Christian Nielsen's Blog

1,000 Domains

2008-05-03T11:09:00.002-05:00

The title of this blog post cracks me up. Why? Well, for one thing it seems crazy that I now own about 1,000 domain names. The jump from 800 to 1,000 was really quick, which is kinda scary. The other thing is that it reminds me of the movie, "200 Motels". On some level I feel there is a connection, but I'm not sure I can explain it.

When you have a lot of anything there are things that you discover that you couldn't have easily known about. Take cats for example. You get a cat. You decide that cats are a good thing to have, so you get a second cat to keep the first one company while you are at work. The next thing you know, the cats have not just been sleeping all day, but playing little games with your rare insect collection including that rare $4,000 butterfly that your uncle sent from South America. First it was shredded, then half eaten. That would be bad enough, but then the eaten part was returned, in different parts of the house, along with soggy kitty kibble.

But I digress, since what I wanted to share is that unless you read the owner's manual for your cat(s) you will soon find your feline investment will yield unexpected returns. Yes, more cats. If one of your cats has 6 kittens (a conservative number) you now have a nice 300% return on your initial domestic feline investment. In business, this would be a great thing, much like buying a domain name for $5 and selling it for $20. But there are hidden costs and risks with the cat model. The newest additions to your payroll (cat food / cat litter) become hyper mobile once they get their little eyes open. They climb furniture and even window curtains. Ignore them and they climb your legs, shredding skin on their ascent. You'll find yourself wearing long underwear year round for protection from the needle-like claws. Most of your belongings that are not metal or glass begin to depreciate quickly. Then the gang needs things like cat toys, drugs (catnip), and yearly exams and shots. Think you can cut back on some things? You'll realize the folly of that thought the first morning you wake up and see 8 pairs of eyes staring at you from different locations around your bedroom. The silent message is an unmistakable threat.

As you can see, if you are not prepared for your undertaking, it can quickly turn into something less desirable than you first expected.

So too with domain names.

The first couple of hundred are easy. You start with specific domains in mind for your business or a project. Then you buy some domains for some sites that you think would be cool or that may be valuable when the rest of the world catches on to something you think will be big. Or you find some domains on sale. You aren't sure about all of them, but heck, they have 6 months of registration left on them and you can just let them drop when renewal time comes around, if you can't sell them before then. Then you have some extra money so you buy a few more. .cn domains and .in domains are cheap, so despite them being the black sheep (ie. anything that is not .com) of the domaining industry, you put some money into them. Then you buy some domains that are hyphen-infested because you know that while you may not be able to sell them, they will do ok while parked. Then the .info sale comes along and before you know it, you have a portfolio larger than many famous domainers. Sure, they have single domains that make more in one day of parking than your entire portfolio makes all year, but you still have more than them.

So you are cruising along with your great collection of domains and then you realize you have not sold any, you have not optimized your parking pages, and most of your domains aren't earning anything. Yet a year has passed and that cute little $0.99 has now grown up and needs an annual $7.99 rabies shot. In fact, 122 of them need it during the next 30 days. You think, "Oh, I guess I should sell some...", but it's going to take time you don't have, so you just renew them. Then you get a C & D for 6 of your domains that you JUST renewed. 2 of the 6 are ok, kind of infringing, but the other four wouldn't be a problem if the trademarked keywords were removed. But you don't want to fight it, so you just give in and turn them all over to the TM holder...

So when you come this far and understand more about the cost of ownership for domains, you would think just about anyone would realize what's going on and stop what is obviously not healthy behavior, right? Well, then how would you deal with the situation of having reached 1,000 domains and then you just happen upon a deal where you can buy an additional 750 domains for the unreal (but verified) price of $100, AND they have 250+ days of registration left!??! You'd be tempted, right? Well of course you would be. The question is would you be willing to overlook the fact that they are all .cn domains? I mean after all, my initials are CN...!

(hris

Special Introductory Domain Pricing

2008-04-03T17:54:00.000-05:00

I just registered about 100 new domains last month to be "parked". I think the slowing economy may slow the domain registration and renewal rates to some extent, but those of us that are making money from parking domains or developing domain names into web sites, we will continue to purchase more.

But if those that control prices would lower the cost for the first year of domain registration, it could really spike the sales of new domains.

For those parking domains, the initial cost is a significant factor. If I invest $70 and get ten domains, I am operating at a loss until I start to earn from those domains. That could start in a few weeks or several months. Those domains need to earn $7 within 12 months for me to break even, which may or may not happen.

But if I can spend $70 and register 35 domains, my overhead is less and I will have more domains to work with and that will lower my risk per domain that I won't be able to cover my costs during the year. Then in 12 months I can decide if I should renew the domain for the full price of $7, sell it, or just drop it.

If domain prices were low the first year, it would give the industry a huge shot in the arm, in my opinion. At the end of 12 months most parked domains or built-out sites are going to be working to some extent and the full renewal fee will not be a consideration. The industry should seriously consider making this a policy for ALL Top Level Domains since the experiment with the .info TLD has shown that it is an effective promotional method. Many of the domains we just both last month were .in ($4) and .cn ($3) because of this very fact. I feel that programs like this would also help dislodge .com as the TLD "king" as users become more aware and used to other TLDs and ccTLDs.

And for those that think any TLD that is not a .com is trash, all I can say that may be true for you, but my top parked domain for last month was a .in domain that was hand-registered new.

(hris

Don't be a complainer, learn about things like how to get a back order domain, which domain name registrars are good, who is Frank Schilling, where can you find deleted domains, and what is a domain name auction? Hang out at Namepros.com and you can learn all this and more.

SCAM: Attention Nielsen, Chris: This is your Website Copyright Registration Notice

2008-03-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

-----Original Message-----
From: US Copyright Registry [mailto:support@uscopyrightregistry.com]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 10:22 AM
Subject: Attention Nielsen, Chris: This is your Website Copyright Registration Notice

US Copyright Registry
244 Fifth Ave, Suite #2279 New York, NY 10001-7604 www.USCopyrightRegistry.com support@USCopyrightRegistry.com Toll Free: 1-800-634-5760
WEBSITE COPYRIGHT LICENSING NOTICE
ATT: Nielsen, Chris ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT Address: 7141 Oak Pointe Curve Bloomington 55438 www.MINNEAPOLIS-WATCHDOG.COM	Notice Tracking Number: CR493121
Please be advised that the above noted website has not been protected and is now available for copyright registration
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW
TITLE 92, Sec. 107 to 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: Rights of attribution and integrity: the author shall have the right to claim authorship of that work, and prevent the use of his or her name as the author of any work which he or she did not create. Be advised: Protecting a website is the responsibility of the owner of the website and must be registered through the United States Patent and Trademark office to legally prevent others from infringing on the owners rights and copying a website. It is the responsibility of the website owner to complete registration to protect their intellectual property and bring suit in federal court for infringement and obtain statutory damages up to $150,000. Domain name and trademark registration does not register your website for copyright registration and it is the responsibility of the website owner to register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to complete registration Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the website owners registered copyright as provided by sections 106 through 122 who infringes on the copyright registration may sued in federal court for infringement and obtain injunctions on such terms as it may be reasonable to prevent or restrain infringement. In the event of infringement, the infringer is liable for: The website owners actual damages and any additional profits of the infringer, as provided by subsection (b); or statutory damages, as provided by subsection (c). (b) Actual Damages And Profits. ? The website owner of copyright is entitled to recover the actual damages suffered by him or her as a result of the infringement, and any profits of the infringer that are attributable to the infringement and are not taken into account in computing the actual damages. In establishing the infringer's profits, the website owner of copyright is required to present proof only of the infringer's gross revenue , and the infringer is required to prove his or her deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to factors other than the copyrighted work. � Statutory Damages. ? Except oas provided by clause, the website owner of the copyright may elect, at any time before final judgement is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to any one work, for which any one infringer is liable individually. registration by a third party, the UDRP may be applied under the following conditions. You are required to advise the US Copyright Registry of your intent to license this website if registration is administered through the UCR as this is your final notice. Note: you may disregard this notice. If you disregard this notice or fail to reply: UCR and the United States Patent and Trademark office will NOT be liable for infringement of your website, interruption of business activity or business losses.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY If you fail to reply to this notice this website will NOT be registered through UCR to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You must advise us of your intent to secure your website in order for registration to be completed through UCR.
Call 1-800-634-5760 Notice Tracking Number: 494121 The information in this letter contains confidential and/or legally privileged information from the notification processing department of the UCR. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. Email support@USCopyrightRegistry.com if you do not want to receive further updates from UCR. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents for this letter is strictly prohibited.

Phone Calling Card Rates Under 1 Cent Per Minute!

2008-03-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

New International Phone Cards are cheap and reliable. We've been using 3 different phone cards from Big-Zoo.us for about 3 years now. The service and features have be great and I never think about how much it's costing me to call a client or a tech support line. On hold for 15 minutes? Well that's still annoying, but at least I don't have to pay $5-$10 anymore. My calling rates for domestic US calls are about 3 cents a minute I think, and they have cards now that are as low as 1 cent a minute. Often if you put $20 or more in a card you get a discount so your cost is even lower. http://www.big-zoo.us/

We just started using the Champion phone card because it includes a free 800-Number that I can use for my business. Non-US companies can get one of these cards, program it to call their office, and just like that they have a Toll Free Number in the US to give their customers. Calling rates vary by country, but most are very low compared to other services. Don't let the way they display prices fool you. When you see a cost of 0.90 �/min, it looks like 90 cents, but it's real .9 cent, or less than one cent per minute. Yeah, that's cheap!

You don't have a cell phone or mobile phone, but you want one. Well now's the time because they are cheaper and better than ever. Check out http://www.cellphones-resource.info/ and find a great deal.

I can't believe that email has to suck so bad because of spam! Why can't something be done to keep spammers out and still have email be useful and easy to use? Controlled Access Email thinks they may have the answer...!

Domainers are controlling more and more domain names everyday. Is there anything that can be done and are we running out of domain names? Do we need something better than what ICANN offers today?

Liberty Names: The Freedom To Pay More

2008-03-03T18:31:00.000-06:00

Never Pay More Than $10 A Year For Domain Registration!

I just got another letter from Liberty Names and I felt like I needed to post a message about them in case people are checking them out and want to know why they should NOT return the letter and go with them. There are two reasons:

1) They send you what LOOKS LIKE an invoice and if you don't read it carefully, you could think it's just a domain registration renewal notice. After all at the top right of the letter it says in large letters: "Domain Name Expiration Notice".

To their credit, they do say that this is a TRANSFER that you would be doing, but they also say things that are confusing and not clear or the entire story. In short, while not outright lies, they are not the full truth either. Rather than sending a nice sales letter with information about their company and why you should transfer to them, they choose to mislead and create fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

2) The fee for renewal/transfers is $29, they they offer NOTHING in my opinion to justify this outrageous fee. When I first registered a domain many years ago, I did have to pay Network Solutions $35 a year. Then I discovered DirectNIC.com and only had to pay $15 a year for the same services. For the past 3 years I have only been paying between $7 and $10 a year and if you are paying more than that you are being ripped-off, or have a special kind of domain that is more expensive. Their fee is at least THREE TIMES AS EXPENSIVE AS MOST OTHER REGISTRARS.

Liberty Names of America Inc. or Lnoa Inc.
1623 Military Rd PMB663
Niagara Falls, NY 14304
www.libertynamesofamerica.com
www.lnoa.com

Park! Why?

2008-02-08T16:24:00.000-06:00

I was just granted a free trial account at WhyPark.com for one domain. There has been some discussion on Namepros.com about this service that you pay about $100 dollars for and that allows you to set up as many as 100 domains. As an alternative to domain parking there system allows you to enter in some information including some ad network code like AdSense, and quickly set up something like a web site that pulls in articles that are on the topics for keywords that you choose.

For my test, I selected the domain http://www.music-download-universe.com that has been parked for several months and earned perhaps a dollar. I choose this domain name because it does get a lot of traffic, so I won't have to wait, but also because it gets few clicks and those clicks pay very little.

The setup is about the same as a parking page where they provide you with options to customize your parking pages. Unlike parking, there did not seem to be any defaults, so if you have a lot of domains you are going to be spending time getting each domain name set up. The good news is that each site should not take you long one you get started. They include a tool to help you find keyword for you domain and it looks like the data may be coming from WordTracker, but I could not tell. The search terms have numbers so you can see what it popular. I added "free music downloads" and a few other related phrases.

Then there are two areas where you can enter in your ad network code. I added normal AdSense at first and then after thinking about it I pulled that out and replaced it with the AdSense for referrals. This works much the same, but I think there are more interesting ads and many of them can pay you a LOT more than normal AdSense. I picked some categories for music/entertainment and consumer electronics.

I may experiment with this and see just what I can get away with in the manner of creative coding such as links and iframes... Since you just pay for the service once, I don't think WP will care unless you create sites that look trashy or broken, or cause problems for their servers.

You can choose a number of domain templates and customize one as well. You can also add new pages. I will see how the basic setup goes and then consider doing more work on my site. You will find they sites look much like what we are used to from Made For AdSense (MFA) sites, so adding a contact, about, and other pages could "round out" the site so it really looks like a site. One of my suggestions will be to WP that they offer pre-configured pages like an about and contact page for users to make this easier. I would like to create one page of content for an about page and then have that as a default that I can edit on a site by site basis.

Winding up for now, there was on feature that was something I just suggested on the forums the other day. When domainers buy and sell domains, there doesn't seem to be any way to easily transfer the domain within a parking service. You must contact support and have them verify you are now the owner of the domain and then you can set it up under your account. It would be a big plus to be able to transfer the domain parking page set up to the new owner so they can easily maintain the current earnings. WhyPark has this option now for site owners. Yes, you do have to open an account with WhyPark, but at least you don't have to re-create all the settings and start from scratch. I would like to see WP charge the new domain owner $1 for the transfer of the domain name to their account. That way they would not be forced to pay the full fee for something they may not really want, but there would be some incentive for them to leave the domain with WP which may not provide much income, does provide continued advertising for their system.

Animated Product Catalog Makes Products Come Alive

2008-01-23T14:44:00.000-06:00

HEMA has a product catalog that you should take a look at and wait while it loads up.

http://producten.hema.nl/

They should have international versions...

Pay Per Play: The 5-Second Infestation

2007-12-31T14:36:00.000-06:00

Pay Per Play, Pay-Per-Play, PayPerPlay, and PPP. However you spell it, advertisers and users will lose.

I just started hearing about a new form of advertising, Pay Per Play Ads. There's currently a big push to get Pay Per Play deployed and I was interested because unlike most advertising, site owners will get paid every time a page is viewed and a 5 second audio Pay Per Play ad is played, or seems to be played.

http://www.sellingppp.com/samples.html

But after hearing some samples, I see Pay Per Play as a bad implementation of a good idea. Recorded ads are good, but having them play automatically is bad.

I listen to music constantly while I am working on the computer, and that is about 10-16 hours a day on average. On many days I would never hear ANY of these ads, since I listen to the radio or a CD and must flip a switch on my stereo to hear any computer sound. When I do have my computer sound on, it's mostly because I am listening to Techno music, and when the ads play they are very hard to hear and understand over that hard-thumping beat I enjoy. And I would hate to be listening to more normal music, a Podcast, or classical music and have these Pay Per Play ads intrude upon my enjoyment. What's funny is one of the sites promoting these audio ads say these are "non-intrusive". Maybe to the eye, but not the ear!

So that is two problems for advertisers, users with no sound on or sound that drowns out their Pay Per Play ads. Advertisers should also worry about "page-view fraud", where pages are requested by automated scripts and no one ever sees them or hears the ads. Yes, a web page file request would not play an ad, but it would be easy enough to request the Flash media file and that would make it seem like the ad was played.

I would not be posting about this dumb Pay Per Play idea, but the promoters are looking for site owners to run the ads, and since it's "impression-based revenue", which means you could have any kind of traffic to your site and earn from it, the incentive will be high for webmasters to add it to their sites. Man if you search for "Pay Per Play" in Google you will see a flood of paid ads for the service, but all that I looked at all seem to be copies of the same affiliate site...!

http://www.sellingppp.com/
http://voice2page.com/info/gaa.html

So check it out and see what you think. I think this idea is headed right for the trash for any self-respecting webmaster that does not want to annoy their visitors, but I fear it will not die completely once it takes root. Contact me if you want to know a simple method to block Pay Per Play Ads on most Windows computers...!

(hris

Jim Wilson Ministries Comment SPAM

2007-12-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

I just deleted this spam comment from a really old post in my blog. Normally I don't do anything more than delete them, but after looking at the spammer's site, I think they should get a little more attention. It seems like a scam site to me, and that's just my personal opinion. I could be wrong, but it seems to be just another cheap web marketing junk site with a Christian spin. My advice: Don't just trust someone because the use the words "Ministries", "Faith", and "God" on their site.

Comments:

Jim said...: Jim Wilson Ministries announces the expansion of their marketing and advertising services to passport to wealth members. www.jim wilson ministries.com; December 13, 2007 3:29:00 PM CST
: I tried to see their contact information and all I got was an email address. Check their background if you are interested in them, but I would avoid them. Anyone that has to use spam to promote what they are doing is pretty pathetic...

WIPO Whip

2007-12-07T09:35:00.001-06:00

Domain Name Dispute Cases and Domain Harassment

I was just contacted by someone that as had not one, but two domain name complaints filed against them, and for the same domain by the same company. Each time this happened, the domainer was charged a $29 fee by Godaddy and his domain name was locked for an extended period of time. While this fee is reported to be mentioned in their Godaddy TOS, I had never heard of it or of anyone being charged it. Being charged twice for the same thing seems excessive and harassment.

What is to stop a company from filing complaint after complaint and using Godaddy to put the pressure on the domain holder? I do not know yet what the domain name is or the company that is filing the complaint, but too often companies either do not know or do not care what the rules are and cause problems for domain holders without contacting them first to see if something can be worked out.

Most domain name owners are not evil and not wealthy. They are just trying to make a buck from registering a domain name and either parking it, developing it, or holding it as an investment and if someone has a real problem with a domain they own they should be willing to talk about it. Just calling in the lawyers and filing complaints only serves to stir up anger and unite the domain industry against the companies.

There are cases where a company has to be tough and protect itself, but I think they will find more advantages in getting to know the person behind the source of their concern or they may discover that it's not just one domainer but an entire industry.

Check out what some of the current disputes are about. Domainers mostly know already, but it will be interesting to note the type of domain names that are attracting complaints.
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/cases/2007/d1600-1799.html

(hris

GreatMax International Holdings Ltd

2007-11-20T13:15:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to post with the name of the fictitious company, GreatMax International Holdings Ltd., used in the trademark domain registration scam in the title, so it would be easy for people to find it. Previous posts here explain what's going on.

Chinese Domain and Trademark Scam

2007-11-20T12:04:00.000-06:00

No, I do not understand.

You have already TOLD us the company name was "GreatMax International Holdings Ltd" and now you are saying you cannot tell us the name? You should not have said anything to start with! If GreatMax is a real company, is not their information public? If so, why can't you tell us how we can contact them?

If you will not provide the information that I asked for about the GreatMax company, I will have to assume you are a fraud and just looking for us to register domains and services that we do not need. And we WILL be informing the Chinese government via our contacts in Beijing if this is the case and other authorities as well.

Please let me know today of your decision in this matter.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony.Ji [mailto:Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn]
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 11:24 PM
Subject: Nielsentech Trademark Scam

Dear Chris,

I'm sorry. As a registrar in China, we must keep commercial secrets for applicants(including applicant name, email, telephone, business activity), for example, you register these domain names through our body, we will not let the third party know your documents. I believed you are not willing to let the third party see. Hope you can understand.

I can help them to solve the problem with every effort (they will have some questions). let us keep in touch.

Your Sincere,

Tony

http://www.travelinasia.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5753

Keywords: China Net Technology Limited, netinchina.org.cn, GreatMax, through our body, trademark scam, domain registration scam, chinese scam

FW: Nielsentech Trademark Scam

2007-11-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

Hi Tony,

Thanks for sending the form. I will get it back to you as soon as our legal department and our domain registration expert have gone over it.

I didn't see the contact information for GreatMax yet. Can you please send it right away? Our legal department is having trouble finding information on them. Our people in Beijing have a meeting with the Minister of Information tomorrow so we expect to find some things out then. They may be contacting you since I am sure they will have some questions. Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Thank you,

Chris Nielsen

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony.Ji [mailto:Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn]
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 8:06 PM
Subject: Nielsentech Trademark Scam

Dear Chris,

I will keep in touch with you all the time,we will always help you deal with Nielsentech Trademark Scam, attachment is application form include official price, please check it. please give me a confirmation when you received. please fill in and send back to me by mail or fax ASAP(our fax:+852-3059 3089), for the application form which will be necessary put in file, let us keep in touch.

Best regards,

Tony Ji

NO:20071120031006

Domain name & Internet brand keyword
Application Form

Domain name	nielsentech.info nielsentech.cn nielsentech.com.cn nielsentech.net.cn nielsentech.org.cn nielsentech.tw nielsentech.com.tw nielsentech.hk nielsentech.com.hk
Registration time	?5years ?10years ?20years ?30years
Internet brand keyword	Nielsentech
Registration time	?5years ?10years ?20years ?30years
Point to website (URL)	Http://
Reason for Application	Promote company brand ? Protect company brand ?

Information of Company

Leader of the Company
Name of the Company
Address of the Company
Post Code

The Administrator of Domain Name

Name
Name of the Company
Country
Province
City
Address
Telephone		Email address
Mobile Phone		Fax

?Procedure for application:

1. Our company introduce the preferential principle: company who apply first can get it firstly.

2. Fill in this form, seal and sign, then faxing or email to us.

3. The Domain name and Internet brand keyword will be protected by the law around the world after finishing the registration.

?Single registration fee:

.INFO 28 USD/Per Year/Per Name

.CN 28 USD/Per Year/Per Name

.HK/.TW 84 USD/Per Year/Per Name

Internet brand keyword 174 USD/Per Year/Per Name

Principal Signature:

Date:

China Net Technology Limited

Registration Dept:Tony Ji

Tel:+852-3059-3057
Fax:+852-3059-3089

Website: http://www.netinchina.org.cn
Email: Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn

RE: Nielsentech Trademark Scam

2007-11-19T09:52:00.001-06:00

Dear Tony,

Yes, we were thinking the same thing about GreatMax. Please forward me the contact information for them. I would like our legal department to see what they can do about this. They tell me that GreatMax has been causing problems for us in other countries like Europe and South America. We need to stop them now.

Can you send the application form and any information about costs and method of payments?

We need to take care of this right away before it's too late. Our domain names and trademarks are serious things that we cannot have someone commit fraud or scams about them. ANYONE we find trying to scam or rip us off will be very, very sorry they ever tried it. We happen to have a company team in Beijing right now and I will be in touch with them to discuss this problem with our contacts at the Chinese government. Someone will pay for this outrage!

Again, I have to thank you and your company for being so honest and bringing this to our attention. I look forward to working with you firm for as long as you are in business, and may that be longer that the lifespan of the Minnesota Mayfly!

Thank you,

Chris Nielsen

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony.Ji [mailto:Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn]
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 12:29 AM
To: webmaster@nielsentech.com
Subject: Nielsentech Trademark Scam

Dear ,

According to our investigation,GreatMax company is a Hong Kong company.If you have no relationship with them.According to our working experience,there are 2 possibilities:

1. GreatMax company is a domain name investment company,they wat to register these names before you and sell back to you to gain profits.

2. It may be a commercial method,GreatMax company is consigned by your competitor to register,make your clients confused.

In addition, as a registrar in China, we must keep commercial secrets for applicants(including applicant name, email, telephone,business activity), for example, if you register these domain names through our body, we will not let the third party know your documents. Hope you can understand.

We knew you have registered the domain name"nielsentech.com"and own the intellectual property,this is why we informed you.But you must know the domain name takes open registration,this is international domain name registration principle.So GreatMax company has right to register it.As a domain name registrar,we have no right to dispute their application.So required by China government to inform your company to protect your interest.As the owner of "nielsentech.com",you will get the priority to register these domain names and keywords.

If you think their registration will confuse your clients and harm your profits,we can send an application form to you and help you register these within dispute period.This is the only way to prevent domain name grab.If you don't think their application will affect your company,you can give up.We will finish their registration.Hope get your decision ASAP,so that we can handle the next step.

Best regards,

Tony Ji

Nielsentech Trademark Scam

2007-11-19T00:06:00.000-06:00

Dear Tony,

Thank you very much for your message and making me aware of this situation.

Can you provide some more information about this company that is trying to steal our Trademark?

Do you have suggestions as to what we should do about this? How can we protect ourselves?

Thank you,
Chris Nielsen, SEO
Nielsen Technical Services
7141 Oak Pointe Curve
Minneapolis, MN 55438 USA
"Be What They're Searching For!"
_______________________________________________

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 11:29 PM
To: webmaster@nielsentech.com
Subject: Nielsentech.com Contact Form

Here is the information submitted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 11:28 pm

------------------------
fname: Tony

lname: Ji

address: 3A, Units 20/F, Far East Consortium Bldg., 121 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong

city: Hong Kong

state: China

zip: 852

email: Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn

phone: +852-3059 3057

comments: Dear CEO,

We are the domain name registration organization in China, which mainly deal with international company's in china. We have something important need to confirm with your company.
On the Nov.18, 2007, we received an application formally. One company named "GreatMax International Holdings Ltd" wanted to register following Domain names:
nielsentech.info
nielsentech.cn
nielsentech.com.cn
nielsentech.net.cn
nielsentech.org.cn
nielsentech.tw
nielsentech.com.tw
nielsentech.hk
nielsentech.com.hk
Internet brand keyword:
Nielsentech
through our body.

After our initial examination, we found that the keywords and domain names applied for registration are asa same s your company's name and trademark. These days we are dealing with it. If you do not know this company, we doubt that they have other aims to buy these domain names. Now we have not finished the registration of GreatMax company yet, in order to deal with this issue better, Please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.

Best Regards,
Tony Ji

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

China Net Technology Limited
Tel:+852-3059 3057
Fax:+852-3059 3089
Email: Tony.Ji@netinchina.org.cn
Web: http://www,netinchina.org.cn

------------------------

Inside AdSense: Introducing video units

2007-10-11T21:46:00.000-05:00

Inside AdSense: Introducing video units

I just created my first video Adsense unit and put it on my directory at BeeZaagar.com. I'm pretty excited about this new offering, because it seems I will be able to add topical video content to my sites. But right now there are a few problems:

1) The smallest format is about 400 pixels wide and high. On Bee Zaagar I changed the layout of the site so I could put the video on the top of the page. I didn't want to push it to the bottom and the template would make it difficult to easily add it in the middle somewhere. Since 400 wide is about 50% of the page, I added the largest Adsense block on the right, and then moved some of the parts of the page above that. I like the way it looks for now, but it does hide the directory listings and you have to scroll down to see them.

What I HOPE they provide is some smaller formats that can expand, like a 768 leaderboard that can drop down and open up to play videos, or small ad-sized units that will either expand or open a window for the player.

2) While I was able to enter in some keywords for the site, like "bees", and there are a number of videos on that topic, it seems like the actual amount of video content is limited right now. The ads that are showing are targeted, but the videos are stupid. If I get kids they may not mind...

Local.com Charges $749 a year for "Local Verified" Listings

2007-10-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

Local.com Charges $749 a year for "Local Verified" Listings

I finally got around to submitting a listing at Local.com last month. I didn't think much about it until I got an email today offering me a great deal on their "Local Verified" program. They say the "'Local Verified' program will promote your business in Hennepin (pop 1,116,200.) County at the top of the 'natural search'."

I consider this unethical.

There is a faint indication that they listings are paid, but as an Internet consultant I missed it at first, so I'm sure that most users will as well.

I don't know. Maybe I want to not like them because of their excessive $749 a year fee and their slick sales pitch that says how great a deal and how effective it is, without any FACTS to back it up? Small business owners are going to shell out this money and may or may not see much of a return.

To me, the greed is shocking. They must already be making really good money from all the paid listings, yet they also feel they have to charge a lot of money for their "verified" "organic" listings as well. I would not mind so much since they can charge whatever they want, but I found the user experience poor to annoying.

Heck, I'm looking at the page now, and the top one third of the screen is white space. Then below that all I see are paid ads, and not even the verified listings they are offering. Of course they have no incentive to put the flat rate ads on top, so the PPC listings are first. When I scroll down, here is what I see and the order what I see them:

-The white space (I checked in Firefox and IE and it's there in both browsers... why? To bury unpaid listings?)

-The Local.com logo and search box

-3 "SPONSOR LINKS with blue background - PPC ads

-A row of 3 "Featured Sponsors" - PPC ads

Then we get to the real search results, right? Wrong!!!

-Another "SPONSOR LINKS" that has box around it and is labeled, but very faintly. - PPC ads

-"Local Verified" listings which are just more sponsor advertising listings where they make sure of something. Perhaps "payment verified"? These stand out with Orange listing titles and have phone, address, and description. Very nice. - Flat rate ads

-Then I see 3 more "SPONSOR LINKS" that has box around it and is labeled, but very faintly. - PPC ads

And now I see the "organic" listings, and I am 50% of the way through the entire page. These listings also have phone, address. and description.

I also had a number of problems with the search function. I was searching for "seo" and at some point the system modified my search to be "se" which started giving me all kinds of crap results. True it did this because it could not find any listings for "seo" but did for "se", but then it went ahead and started using that without my confirmation that it was what I wanted.

Another problem that I have with these "Verified Payment" listings is that they allow you to expand out of you "local" area (city or zip code) to cover the entire county. Nice huh? Yeah, for the advertiser, but for the user, well here's an example:

I did a search for "internet" in zip code 55438 with a one-mile radius looking for my company. The "Verified" listing that came up was located in Ostego, MN in zip code 55301. Unlike the organic listings, there is no milage listed to this company, and I don't even know where that city is. Ok, from their site I can see they are in Albertville. But they ain't what I would call "local"!!!

Expensive and not very user or business friendly, from my perspective. Note to Local.com: If I am going to pay you $750 per year for listings, I don't need them confused with organic listings, but I do need them to be on TOP of the paid search results listings.

But with partnerships with Yahoo and Google, they are moving a lot of traffic back and forth and all are making a lot of money I'm sure. They just won't be making much from me, since I won't advertise there and I won't use the site and click on any ads.

(hris

Barstool Racing and Search Engine Races

2007-09-13T10:53:00.001-05:00

Barstool Racing, Bar Stool Racing, Bar Stool Races, and Search Engine Races

I admit that I had not heard of barstool racing before hearing a commercial on the radio for Ask.com. In the commercial, the woman speaking is in customer support and talks about how popular Ask is getting and that she is getting more emails. Then she reads one and her voice changes to that of a young man. Yeah, somewhat surreal.

Anyway, his letter is to say how awesome Ask is, because he told his friend about something called "barstool racing" and his friend bet that it didn't exist. When his friend did a search on "his" search engine, all he found was some links. When the young man searched in Ask, he found listings, photos, blogs, and other things.

In my search for "barstool racing" in MSN. Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, Ask.com, Hotbot, Excite, Alltheweb, and SplatSearch.com, only SplatSearch failed to list www.barstoolracing.net is the first listing. Even SplatSearch had two listings for the search.

So does Ask really think their results are all that much better? After sucking for so many years and killing off the popular butler (The butler always did it for me...!), they suddenly seem to want our attention, but having a quality search product is not enough. No we have to endure misleading commercials like this one, garish and annoying ones like "Chicks with swords", and I think there was some other that I have successfully blocked from memory.

Ask may be succeeding, I don't know. All I can tell you is that I find their marketing either insulting or repulsive. They don't seem to realize that doing some more realistic and practical marketing would go much farther than what they are doing now. Getting people to try or switch search engines is easy, the hard thing would be getting them to stay. But if they have good results then that would not be that hard.

By the way, when are search engines going to start rotating their results? You and I both know that the same site as the top listing across all search engines is bogus. I'm sure that even for barstool racing there are several very good results that would deserve a turn in the top position, but for some reason, there is only room for one at the top. Until this changes, they will not best serve the needs of searchers or site owners, and will not help reduce the fight by everyone to be at the "top".

(hris

Web Site Owners and Bloggers Paid To Make More Money

2007-09-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

Web Site Owners and Bloggers Paid To Make More Money

09/05/2007 - (NTSWIRE) Minneapolis - New Publishers and Webmasters that join Auction Ads and start earning money with the Ebay affiliate program will find they are $25 richer just for joining. Auction Ads today announced that all new publishers would be paid a signup bonus of $25. Since the payout threshold is $50, this means a publisher would only have to earn $25 before being able to receive their first check.

The registration process is easy and adding the AuctionAds code to your site is also easy. It's as easy as using Google AdSense and you can have AuctionAds on the same pages as your existing AdSense, there is no conflict.

AuctionAds have been very popular since the ads feature small images and text from current Ebay auctions. Rather than signing up with Ebay, Webmasters and blog owners and easily sign up with Auction Ads and avoid a longer signup process and learning to use the Ebay API. Ads can be targeted with keywords and even maximum and minimum prices so that you get just the kind of ads that YOU KNOW best suit your sites.

The end date for this promotion has not been announced, but it is suggested that you sign up right away even if you are unable to add the code to your site or your blog today. Don't miss out on this great incentive to join a program that really needs no incentive.

Join Auction Ads Here

PR Contact
EbayAuctionAds.com
7141 Oak Pointe Curve
Bloomington, MN 55348

It's 10 PM, Do you know where your domains are?

2007-09-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

Do you have a valuable domain name? Are you sure you still have it? How would you know if the registration information had been changed and it was now under someone else's name? These questions and more were raised over at the DomainTools Blog, and if you own a number of domains or any that are expensive you may want to read up on this topic.

(hris

Findability: New Religion or Double-Talking Cult?

2007-08-08T12:26:00.000-05:00

The Quotable Ambient Findability

by Aaron Goldman, Wednesday, August 8, 2007
IN MY LAST TWO COLUMNS, I explored a world in which anything and anyone can be found anywhere at anytime. Inspired by Peter Morville's Book, "Ambient Findability," I pondered how we'd arrive at such a place and whether or not it was truly utopia.

As promised, today's column will feature some choice nuggets from Morville's masterpiece along with some context and application to the search landscape.

Let's start with Morville's basic premise...

"Information is in the air, literally. And it changes our minds, physically."

This insight really gets at the core of what the Internet is all about and the effect it has had on society. A couple of centuries ago, who could've imagined information traveling across the world without being physically carried by a person -- or pigeon? And who can imagine what the true impact will be of the 21st century discovery that the world is flat after all? Forget changing our minds -- in true Darwinian fashion, when everything in the world is within fingertips' reach, will humans evolve into creatures with no legs and 10 fingers on each hand? And will we speak only in short bursts of keywords? But back to the here and now...

"We can manage our information diet and thus the health and well-being of our rational and intuitive decisions."

Gone are the days when the media was controlled by a few dominant corporations and held to standards set by the Federal Communications Commission. Now every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a blog and somewhere, someone is citing them as credible sources. And with search innovations like Rollyo and Google CSE, every Peter, Paul, and Mary can create his or her own search engine and index only content from Tom, Dick, and Harry. We now have virtually unlimited access to information -- but before we can make decisions, we first need to decide what information we want to include in our decision-making criteria, aka index. It remains to be seen how well we'll be able to do this, but one thing's for certain...

"To not use the data and expert opinions and collective intelligence at our fingertips reeks of personal malpractice."

The "Today Show" ran a feature on CyberChondriacs yesterday and asked people to "stop googling your symptoms," advising instead that "a little ignorance is bliss." I'm with Mr. Morville on this one. When it comes to something as important as your health, it seems irresponsible not to tap the plethora of online information and communities out there revolving around your specific condition. Again, the challenge is who/what defines expertise. And it's clear this is something Millennials will struggle with...

"For insight into the dark side, ask librarians. They'll tell you about students who never visit the library, but instead surf the web for a few good hits, with little appreciation for the authority, accuracy, currency, and quality of their sources."

And, no Mr. Cruise, this can't be cured with a little diet and exercise. After all...

"The primacy of accessibility is among the firmest ties that bind our rationality."

And regardless of who we trust along the way...

"The journey transforms the destination and it's easy to become lost in reflection."

The path to ambient findability is beset on all sides by memories of the past and hopes for the future. The same came be said for the search process. When you sit down to find an old classmate, book a vacation, or buy a computer, you have a very clear goal in mind, and set out to achieve it based on what's worked -- or not worked -- in the past. However, nine times out of 10, your search clickstream will change the final outcome. And given the overwhelming amount of information you encounter while searching, sometimes you can't even remember what you set out to accomplish. As Morville puts it...

"A standard keyword search opens the widest of windows on the narrowest of topics."

How many times have you initiated a search intending to complete one task and wind up trailing off through a series of relevant results into a different pursuit altogether? As for the implications to marketers...

"Findability will be a key source of competitive advantage. Finders, keepers; losers, weepers."

I think I'm going to start working this taunt into my SEO pitches, especially for those clients in categories that aren't heavily investing in search. Of course, the response I'm likely to get will be along the lines of "I know you are, but what am I?" At the end of the day, there are still many marketers out there that have yet to recognize the importance of making their brands findable and will wait until a key competitor makes the first move before panicking, er... combating them.
For, alas...

"You can take the person out of the Stone Age but you can't take the Stone Age out of the person."

For the record, Morville used this line to describe how the human brain reacts to the influx of stimuli in today's modern world, not to ridicule marketers that haven't embraced SEO. But he does make some astute observations about companies that do pursue SEO solutions...

"Everybody is responsible and so we run the risk that nobody is accountable."

Morville aptly notes that, when it comes to SEO, multiple parties are involved in the project, from marketing to IT to outside agencies. He has seen firsthand that...

"In most organizations findability falls through the cracks between roles and responsibilities, and everyone loses."

Morville's proposed solution? "Findability hackers" -- aka SEO professionals -- whose job is to cut through the corporate clutter and develop cross-disciplinary processes to achieve a balance of form, function, and findability. As elegant as this sounds, though, if we thought the backlash was bad when SEOs were told they are not rocket scientists, I'm not sure how they'll respond to being called a bunch of hacks! So remember...

"There's a fine line between the wisdom of crowds and the ignorance of mobs."

Amen, Brother Morville, Amen.

Post your response to the public Search Insider blog.

Aaron Goldman is Vice President of Client Strategy & Development at Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group Company. Resolution Media connects brands with queries through relevant digital media and content. Aaron can be reached at AGoldman@ResolutionMedia.com.

Search Insider for Wednesday, August 8, 2007: http://publications.mediapost.com/
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[Editor's comments: "...in which anything and anyone can be found anywhere at anytime." sounds like a job for the guys er, hackers at seomniscience.com... ]