

Jeff has been a good friend and colleague. I wish him all the best. To read more, go to his blog posting at JeffBennett.com

The Coolest Google Home Page Ever – A Real Pac Man Game

When I was in college, one of the first mass marketed computer games was invented. That game was Pac Man. I spent hours and many quarters playing that game in the student union. Today, Pac Man turns 30. How do I know. Well, when I went to Google’s home page and noticed the image of Google was inside the image of a pac man game. Google changes their home page image for many events. What makes this page different, is that the PacMan on google’s homepage actually works. I’m happy that these images only stay on Google’s homepage for one day. I know what i will being doing for the next few hours. At least I won’t be spending any Quarters.

Sell For Your Price Not Theirs

Many domainers receive offers on a daily basis. Some offers are e-mailed, some by phone. Most offers are from individuals asking to purchase at an amount far below current market value. Since domains have value but there is no true liquid market, for many domainers this may be the first time you received an offer on a domain. What do you do?. First, you look at the domain and analyze it. You look at comps for similar names, what is currently earning, and the potential for what it could earn.

Before you answer the offer, you should try to find out all the information that you can on the prospective buyer. First, go to Google and put the e-mail address of the prospective buyer into the search engine and see what comes up. Next, go to linkedin and see if you can find a match if the person is giving their full name. If you can not find anything, ask the buyer further information on him and his company. Many times you will receive the information you request, while other times they will try to protect their identity.

If you feel they made a fair offer, there is no harm in accepting it. If the offer is well below what you feel the domain is worth, you can contact the party and let them know that or just ignore the offer. Most times, an offer is just an initial offer, and the other party will be willing to negotiate. Don’t be surprised if the buyer comes back multiple times increasing his offer each time. I have seen offers that started off in the low thousands end up becoming a six-figure offer. Remember, sell for your price not theirs.

DomainFest Ft Laud EXTENDED auction ends in 45 minutes

Just received his reminder. currently only 3 names have bids meeting reserves. They are VHS.com, relationship.net and dedicated.net..
You should take a look for yourself.

Reminder: DomainFest Ft Laud EXTENED auction ends in 45 minutes

Extended Auction: May 13 – May 20, Thursday 3:15pm Eastern Time / 12:15 pm Pacific Time

Many Category Killer and other great domain names have been submitted, and we selected the best names and reserves.

Many of these domains can help you-
-Launch a new brand or enhance an existing brand
-Increase your search engine rankings
-Run more effective PPC ad campaigns
-Drive traffic to your site

Click below for the entire Auction Catalog:

Join now >> https://www.snapnames.com/store/extended.action?ig=545#store;storeName=extended

Below is a list of just some of the quality domains that are up for grabs:

$1MM – $5MM
Jeans.com
Relationship.com
Safety.com
Wifi.com

$750,001 – $1MM
Code.com

$500,001 – $750,000
HardDrives.com
Karate.com

$250,001 – $500,000
Hobbies.com
Hologram.com
SingleWomen.com

$100,001 – $250,000
Detox.com
SecondMortgage.com
SpywareBlockers.com
Mediation.com
WebcamRoulette.com
NewlyWeds.com

$50,001 – $100,000
Troops.com
3DTVs.com
Counselors.com

$25,001 – $50,000
SecondLanguage.com
Consoles.com

$10,001 – $25,000
BrassBeds.com
ToasterOvens.com
WeedKiller.com
FreshFood.com
Kidnap.com
PhysicianService.com
VisitMonteCarlo.com

$5,001 – $10,000
ElectricRazors.com
Bylaws.com

$2501 – $5000
CarSecurity.com
ArtAppraisal.com

Please let me know if you are planning to bid, have any questions, or if I can further assist.

Regards,
John Mauriello
jmauriello@moniker.com
954-861-3536
800-688-6311 Ext. 3536
FAX: 954-969-9155
ICQ: 341620056 AIM: monikermaurie
MSN: jmauriello@gmail.com