Matt Barrie (left) and Brandon Abbey at Escrow.com headquarters in California.

Payments are just one of many synergies Barrie expects to take advantage of with Escrow.com now on board and that has long time company Escrow.com President Brandon Abbey and his team members excited too. Asked how he thought having Freelancer as its new parent would help Escrow.com, Abbey said, "The amount of resources behind us now is tremendous and will fuel growth and improvement in everything we do." 

Barrie concurred and said he saw his job as handling resource allocation - meeting with the Escrow team to find out what they need and give them the tools they need to grow.

I also had to ask Barrie about the widespread perception that the price Freelancer paid for Escrow.com was "a steal". He said that he was certainly excited to acquire the company but felt a fair price had been paid (something Australian blogger Michael Gilmour concurred with after analyzing the Escrow.com financials).  

Abbey said that some of that perception of a low sales price stemmed from the fact that even though Escrow.com has a major presence on the Internet it was actually still a small company. The fact that they have achieved the remarkable visibility they have with limited resources is a testament to the job Abbey and his team have done over the years - a job that has now created an opportunity to soar to new heights they are just beginning to imagine.

(Posted April 29, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150429.htm

(Posted April 28, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150428.htm

Brandon Abbey
President, Escrow.com

The many people in our industry who are Escrow.com clients first got word of the deal Sunday night (U.S. Eastern time) when they received an email from Escrow.com President and Managing Director Brandon Abbey expressing the company's excitement at becoming part of the Freelancer family and reassuring customers that "The company will remain a California based business and we will continue to operate the business as usual and to exceed the high standards that you have come to expect from us."

Shortly after Brandon's email arrived reports and commentary on blogs relaying the news expressed widespread surprise about what seemed to be a bargain basement price for such a well-known and respected company. The best analysis we have seen regarding the $7.5 million paid was posted by Australia's Michael Gilmour that you can read at  WhizzbangsBlog.com (Michael is a domain industry veteran  and who holds an MBA degree 

and runs a well-known domain monetization business at ParkLogic.com). Michael concluded the price was not unreasonable given the financials he reviewed.

Freelancer.com Chief Executive Matt Barrie said, “We are pleased to acquire Escrow.com, the 
world’s largest online escrow company. This highly complementary acquisition will enhance 
the ability of our 15 million users to transact securely, and there are large opportunities for 
growth and synergies with core offerings. Finally, it is a strong cornerstone for entering the 
payments space”. 

Freelancer, a public company with a market cap of more than $460 million ((FLN:Australian Stock Exchange Ltd), had recently raised the money they needed for the cash purchase by selling AUD $10 million (about $7.9 million USD at today's exchange rate) in ordinary shares to institutional investors in an offering that was oversubscribed.

(Posted April 27, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150427.htm

As part of its Earth Day/Month celebration, DotGreen Community is also sponsoring local San Francisco events such as the Green Film Fest and Earth Day San Francisco, and connecting the global green movement through posting links of Earth Day related events and blogs on their website, Community.green.  

DotGreen Community also recently announced a $10,000 Earth Day gift through DotGreen Foundation to EarthShare, a non-profit federation that partners with business and employees to develop workplace giving and learning opportunities supporting the environment. 

On Earth Day itself this past Wednesday, DotGreen announced that several major corporations, including General Motors and Fetzer Vineyards were using .green domains to promote their Earth Day and green endeavors. Other companies who have signed up for .green domains range from major tech corporations to big box retailers and a global payments corporation. Smaller companies, individuals and nonprofit organizations supporting environmental initiatives are also utilizing the new gTLD.

(Posted April 25, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150425.htm

Moderator Braden Pollock (left) fielding questions from the 
audience during an opening day session at Domaining Europe. 

Day one began with three individual morning talks presented in order by AVALNET President Manuel Juliá, DNForum.com owner Adam Dicker and noted domain attorney Paul Keating.  

In the afternoon the focus switched to panel discussions moderated by Braden Pollock of LegalBrandMarketing.com. The topics ranged from new gTLDs (including a talk from ICANN's Andrea Beccalli), to modern SEO and domain monetization (including optimizing for mobile).

A busy day one ended with a dinner at the Valencian Beach restaurant this evening. 

Day 2 will kick off tomorrow morning at 10am with Jeff Sass from .CLUB talking about how the new gTLD found success in its first year of operation. The conference concludes Saturday.

(Posted April 23, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150423.htm

Pete Christothoulou
CEO, Marchex, Inc.

Marchex CEO Pete Christothoulou said, "Our complete focus is on establishing Marchex as the world’s leading mobile advertising analytics company. A significant and growing majority of the consumer engagement and sales driven by mobile advertising happens offline, such as through phone calls.  Narrowing our focus on this opportunity, while growing our balance sheet, strengthens our ability to continue delivering technology solutions that bring accountability to mobile advertising and transform business performance for our clients.”

Marchex provided some additional information on the transaction in a series of bullet points, stating: 

• From a revenue standpoint, our domains assets have generated more than $290 million in cumulative revenue (excluding domain sales) and meaningful profits, so they have been a valuable and important part of Marchex’s history.

• We’ve used some of the cash flow generated from our domains assets to fund the development of Marchex’s market-leading Call Analytics Platform, which now generates more than $100 million annually and is the foundation of our business going forward. So in essence, the cash generated from the domains and other assets has helped enable Marchex to build a strong leadership position in a growing market of mobile advertising analytics.

• In addition, with today’s announcement, Marchex has sold $80 million in domains through today in separate transactions.

• It’s important to note that what we announced selling today is NOT directly comparable to what we acquired in 2004, as we have sold certain assets since that time.  

• During the past decade, Marchex has enjoyed being part of the domains marketplace and we believe that it remains robust and entrepreneurial, with plenty of room for growth and innovation. However, our business has evolved to where domains are not core to Marchex’s focus on mobile advertising analytics, so the time was right for us to sell our portfolio. Our complete focus is on establishing Marchex as the world’s leading mobile advertising analytics company. 

• It is a win for both parties, as GoDaddy gets a high-quality portfolio and we can now focus entirely on our core business.  Furthermore, now interested parties will be able to find and purchase high-quality domains that were in our portfolio through GoDaddy.  

(Posted April 22, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150422.htm

Rob Grant
WebMediaProperties.com

Grant told us, "I've seen a significant increase in the number of qualified and substantial offers coming in from brokers for the premium '.com' real estate domains - this, paradoxically, as many of the new competing "real estate" extensions are just now being launched, most notably .realtor, and to a lesser extent .house, .home, .realty, .mls, .estate, etc. Over 23 new 'real estate' related gTLDs are scheduled to launch (or have launched already). As this growing clutter of new gTLDs overwhelms the public and the real estate industry, there appears to be a growing identity crisis among agents and brokers... and especially consumers."

"Amid all this confusion - pure .com real estate domains (brands like HiltonHeadRealEstate.com, SantaFeRealEstate.com, OttawaRealEstate.com and TorontoRealEstate.com) have continued to rise in value - selling in the high five and six figure range. The reason is simple - brokers and agents (and most importantly the public) instinctively recognize that these names are the most trusted and valuable brands."

Grant believes this is trend that is going to gain momentum as more new gTLDs are released, predicting, "The day is not far off when a major brand like HawaiiRealEstate.com, AtlantaRealEstate.com or NewYorkRealEstate.com will sell in the half million dollar range, or more. I talk to hundreds of brokers and agents who inquire about real estate domains for their business. There is also a great fear out there for the new 500 pound gorillas - called Trulia and Zillow - who dominate the search results for real estate. Brokers are scrambling to find new ways to rebrand themselves and stand out in the search results. If you own MiamiBeachRealEstate.com (a domain I've turned down offers for in the 6 figure range) vs. Joe Schmo real estate, you win!", Grant opined.

(Posted April 21, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150421.htm

In addition to WHD.global, regional WHD events are also held throughout the year and six of those are still to come in 2015 with conferences in Singapore, Australia, India, Japan, China and - for the first time ever - the United States all on the calendar. WHD's debut in the U.S. will be staged May 19-20, 2015 at Pennsylvania's scenic 7Springs Ski & Mountain Resort (about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh). 

Even though this will be WHD.usa's first lap around the track in America, organizers are expecting more than 800 professionals from around the world to attend next month's event. Many well-known names in the domain business will be there - no surprise since domain registration and hosting services go hand in hand and many major companies provide both. 

Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales 
will be a keynote speaker at WHD.usa

WHD always lines up an all-star list of keynote speakers for their events as well and WHD.usa will be no exception with Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales,  CoreOS CEO Alex Polvi, and Tim Wu, author of the book The Master Switch and the man who coined the the phrase "net neutrality”, all set to take the stage.

One thing that has helped make WHD so popular is a low cost to attend - even free in many cases if you have a contact at any of the event's dozens of partner companies (scroll down for the full list). Those partners can give clients a code to enter on the registration page to waive the $349 cost of a standard ticket. There is also a $999 VIP ticket option that is loaded with perks.

Having WHD come to the USA for the first time is a significant event for a lot of people in the domain business, as well as those in the the hosting field, so we will be going to 7Springs to cover it for you. Conference organizers have 

graciously given us a nice perk to pass along to any of our readers who want to go for both show days - a free night - at the 7Springs Resort (worth $129). Just send an e-mail to [email protected] with the subject line “DNJournal Member” and you will receive the $129 voucher code.

(Posted April 20, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150420.htm

However, eMarketer added there is more to the story, writing, "Typing a domain name into a browser’s address bar remains a common internet behavior. In countries like Brazil, India and Mexico, search was not as prominent as directly entering a URL in a browser, (according to findings from a Domain Name Association report). Furthermore, more than half of all respondents indicated they always paid attention to domain names in their search results."

(Posted April 16, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150416.htm

(Posted April 13, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150413.htm

In early March we told you about a new Indian conference in Mumbai that was also scheduled for this month but this morning we got word that this two-day event, called DigitalCon is going to be  rescheduled for new dates that have not yet been announced. The founder of this conference, Nishank Yadav, who was one of the organizers of last year's first DomainX conference in Hyderabad, has been joined by a new partner, Vaibhav Aggarwal (of BladeBrains.com) who will help stage the event.

Mr. Aggarwal said, "The call for Papers / Speakers is now open and a high power panel is being setup to shortlist 15 speakers and presenters with up to eight case studies of different organizations which may be startups or veterans that will be shared with the audiences with the take aways as best practices for all entrepreneurs and decision makers to learn from." You can get more details on plans for the event and contact organizers through the conference website. 

Organizers of the DomainX conference have just started the planning process for their sophomore show that, like last year, is slated for late summer. I have been told that DomainX, which was held in Hyderabad in 2014, will likely be staged in Bangalore this year. We will have more details on that event as they unfold.

(Posted April 7, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150407.htm

(Posted April 6, 2015) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150406.htm

A couple of other notes as we head into the Easter and Passover holiday weekend. THE Domain Conference, the new event that Howard, Barbara and Ray Neu will be staging in Fort Lauderdale in September, has a nice little 

holiday gift for those who want to attend the show without breaking the bank. From now through Easter Sunday, you can register for $399 ($100 off the normal rate) by entering the special promo code - TDC15 - in the Promo Code box.

While you are on the site you can also get a great rate on rooms at the conference venue. They start at just $109 a night for the event that runs September 26-29 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Hotel. 

We also wanted to let you know about a new hour-long interview that my wife Diana and I just did with Brand.Bar Founder Angela St. Julien, in the latest of her series of Happy Hour Chats (it's the first time Diana and I have been interviewed together). The shows are done live (ours was at 4pm yesterday) but are also recorded so you can check them out any time you like. Yesterday's show can be seen here. 

Angela, whom we had the pleasure of meeting for the first time at the NamesCon 2015 conference in Las Vegas this past January, is a newcomer to the industry who has come up with an interesting concept with her interview series. They are held on the Go to Meeting platform so anyone can log in when they are live and ask questions of their own. She had guests from as far away as New Zealand on Thursday's show.

Angela St. Julien
Brand.Bar Happy Hour Chats

In addition to the usual topics like domain buying, selling and monetization, Angela keeps things fresh by exploring other areas of concern to industry newcomers and veterans alike - like how do you explain to spouses, relatives and friends exactly what it is you do! That was one of the many subjects Diana and I tackled in a fast moving hour that we think you will enjoy.

(Posted April 3, 2015) To refer others to the post above only you can use this URL: http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150403.htm

Colin Campbell
CEO, .CLUB Registry

While the Go Daddy IPO has been met with skepticism from many quarters, Colin Campbell, CEO of the top selling new gTLD on the Go Daddy platform, .CLUB, expected it to be a hit from the start. Campbell said, “We’re very bullish on the Company and the impact of the new domain extensions on their future success. I personally think the (original) $3 billion valuation is under-valued as most of the other top new domain extensions like .web and .shop have yet to come to market unleashing the full potential of Go Daddy.  In addition, as we launch .CLUB in over 50 countries we see the power of the Go Daddy brand internationally which should support strong growth outside of the U.S. for the company. “

.CLUB had some good news of their own to announce today. The TLD has just gone over 200,000 registrations and they hit the mark before their 1st anniversary. .CLUB is one of only five new gTLDs whose total 

registrations have hit six figures and they have done it without giving away tens of thousands of domains as some others have in the fight for market share.

(Posted April 1, 2015) To refer others to the post above only you can use this URL: http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20150401.htm