Tuesday, June 30, 2015

125.com becomes Highest reported Domain Sale - NiceNIC.NET

A Chinese domain trading platform had a big one Saturday, 125.com close today at $292,136, there were 321 bids.
125.com becomes Highest reported Domain Sale - www.nicenic.net

The top 10 sales posted:
(currency exchange rate: 1RMB = .1611 USD)

125.com 1,815,000 RMB

357.com - 995,889 RMB, August 2014

xy.com - 948,000 RMB, December 2011

zy.com - 901,000 RMB, November 2011

mingshi.com - 891,000 RMB, January 2015

102.com - 831,000 RMB, August 2014

103.com - 802,000 RMB, August 2014

886.com - 688,888 RMB, November 2011

kq.com - 638,000 RMB, December 2012

920.com - 589,888 RMB, Feb 2014

So you can see that 125.com almost doubled the previous high sale 357.com.

The domain name 125.com was registered in 1997 and dropped twice before that.

Up until July 2013 the domain was registered to a Richard Brodie out of Vermont, the domain went under privacy but the name servers stayed the same.

Congrats to the seller on topping the charts!

Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar
- See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17341

Same-Sex Marriage Domain Names are Trending - NiceNIC.NET

Big news = domain registrations.

People are flocking to their favorite domain name registrars today to register domain names related to same-sex marriage after a Supreme Court ruling legalized gay marriage across the U.S.

Same-Sex Marriage Domain Names are Trending - www.nicenic.net

Verisign Domain View shows a spike in registrations around when the ruling was released, and the numbers will surely grow throughout the day.

Among the domains registered:

TwoMenMarriage.com
GenderNeutralMarriages.com
GenderNeutralMarriage.com
MarriageEqualityDay.com
lbgtmarriage.com
lbgtMarriageLaw.com
LoveisLoveMarriages.com
Marriage-Equality.com

Here are a couple domains that could be used by someone on potentially both sides of the issue:

HasMarriageBeenDestroyedYet.com
IsMarriageRuinedYet.com

Domain View does not show results for the term “gay”, so it’s difficult to get an exact number of registrations. Interestingly, Domain View also shows “wedding” is not a safe search word.

Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17340

Voting begins in Verisign .Com Contest - NiceNIC.NET

Winners make their cases in videos.

Voting has opened to pick the grand prize winner in Verisign’s Internet Official contest.

Voting begins in Verisign .Com Contest - www.nicenic.net

The fifteen winners so far each received $5,000. The grand prize winner will pick up a cool $30,000.

Voting begins in Verisign .Com Contest - www.nicenic.net

Each of the winners was asked to create a video about why they picked their domain name. I just watched all fifteen, and I have to say there’s a wide gap in quality. But voting won’t just be about which video is better…I suspect social media promotion will win the day.

I think running this contest was ingenious. Verisign was able to show that good .com domain names are available for registration (even if they’re hard to find). Some of the winners have domains that match new domain name extensions, too.

Honestly, I think some of the new TLD operators should have thought of and executed on this idea first. It would have made a huge impact having people ask their friends on social media to vote for their domain names based on new TLDs.

Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17339

Thursday, June 25, 2015

2015 DOMAINfest held in Macau China - NiceNIC.NET

2015 DOMAINfest held in Macau China - www.nicenic.net

Domain name conference heads to China in a few months.

I’ve been a bit confused by NamesCon’s strategy with DOMAINfest after acquiring the brand. The one day add-ons to existing domain name conferences haven’t made much sense to me.

But now DOMAINfest is hosting a complete conference, this time in Macau, China.

DOMAINfest.Asia is being staged by the NamesCon, Simon Cousins’ Allegravita and .Asia. Allegravita has been staging events in Macau for over ten years, and Cousins tells me he hopes to bring together the Chinese domain name market with the rest of the world.

DOMAINfest.Asia will take place September 4-7, 2015. Details (including venue) are forthcoming.


WELCOME TO DOMAINFEST ASIA 2015

2015 DOMAINfest held in Macau China - www.nicenic.net

I am delighted to announce that we’re collaborating with the amazing teams at Allegravita and DotAsia to take the DOMAINfest brand to Macau and debut the very first DOMAINfest event in Asia!  The Chinese Marketplace is an area of strong growth and innovation, which made the choice simple for us on where to hold the first Asia DOMAINfest event, and we are pleased to be receiving support from the Internet Society of China in bringing this event together.
September 4 through 7, 2015 will be “DOMAINfest Asia”, which bring the important world of Domain Names to the forefront of technology discussions.
I hope to see you in Macau!
- Jothan Frakes

Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

.RU Domain Registrations Pass the 4.9 Million Mark - NiceNIC.NET

According to the Coordination Center for TLD RU , .RU domain name registrations has reached and exceeded the 4.9 million mark.

.RU Domain Registrations Pass the 4.9 Million Mark - www.nicenic.net

At the time of writing this article, there are 4.900,879 .RU domain name registrations..RU currently holds the 6th position in list of biggest ccTLD’s after .DE , .TK , .UK , .CN and .NL .RU is also a leader in terms of growth rates among the biggest ccTLDs.

.RU Domain Registrations Pass the 4.9 Million Mark - www.nicenic.net

The fourth million .RU domain name was registered on 17 September 2012, while the third million .RU domain name was registered registered on the night of 24/25 September 2010.

Check out NiceNIC.NET here to register your .RU domain name.

Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

How To Change Domains But Keep Your Search Ranking - NiceNIC.NET

John Rampton published an article today on Forbes that looks at switching domain names and keeping search ranking.

How To Change Domains But Keep Your Search Ranking - www.nicenic.net

He does point out that you are more likely to drop in the rankings immediately after making a move. This should be a short term drop.

Rampton provides a step by step guide for those looking to make such a move, he goes over 8 points you should follow when making your move, everything from backing up your website, creating a sitemap and letting Google know about your move.

From the article:

"While I’ve provided a general overview of the technical aspects of moving your site, there are a few best practices you should keep in mind to make sure the process runs as smoothly as possible."

"Be sure to let your followers, subscriber,s and email visitors know about the move well in advance. This is particularly important if you’re also changing your name or website design. Consider using a pop-up box on your site to let visitors know about the change, and using a transitional logo or byline to help maintain brand recognition (e.g., “Formerly known as…..”)."

"Whenever possible, do page-to-page redirects rather than a sitewide redirect. This means directing your old pages to the most relevant pages on your new site – not just directing everything to your homepage."

How To Change Domains But Keep Your Search Ranking - www.nicenic.net

"Be prepared to wait 3-6 months for your rankings to reach pre-move levels. For this reason, it’s important to avoid making the move during a busy time of year."

"Consider stepping up your game when it comes to PR following the move. This can help generate authoritative links to your new domain, boosting your rankings, and potentially speeding up the process of restoring your search traffic."

Read the full article on Forbes
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

Friday, June 19, 2015

Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2015 - NiceNIC.NET

Hello our lovely customers/partners,

Especially the ones from

mainland China
Hong Kong
Macau
Taiwan
South Korea
Japan
Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam:

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2015 - www.nicenic.net

Let's serve ZONGZI for you!

 Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2015 - www.nicenic.net


PS:
If Dragon Boat Day is not celebrated in your country,
then "Have a pleasant & relaxing weekend!". :-)

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Your Registrar Team
NiceNIC.NET

Thursday, June 18, 2015

.BANK Doing Surprisingly Well in Sunrise - NiceNIC.NET

The forthcoming .bank gTLD has received over 700 applications for domains during its sunrise period, according to the registry.
fTLD Registry Services tweeted the stat earlier this week:
.BANK Doing Surprisingly Well in Sunrise - www.nicenic.net
Its sunrise period doesn’t even end until June 17. Sunrise periods tend to be back-weighted, so the number could get a lot higher.
Seven hundred may not sound like a lot — and applications do not always convert to registrations — but in the context of new gTLDs it’s very high.
Discounting .porn and .adult, both of which racked up thousands of names across their various sunrise phases, the previous high for a sunrise was .london, with just over 800 names registered.
It’s not unusual for a sunrise to get under 100 names. A year ago, I calculated that the average was 144.
The 700+ .bank number is especially surprising as it’s going to be a very tightly controlled gTLD where the chance of cybersquatting is going to be virtually nil.
All .bank registrants will be manually vetted to ensure they really are banks, substantially mitigating the need for defensive registrations.
Could this be an indication that .bank will actually get used?
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17284
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

.SO Leaves GMO for Local Provider Hikes Prices - NiceNIC.NET

The Somalian government has switched registry provider for its .so ccTLD from GMO Registry to soNIC, apparently a local provider.
The IANA records for .so were updated yesterday to indicate that Mogadishu-based soNIC is now the technical contact.
According to the current GMO-managed registry web site, new registrations were halted June 9 and will reopen at some point after July 8, when soNIC takes over.
In the meantime, renewal prices have been cranked up.
.SO Leaves GMO for Local Provider Hikes Prices - www.nicenic.net
The .so domain opened up worldwide in late 2010, having been delegated the previous year.
The new registry tried to ride the wave created by .co’s launch a few months earlier, with middling results.
soNIC will evidently “ramp up abusive use monitoring and enforcement of acceptable use policies”. I wonder if that involves anti-piracy measures (sorry).
At the time the ccTLD launched, I noted that Somalia was pretty much the worst place in the world to live.
But, just as the new registry plans to clean up its namespace, the nation itself has started to clean up its act somewhat in the meantime. It’s now only number two on the Failed State Index.
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17285
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

Mike Mann Sells Fun.CO for $70K - NiceNIC.NET

Mike Mann Sells Fun.CO for $70K - www.nicenic.net
Mike Mann announced that on DomainMarket he sold the domain Fun.CO for $70,000.
The domain name was “purchased a while back” according to Mike Mann.
This .co domain represents the 9th highest .CO domain sale according to Estibot and the highest domain sale by DomainMarket since Business.co which sold for $80K.
Mike Mann Sells Fun.CO for $70K - www.nicenic.net
Domain Name / Sales Price:
youxi.co $2,430,000
o.co  $350,000
8.co $115,000
onlinecasino.co $100,000
cruises.co $82,500
e.co $81,000
lyrics.co $80,000
business.co $80,000
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17286

China Dominates Top Domain Sales in May - NiceNIC.NET

Yet these aren’t necessarily the LLL variety that most interests China. They’re vowel-laden, pronounceable, and meaningful in Western languages. EXX.com ($30k) strongly suggests the “ex” prefix found in such words as “exchange”. And VEO.com ($36.1k) is Spanish for “I see” – one of the best words for Spanish branding that I can think of.
China is certainly to be found behind the 9 NNNN.com sales above. Our high of $18.2k is an outlier, since 8 of the 9 fall within the more circumspect range of $7.3k to $10.6k. Chinese bidders would be involved in the 7 LLLL.com sales as well, which ranged as high as $5k for the repeating pattern WLWL.com.
Domain Name / End $
VEO.com  36,100
EXX.com  30,000
DailyLottery.com  25,101
KEO.com  25,000
FiletMignon.com  19,000
1085.com  18,200China Dominates Top Domain Sales in May - www.nicenic.net
3960.com  10,600
3920.com  10,600
6674.com  10,200
TaxShelter.com  9566
4782.com  9500
1443.com  9377
1403.com  8850
BusinessRadio.com  8792
1435.com  8650
4061.com  7280
JZ.tv  6800
CouncilBluffs.com  5866
SafeBanking.com  5200
WLWL.com  5020
PZ.tv  5000
Utah.tv  4999
Ohio.tv  4800
9NN.com  4520
Illinois.tv  4450
BusinessWear.com  4102
GUSA.com  4100
OOOA.com  3055
MaoMa.com  2805
TOHE.com  2700
TEMY.com  2700
Kechi.com  2620
Laona.com  2521
01D.com  2510
TEJO.com  2500
TMCS.com  2377
EXIF.org  2222
Pilot.org  2190
CStar.com  2100
II4.com  2009
Yes, it’s also China buying CCC.com’s such as 9NN.com ($4.5k) and pinyin like MaoMa.com ($2.8k). What may surprise some readers, however, is the interest some Chinese buyers take in LL.tvdomains. JZ.tv ($6.8k) and PZ.tv ($5k) eclipsed a trio of U.S. state TV domains – just barely, since the latter 3 fetched $4.8k to $5k apiece.
Within this partial NameJet list, China obviously predominates. If the company hasn’t yet hired a bevy of fluent Chinese speakers, perhaps it’s time they mirror that de facto customer base of theirs. Be that as it may, there are plenty of domains selling at NameJet that have nothing to do with China.
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

Trending Keywords in .COM Domains - NiceNIC.NET

These keywords saw a spike in registrations last month
"Options", Limos among popular keywords in new .com domains.
Verisign has published its monthly “trending” keywords report, which finds keywords that have suddenly become more popular in .com domain name registrations.
Trending Keywords in .COM Domains - www.nicenic.net
Based on the results, it would seem a lot of people got rich off stock options, used the money to buy a Tesla and became used to the keyless entry, causing them to forget their house keys and have to call a locksmith.
Here are the top ten for May:
1. Options
2. Holo
3. Locksmith
4. Myan
5. Tesla
6. Romance
7. Limos
8. Flips
9. Padel
10. Fantastic
Remember, these are the keywords that had the biggest jump in registrations, not total registrations.
Verisign’s DomainView tool shows that 2,785 .com domains with “options” in them were registered or renewed last month, with huge spikes on May 13 (842 .com/.net) and May 29 (720 .com/.net). Not all of them were related to financial options. (While DomainView shows registrations and renewals, its trending keywords report includes only new registrations.)
Soure: https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17257
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

New gTLD Trade Group Launches - NiceNIC.NET

A group of new gTLD registries have got together to form the TLD Operator Community, a new “think tank” devoted to the commercial aspects of running new TLDs.
New gTLD Trade Group Launches - www.nicenic.net
The TLD Operator Community is designed to provide all new TLD applicants with an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from each other and focus on the commercial realities of operating a TLD – away from the confines of ICANN, policy or technical discussions.
The group appears to be coordinated right now by ARI Registry Services.
The distinction between the TLD Operator Community and the Domain Name Association appears to be that the DNA has more of a focus on outreach and education beyond the industry.
The new group will hold an introductory webinar June 30 (or July 1, depending on your time zone) featuring speakers from Donuts, Vox Populi, dotBerlin, Barclays and others.
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17277
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

New ICANN Hub in Singapore Expands Further More - NiceNIC.NET

During the last recent years ICANN  has established new coordinating points to better serve its clients worldwide, in Singapore and Istanbul, Turkey. The one in Asia emerged in August 2013 and both of them have increased their personnel strength and functional support.
Due to organizational reasons, in order to increase efficiency and after thorough evaluations about the costs of the new office, it has been approved that the Asian hub will be transferred to a larger location, namely FY16, on the 1st October 2015.
They will continue providing a wide range of services starting from registry or registrar services management, human resources, IT and legal services, stakeholder engagement, contracts issues and not least, customer support. All of these will be offered and coordinated by eighteen staff members, while in Istanbul twelve of their colleagues will be involved into policy development support, in addition to what was previously mentioned. There are currently plans to hire Customer Services in Istanbul, too, in order to offer multilingual support to anyone that might need it.
In accordance to its globalization strategy, ICANN will stick to its efforts to provide a secure and stable Internet network through his three worldwide hubs for their community of users.
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17280
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

CentralNic Raises GBP 2.3 Million - NiceNIC.NET

CentralNic pads bank account with institutional placement.
Publicly traded domain name registry and registrar CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) has raised GBP 2.3 Million by placing 5,750,000 new ordinary shares. The shares were sold at 40 pence each, above yesterday’s closing mid-market price of 34.5 pence. Shares are trading between 37.50 pence and 39.00 pence today. The shares will represent 8.58% of the company’s ordinary share capital.
CentralNic can boast being the #2 backend registry for new top level domain names (in volume) behind Rightside Registry. This is thanks, in large part, to running .xyz, which accounts for about one million domain names. It also sells a number of third level registrations as pseudo country domains, such as .us.com and .de.com.
CentralNic raises GBP 2.3 Million - www.nicenic.net
The company also owns domain name registrar Internet .bs.
CentralNic will use the money for general working capital purposes and to be in a position to make small acquisitions.
Posted at https://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17281
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar

.PORN 10K Domain Registrations on day One of GA - NiceNIC.NET

.Porn entered General Availability and, according to the ICM Registry , the number of .Porn domain names registered in the first day of General Availability totaled 10,038.
.PORN 10K Domain Registrations on day One of GA - www.nicenic.net
These numbers also include registrations from Sunrise and Landrush period.
.Adult also entered General AVailability a few days ago and at the end of the first day of general availability, there were 8,277 registrations.
The ICM Registry, the company behind .XXX domain extension was the only applicant for both .Porn and .Adult.
NiceNIC.NET is an ICM Accredited Registrar!
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar
- See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17219

33 of the best new .Porn websites - NiceNIC.NET

33 of the best new .Porn websites - www.nicenic.net
A look at some of the more interesting .porn web addresses that have been registered.
The .Porn top level domain name came out yesterday, and already over 10,000 domain names have been registered.
I sifted through the list of .porn domain name registrations to find the best ones. Here’s what I envision each website featuring in the near future. (Yes, all of these .porn domain names were actually registered.)
ChicagoCubs.porn – this tantric love site features lowly Cubs fans who have waited over 100 years to win the World Series. Steve Bartman, largely credited with prolonging the Cubs’ drought, is the site’s first subscriber.
Hogwarts.porn – Hogwarts students set up a webcam in the Room of Requirement.
NSA.porn – Subscribe today and eavesdrop on millions of phone sex conversations.
SharkWeek.porn – Watch porn stars try to film an underwater video while being chased by sharks. I’m sure there’s a market for this.
Chick-fil-a.porn – Chicken porn lovers are disappointed to find a site discussing the ills of gay porn.
MileyCyrus.porn – Nothing but animated .gifs of Miley twerking. (There are actually sites out there like this.)
HillaryClinton.porn – Unimpressed with HillaryClinton.horse, Bill Clinton creates this site for Hillary.
Mummy.porn – Apparently, it’s a thing.
Charity.porn – Don’t feel guilty about watching porn. It’s all for a good cause.
FootJoy.porn – Alright, so I know I made fun of some trademark holders for being overly protective when it comes to defensive domain name registrations. But this is a case in which a brand was really smart to lock down its domain.
Frank.porn – A new DomainGang site about Frank Schilling. 100% true.
Mormon.porn – Like most porn videos, this one features multiple women with one guy.
Priceline.porn – Tired of paying high prices for porn subscriptions? Name your own price!
NHL.porn – The National Hockey League thought this was a good idea, but it was surprised to see what happened to the male actors in the cold ice rinks.
HomeAway.porn – The Smith family was surprised to find a number of attractive ladies at the vacation home they rented for their trip to Cancun. Noticing the curious look on Mr. Smith’s face upon arrival, the pimp says, “You do realize you booked your vacation rental on HomeAway.porn, not HomeAway.com, right?”
NordstromRack.porn – Nordstrom suddenly realizes the name of its outlet stores are a double entendre.
OXO.porn – Tired of sex toys that slip? Try the new OXO Good Grips intimate line!
McDonalds.porn – Part of new CEO Steve Easterbrook’s plan to turn the restaurant chain around.
Wisconsin.porn – This is the worst porn site. EVER.
Disney.porn – Believe it or not, Disney didn’t manage to register this domain name. Coming Soon: Toy Story 4. The toys are donated to a brothel, and Woody gets all jealous on Jessie.
Costco.porn – Want a subscription to this hot new site? You need to subscribe for 24 months at a time.
ComedyCentral.porn – This new channel from Comedy Central features Amy Schumer 24×7.
WayneBrady.porn – I bet this will be my wife’s favorite site. I’ll admit, the guy’s got talent.
ThyroidWeek.porn – Merck registered this domain name. Seriously.
Scientology.porn – Tom Cruise lures unsuspecting porn stars to the church, only to tell them they’re never allowed to leave.
Tupperware.porn – Hearing that sex toy parties are all the rage, Tupperware executives find a new revenue source.
Moniker.porn – This new site from registrar Moniker is a carbon copy of it existing site, but it actually works like it should.
ScoobyDoo.porn – Doggystyle.
BankofAmerica.porn – a busty model talks about interest rates on savings accounts. “.01%? Is that all you’ve got for me? Give me more!”
Bitcoin.porn – Michael Berkens finally moves his bitcoin contentto a dedicated site.
MTV.porn – the site streams MTV’s regular programing all day.
Groupon.porn – 2-for-1 lap dances. Promotional value expires on 6/9.
Priceless-moments.porn – I can’t wait to see what Mastercard puts on this site.
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17220

How Real Estate agents use Domain Names - NiceNIC.NET

A look at domain names in home listings.
How Real Estate agents use Domain Names - www.nicenic.net
Earlier this year I wrote about domain names used to market homes for sale.
This week I received a glossy magazine advertising homes for sale in Austin, and I decided to see how many of the homes had a domain name in their description or title.
Of the 95 homes featured in the magazine, 51 had a domain name specifically for the home. That’s 54%. (It’s possible other homes have a unique domain name but their agents did not include them in the magazine.)
I tallied up the types of domain names used:
  • 37 of the domain names were street names or addresses, such as 7500EscalaDr.com.
  • 14 of the domain names were descriptive, such as TheFloatingBoxHouse.com.
  • All of the domain names were .com.
As I noted in my post earlier this year, the uniqueness of address domain names makes it easy for home sellers to find an available .com domain name.
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17226

Chinese acquires MM.COM domain name - NiceNIC.NET

Chinese acquires MM.COM domain name - www.nicenic.net
The domain name MM.com has recently been acquried by Jinxin Wang Luo of Fujian, China, according to whois records.
According to whois records, the domain name was first registered in January, 1994. The price paid for the domain name has not been disclosed at the time of writing this article.
According to thedomains.com, MM.com changed hands for $1.2 Million, in a deal brokered by Dace Evanson, one of Sedo's leading brokers. The deal was brokered in June 2014.
Congratulations to both the seller and the buyer.
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17225

General Availability for .Pharmacy Domains Starts June 3 - NiceNIC.NET

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is pleased to announce that general availability for the .pharmacy domain begins June 3, 2015. At this time, all pharmacies and pharmacy-related entities may apply for .pharmacy domain names.
General Availability for .Pharmacy Domains Starts June 3 - www.nicenic.net
The .pharmacy Top-Level Domain (TLD) was launched in 2014, and NABP has approved more than 300 .pharmacy domain names applied for or requested during prior limited registration periods. NABP created the .pharmacy TLD to provide consumers worldwide with a means to clearly identify safe and legal online pharmacies and related resources.
Applications for the final limited registration period for all dispensing pharmacies are currently being evaluated and approved applicants were eligible to register their domain names as early as May 1.
General Availability for .Pharmacy Domains Starts June 3 - www.nicenic.net
Except for those already accredited through the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS), Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (Vet-VIPPS) Programs, or approved by the NABP e-Advertiser Approval Program, entities seeking a .pharmacy domain name must first submit an application, supporting documentation, and an application fee to NABP. NABP will evaluate these materials to ensure compliance with program standards. As part of the application process, the content of the proposed website must be available for review by NABP either on an existing website or a staging site. NABP is establishing a network of international regulatory groups to facilitate evaluation of domain name applications from countries worldwide. Once approved, applicants may register the domain names through one of NABP's participating registrars.
NABP has reviewed nearly 11,000 websites that sell prescription medication online and found that 96% do not follow pharmacy laws and standards established to protect the public health. This finding illustrates the need for the .pharmacy TLD. NABP will grant use of the .pharmacy domain only to legitimate website operators that adhere to pharmacy laws in the jurisdictions in which.
Marketing Team
http://nicenic.net
ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17216

Why do people try sell domain names on eBay? - NiceNIC.NET

Or do they have another purpose for listing domains for sale on eBay?
Believe it or not, there are currently over 14,000 listings in the Domain Names section on eBay.
Why do people try sell domain names on eBay? - www.nicenic.net
That’s a lot of active listings for a site that most domain name investors never visit. Why is this? Are people actually making money selling domains on eBay, or do they use it for some other purpose (such as driving clicks to domain names)?
Looking more closely, there are only about 1,000 active auction. The rest of the listings are “Buy Now/Make Offer”, which makes the listings similar to those on most domain name marketplaces.
Humorously, over half of the listings in the category have been marked with the type “Premium Domain Name”. If you select only the premium domains, you’ll find such beauties as BlabJab.com, Encyclopeoplia.com, ChessDrone.com and ListenToSongsOnline.com.
I count about 75 of the 1,000 auctions with bids, and only two have bids for over $100.
Why do people try sell domain names on eBay? - www.nicenic.net
Some people have lofty expectations for their domain names on Ebay. FeeAppraisal.com can be yours for “Bargain Buy it Now Pricing” of $1,990,000.00. Before you say “Hey, that’s expensive”, keep in mind that the seller has an online appraisal pinning it at up to $1.41 billion.
This gets to one of my questions…is this person just listing the domain for sale to get people to go visit FeeAppraisal.com? You shouldn’t go there, because you’ll get a couple pop up ads, including one that tries to mimic the flash download box.
Lots of people turn to eBay to sell current event related domain names. When Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born, the owner of CharlotteElizabethDina.com tried to sell it on eBay.
Original listing asked for $200,000 and claimed to have an offline offer of $68,000. Now it’s up for sale just $25,000.
What gives?
Marketing Team
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Company using .Today domain name raises $8 million - NiceNIC.NET

Jeff Dachis’ latest company, currently using a .today domain name, raises $8 million.
One Drop, a diabetes management platform that uses the domain name OneDrop.today, has raised $8 million in a round led by RRE Ventures.
Company using .Today domain name raises $8 million - www.nicenic.net
One Drop is the latest startup from Jeff Dachis, who was the founder and CEO of .com darling (and ultimately bust) Razorfish. He later was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Austin Ventures, where he then created social media company Dachis Group. He ran that company until early last year.
His background at Austin Ventures is relevant because Austin Ventures is also an investor in Donuts, which is the registry behind .today. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was introduced to new top level domain names through that connection.
Company using .Today domain name raises $8 million - www.nicenic.net
RetailMeNot, a coupon codes site, also has a connection to Austin Ventures and Donuts. Austin Ventures invested in the company. When Donuts launched the .Codes top level domain, RetailMeNot scooped up about 1,000 of the domains with ten year terms on the first day of Early Access. Presumably, RetailMeNot did a bulk deal with Donuts and didn’t pay day full price to register domains like 2014couponcodes.codes on day one of EAP. I wouldn’t be surprised if Austin Ventures connected RetailMeNot to Donuts for the deal.
Marketing Team
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New TLD leaderboard dominated by dirt cheap domain names - NiceNIC.NET

Post by Andrew Allemann at DomainNameWire.COM on May 21, 2015
Leaderboard dominated by domains that cost a couple bucks or less.
New top level domain name operators that want to be recognized as one of the biggest, here’s a simple tip: offer your domains for free or close to it.
Take a look at the TOP 10 domain names on nTLDStats, representing about 2.5 million domain names:
New TLD leaderboard dominated by dirt cheap domain names - www.nicenic.net
.Club is the only domain name on the list that appears to be selling domain names for prices around .com. The others are selling many domain names for a dollar or two, primarily through registrars in Asia.
A lot of people have pointed to .XYZ and its approximately 400,000 free registrations at Network Solutions. Its #2 and #3 registrars are offering the domain names for about $2.00-$2.50.
.Science and .Party have been offered for free or under $1.00. .Berlin gave away around 100,000 names. .Realtor domains are mostly free for one year. .Link and .Top can be yours for a dollar or two per year.
Once you get out of the top ten, you start to come across domain names that have been sold for prices at .Com or higher levels. Donuts domains, such as .guru and .email, are in the top 20 and sell for a premium. .NYC currently ranks as #11, but might actually slot as #2 when you consider its registration price.
Giving domains away for free or selling them for a couple bucks might be a good strategy for some registries. In .Realtor’s case, for example, the domains are free for just the first year and come with restrictions.
One challenge for companies offering cheap domains is keeping them out of the hands of spammers and scammers. Once the reputation of an entire namespace is compromised, it’s hard to recover.
Marketing Team
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Whois Privacy vs Whois Proxy - Domain Definitions - NiceNIC.NET

Post by Andrew Allemann at DomainNameWire.COM on May 21, 2015
What’s the difference between whois privacy and whois proxy?
With talk in Washington and policy circles about whois privacy, I think it would be good to define both whois privacy and whois proxy, and discussed how the terms are usually used.
Traditionally, WHOIS PRIVACY has referred to a service in which the owner of a domain name is listed in the public whois record contacts, but the privacy service’s contact details (phone, address, email et al) are listed instead of the owner’s. This makes the registrant the owner of the domain but keeps them from getting telemarketing calls or having to disclose their home address.  NiceNIC.NET offer WHOIS PRIVACY for free!
Domain Definitions: whois privacy VS. whois proxy - www.nicenic.net
WHOIS PROXY goes a step further by masking the identity of the registrant. The proxy service acts as a proxy registrant. NiceNIC.NET offer WHOIS PROXY for free!
Domain Definitions: whois privacy VS. whois proxy - www.nicenic.net
In practice, most people refer to whois proxy services as whois privacy. Since services have mostly moved from privacy to proxy, I also use the terms interchangeably on this blog.
Although whois proxy gets a bad rap, there are a lot of legitimate uses for it.
Companies might want to hide new product or branding plans, for example. Also, having your contact details exposed in whois leads to telemarketing calls, spam, etc.
If you’re using a privacy service because having your information exposed would cause harm to you, be careful. It’s not foolproof. For example, Domains By Proxy will remove the proxy if you get hit with a UDRP. This is because it’s just a proxy, and you need to be able to defend the UDRP.
Marketing Team
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ICANN CNNIC HKIRC Accredited Registrar - See more at: http://nicenic.net/news/messview.php?ID=17136

Registrar and Registry - Domain Definitions - NiceNIC.NET

Posted by ANDREW ALLEMANN at DomainNameWire.COM on MAY 27, 2015
The definition of registry is becoming fuzzy.
Domain definitions: Registrar and Registry - www.nicenic.net
Two of the most commonly misused words in mainstream articles about domain names are registrar and registry. Many publications use one when it should be the other.
A registrar is the company where you register a domain name, such as GoDaddy or NiceNIC.NET.
A registry is the company that manages the top level domain name.
So if you register a .com domain name at NiceNIC.NET, NiceNIC is the registrar and Verisign is the registry for the domain name.
Now, most DNW readers are aware of this. But I’ve started to run into a conundrum with the release of new top level domain names.
With new TLDs, there are often two companies referred to as registries.
For example, .Buzz is “owned” and marketed by dotStrategy. But the traditional technical registry tasks are handled by Neustar, the same company that is the registry for .biz and .us.
Are both considered registries?
In this case, I often call Neustar the “back end registry provider” or the “technical registry provider”, but these terms are cumbersome. Sometimes I refer to dotStrategy as the “TLD operator” and Neustar as the “registry”.
I don’t have a good answer to this yet, but I am open to suggestions.
Comments:
SoFreeDomains says
In the case of .Buzz, I think dotStrategy is the “registry” while Neustar is the “TLD operator”.
John T. O'Farrell says
Andrew, I like your idea of “TLD Operator” (meaning owner but not providing the registry services) and “Registry” as the actual provider of registry services.
However do we need to differentiate between a Registry that is providing outsourced services and a Registry that is the operator and provider of services?
Perhaps:
1) TLD Operator: Owner but no services
2) TLD Service Registry: A registry that provides outsourced services for the Operator
3) Registry: A traditional registry that is the operator and provider of registry services for a given domain.
An entity could be one, two or all three of the above names but would allow for the reader to know what capacity that entity was operating as for any particular domain.
Thoughts?
Marketing Team
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Can Internet Plus really save China? - NiceNIC.NET

Can Internet Plus really save China? - www.nicenic.net
Premier Li Keqiang has stressed the need for more state investment in the internet sector. Photo: Reuters
Posted by George Chen, managing editor of SCMP.com International Edition, on Mar 08, 2015:
Beijing apparently believes it has finally found the right formula for economic transformation after discussing it for many years without any significant progress. Premier Li Keqiang's so-called Internet Plus strategy.
In Li's presentation of his working report at the annual session of the National People's Congress, he spent some time explaining his scheme, which focuses on internet-powered start-ups and how new technology can be applied to traditional sectors.
Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily described Li's strategy as being as important as the Industrial Revolution. I admire such ambition, but I also have reservations.
Outside the Great Hall of the People, it is easy to see the impact of internet-related business on the nation's economy.
Interest in China's homegrown internet industry leaders, including Pony Ma Huateng of Tencent, one of the mainland's leading portals, and Robin Li Yanhong of Baidu, known as the "Google of China", far exceeds interest in the bosses of China's Big Four state-owned banks.
Last week in Beijing, when Ma, an NPC delegate, tried to organise a small media briefing, about 200 reporters rushed to meet him, asking questions about everything from his own business to national economic development.
In comparison, Zhang Jianguo, chief of China Construction Bank, one of the Big Four, joked in front of Premier Li last week that big banks had become a "weak force" and less popular, suggesting a lack of government policy support.
Ma is clearly a big fan of Internet Plus. "The internet has opened new frontiers including internet finance, medical services and education that didn't exist before. It should also be extended to traditional industries like manufacturing, energy and agriculture," he said.
Economic transformation is a must as the country cannot simply rely on cheap domestic labour and foreign investments to maintain high growth. On the other hand, the internet may help China open new frontiers for business as Ma suggested, but Beijing apparently does not want to make all content on the internet available to its large population.
We all know the key thing about the internet is freedom. If Beijing misses the point and continues to censor access to information, Premier Li's new Internet Plus strategy will probably just get more Chinese to shop online rather than have any significant and long-term impact on the country's long-awaited economic transformation.
Marketing Team
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