'Net Features : enom

Demand Media Prepares for New gTLDs

Allison Howen — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:03:00 GMT

Demand Media, the digital media company that powers popular sites like Livestrong.com and eHow.com, is preparing for this year's release of the new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) with its recent acquisition of the Denver-based domain registrar Name.com.

Name.com was founded in 2003 and customers have since registered nearly 1.5 million domains, as well as used the company’s tools and services to grow their online presence. Furthermore, Demand Media’s eNom subsidiary has more than 13.5 million domain names on its platform registered by more than 8,800 resellers and partners.

“Name.com will provide a direct channel for us to reach consumers and small businesses as they develop and manage their online identities,” said Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO, Demand Media. “This becomes even more valuable as over one thousand new domain extensions are expected to become available for registration in the years ahead.”

ICANN initiated the process for launching new gTLDs in 2011, and received more than 1,900 applications for new domain strings. Once released, the new gTLDs will increase domain name choices to include memorable or descriptive strings, such as .blog, .nyc, .ninja or .hotel, as well as help businesses better organize their Web pages.

“Our strategy is to provide an end-to-end solution for all things domains whether you are looking to consume or distribute names and services,” said Taryn Naidu, executive vice president of Registrar Services. “Name.com brings innovation, creativity and a deep commitment to their customers – factors which we believe are essential in the environment of new gTLDs.”

eNom Slashing Prices for Resellers

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:37:00 GMT

Domain name wholesaler eNom is offering bargain-basement promotional pricing for hosting companies (and those interested in starting a reseller business or moving over to eNom) who enroll at next week's HostingCon 2010 conference in Austin. WM does not typically cover pricing reduction announcements but we think this one is pretty interesting, particularly for web hosting resellers looking to save a few money or who want to transfer out of their current solution.

According to the release, "Savings of up to 80 percent will be offered to new and existing customers who wish to create a new, or renew their, reseller account with eNom, alongside reduced pricing on .TV domain names and the recently launched VeriSign Trust Seal product."

HostingCon 2010 attendees interested in taking advantage of eNom’s special offers can speak with any eNom reseller account manager at the eNom HostingCon 2010 booth (#133) during regular show hours. Offers are valid July 19 thru July 21, 2010.

eNom Resellers - GoDaddy Reseller Killer?

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:11:00 GMT

Wholesale domain registrar eNom launched a new online storefront solution, dubbed Instant Reseller, which enables users to create their own private-label reseller business.

Resellers receive a hosted website and storefront (shopping cart feature, order fulfillment and credit card processing abilities) and have the ability to reseller 70-plus domain extensions and other services like email, hosting, SSL certificates, and marketing tools.

It it those eNom reseller marketing tools (RichContent and Business Listing) that might differentiate this program from competing offerings from Godaddy (see more below). RichContent provides eNom resellers with the ability to package contextually relevant content in their offerings which will expand their customers' websites and engage their audiences. Business Listing is a service eNom resellers can offer to their customers that allows them to customize and advertise their individual sites through WHOIS information.

"We are launching Instant Reseller to get new resellers up and running successfully without the frustrating wait between starting a business and reaping the rewards," said Chris Sheridan, vice president of platform for Demand Media, the parent company of eNom. "We want to remove the burden of web site development and e-commerce systems management so that resellers can focus on what they enjoy most - developing their own brand, their own customers and their own revenue stream. In short, we want to enable our resellers to focus their energy on sales and marketing, while eNom handles the heavy lifting of supporting the technical aspects of their storefront."

In related news, GoDaddy launched its own affiliate program last week (Editors Note: GoDaddy has had a reseller program for about as long as I can remember). Most affiliates have been using CJ (Commission Junction) to promote GoDaddy offerings but there are some benefits to GoDaddy offering the program directly to affiliate marketers - namely that they won't have to share any of the profits with CJ. GoDaddy will track affiliate link referrals for 45 days after the initial click and commissions will be paid monthly.

Top Domain Registrars

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:10:00 GMT

RegistrarStats (via Domain Name Wire) released the leading domain name registrars for the first half of 2009. While the data only covers .com, .net, .info, .org, .biz, .us and .mobi, it does provide excellent guidance on who's leading in the very competitive industry of domain registration and who's falling behind.

Who were the three leading domain registrars so far this year?
- GoDaddy – up 8.42% to 34,453,064 domains (includes Wild West Domains, GD’s reseller unit)
- eNom – up 2.6% to 9,039,185.
- Tucows – up 3.3% to 7,432,309
- 1&1 - up 3.9

While those registrars mentioned above are increasing the number of domains they manage, others are losing some control. Network Solutions is down 1.1%, Melbourne IT is down 3.5%, Moniker is down 2.4% and Dotster is down 2.8%.

Aspiring Domainer? Listen Up!

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:08:00 GMT

I have the priviledge of educating those new to the Web about how to achieve Web success. That however, despite any level of success that I have already achieved, does not mean that every once in a while I don't make mistakes.

One of the most serious issues for newbies is paying for Web solutions and services that you could get for much less or for nothing at all. This has never been better exemplified than through the case of domain names. Why would one registrar charge under $10 for new registrations and renewals while others like eNom and Yahoo! charge $29 and $35 respectively? I'm not sure either but as an aspiring domainer it is essential that you know the cost upfront at various registrars before you put all of your domains under one roof.

If you are buying domains - whether it's on eBay or at any domain auction house - it is imperative that before you make an offer you ask where that domain is registered and when it is going to expire. This recently happened to me when I acquired a domain name through eBay. The domain was being sold for far less than one would expect a domain of that caliber to go for, but what I failed to ask the seller was where it was registered and how many days were left before I had to renew it. Once the domain was transferred to me, I learned the ugly truth. The domain was set to expire at eNom in less than one week and that the renewal would cost me $29.95. Another mistake that I made was to not consider transferring the domain to another registrar before the expiration occured. That transfer would have been free at eNom and I essentially could have saved myself over $20.

Lesson learned. If you're an aspiring domainer, please heed this advice!