Reflections on the End of a Year (and a Decade) and the Start of New Ones

Yesterday I wrote about the good things I'll remember from the decade ending tonight at midnight - a 10-year span that Time Magazine called "The Decade From Hell." I am sometimes accused of being overly positive and it is a criticism I will readily admit to. I tend to see the silver lining in most clouds and when I woke up this morning I saw a spectacular natural phenomenon that reminded me why I have the mindset that I do. 

The photo I snapped below doesn't do it justice but it was all I had a chance to capture in the minute or two before the sun peaked above the horizon and washed away the stunning colors that stretched from the water a few feet in front of me into the heavens above.

This unexpected natural masterpiece was on display in my backyard for a few moments just 
before sunrise today - New Year's Eve - then it was gone (but the artist is always there).

I happened to wake up early today and when I came downstairs to get things started with my usual  cup of coffee the scene above was bursting through the rear windows and sliding glass doors. I had not seen anything like it in the 2 1/2 years since we moved into this house in the country just north of Tampa, Florida.

The sun was not up yet, but from below the horizon it provided a spotlight that illuminated an unusual multi-colored canopy of clouds. The sky in turn was perfectly reflected in the glassy smooth water of the pond that begins in our backyard and stretches across to the homes on the opposite bank (they are the dark swath flowing through the middle of the photo and their silhouette was also reflected in the water).

I grabbed my camera and got a couple of snapshots before the scene quickly faded in the glow of the rising sun. But it was there long enough to give me a sense of something far more beautiful and powerful than anything that man can manufacture. No painting (or photo) on earth has ever come close to capturing such indescribable beauty.

The Current Decade Ends in Less Than 36 Hours - Americans Say "Good Riddance" But I'll Miss the Aughts

With respect to cellphones I am actually in the majority in the Pew Study. Most people (69%) cited cellphones as a change for the better - a higher percentage than for anything else cited in the survey. The Internet and EMail are right at the top too, tied for third at 65% each, just behind green products with 68%. 

At the other end of the spectrum, More people getting tattoos ranks dead last among things people see as a positive trend - viewed favorably by only 7% of respondents and called a change for the worse by 40% (maybe I need to rethink that "Domains Rule!" tattoo I've been considering). Reality TV shows are also viewed with disdain. Only 8% say they are a change for the better while a whopping 63% (the highest negative number in the poll) say they are a change for the worse. Now I feel guilty about being a Survivor fan!

RootOrange.com Contest Offers Free Ticket and Hotel Room for DOMAINfest Global

Our latest monthly newsletter was emailed to opt-in subscribers last night. The newsletter includes a profile of RootOrange.com, one of several new companies that have sprung up to offer alternate ways to monetize domain names. The Root Orange system makes it possible for domain owners to lease a single name to multiple businesses based on their geographic location. Our newsletter features an interview with company co-founders Camilo Acosta and Frank Langston who detail how the system works.

Biggest Online Shopping Day Ever

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Day Friday and that "Santa" brought you all of the things you were hoping for. Though overall Christmas retail sales were sluggish again this year, online sales remained a bright spot. In fact, comScore reported that Tuesday, December 15th set a new one day record for online retail sales, hitting $913 million, easily surpassing the second biggest day on record set November 30, 2009 (Cyber Monday) when sales hits $887 million.

MediaPost.com quoted comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni as saying that each day December 15th through December 17th (the last day that many online retailers would guarantee free shipping in time for Christmas), "saw at least $800 million in spending as savvy consumers may have been waiting for last-minute deals."

Overall, online holiday retail sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 18 are up 3.7% to $24.757 billion after reaching $23.873 billion in the same period last year according to comScore. MediaPost said that a different source, MasterCard 

Worldwide, reported even stronger online growth, estimating e-commerce sales increased 13% for the period Nov. 1 - Dec. 12, and 14.4% since the Friday after Thanksgiving. MasterCard's SpendingPulse report characterized e-commerce as "one of the stars of the season."

Results from the final week before Christmas are not out yet but none of the days after December 17 was expected to rank among the highest because, as the calendar got closer to Christmas, people were afraid their online purchases could not be delivered in time for the holiday. 

North Carolina Domainer Launches a New Non-Profit Domain Name Knowledge Base Site

One of our readers, Abdu Tarabichi, dropped me a note to let me know about a new non-profit project he has launched called the Domain Name Knowledge Base (DNKB) at DNKB.org. The goal of the site is to help educate the public about the domain name industry by providing easily accessible answers to common questions about the business in a knowledge base format. Dozens of brief articles, with more being added all the time, provide answers to questions that are organized by category so DNKB users can zero in on the area they are interested in.

Tarabichi said “The project started as a result of the lack of centralized information about the domain name industry. People needed basic information on how to get started and wanted to know how it all worked.  I could see how important it was to educate people in this emerging industry so they could be successful, make smart choices and be part of it.” 

Tarabichi added "With virtually every business having a web presence in today’s global economy, DNKB gives knowledge to the average business person trying to navigate the purchase and management of a domain.  It helps beginners understand what domain names are and how they can register, host and manage them efficiently."

"The free service also provides information on various topics relating to successful management of domains, including securing, selling, marketing, acquiring, parking and assessing the market value of domains," Tarabichi said. "In addition it provides advice on how to respond to domain name sale inquiries and what you can do to avoid and settle domain disputes." You will also find a list of domain information and news sites at DNKB. 

The project has just been launched and has lots of room to grow. Tarabichi invites others to help improve the project by emailing feedback on existing articles or by submitting articles of their own to articles at DNKB.org. Tarabichi, who is

Abdu Tarabichi
Domain Name Knowledge Base

 based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said he has been working with domains since 2001 and he also operates his own consulting company, Domains Guru, Inc. 

.INFO Annual Report Says the World's 7th Most Popular Extension Tops All New TLDs With 5.3 Million Registrations

The .INFO registry operator Afilias released its 2009 .INFO Annual Report this week. The extension marked its 8th anniversary this year and it currently ranks 7th in total registrations among the more than 270 Top Level Domains (TLDs) worldwide. With over 5.3 million domains registered, .INFO also ranks 1st  among all new TLDs introduced since 2001.  

Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Afilias, said “.INFO is the undisputed most successful new TLD launched to date, accounting for over 40% of all new TLD registrations." LaPlante also said the registry plans to use the expertise it has gained to provide backend services for some of the new TLDs that ICANN plans to start launching next year. 

".INFO’s experience provides many lessons applicable to the launch of new domains to come," LaPlante said. "As an organization, Afilias has been able to use our experiences with .INFO as a benchmark for successfully gaining approval for, launching and growing more new TLDs than any other registry services provider.”

Afilias says that over 70% of .INFO domains resolve to real content and that more than 1 million unique Web sites are based on the extension. North America is the top region for .INFO use holding 61% of all .INFO registrations. Europe is next with 23% followed by the Asian markets with 11%, however, Afilias said the Asian region is one of the fastest growing. 

Roland LaPlante
Afilias Sr. Vice President 
and Chief Marketing Officer 

Afilias reports that .INFO also continues to gain penetration in the registrar marketplace which offers domain names for retail sale.  .INFO is now available with over 330 distributors that support over 90% of sales volume in the worldwide domain name industry.  

In addition to statistics on the health of .INFO, the report also addresses news and initiatives that .INFO has undertaken over the last year. This includes .INFO’s efforts to reach new audiences via Facebook and Twitter, the recent .INFO Awards and the release of an interactive .INFO domain directory at www.info.info/directory .  The report also highlights Afilias’ continued efforts to keep the .INFO domain space and Internet users secure through its Domain Anti-Abuse Policy and supporting initiatives.

The Sky is Bright for Domain Owners Who Diversified - Part 3 - "Going to the Dogs" Isn't  a Bad Thing When it Comes to Development

On Friday When I wrote about four domain owners who are pursuing development strategies aimed at putting them in control of their own destinies, I didn't plan for it to become a series. But yesterday I learned about Rick Latona's new wine club ecommerce site at Vino.com and since it tied in to Friday's post so well I wanted to bring it to your attention and that became part 2 on the "diversification by 

development" theme. 

Again, I thought that would be it on that topic for now, but then Elliot Silver sent out a press release today announcing his latest site development project at DogWalker.com. This site exemplifies two things that I think are so critically important for successful development that it has to be included in the discussion. So welcome to part 3 on this topic!

Now, as most of you know, this is not Elliot's first rodeo. He has developed a number of sites and has chronicled his development experiences so that others can learn from them at ElliotsBlog.com.

Screen shot from Elliot Silver's DogWalker.com

We both believe that your best chance for development success  is to 1) find an underserved niche market so you won't be smothered by well financed and firmly entrenched competitors and 2) pick a subject within that niche market that you are personally interested in (preferrably not just interested in - but passionate about). 

If you care about the subject, all of the work you have to put into developing content and building the site will feel a lot less like work. It can even be fun - a much better state of mind to deal with than  drudgery which is what you get when you have spend all of your time on a topic that bores you to tears. If it is fun you are more likely to stick with it and your readers will sense your enthusiasm. If it is drudgery, you aren't likely to please your site visitors and you certainly won't please yourself. 

For the past seven years I have been spending as much as 80-90 hours a week, 52 weeks a year,  producing DN Journal and I can honestly say I still love writing about the subject of this site - domains and the people who love them as much as I do.  Though I am interested in a lot of other things, I don't think I am passionate enough about any of them to be able to devote that kind of time to them without quickly burning out. 

The Sky is Bright for Domain Owners Who Diversified - Part 2

I left you Friday with a post about four domain owners who are taking control of their own destinies by eliminating their dependence on parking revenue through domain development projects. Those four represent just a few of the many domain investors who are going down the same path. Still another example just arrived at my door today. FedEx delivered two bottles of 

Georgia wine from Vino.com. I am a wine fan but for the life of me I couldn't remember ordering anything from Vino.com (though I thought "now that is a heck of a domain name!")

Upon closer inspection I found that the package was a promotional gift from a new wine club site just launched by Rick Latona. A message inside explained that Latona's in-house development team is rolling out full blown businesses on some of the company's best generic domains. I have to admit the package got my attention and I promptly checked out the site which looks great. I'll share the wine with guests Christmas Day and if it is good I will probably sign up for a Vino.com membership. 

Screenshot from Vino.com

I love seeing domain owners building out their sites with quality content or ecommerce solutions like this. Though it has always been possible to make a living from domain sales and PPC or affiliate income, I believe the best chance to earn big bucks is to diversify into at least one full scale development project, preferably centered around a topic you are passionate about. If that one fails to catch on, try another one. It only takes one success to have a massive impact on your bottom line. Babe Ruth struck out almost twice as often as he hit a home run (over 1,300 strikeouts in his career vs. 714 home runs), but the home runs made him the richest athlete of his era. One thing is for sure, you will never hit a development home run unless you step up to the plate.

The Economy is Bad and PPC is Worse But The Sky is Bright for These Domain Owners Who Diversified 

Earlier this week I posted an item about increasing evidence that PPC revenue will start reversing a long decline in 2010. I closed that post with a comment noting that no matter how much parking improves domain owners should continue looking for ways to diversify their income streams and end their dependence on Google and Yahoo. If you can find new sources of revenue from your domains, the inevitable next downturn won't be as painful as the current one has been for so many.

Marler wrote about the new partnership on his blog and also noted that Localtek business is booming.  "We have been providing website development and geo targeted online advertising to our clients through Missouri.me for the last year. The response from our customers has been tremendous and we are now growing beyond our wildest projections,” Marler said. So, there's another guy who won't have to worry about how much Google or Yahoo decides to pay their PPC partners. 

"One reporter from Fox News asked, "how do you make money...I don't get it. Do you have wreaths being made by your agents that you are selling to support the business?" This is really a fascinating case study in the power of a 'concept domain name' coupled with a unique story line and imaginative marketing. I just love doing this stuff!," Grant exclaimed.

These are just a few examples of things people are doing with their domain names besides parking them. It is great to have PPC as a revenue stream and everyone is rooting for it to come back in a big way, but there are many other possibilities and opportunities to make money (or in Grant's example - just a big splash to show what can be done). Domain names are such unique and versatile assets you just have to love them!

Domain Conferences Unveil Attractive Agendas for January Shows and Verisign Plays Scrooge Again With Another Price Increase for .Com and .Net

The 2010 domain conference schedule gets underway barely a month from now with two major shows that will be staged back to back on the West Coast. Both have pretty much finalized their conference agendas and I am very much liking what I am seeing on their schedules.

The other thing registrants clearly wanted is more networking opportunities, something the Latona team heard loud and clear when they surveyed their clients a couple of weeks ago. They responded by devoting more time to networking events (especially on opening day) so attendees will have ample opportunity to meet new people and strengthen relationships with those they already know.

The four judges for a second new feature - Launchfest - were also named with David Liu (Jefferies & Company), Douglas McPherson (New Ventures Group and Idealab), Richard Morgenstern (who has thirty-five years of high level business, legal and finance experience) and Eric Liaw (Technology Crossover Ventures) filling those chairs. Launchfest aims to reward the most innovative and viable plan for building an online business around one of ten undeveloped, premium domain names made available by Oversee.net (the parent company of DOMAINfest Global).

You can check out today's press release for more details on individual show sessions and events. We will also be publishing our own detailed conference previews within the next couple of weeks.

Is Holding Out a Tin Cup the Best Way to Monetize a Website that Gets 5 Million Unique Visitors a Month? The Miami Herald Will be the First to Know

In the past high paying print advertisers covered the newspaper's expenses but with the Herald's print circulation melting faster than an ice cube in the Sahara desert (weekday circulation is down almost 25% in just the past 12 months!) those high paying advertisers are quickly disappearing. In addition to reaching fewer print readers, one would have to assume that they don't like the idea of paying 10 times more to advertise in print than on the web either. It is a vicious circle that has ensnared just about everyone in print media. 

They know that reader migration to the web is inevitable and already well underway, but print advertising revenue is disappearing far quicker than it can be replaced with online ad revenue. I have always believed that the scales will eventually balance. Advertisers want eyeballs and eyeballs are eyeballs, whether they are looking at an ad in print, on TV or on the web. The question is how many in traditional media can hang on until an equilibrium is reached? 

I don't think that will ever put more than a drop in the bucket but I can't blame them for pulling out all of the stops and trying. Though I am obviously in the online media camp, I don't want to see the nation's great newsrooms disappear - professional journalists are indispensable to the health of our democracy. I am hopeful and feel reasonably confident that the best ones will survive the transition to the web - and I am thankful every day that it is a transition I made years ago.

PPC Revenue is Finally Expected to Rebound in 2010 With Google Being the Prime Beneficiary

After an exceptionally long drought in which many saw their PPC revenue drop by 75% or more, evidence is mounting that domain owners will finally witness an end to the carnage in 2010. The latest indication of an upturn came today when Jefferies stock analyst Youssef Squali raised his price target on Google stock (already rated a buy) from $600 to $695 a share (Google closed at $593 today).

Citing increased optimism among advertisers amid an improving macro environment, Squali noted "Our channel checks point to strengthening advertising, e-commerce environment and improving fiscal 2010 outlook, which bodes well for Google. Over 65% of online ad budgets continue to go to Search, with Google claiming the lion's share."

Squali added "Commentary out of Yahoo, AOL and Value Click last week also points to strengthening demand from advertisers." As almost all of you know, Google and Yahoo provide the vast majority of the PPC income received by domain owners.

Adding to the optimism is the fact that online sales were up 3% from November 1 to December 6 indicating that holiday season e-commerce is bouncing back, at least modestly, from last year when it fell 3%. 

The big question now is how much of an ad spending increase will filter down to domain 

owners?  After the massive losses incurred over the past year, a 5-10% up tick wouldn't prompt many people to pop champagne corks, but at least it would be a step in the right direction. It will take many more steps to get back to where we were, but as Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, said, ""The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." If we can get back up from the canvas and start walking again in 2010, maybe we will eventually be able to break into a sprint.

Regardless of what happens, the enduring lesson from this downturn for domain owners should be to continue looking for ways to diversify and end your dependence on Google and Yahoo. A parking revenue comeback would be most welcome, but if you can find new sources of revenue from your domains, the next inevitable downturn won't have to be as debilitating as the current one has been for so many.

Misadventures in Brick & Mortar Land and WhyPark Charity Auction Opens on New Latonas.com Platform

I'm back after four days of visiting family members in frigid central Ohio where I grew up. It was 15 degrees (with a wind chill that made it feel like 5 degrees) when we arrived there Thursday evening. That really made me appreciate the 83 degrees we had here in Tampa, Florida this afternoon on my first day back home following the trek north. 

The chilly weather in Ohio and doing some shopping in an actual store there (rather than online) did make it feel a little more like Christmas but the novelty quickly wore off. My wife, daughter and I had piled up a cart full of stuff in a department store but when we went to the checkout line it stretched all the way to the back of the store! It was literally the longest line I have ever seen in my life. To save money on payroll, the store decided to open only a few cash registers. We left hundreds of dollars worth of stuff in the cart and walked out rather than wait over an hour for them to take our money. 

I saw several other people who wanted to buy carts full of merchandise do the same thing. Today I was back on Amazon instead, ticking off the final items on my gift list, certain that brick and mortar retail is beyond hope.

I think the Latonas.com site is conveying the image the company wants to get get across. It has an appealing upscale look that will put domains placed on the site in an unusually attractive environment. It will be very interesting to see how this new platform develops in the weeks ahead. 

While we are on the subject of auctions, I'll remind you that the latest monthly Moniker SnapNames Showcase Auction ends tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 15) at 3:15pm (U.S. Eastern time). This auction is featuring geo and local search domains. 

Ad Spending Recession Coming to an End? New Survey of Over 1,000 Global Business Leaders Indicates a Turnaround May Be at Hand 

MediaPost.com's Joe Loechner broke down the results from the 2010 Marketing Trends Survey. It showed business owners are becoming more optimistic about business conditions and plan to increase online ad spending as a result. 50% of the respondents said they expect their customers to spend more in 2010. 23% expect them to spend the same and only 8% believe their customers will spend less. 

Mobile, as you would expect, is also expected to see a nice bounce in 2010 as more people use smartphones to go online.  22% of respondents said they planned to ramp up mobile ad spending while only 5% indicated they would spend less. 

I certainly wouldn't be popping the champagne just yet, but if these advertisers follow through with the intentions they expressed in this survey, things could be a good bit brighter for domain owners and developers in 2010.

Are You Developing Domains With an Eye on Local Ad Revenue? A Major Conference in L.A. This Week & Upcoming Free Webinar Could Help Put Money in Your Pocket

BIA Kelsey is one of the world's leading local media research companies and the company's Co-Founder and Chairman John Kelsey is already a familiar face to many in the geodomain space, especially after he delivered the keynote address at the 2008 GeoDomain Expo in Chicago.

"Nearly every metric and survey we've collected since then makes us more confident in our perspective," Booth said, adding " Evidently, the marketplace agrees because the huge attendance for this week's conference will make it one of the three largest BIA/Kelsey events ever. This is just one of the signs that the markets have turned."

"In many ways, this conference was a harder one to organize because there are simply so many interesting businesses operating that we couldn't possible fit every one of them into a three-day program," Both said. " Nevertheless, Mike Boland and Peter Krasilovsky have built what I believe is one of the more valuable conference programs around the topic Monetizing the Local Opportunity." The speakers, to name just a few, will include Anamitra Banerji (Twitter), Meredith Papp (Google), Tim Kendall (Facebook), Cyrus Krohn (MSN Local, Microsoft), Lem Lloyd (Yahoo), Kara Nortman (Citysearch) and Chris Spanos (AOL Local). 

New Domain Sales Site Launched by Industry Heavyweight Andrew Miller of the Internet Real Estate Group

The number of options for buyers in the domain aftermarket continues to grow. Andrew Miller, co-founder of industry heavyweight Internet Real Estate Group (IREG), dropped me a note this morning to let me know he has launched a premium domain sales site at SimpleDomains.com. 

As many of your know, IREG started and sold several websites and businesses based around category defining dotcom domain names, including Beer.com, Diamond.com, CreditCards.com, Shop.com, and Luggage.com and they currently manage and are shareholders in a collection of names and websites (both inside and outside SimpleDomains.com) including InsuranceQuotes.com, Phone.com, Patents.com, Alerts.com, Software.com, Chocolate.com, Sweepstakes.com, Safety.com and Sportsfan.com.

Regarding his new aftermarket project at SimpleDomains.com, Miller said, "We own a portfolio of hundreds of incredible category domains, a few in development, but  mainly, we have been selling them to domainers and end users. For now they are 99% our own domains that we have been successfully selling at or below fair market value." Miller said SimpleDomains would consider featuring listings from outside sources but only if the domain are "fabulous".

You can keep up to date on what is available at SimpleDomains by signing up for their free daily domains newsletter. Miller said, "We are 

Andrew Miller
SimpleDomains.com

sending special offers, rights to buy or see offers on some of the world’s best domains, all at below fair market value." Miller has also started his own blog at SimpleDomains that he plans to update regularly. With his experience and knowledge of the industry that could quickly become a very valuable resource.

Carillo said there are several important points to remember when using the TM checker tool: 

• EVERY word is trademarked (ex: apple, orange, great, elephant) so it’s pointless to have a TM scanner that checks every TM because 99% of domains will have some generic TM.
• TM checker only works on BIG Fortune 1,000 companies + their products (ex: Microsoft => xbox => halo) + smaller industry companies (ex: Verisign, GoDaddy). 
• TM checker is optimized for companies that have a history of suing domainers (ex: Verizon, Viacom, Facebook, Twitter, etc). 
• It’s NOT a comprehensive TM check. Always consult a good TM lawyer for real analysis. It’s only good for identifying obvious TMs in a portfolio.
• It detects typos. You can adjust the probability match (default is 65%, but you can lower it to  30% to make the search very broad).

(Posted Dec. 4, 2009) To refer others to the post above only you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2009/dailyposts/20091204.htm

Antvirus Software Maker Tabs .CM As the World's Riskiest Domain

McAfee, one the of largest manufacturers of anti-virus software, just named Cameroon's .cm country code extension the riskiest domain to visit in the world. CNet reports that McAfee claims 36.7% of all sites using the African nation's extension pose a security risk. The firm said that since .cm is often a typo for .com, cybercrooks like to use that domain to set up typo-squatted sites to infect your computer with malware. 

Now here's a surprise. Guess what extension is #2 - soaring from #9 one year ago? That would be none other than .com with 32.2% of its sites potentially hazardous to your computer's health according to McAfee's 3rd annual Mapping the Mal Web report (PDF file). 

McAfee rated other extensions for specific ills. Romania's .ro was named the riskiest domain 

for malicious downloads, with 21% of its sites delivering viruses, spyware, and adware. .Info is supposedly the one most used for spam with 17.2% of its sites generating junk mail.

Faring much better is .gov, the extension reserved for government use that has almost no risk according to McAfee. Japan's .jp was designated the safest country code with just 0.1% of sites considered to carry a risk. 

McAfee said  that cybercriminals prefer registrars that provide inexpensive domains, volume discounts and generous refund policies. 

Commentator Predicts Websites Will Replace Brick and Mortar Stores Within Five Years

Imagine what domain names that define various categories of products and services would be worth if websites replaced all (or even most of) the world's brick and mortar stores. Well, it's going to happen within five years predicts Laurie Sullivan in a provocative post on her Cutting Through the Clutter blog at MediaPost.com today.  

In an article titled The Obsolescence Of Brick-and-Mortar Sullivan wrote, "Brick-and-mortar retail stores selling everything from clothing to high-ticket items like flat-screen TVs will turn into warehouses where consumers can touch and feel the merchandise. Websites, supported by search engines and site search, will become the cash cow for the retail store. Advertisers will have more of an opportunity to address consumers because many will spend the time online that they would have spent in the store. Tracking sales and pulling in data from social sites to target consumers with specific ads, coupons and discounts will become much easier for marketers."

Now, as you would expect, skeptical commentators on Sullivan's blog pooh poohed her prediction pointing out that similar predictions have been made (and failed to materialize) for the past 20 years. I don't think it will happen either, though I'm certain the web will continue to take market share away from brick-and-mortar year after year. Even so, I can't get a comment out of my head that David Carr made in a New York Times article Sunday about new media replacing old platforms like newspapers and magazines (I wrote about that article in depth yesterday). 

Carr wrote, "Those of us who covered media were told for years that the sky was falling, and nothing happened. And then it did. Great big chunks of the sky gave way and magazines tumbled — Gourmet!? — that seemed as if they were as solid as the skyline itself. But to those of us who were here back in September of 2001, we learned that even the edifice of Manhattan itself is subject to perforation and endless loss."

The unthinkable happened in media, so as preposterous as Sullivan's prediction appears to be on the surface and as much as I can't see it happening over a five-year span, recent history has shown us that with the disruptive power of the internet at play, anything is possible. 

I already do most of my shopping online. After running the Black Friday brick and mortar gauntlet a couple of years ago, I will never do that again! I happily spent Cyber Monday online knocking out a big chunk of my Christmas shopping and everything will be delivered to my door tomorrow. No fuss, no muss. I don' think even Sullivan believes that every retail store will be subjugated by the web in five years, but even if it happened with the majority of stores, I could see myself getting along just fine in that environment and being positively ecstatic about what such a development would mean for the value of domain names that identify specific products and services.