WebProNews

Tag: Domains

  • Register a Domain Name Using Thunderbird 13

    As the Support Analyst for iEntry, I spend a lot of my time involved in an e-mail client. The e-mail client of choice that I use to achieve best productivity for support is Mozilla Thunderbird, and I stand by this free but quality e-mail client 100%.

    Recently, Mozilla released their new version (13) of its popular Thunderbird e-mail client. and one of the newly released features that was announced in the release notes for version 13. With this in mind, when setting up user accounts in Thunderbird, users can register their own personal e-mail address with a personalized domain name and use it straight through with Thunderbird. The options provided are displayed below (source: Ars Technica.

    This new feature in Thunderbird is available to you through Gandi and Hover, a well known and reputable hosting company. Users can utilize their new personalized e-mail address from this service for a fee of $20 per year.

    Do you think this newly integrated feature will become a hit with Thunderbird 13? Let us know in the comments section below.

  • Google Domain Verification Gets Simplified With Registrar Partnerships

    Google announced that it is working with GoDaddy and Demand Media’s eNom on automated domain verification for Webmaster Tools and Google Apps.

    For sites with domains whose records are managed by GoDaddy or eNom, users will see a new verification method that looks something like this:

    eNom verification

    “Selecting this method launches a pop-up window that asks you to log in to the provider using your existing account with them,” explains product manager Anthony Chavez. “The first time you log in, you’ll be asked to authorize the provider to access the Google site verification service on your behalf. Next you’ll be asked to confirm that you wish to verify the domain. And that’s it! After a few seconds, your domain should be automatically verified and a confirmation message displayed.”

    Based on the comments on Google’s announcement, it seems that people are pretty happy with the feature. So far, there’s nothing but praise from users, other than a suggestion (or hope, rather) that more domain registrars are added.

    Google does mention that Bluehost customers will be added in the near future, for this same kind of functionality. The company also says it looks forward to working with more partners, so we should be seeing this initiative greatly expanded upon.

  • ICANN gTLDs Application Window Closes

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) was finally set to be reopened on May 22, and COO Akram Atallah has announced the TLD application system has now closed, after over 1900 applications were submitted.

    For a bit of backstory, the ICANN application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, also began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ in hopes to prompt innovation in web commerce. Though, some critics have stated that the new extensions might only confuse consumers and force established online storefronts to spend millions on securing new versions of their brand web addresses.

    Akram points out that submitted applications and payments are still being processed, and final numbers and a list for applied-for domains will be published on a target date of June 13. Akram adds, “We thank all applicants and the ICANN community for their support throughout the application process.”

  • Demand Media Earnings: $86.2 Million In Revenue

    Demand Media just released its first quarter 2012 results, posting record first quarter revenue and raising 2012 guidance. For the quarter, ended March 31, total revenue was up 8% year-over-year, to $86.2 million

    CEO Richard Rosenblatt said, “Driven by continued growth across our businesses, our first quarter revenue exceeded our seasonally strong Q4 2011 results. We are pleased with our first quarter results and remain focused on investing in our long-term growth initiatives, including enhancing the quality of our Owned & Operated properties, expanding our content distribution channels and partnerships, and pursuing new generic Top Level Domain opportunities.”

    It was the second quarter in a row in which eHow saw revenue growth. The company’s free cash flow was also greatly impacted (increased by $11.8 million YoY) by the company’s decreased content spend on eHow.

    According to the report, eHow ranked as the #17 website in the US in March 2012, up from #19 in July 2011. LIVESTRONG.COM/eHow Health continued to rank as the #3 Health property in the US based on unique visits throughout the first quarter of 2012, it says.

    Another major point of interest:

    Owned & Operated page views increased 22% year-over-year, driven primarily by strong traffic growth to Cracked.com and LIVESTRONG.COM, partially offset by lower year-over-year eHow.com page views due to early 2011 search algorithm changes.

    That would be Google’s Panda update. During its last earnings call, however, the company said it had not been impacted by a Google algorithm change since July. We’ll be listening to today’s call, and will see what they have to say about it this time. Stay tuned.

    For now, here’s the release in its entirety:

    SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May. 8, 2012– Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD), a leading content and social media company, today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and raised its previously issued fiscal 2012 financial guidance.

    “Driven by continued growth across our businesses, our first quarter revenue exceeded our seasonally strong Q4 2011 results,” said Richard Rosenblatt, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media. “We are pleased with our first quarter results and remain focused on investing in our long-term growth initiatives, including enhancing the quality of our Owned & Operated properties, expanding our content distribution channels and partnerships, and pursuing new generic Top Level Domain opportunities.”

    Financial Summary
    In millions, except per share amounts
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012 Change
    Total Revenue $ 79.5 $ 86.2 8 %
    Content & Media Revenue ex-TAC(1) $ 48.7 $ 50.6 4 %
    Registrar Revenue 27.7 32.3 17 %
    Total Revenue ex-TAC(1) $ 76.3 $ 82.9 9 %
    Income (loss) from Operations(2) $ (4.2 ) $ (2.9 ) NA
    Adjusted EBITDA(1) $ 20.1 $ 21.9 9 %
    Net income (loss)(2) $ (5.6 ) $ (1.8 ) NA
    Adjusted net income(1) $ 5.1 $ 5.9 17 %
    EPS(2) $ (0.13 ) $ (0.02 ) NA
    Adjusted EPS(1) $ 0.06 $ 0.07 17 %
    Cash Flow from Operations $ 19.2 $ 18.5 (4 )%
    Free Cash Flow(1) $ (0.1 ) $ 11.8 NA
    (1) Non-GAAP measures are described below and reconciled to their comparable GAAP measures in the accompanying tables. Effective Q1 2012, the Company is reporting Adjusted EBITDA instead of Adjusted OIBDA. Reconciliations for both measures are presented on the Company’s investor relations site.
    (2) Q1 2012 loss from operations and net loss include $1.8 million of accelerated non-cash amortization expense associated with content intangible assets removed from service in conjunction with the Company’s previously announced plan to improve its content creation and distribution platform.

    Q1 2012 Financial Summary:

    • Content & Media revenue ex-TAC grew 4% year-over-year and increased 1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Year-over-year comparisons were impacted by early 2011 search algorithm changes. The 1% sequential improvement included the second consecutive quarter of revenue growth for eHow.
    • Registrar revenue grew 17% year-over-year and 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. During the first quarter of 2012, the number of registered domains grew by a net 593,000 compared to 442,000 in the first quarter of 2011, due to growth from new partners and organic growth from resellers.
    • Loss from operations and net loss include $1.8 million of accelerated non-cash amortization expense associated with content intangible assets removed from service in conjunction with the Company’s previously announced plan to improve its content creation and distribution platform.
    • Free cash flow increased by $11.8 million year-over-year. The increase was driven by an 81% reduction of investment in intangible assets to $2.7 million. The intangible assets investment decline was the result of planned decreased content spend on eHow as the Company continued to make improvements to its content creation and distribution platform.

    “Our first quarter growth and significant free cash flow marks a great start for 2012, particularly in light of a tough year-over-year comparison due to early 2011 search algorithm changes,” said Charles Hilliard, President and CFO. “Demand Media’s increased guidance reflects our first quarter performance, our improved outlook for the remainder of 2012 and, for the first time in more than a year, a return to accelerating year-over-year revenue growth beginning in Q2.”

    Business Highlights:

    • In April 2012, Demand Media invested $18 million in pursuit of its generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) initiative, which it believes represents a complementary strategic growth opportunity for its Registrar services.
    • On a consolidated basis, Demand Media ranked as a top 20 US web property throughout the first quarter of 2012, ranking as #18 in March 2012(1). Demand Media’s worldwide unique users exceeded 104 million in March 2012(1).
    • On a standalone basis, eHow.com ranked as the #17 website in the US in March 2012, up from #19 inJuly 2011(1).
    • LIVESTRONG.COM/eHow Health continued to rank as the #3 Health property in the US based on unique visits throughout the first quarter of 2012(1). In May 2012, LIVESTRONG.COM won the People’s Voice Webby award for Health Websites.
    • Cracked.com continued its ranking as the most visited humor site in the US throughout the first quarter of 2012(1), and more time was spent on the site than any other humor website(1). In May 2012, Cracked.com won the People’s Voice Webby award for Humor Websites.
    • In February 2012, Demand Media introduced its innovative Social Feed ads, which allow advertisers to deliver customized social media content directly into their live rich media ads.
    • In March 2012, Demand Media launched the eHow.com Tech channel, with RadioShack as its lead sponsor, to help users master everyday tech-related tasks and projects.
    • In April 2012, Demand Media launched eHow Pets, the third major channel in its partnership withYouTube.
    • During the first quarter of 2012, Demand Media repurchased 421,000 shares of common stock for $3 million under its Board-authorized $50 million share repurchase program. Since the program’s inception, the Company has repurchased 2.8 million shares of common stock for $20 million.

    (1) Source: comScore.

    Operating Metrics:

    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012 % 
    Change
    Content & Media Metrics:
    Owned and operated
    Page views(1) (in millions) 2,582 3,142 22 %
    RPM(2) $ 15.69 $ 12.52 (20 )%
    Network of customer websites
    Page views(1) (in millions) 3,766 4,722 25 %
    RPM(2) $ 3.01 $ 3.10 3 %
    RPM ex-TAC(3) $ 2.16 $ 2.38 10 %
    Registrar Metrics:
    End of Period # of Domains(4) (in millions) 11.4 13.3 16 %
    Average Revenue per Domain(5) $ 9.88 $ 9.94 1 %

    ____________________

    (1) Page views represent the total number of web pages viewed across (a) our owned and operated websites and/or (b) our network of customer websites, to the extent that the viewed customer web pages host the Company’s content, social media and/or monetization services.
    (2) RPM is defined as Content & Media revenue per one thousand page views.
    (3) RPM ex-TAC is defined as Content & Media Revenue ex-TAC per one thousand page views.
    (4) Domain is defined as an individual domain name paid for by a third-party customer where the domain name is managed through our Registrar service offering.
    (5) Average revenue per domain is calculated by dividing Registrar revenue for a period by the average number of domains registered in that period. Average revenue per domain for partial year periods is annualized.

    Beginning July 1, 2011, the number of net new domains has been adjusted to include only new registered domains added to our platform for which the Company has recognized revenue. Excluding the impact of this change, end of period # of domains at March 31, 2012 and average revenue per domain during the three months ended March 31, 2012 would have increased 20% and decreased 4%, respectively, compared to the corresponding prior-year periods.

    Q1 2012 Operating Metrics:

    • Owned & Operated page views increased 22% year-over-year, driven primarily by strong traffic growth to Cracked.com and LIVESTRONG.COM, partially offset by lower year-over-year eHow.com page views due to early 2011 search algorithm changes. The mix shift in page view growth to relatively lower RPM properties in Q1 2012 resulted in a 20% year-over-year decline in RPM.
    • Network page views grew 25% year-over-year, primarily due to the acquisition of IndieClick in August 2011, which generated 1.6 billion page views during the quarter ended March 31, 2012, offset partly by a decline in page views associated with certain of our social media customers. Network RPM ex-TAC increased 10% year-over-year, reflecting higher RPMs from YouTube Channels that more than offset lower RPMs from IndieClick.
    • End of period domains increased 16% to 13.3 million year-over-year, driven by the addition of higher volume customers and growth from existing resellers, with average revenue per domain increasing by 1%.

    Business Outlook

    The following forward-looking information includes certain projections made by management as of the date of this press release. The Company does not intend to revise or update this information, except as required by law, and may not provide this type of information in the future. Due to a variety of factors, actual results may differ significantly from those projected. The factors that may affect results include, without limitation, the factors referenced later in this announcement under the caption “Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” These and other factors are discussed in more detail in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Excluding up to $4 million of 2012 expenses that the Company expects to incur related to the formation of its generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) initiative, the Company’s guidance for the second quarter endingJune 30, 2012 and fiscal year ending December 31, 2012 is as follows:

    Second Quarter 2012

    • Revenue in the range of $89.0 – $91.0 million
    • Revenue ex-TAC in the range of $85.0 – $87.0 million
    • Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $22.0 – $23.0 million
    • Adjusted EPS in the range of $0.07 – $0.08 per share
    • Weighted average diluted shares of 86.0 – 87.0 million

    Full Year 2012

    • Revenue in the range of $361.0 – $367.0 million
    • Revenue ex-TAC in the range of $347.0 – $353.0 million
    • Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $96.0 – $99.0 million
    • Adjusted EPS in the range of $0.33 – $0.35 per share
    • Weighted average diluted shares of 86.5 – 87.5 million

    Conference Call and Webcast Information

    Demand Media will host a corresponding conference call and live webcast at 5:00 p.m. Eastern timetoday. To access the conference call, dial 877.565.1268 (for domestic participants) or 937.999.3108 (for international participants). The conference ID is 74265713. To participate on the live call, analysts should dial-in at least 10-minutes prior to the commencement of the call. A live webcast also will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s corporate website at http://ir.demandmedia.com and via replay beginning approximately two hours after the completion of the call.

    About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), we use certain non-GAAP financial measures described below. The presentation of this additional financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations” included in this release.

    Effective Q1 2012, the Company is reporting Adjusted EBITDA instead of Adjusted OIBDA. While the dollar value of each measure is the same, a comparison of the historical reconciliation of both measures is provided in our supplemental financial schedules posted on the investor relations section of our corporate site. The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this release are the primary measures used by the Company’s management and board of directors to understand and evaluate its financial performance and operating trends, including period to period comparisons, to prepare and approve its annual budget and to develop short and long term operational plans. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors to establish the funding targets for and fund its annual employee bonus pool. We believe our presented non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making and (2) management frequently uses them in its discussions with investors, commercial bankers, securities analysts and other users of its financial statements.

    Revenue ex-TAC is defined by the Company as GAAP revenue less traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”). TAC comprises the portion of Content & Media GAAP revenue shared with the Company’s network customers. Management believes that Revenue ex-TAC is a meaningful measure of operating performance because it is frequently used for internal managerial purposes and helps facilitate a more complete period-to-period understanding of factors and trends affecting the Company’s underlying revenue performance.

    Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”) is defined by the Company as net income (loss) before income tax expense, other income (expense), interest expense (income), depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, as well as the financial impact of acquisition and realignment costs, the formation expenses directly related to its generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) initiative, and any gains or losses on certain asset sales or dispositions. Acquisition and realignment costs include such items, when applicable, as (1) non-cash GAAP purchase accounting adjustments for certain deferred revenue and costs, (2) legal, accounting and other professional fees directly attributable to acquisition activity, and (3) employee severance payments attributable to acquisition or corporate realignment activities. Management does not consider these expenses to be indicative of the Company’s ongoing operating results or future outlook.

    Management believes that these non-GAAP measures reflect the Company’s business in a manner that allows for meaningful period to period comparisons and analysis of trends. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating Adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period to period comparisons of the Company’s underlying recurring revenue and operating costs which is focused more closely on the current costs necessary to utilize previously acquired long-lived assets. In addition, management believes that it can be useful to exclude certain non-cash charges because the amount of such expenses is the result of long-term investment decisions in previous periods rather than day-to-day operating decisions. For example, due to the long-lived nature of a majority of its media content, the revenue generated by the Company’s content assets in a given period bears little relationship to the amount of its investment in content in that same period. Accordingly, management believes that content acquisition costs represent a discretionary long-term capital investment decision undertaken at a point in time. This investment decision is clearly distinguishable from other ongoing business activities, and its discretionary nature and long-term impact differentiate it from specific period transactions, decisions regarding day-to-day operations, and activities that would have an immediate impact on operating or financial performance if materially changed, deferred or terminated.

    Adjusted Earnings Per Share is defined by the Company as Adjusted Net Income divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding. Adjusted Net Income is defined by the Company as net income (loss) before the effect of stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets acquired via business combinations, accelerated amortization of intangible assets removed from service, acquisition and realignment costs, the formation expenses directly related to its generic Top Level Domain(“gTLD”) initiative, and any gains or losses on certain asset sales or dispositions, and is calculated using the application of a normalized effective tax rate. Acquisition and realignment costs include such items, when applicable, as (1) non-cash GAAP purchase accounting adjustments for certain deferred revenue and costs, (2) legal, accounting and other professional fees directly attributable to acquisition activity, and (3) employee severance payments attributable to acquisition or corporate realignment activities. Management does not consider these expenses to be indicative of the Company’s ongoing operating results or future outlook.

    Management believes that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share provide investors with additional useful information to measure the Company’s underlying financial performance, particularly from period to period, because these measures are exclusive of certain non-cash expenses not directly related to the operation of its ongoing business (such as amortization of intangible assets acquired via business combinations, as well as certain other non-cash expenses such as purchase accounting adjustments and stock-based compensation) and include a normalized effective tax rate based on the Company’s statutory tax rate.

    Discretionary Free Cash Flow is defined by the Company as net cash provided by operating activities excluding cash outflows from acquisition and realignment activities, and the formation expenses directly related to its generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) initiative, less capital expenditures to acquire property and equipment. Free Cash Flow is defined by the Company as Discretionary Free Cash Flow less investments in intangible assets. Management believes that Discretionary Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow provide investors with additional useful information to measure operating liquidity because they reflect the Company’s underlying cash flows from recurring operating activities after investing in capital assets and intangible assets. These measures are used by management, and may also be useful for investors, to assess the Company’s ability to generate cash flow for a variety of strategic opportunities, including reinvestment in the business, potential acquisitions, payment of dividends and share repurchases.

    The use of these non-GAAP financial measures has certain limitations because they do not reflect all items of income and expense, or cash flows that affect the Company’s operations. An additional limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not have standardized meanings, and therefore other companies may use the same or similarly-named measures but exclude different items or use different computations. Management compensates for these limitations by reconciling these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures within its financial press releases. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore comparability may be limited. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations.

    About Demand Media

    Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD) is a leading content and social media company that informs and entertains one of the Internet’s largest audiences, helps advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and enables publishers to expand their online presence. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Demand Media has offices in North America, South America and Europe. For more information aboutDemand Media, please visit www.demandmedia.com

    Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the Company’s future financial performance, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, financial condition, operating performance and results of operations, including certain assumptions related thereto. Statements containing words such as “guidance,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “projections,” “business outlook,” and “estimate” or similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others: changes in the methodologies of Internet search engines, including ongoing algorithmic changes made byGoogle to its search results as well as possible future changes, and the impact such changes may have on page view growth and driving search related traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; changes in our content creation and distribution platform, including the possible repurposing of content to alternate distribution channels, or the sale or removal of content; our ability to successfully launch, produce and monetize new content formats; the inherent challenges of estimating the overall impact on page views and search driven traffic to our owned and operated websites based on the data available to us as Google continues to make adjustments to its search algorithms; our ability to compete with new or existing competitors; our ability to maintain or increase our advertising revenue; our ability to continue to drive and grow traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; our ability to effectively monetize our portfolio of content; our dependence on material agreements with a specific business partner for a significant portion of our revenue; future internal rates of return on content investment and our decision to invest in different types of content in the future, including video and other formats of text content; our ability to attract and retain freelance creative professionals; changes in our level of investment in media content intangibles; the effects of changes in marketing expenditures or shifts in marketing expenditures; the effects of seasonality on traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; our ability to continue to add partners to our registrar platform on competitive terms; our ability to successfully pursue and implement our gTLD initiative; changes in stock-based compensation; changes in amortization or depreciation expense due to a variety of factors; potential write downs, reserves against or impairment of assets including receivables, goodwill, intangibles, and media content or other assets; changes in tax laws, our business or other factors that would impact anticipated tax benefits or expenses; our ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions, including integrating our recent acquisitions; our ability to retain key customers and key personnel; risks associated with litigation; the impact of governmental regulation; and the effects of discontinuing or discontinued business operations. From time to time, we may consider acquisitions or divestitures that, if consummated, could be material. Any forward-looking statements regarding financial metrics are based upon the assumption that no such acquisition or divestiture is consummated during the relevant periods. If an acquisition or divestiture were consummated, actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements. More information about potential risk factors that could affect our operating and financial results are contained in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov) on February 24, 2012, and as such risk factors may be updated in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, information under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

    Furthermore, as discussed above, the Company does not intend to revise or update the information set forth in this press release, except as required by law, and may not provide this type of information in the future.

    Demand Media, Inc. and Subsidiaries

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012
    Revenue $ 79,523 $ 86,234
    Operating expenses
    Service costs (exclusive of amortization of intangible assets shown separately below) (1) (2) 37,654 41,262
    Sales and marketing (1) (2) 9,583 10,393
    Product development (1) (2) 9,251 10,124
    General and administrative (1) (2) 17,024 15,395
    Amortization of intangible assets 10,203 11,956
    Total operating expenses 83,715 89,130
    Income (loss) from operations (4,192 ) (2,896 )
    Other income (expense)
    Interest income 42 15
    Interest expense (162 ) (137 )
    Other income (expense), net (257 ) (19 )
    Total other expense (377 ) (141 )
    Income (loss) before income taxes (4,569 ) (3,037 )
    Income tax expense (1,013 ) 1,195
    Net loss $ (5,582 ) $ (1,842 )
    (1) Stock-based compensation expense included in the line items above:
    Service costs $ 237 $ 708
    Sales and marketing 900 1,536
    Product development 1,116 1,688
    General and administrative 6,674 3,459
    Total stock-based compensation expense $ 8,927 $ 7,391
    (2) Depreciation included in the line items above:
    Service costs $ 4,044 $ 3,650
    Sales and marketing 72 134
    Product development 321 282
    General and administrative 572 898
    Total depreciation $ 5,009 $ 4,964
    Loss per common share:
    Net loss $ (5,582 ) $ (1,842 )
    Cumulative preferred stock dividends (3) (2,477 ) —
    Net loss attributable to common stockholders $ (8,059 ) $ (1,842 )
    Basic and diluted net loss per share $ (0.13 ) $ (0.02 )
    Weighted average number of shares 63,759 82,942
    (3) As a result of the Company’s initial public offering which was completed on January 31, 2011, all shares of the Company’s preferred stock were converted to common stock.
    Demand Media, Inc. and Subsidiaries

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

    (In thousands)
    December 31,
    2011    		 March 31, 
    2012
    Current assets
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 86,035 $ 95,568
    Accounts receivable, net 32,665 32,323
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets 8,656 7,995
    Deferred registration costs 50,636 56,540
    Total current assets 177,992 192,426
    Property and equipment, net 32,626 34,481
    Intangible assets, net 111,304 101,864
    Goodwill 256,060 256,060
    Deferred registration costs 9,555 11,249
    Other long-term assets 2,566 4,239
    Total assets $ 590,103 $ 600,319
    Liabilities, Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity
    Current liabilities
    Accounts payable $ 10,046 $ 7,871
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 33,932 33,706
    Deferred tax liabilities 18,288 18,663
    Deferred revenue 71,109 76,844
    Total current liabilities 133,375 137,084
    Deferred revenue 14,802 16,540
    Other liabilities 1,660 3,160
    Total liabilities 149,837 156,784
    Stockholders’ equity
    Common stock and additional paid-in capital 528,042 536,150
    Treasury stock (17,064 ) (20,055 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive income 59 53
    Accumulated deficit (70,771 ) (72,613 )
    Total stockholders’ equity 440,266 443,535
    Total liabilities, convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity $ 590,103 $ 600,319
    Demand Media, Inc. and Subsidiaries

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

    (In thousands)
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net loss $ (5,582 ) $ (1,842 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization 15,212 16,920
    Stock-based compensation 8,836 7,391
    Other 855 (1,420 )
    Net change in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions (101 ) (2,571 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 19,220 18,478
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment (5,084 ) (4,321 )
    Purchases of intangibles (14,204 ) (2,703 )
    Cash paid for acquisitions (3,839 ) (243 )
    Net cash used in investing activities (23,127 ) (7,267 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net 78,874 —
    Repurchases of common stock — (2,990 )
    Proceeds from exercises of stock options and contributions to ESPP 851 2,115
    Other (108 ) (796 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 79,617 (1,671 )
    Effect of foreign currency on cash and cash equivalents 8 (7 )
    Change in cash and cash equivalents 75,718 9,533
    Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 32,338 86,035
    Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 108,056 $ 95,568
    Demand Media, Inc. and Subsidiaries

    Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations

    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012
    Revenue ex-TAC:
    Content & Media revenue $ 51,852 $ 53,963
    Less: traffic acquisition costs (TAC) (3,190 ) (3,379 )
    Content & Media Revenue ex-TAC 48,662 50,584
    Registrar revenue 27,671 32,271
    Total Revenue ex-TAC $ 76,333 $ 82,855
    Adjusted EBITDA(1):
    Net loss $ (5,582 ) $ (1,842 )
    Income tax expense/(benefit) 1,013 (1,195 )
    Interest and other expense, net 377 141
    Depreciation and amortization(2) 15,212 16,920
    Stock-based compensation 8,927 7,391
    Acquisition and realignment costs(3) 133 61
    gTLD expense(4) — 429
    Adjusted EBITDA $ 20,080 $ 21,905
    Discretionary and Total Free Cash Flow:
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 19,220 $ 18,478
    Purchases of property and equipment (5,084 ) (4,321 )
    gTLD expense cash flows(4) — 314
    Discretionary Free Cash Flow 14,136 14,471
    Purchases of intangible assets (14,204 ) (2,703 )
    Free Cash Flow $ (68 ) $ 11,768
    Adjusted Net Income:
    GAAP net income (loss) $ (5,582 ) $ (1,842 )
    (a) Stock-based compensation 8,927 7,391
    (b) Amortization of intangible assets – M&A 3,733 2,929
    (c) Content intangible assets removed from service(2) — 1,818
    (d) Acquisition and realignment costs(3) 133 61
    (e) gTLD expense(4) — 429
    (f) Income tax effect of items (a) – (e) & application of 38% statutory tax rate to pre-tax income (2,112 ) (4,840 )
    Adjusted Net Income $ 5,099 $ 5,946
    Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income per share – diluted $ 0.06 $ 0.07
    Shares used to calculate non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income per share – diluted (5) 89,861 85,540
    (1) Effective Q1 2012, the Company is reporting Adjusted EBITDA instead of Adjusted OIBDA. While the dollar value of each measure does not differ, a comparison of the historical reconciliation of both measures is provided in our supplemental financial schedules posted on our investor relations site.
    (2) In conjunction with its previously announced plans to improve its content creation and distribution platform, the Company elected to remove certain content assets from service, resulting in $1.8 million of accelerated amortization expense in the first quarter of 2012.
    (3) Acquisition and realignment costs include non-cash purchase accounting adjustments, acquisition-related legal and accounting professional fees and employee severance payments attributable to corporate realignment activities. Management does not consider these costs to be indicative of the Company’s core operating results.
    (4) Comprises formation expenses directly related to the Company’s gTLDs initiative that is not expected to generate associated revenue in 2012.
    (5) Shares used to calculate non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income per share – diluted include the weighted average common stock and restricted stock for the periods presented and all dilutive common stock equivalent at each period. Amounts have been adjusted in 2011 to reflect the revised capital structure following the Company’s initial public offering which was completed on January 31, 2011, whereby the Company issued 5,175 shares of common stock and converted certain warrants and all of the convertible preferred stock into 62,155 shares of common stock as if those transactions were consummated on January 1, 2011.
    Demand Media, Inc. and Subsidiaries

    Unaudited GAAP Revenue, by Revenue Source

    (In thousands)
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012
    Content & Media:
    Owned and operated websites $ 40,524 $ 39,348
    Network of customer websites   11,328   14,615
    Total revenue – Content & Media   51,852   53,963
    Registrar   27,671   32,271
    Total revenue $ 79,523 $ 86,234
    Three months ended March 31,
    2011 2012
    Content & Media:
    Owned and operated websites   51 %   46 %
    Network of customer websites   14 %   17 %
    Total revenue – Content & Media   65 %   63 %
    Registrar   35 %   37 %
    Total revenue   100 %   100 %

     

    Source: Demand Media, Inc.

  • ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Down

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has been down as of late, and now ICANN engineers are saying that it will be at least another week before the system is back online.

    The application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN Chief Operating Officer Akram Atallah comments on the latest postponement – “No later than April 27, 2012 – we will provide an update on the reopening of the system and the publication of the applied-for new domain names.”

    ICANN head of media relations and chief security officer Jeff “The Dark Tangent” Moss adds, “Under certain circumstances that were hard to replicate users that had previously deleted files could end up seeing file names of users that had uploaded a file. Certain data was being revealed to users that were not seeking data, it was just showing up on their screen.”

    The Dark Tangent goes on to say, “We’re putting everyone on notice: we know what file names and user names were displayed to what people who were logged in and when. We want to do this very publicly because we want to prevent any monkey business. We are able to reconstruct what file names and user names were displayed.”

    So, ICANN is still fixing the glitch, and wants everyone to know that it has its eye on them. Check back soon for an update.

  • ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Offline

    ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Offline

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has been down for almost a week, and ICANN is not yet sure when it will be back online.

    The application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN had said it would publish an updated list of domain names applied for no later than Friday.

    ICANN COO Akram Atallah had said, “We will update the target date for publication as part of our update on the timing of the reopening, no later than Friday, 20 April at 23.59 UTC,” in response to organizations seeking a list of applied-for domain names, which was initially set for April 30th. Now ICANN is saying that April 20th is no longer feasible, and is not exactly sure when the system will be back up. Regarding the technical issue affecting the system, Atallah states that there was a problem with how the TAS “handled interrupted deletions of file attachments.” ICANN is investigating an effective solution, as well as logging which applicants’ information became visible, and who saw what. After going over customer service tickets, ICANN says it is apparent that the problem began on March 19th.

    The ability to create new TLDs via ICANN’s plan has come under fire from trademark holders, citing that it will be difficult to protect their content amidst a new influx of domains.

  • ICANN Delays Deadline For gTLD Applications

    Were you one of many potential domain owners trying to hurry the submission of your gTLD application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers by today’s deadline? Thanks to reports of “unusual behavior with the operation of the system” at ICANN, you aspiring web domain owners have been granted one more week to finalize your applications, according to the organization.

    In a statement that was released today, ICANN recognized that a technical issue may have been interfering with the TLD Application System and therefore, in order to protect all applicants, the deadline to complete the application has been extended until 23:59 UTC on Friday, April 20, 2012. The statement continued, “ICANN is taking the most conservative approach possible to protect all applicants and allow adequate time to resolve the issue. Therefore, TAS will be shut down until Tuesday at 23:59 UTC – unless otherwise notified before that time.”

    Note, for you readers in the United States, 23:59 UTC means 19:59 EST, or 7:59PM.

    According to an ICANN spokesperson who spoke with Domain Incite, the technical issue was not the result of a cyberattack. “No application data has been lost from those who have already submitted the applications, so it should not pose problems for existing applicants,” ICANN said.

    ICANN has not yet commented on whether this deadline push-back will affect the date for when the organization will release a full list of gTLD applicants. The scheduled date for the list’s release is slated for the end of this month, April 30.

    As of March 25, ICANN said that there had been 839 registered users.

    If homework due dates ever taught me anything, just because you’ve gotten a deadline reprieve doesn’t mean you should wait until the absolute last second to get those applications finished. But tonight, at least, sleep a little easier.

    [Via The Telegraph.]

  • Google To Get gTLDs, Report Says

    ICANN will release its full list of applications for the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) at the end of the month. At that point, we will be able to see all the brands going this route.

    According to a report, we’ll see Google on that list. AdAge spoke with a spokesperson for the company, who didn’t provide any details, other than to say that Google did apply for some top-level domains.

    “We plan to apply for Google’s trademarked TLDs, as well as a handful of new ones,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying. “We want to help make this a smooth experience for web users — one that promotes innovation and competition on the internet.”

    AdAge reporter Jason Del Rey goes on to say that it’s “likely” that Google will be getting .google and .youtube. “Google also wouldn’t comment on how it would use its new TLDs, but one could see using ‘.YouTube’ as a way to mark a brand’s YouTube channel destination — for example, www.AdAge.YouTube,” he writes.

    It will certainly be interesting to see if Google applies these to channels and/or personal accounts. Could Google profiles become name.google? Could I get “Chris.Crum.Google”, for example? Perhaps Google will offer .Google Google Sites, and become the new TriPod/Angelfire/Geocities.

    It will also be interesting to see which all TLDs Google is actually getting. The company has a lot of products, obviously, but at the same time, they’re working to tie them all together as one big Google product, for all intents and purposes.

    Google’s move to snatch up gTLDs could be more of a defensive strategy than anything. Perhaps Google is just making sure they have them, whether they’re planning to use them or not.

    Registration for gTLDs closed on March 29. At the time, ICANN said there were only 839 registered users in the application system as of March 25, but that the number would be updated.

    We’ll see how many of Google’s competitors are getting gTLDs once the list is revealed on April 30. Could we see .Microsoft? .Bing? .Facebook? .Apple? .Amazon?

  • gTLD Applicants To Be Listed By ICANN At Month’s End

    ICANN plans to release a full list of applications for the new generic top-level domains on April 30. The list will specify who all applied for which domains. That should be interesting.

    “Our plan always has been to publish the list of applied-for strings approximately two weeks after the close of the April 12th application window,” said President and CEO Rod Beckstrom. “Setting a target date gives people the opportunity to plan for this highly anticipated event.”

    ICANN began accepting applications for gTLDs in January. Registration for the TLDs closed last week. The organization said that there were only 839 registered users in the application system as of March 25. It also said this number would be updated.

    Beckstrom will soon leave his position. ICANN announced in February that it had narrowed down its CEO search to 16 candidates, and that the CEO should be chosen By April. Obviously April is here, so it shouldn’t be long.

    ICANN is also currently seeking public comment on the renewal of an agreement with Verisign on the operation of the com TLD.

  • ICANN Closes gTLD Registration

    You can no longer register for the new gTLDs with ICANN. Registration closed on Thursday, March 29. ICANN says there were only 839 registered users in the application system on March 25, though the number will be updated.

    The organization lists seven steps that applicants need to take:

    Applicant completes TAS user account information (user profile and applicant profile)

    Applicant completes a TLD application request

    ICANN conducts the Legal Compliance check (see Applicant Guidebook section 1.2.1 – Eligibility)

    Applicant submits USD 5000 registration fee

    ICANN confirms receipt of the USD 5000 registration fee

    Applicant completes and submits the full application and remaining evaluation fee amount of USD 180000

    ICANN confirms receipt of the USD 180000 registration fee

    “Once ICANN completes Step 3 we strongly encourage applicants to promptly complete Step 4 for all open application requests,” ICANN says. “Since no one can predict how long it may take for ICANN to receive wire transfers from your bank, you might experience delays in obtaining access to the areas within TAS necessary to complete your TLD application(s). Bank delays and the up to 5 business days it might take ICANN to reconcile your fee will impact how much time remains for you to complete and submit your final application, submit your final USD 180000 evaluation fee, and for ICANN to confirm receipt of that fee. Both the completed application and final fee must be received by ICANN no later than 23:59 UTC on 12 April 2012.”

    Watch our recent interview with Dan Jaffe, EVP of Government Relations with the Association of National Advertisers, who deems the expansion of TLDs “reckless and premature”:

    ICANN is also currently seeking public comment on .com registry renewals.

    ICANN should soon be getting a new CEO. Last month, the organization announced that it had narrowed down its candidates to 16 choices, and that a new CEO would be chosen in April. It should be interesting to see how it’s operated under new leadership, and how the gTLD strategy evolves under new leadership.

  • Will Google Rank New TLDs Better Than .com Domains?

    Google’s head of web spam, Matt Cutts, took to Google+ to bust yet another myth (there’s been a lot of Matt Cutts myth busting lately, it seems).

    He points to an article from Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services (described as “a top-level domain specialist”), which claims that the new top-level domains will “trump .com in Google search results”. Kinderis writes:

    Will a new TLD web address automatically be favoured by Google over a .com equivalent? Quite simply, yes it will. I’ve been researching this topic since development of the new TLD program first began (around 6 years ago) and have closely followed the opinions of the many search industry experts who have taken a great deal of interest in the introduction of these new domains and the impact they will have.

    The more I research, the more I have no doubt that a new TLD address will trump its .com equivalent.

    Followers of Cutts may have some doubt. Here’s what he said about it on Google+:

    Sorry, but that’s just not true, and as an engineer in the search quality team at Google, I feel the need to debunk this misconception. Google has a lot of experience in returning relevant web pages, regardless of the top-level domain (TLD). Google will attempt to rank new TLDs appropriately, but I don’t expect a new TLD to get any kind of initial preference over .com, and I wouldn’t bet on that happening in the long-term either. If you want to register an entirely new TLD for other reasons, that’s your choice, but you shouldn’t register a TLD in the mistaken belief that you’ll get some sort of boost in search engine rankings.

    In the comments on Matt’s post, one reader suggested that Google doesn’t rank good content, but ranks popular content. Matt responded to that, pointing to a post we did on a video where he discussed porn sites and PageRank.

  • Google Play Domain Issues Causing Headache For Google

    Earlier this month, ahead of Google’s launch of Google Play (which is essentially a rebranding of Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore) Google purchased 18 domain names related to the Google Play brand. At the time, there was speculation that Google Play could be the name of a forthcoming Google tablet, but then Google hit us with a dose of reality.

    The company had purchased:

    appsonplay.com
    booksonplay.com
    gamesonplay.com
    googleplayapps.com
    googleplaybooks.com
    googleplaydownloads.com
    googleplaygames.com
    googleplaymagazines.com
    googleplaymovies.com
    googleplaymusic.com
    googleplaynewspapers.com
    googleplaynewsstand.com
    googleplaytv.com
    googleplayvideos.com
    magazinesonplay.com
    moviesonplay.com
    newspapersonplay.com
    tvonplay.com

    Strangely, missing from that list is simply googleplay.com. That’s because the domain is owned by someone else, and Google has now filed a complaint over it, according to a report from Fusible (who first reported on the above list as well).

    The report cites WhoIs records indicating the domain is owned by a resident of Japan. If you actually go to GooglePlay.com, it says at the bottom: “Copyright c 2012 GMO Internet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.”

    GMO Internet Inc. is based in Tokyo, and describes itself as “a leading force in the Internet industry offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of Internet services worldwide.”

    Such services, according to its website, include web infrastructure, e-commerce, Internet media and Internet securities.

    Google filed its report with the National Arbitration Forum Panel, which will reportedly decide if it meets specific requirements with ICANN.

  • Wikimedia Foundation Now Officially Off Of GoDaddy

    The Wikimedia Foundation announced that all of its sites have been migrated away from GoDaddy to MarkMonitor. The transition was completed on Friday, and the foundation it was done so without interruption to services.

    Wikimedia began talking about leaving GoDaddy in late 2011/early 2012, though it has taken a while to pull off. This was of course, in response to GoDaddy’s position on SOPA/PIPA.

    @jimmy_wales
    Jimmy Wales    @jsweder @GoDaddy We are moving. They will not get another penny. We are being thoughtful about choosing. 61 days ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    When Wikipedia blacked out in protest to SOPA, it was seen by 162 million people.

    “After exploring numerous alternatives, the Foundation’s legal team decided that MarkMonitor could best provide the comprehensive services that we needed,” said Wikimedia Legal Counsel Michelle Paulson. “MarkMonitor is a U.S.-based registrar with an office in San Francisco and has substantial experience managing other high-traffic domains. The company will help the Foundation consolidate and centralize management of all of its domains, will provide services needed to manage a global domain portfolio and will better protect our domains with additional security features.”

    “The Foundation was already utilizing MarkMonitor’s brand protection services and we found their dedicated customer support team’s work to be exceptional,” Paulson added. “The use of their domain management services ensures greater efficiency in the handling of the Foundation’s trademark and domain name portfolios.”

    While there was certainly a lot of hype about others leaving GoDaddy (as there was following the whole elephant scandal), the numbers of those who fled were really not all that big.

  • ICANN CEO Should Be Chosen By April

    Back in August, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom announced that he would be stepping down at the end of his term. He said he’d stay until July. We haven’t heard much about the CEO search in the time since the announcement, but ICANN provided an update today.

    ICANN released the following statement:

    The CEO Search Committee has been actively working to identify top candidates for ICANN’s CEO/President position, to commence 1 July 2012.

    The window for candidate applications closed on Friday, 17 February. Our partner in the search process, Odgers Berndtson, has collected well over 100 candidates for the position. Candidates have come from community referrals, our ad in the Economist, and the firm’s outreach efforts. Odgers Berndtson interviewed and submitted 27 promising candidates to the committee, and the committee has chosen and interviewed 16 of them by teleconference.

    The committee is now selecting a subset of this group for a second round of interviews, face to face. On the basis of this second round, it expects to choose yet another subset for presentation to the ICANN Board for intensive interviewing, followed by a decision to be made by the Board. The target for completion is mid-April.

    “I am incredibly proud of ICANN’s achievements throughout my tenure,” said Beckstrom when he announced his resignation. “In two short years we have advanced this organization to a new level of professionalism and productivity, and turned it into a genuinely multinational organization that will serve the world community long after my time here.”

    Last month, ICANN began accepting applications for the generic top-level domains, which have been a bit controversial. Watch our recent interview with Dan Jaffe, executive VP of Government Relations for the Association of National Advertisers, who calls the expansion of top-level domains “reckless and premature”:

    There’s no question that the new CEO is going to have his/her hands full.

  • Google Speaks Out Against Righthaven In Court

    The last time we checked in with the Righthaven saga, righthaven.com had just been sold in a domain auction, as Righthaven struggled to pay legal costs and fines.

    Now, when you go to righthaven.com, you are greeted with the image above. Any guesses as to what this is about?

    Interestingly, Google appeared in court, and spoke out against Righthaven on Friday, Vegas Inc. reports. It says:

    Righthaven, in asking the 9th Circuit to overturn Mahan, argued that in the 9th Circuit, there’s “almost a per se pronouncement against a finding of fair uses in cases of 100 percent unauthorized replication.”

    Attorneys for Google, in their brief Friday, argued that’s not true and provided a long list of court cases finding fair use, even when 100 percent of a work was copied without authorization — including in search engine search results.

    …

    “That simply is not the law, nor should it be. Indeed, adoption of any such per se rule would wreak havoc on businesses like Google, whose ability to offer innovative and useful services to the public depends on the adaptability of the fair use doctrine,” Google’s filing said.

    I’m not sure how long this is going to go on, but clearly Righthaven is not going down with a fight, as it continues to appeal cases it lost in the name of fair use, and on grounds that it’s business model itself is suspect, or in other words, has a “lack of standing”.

  • ICANN Starts Accepting Applications For gTLDs

    ICANN began accepting applications for the new generic top-level domains (gtLDs) today. Applicants are directed to use the TLD Application System (TAS) to submit their application.

    With the TAS, applicants will have to answer 50 questions, as detailed in the Applicant Guidebook. ICANN posted some important info for applicants today, regarding updates to the guidebook and financial assistance for qualifying applicants:

    An updated version of the Applicant Guidebook was posted with the opening of the application window. The updated version incorporates clarifications made through responses previously published by the gTLD customer service center. Main points of clarification are on topics such as batching, background screening, the applicant support program, Continued Operations Instrument, GAC advice processes, and the registry code of conduct. Additional information and answers to previously asked questions can be found in the Program’s Supplemental Notes. These materials are not intended to introduce new requirements or criteria. Links to both the Applicant Guidebook and the Supplemental Notes can be found at the ICANN New gTLD page.

    Also available now are changes to the Applicant Support Program: limited financial assistance is offered to qualifying applicants. Through this program, applicants, especially from developing economies, have access to financial assistance in the form of an evaluation fee reduction and other in-kind or community pro bono services. The financial assistance element of the program will allow a limited number of qualifying applicants to pay a US $47,000 evaluation fee instead of the full USD $185,000. This fee reduction has been made possible because ICANN’s Board of Directors has dedicated USD $2,000,000 to the program. This is a seed fund to which other organizations can donate. In response to public comment, the draft program has been updated to increase availability of refunds, make the program available to certain trademark owners, and broaden the scope for those seeking to serve the public interest.

    The necessary links can be found at ICANN’s New gTLD page.

    The last day to register with the TAS is March 29. April 12 will be the final day ICANN will accept applications.

  • Wolfram Proposes .data TLD

    Stephen Wolfram, the scientist behind Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, says he’s been involved with the worldwide data community in coordinating the creation of a .data top-level Internet domain, which would highlight the exposure of data across the Internet, “and providing added impetus for organizations to expose data in a way that can efficiently be found and accessed.”

    In a post on his blog, he says:

    In building Wolfram|Alpha, we’ve absorbed an immense amount of data, across a huge number of domains. But—perhaps surprisingly—almost none of it has come in any direct way from the visible internet. Instead, it’s mostly from a complicated patchwork of data files and feeds and database dumps.

    But wouldn’t it be nice if there was some standard way to get access to whatever structured data any organization wants to expose?

    Right now there are conventions for websites about exposing sitemaps that tell web crawlers how to navigate the sites. And there are plenty of loose conventions about how websites are organized. But there’s really nothing about structured data.

    …

    There are product catalogs, store information, event calendars, regulatory filings, inventory data, historical reference material, contact information—lots of things that can be very usefully computed from. But even if these things are somewhere on an organization’s website, there’s no standard way to find them, let alone standard structured formats for them.

    He goes on to express the idea of creating the “data web” to “parallel” the ordinary web, bug geared toward computational use.

    Essentially, there would be a data-driven .data alongside a site’s .com.

    Wolfram says they’re seeking input and partners for the effort. He appears to be taking a leadership role for the initiative.

    Would do you think of this concept?

  • Righthaven Domain Sold In Auction

    Righthaven Domain Sold In Auction

    We recently reported that Righthaven.com was up for auction on Snapnames, and it has now sold. And not for much.

    It ended up going for $3,300. That’s unfortunate for Righthaven, seeing as how they’ve been ordered to pay about $60,000 more in court.

    For Righthaven, commonly referred to as a “copyright troll,” having to auction off its domain was rather ironic, as the “company” sought the domains of other sites in its quest for copyright infringement “justice”. As courts tended to rule on the side of fair use in these cases, things got financially worse and worse for Righthaven, which brings us to why it has let its domain go for just over three grand.

    While it’s not an incredibly high amount, especially considering the amount Righthaven owes, how much value does this domain really hold anyway?

    Is the buyer (which is unknown) looking to capitalize on that awesome brand power of the Righthaven name?

    (hat tip to DomainNameWire)

  • Righthaven Domain Now Being Auctioned

    Righthaven, which is commonly referred to as a “copyright troll,” is now having its domain name RightHaven.com auctioned off by domain auction site SnapNames, as pictured above.

    If you’re not familiar with the story, the irony here is that RightHaven itself has sought the domains of other sites, which it deemed in violation of its copyrights. For more backstory on RightHaven, see our previous coverage here.

    After losing in court a number of times (losing out to fair use), Righthaven has been unable to pay its own fines and legal fees, delaying payment to avoid bankruptcy. Earlier this month, a judge ruled for Righthaven’s copyrights to be auctioned off. On Monday, the domain name went up for auction.

    At the time of this writing, there are six bidders, and the auction goes on until January 6. There was reportedly an initial minimum bid price of $100. It’s currently at $1,300.

    Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson (along with his wife) is due in court on January 6, the same day as the auction is scheduled to end.

  • GoDaddy Tries To Reverse The SOPA Exodus

    GoDaddy Tries To Reverse The SOPA Exodus

    After dealing with backlash of the worst kind — the kind that makes you lose customers, fast — GoDaddy withdrew their support for SOPA with press releases and Twitter announcements. But was that enough?

    Not for one ex-GoDaddy customer, who detailed his exchange with one of their customer service representatives on Google+. Chris Heald’s post not only documents why he left, SOPA support, but he also details the surprising level of defeat GoDaddy’s customer service staff must be feeling as they try and woo back previous customers.

    The first thing that stood out to me, besides the legitimate reason Heald has for moving his 60-plus domains to one of GoDaddy’s competitors. Heald believes GoDaddy essentially blew the criticism off. That is, until the mass exodus began:

    The rep was quite sincere in his apology to me, asked if there was anything they could do to win me back. He had a “We support IP protections, and now realize that support of SOPA is too broad” song-and-dance routine that probably came in from a PR memo today. I told him “no thanks”, and that was that. I’m impressed by the customer service hustle, but it shows that this little incident really spooked them.

    I think that the backlash against their support was a lot more swift and severe than they’d anticipated. Their initially glib “lol, whatever” response was replaced by “oh god, please stop punching us in the quarterly financial report!” real fast.

    Considering the amount of turnover GoDaddy experienced, the backtracking shouldn’t be surprising, even with the existence of GoDaddy CEO tweets like the following:

    @asocialcontract
    Warren Adelman    We listened to our customers. GoDaddy no longer supports SOPA http://t.co/XHNuuYbY 3 days ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    To many ex-GoDaddy customers, this is a “too little, too late” reaction from a company that seems more concerned about winning their customers back than they do about taking a stand against SOPA. As for Heald, he sees GoDaddy’s backtracking as a win for consumers:

    GoDaddy capitulating is a huge win, because it’s the first stone to come out of the wall. Now that GoDaddy has demonstrated that they were taking too much damage to continue with their support of SOPA, it empowers people to exert similar pressure on other companies, and it demonstrates to those companies that there are enough angry people out there that you need to listen up and pay attention.

    Heald also points out the ones at GoDaddy who will truly suffer for the SOPA backlash will be the customer service reps who have to call ex-customers in an effort to win them back:

    I feel really bad for the customer service reps that have to do damage control on this. You know that they’re going to be pulling overtime this Christmas weekend because their bosses screwed up.

    Who knows? Maybe GoDaddy pays double time during Holiday hours…

  • GoDaddy Experiences Massive SOPA Backlash

    GoDaddy Experiences Massive SOPA Backlash

    So, what’s worse? Bad PR due to the perhaps unnecessary killing of a wild elephant or a mass exodus due to supporting one of the most combative pieces of legislation to address the Internet, perhaps ever?

    News of GoDaddy’s support of SOPA hit its crescendo over the Christmas weekend, spurred on by Jimmy Wales’ announcement of his intentions to move Wikipedia’s domain away from GoDaddy’s service:

    @jimmy_wales
    Jimmy Wales    I am proud to announce that the Wikipedia domain names will move away from GoDaddy. Their position on #sopa is unacceptable to us. 3 days ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    From there, the exodus from GoDaddy began in earnest. All told, the registrar service lost over 70,000 domains, and that’s when the backtracking and double talk began. Of course, when large portions of the Internet population are speaking out against your service on sites like Reddit, and there’s a “Boycott GoDaddy” site getting attention, it’s hard not to respond, unless recent GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons enjoys watching his flock flee.

    And flee they did. In fact, one of GoDaddy’s competitors, Namecheap, wrote a blog post discussing how GoDaddy was not facilitating the transfer process by returning “incomplete WHOIS information,” an accusation the domain registrar denied in a statement to CNet, which, in part, says:

    Because some registrars (and other data gathering, analyzing and reporting entities) have legitimate need for heavy port 43 access, we routinely grant requests for expanded access per an SOP we’ve had in place for many years. Should we make contact with Namecheap, and learn they need similar access, we would treat that request similarly.

    However, GoDaddy’s handling of transferring domains was not the issue at hand. Instead, the company’s support of SOPA/PIPA was the driving force behind the defections. So much so, in fact, GoDaddy issued a press release saying they no longer supported SOPA — conveniently leaving out PIPA — as they tried to reverse the course many of their ex-customers were taking.

    The release is complete with a “please don’t go” feel:

    “Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation – but we can clearly do better,” Warren Adelman, Go Daddy’s newly appointed CEO, said. “It’s very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it.”

    Considering GoDaddy was potentially exempt from SOPA’s punitive actions, it’s clear GoDaddy’s SOPA reversal is motivated by business, or the loss thereof.

    Was your domain registered through GoDaddy’s service? Does their previous (wink, wink) support of SOPA/PIPA inspire you to leave GoDaddy? Let us know what you think.