Facebook Places: A Goldmine For Geo, ccTLDs & Developers

A few hours ago Facebook announced “Places”. This enables you to learn about where your friends are. For example, if you are having a coffee at your local cafe, you can let your friends know where you are and they can join you.

Take note GEO domain developers! If you own a geo .com or a ccTLD you will want to integrate this into your website. It will enable your visitors to:

1. Share where they are with their friends.

2. Find out where your friends are (nearby and further away).

3. Tag photos and status updates with places.

Here is a short video of the Facebook Places Launch. Enjoy!

Law Targets People Posing As Local Businesses

The phrase “local search” has been on the tongues of many web site developers, domainers and Internet marketers. Depending on who you talk to, it means different things to different people.

Unfortunately a small number of unethical people are trying to “scam the system” and are polluting local search results with fake businesses. This short term view isn’t sustainable and forces the hand of search engines and now governments to take action.

The Minnesota State Government has passed one such law, preventing out-of-state Internet marketers from posing as local small businesses by, for example, running search engine ads indicating that their business is based in Minnesota. For more information check out the full story in Kikabinks Internet Marketing blog.

Simon Johnson Appointed To auDA Names Policy Panel

A few minutes ago we received confirmation from auDA that Simon Johnson had been appointed to the Names Policy Panel.

The purpose of the panel is to:

1. Review the policy framework underlying the allocation and use of domain names in the .au domain space
2. Provide recommendations to the auDA board about what changes should be made to the policy framework.

The Panel is expected to commence work in September 2010. If you have any specifics that you would like Simon to raise, feel free to leave a comment on contact us directly. Please also note that there will be a public consultation in December 2010.

DNSSEC – A False Sense Of Security?

Its just been announced that Australia will plan to deploy DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) in .au. Given that there is an election on in Australia, its received very little media coverage.

Here is an extract from an auDA Announcement: (DNSSEC) “facilitates the digital signing of internet communications, helping to ensure the integrity and authenticity of transmitted data.”

Wow – sounds good eh? To the average person on the street (think of your parents here), they might look at this and say – “Wow I’m protected”. That’s great news. But the REAL story is very different. Ask any Senior IT Security person three questions about DNSSEC:

1. How does it protect me from having my $$$ (say in Internet Banking) being siphoned off by malicious software such as Zeus? The answer is that it doesn’t. This malicious activity occurs in a persons web browser.

2. Does DNSSEC ensure my data is kept confidential when its transmitted over the Internet? Again, the answer is no. What DNSSEC does do, is ensure that when you look up a domain name, the request coming back to your computer hasn’t been tampered with. Of course, once it arrives at your computer it can be tampered with there!

3. What is the likelihood that I am going to fall victim to a man-in-the-middle attack or cache poisoning attack? These are things that DNSSEC allegedly prevents. The answer is that is almost nil. Having said that, some people see man-in-the-middle attacks on the the DNS, as a sleeping timebomb waiting to go off. Given the inherently insecure nature of the Internet, I have to agree.

So why are we doing this? Its just one layer of defense against DNS vulnerabilities. Its not the great “silver bullet” that people make it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, its great that people are doing something (better than nothing) – but this is like putting a bandaid over a wound that needs major surgery. You are not addressing the CAUSE of the problem.

What Does DNSSEC Mean For Domain Investors

At the moment, not a lot. There is no “mandate” for people or companies to start digitally signing anything. What we will see is pressure put on registries, registrars and large corporates to start getting the infrastructure in place to faciliate DNSSEC.

Its something to keep an eye on.

Domainer Income To Launch Domain Investment TV Show

The big news is that next week we will be launching our new show on domain name investment – Domainer Income TV.

We have had some very talented people working on this project for months.

One thing I can promise you is that its going to be VERY different from anything you have seen before.

Stay tuned.

Demand Media Files For IPO – Isn’t Profitable… Yet

Demand Media’s IPO prospectus indicates the company isn’t yet profitable. In 2009 Demand Media made a loss of $21.9 million on revenues of $198 million. In the first half of 2010, the company made a loss of $6 million on revenues of $108 million.

Check out the detailed coverage over at Kikabink News.

Scam .MOBI Ads On iPad – There’s An App For That!

Last night I was playing air hockey on my iPad (expert level of course) After the game finished the app displayed an advertisement for another game. Beside that advertisement was another one for a .MOBI !

I couldn’t believe my eyes – a .MOBI domain used in an advertisement on a mobile device – who would have thought?

I had to see who was behind it, and against my better judgement I clicked…. Yes I know the advertisement looks dodgy and the use of VISA in the domain name will no doubt land the domain owner in a UDRP case.

Anyway, it turns out the site diverts to usagc.org – a “Green Card Lottery” website which asks you for all your personal information. I’m going to stop short of screaming out “SCAM” at the top my lungs. A quick search uncovers Yahoo Answers, 419 forum (for scams) and many others talking about the site.

For those people reading this post who want to get a Diversity Visa (DV) and go through the lottery process, the REAL site to visit is the US Department of State at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

Good luck!

How To Turn On Geographical Targeting For .CO [Video]

Early this morning, Google enabled geographical targeting on the .co domain name extension. This means that you can tell Google that your website is targeting people in other countries (other than Colombia) – which is what .co was originally for.

I’ve created a step-by-step video showing you exactly how to turn on geo targeting for your .co domain name.

If you like the video or have a view in relation to .CO, feel free post a comment and let me know what you think.

Pros and Cons: Buying New, Dropping, Expired and Domains For Sale

When it comes to getting a domain name, should you register a new domain, get an expired domain, back-order a dropping domain, bid on a domain name at auction, or buy a domain name for sale or make an offer to a domain name owner?

Well, the answers to all your domaining questions are here! Check out this GREAT article over at Kikabink news which covers everything from expired domains through to private sales. Enjoy!

Bankrate May Sell Notes To Pay For CreditCards.com & NetQuote Inc ?

This Bloomberg announcement caught my attention this morning. Its about a company called Bankrate who provide information on creditcards and mortgages.

The article speculates that Bankrate:

“may sell $280 million of five- year notes to help pay for the acquisition of NetQuote Inc. and CreditCards.com Inc., according to a person familiar with the offering who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set. “

According to the WSJ, it paid “$145 million for CreditCards.com“.

I’m not one to speculate on things like this, but if true (and being a public company it will come out eventually) we have a public company that:

a) Has a huge asset (creditcards.com) on the books.

b) Is actively engaging in acquiring such a blue chip asset.

I hope they keep it (or sell it to me for $1 – I’d be happy either way).