.CO registrations edge closer to half a million domains

The .CO registry tweets @dotco and regularly engages buyers and interested parties through social networking channels including Facebook.

The number of .CO web addresses registered to date has topped 460,000, edging closer to half a million registrations.  According to the registry’s home page (www.cointernet.co), the domain hit 468,435 registrations putting it on pace to surpass half a million web addresses by mid-September 2010.

In late July, .CO registrations passed the 300,000 mark.

The .CO Home Page

The .CO registry regularly credits news outlets and bloggers for coverage of the domain.  And it heavily uses Twitter and Facebook to reach out to .CO owners and interested parties.

The .CO Founders Program, an initiative designed by the .CO Registry to engage early adopters (called ”.CO Founders), continues to highlight Founder websites.  

One of the latest additions to be showcased on Opportunity.co includes Professional Makeup Artist Pamela Taylor who set up shop on MakeUpArtist.co.   

At 468,000+ registrations in a few short months, brings it closer to one of it’s domain rivals .US, which according to DailyChanges.com only has 1,743,690 web addresses registered in total.

Tweetup.com Becomes Postup.com: Idealab to include Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks

What will be the fate of Tweetup.com as a domain, is anyone's guess. But with the number of incubator companies and projects that Bill Gross is involved in, it wouldn't be surprising to see Tweetup.com be built into something else.

Bill Gross and Idealab have been busy making changes to Tweetup.com, a domain name the company acquired in March 2010 for an undisclosed amount. 

Today, Idealab announced that Tweetup.com was changing the company’s name to Postup.com, a domain name purchased on Sedo for $14,900 in early May following the launch of Tweetup.com. 

Idealab Doesn’t Pigeonhole their Business

The switch is more than just a name change.  Postup will include not only the best of Twitter, but it will also include the best of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks.

Since the acquisition of the domain name Postup.com, the URL forwarded to Idealab’s home page. 

But over the past few days, the name stopped resolving altogether, before today when the company announced Tweetup is now Postup.

We regularly monitor certain domain names, both for stories and relevance, and Postup.com has been on the list for months.  Because we own Tweetups.com, tracking the progress of Tweetup.com has been of interest.  We were also the first website to report on the acquisition of Tweetup.com by Idealab.  In March, we received several substantial offers suddenly on our internet property Tweetups.com which we had acquired on the aftermarket in 2009.  The influx of offers made us curious to see what other Tweetup-related domain owners were up to, and when we typed in Tweetup.com, the URL redirected us to Perfect Market, a company of Idealab that helps publishers create value from their online content.

The domain name Postup.com sold on SnapNames in 2006 for $3,600 – so it was a decent return for the seller, who had an inkling the name would be worth something more someday.  And it’s certain to be worth a whole lot more with a business model behind it.   

Oddly enough, our story in May has a mocked up picture of Postup.com, that looks a lot like the site you see online today.   While we mistakingly guessed PostUp would be used for a “Best of Blog” search platform, Idealab has taken it much further, with the inclusion of several popular social networking sites.

What about @Tweetup?

Following the purchase of Tweetup.com, Idealab had also acquired the @Tweetup URL, despite Twitter’s TOS that forbids selling Twitter usernames. 

Idealab posted a message on the @Tweetup page earlier today, with the news of the name change to Postup.  However, instead of @Postup, the company has gone with @PostUpInc.

We’ve changed our name to PostUp as we start making some big changes! Please start following us on @PostUpInc for announcements and news.

Interestingly, Idealab chose @PostUpInc for the new company’s twitter username, but hasn’t registered PostUpInc.com – a name that is still available for hand registration at the time of this story.  While it’s not really necessary to own the name, spending a few bucks to purchase the domain that matches its Twitter username might be a good idea, since some visitors to the company’s Twitter page may type PostUpInc.com into their web browser.

Domains ending in UP

There have been a number of significant domain sales ending with the keyword “up” in 2010.  GearedUp.com and MailUp.com, both sold on Sedo in 2010 for about $14,000 each, neither name went to Idealab. 

Instead of creating a separate brand for targeting each social network, Idealab has gone the route of creating a single umbrella brand under Postup. 

As far as other relevant domains that could fit into Idealab’s brand, LinkUp.com is a popular job search engine that has appeared in publications such as PC Magazine. 

While FaceUp.com is owned by Mike Berkens of MostWantedDomains.com.

Husband and Wife Team, New owners of Pizza.net: Undergoing Changes

According to the website: Amazon Thunder produces and sells quality Amazonian fruit products to domestic and international markets on both a wholesale and retail level.

Todd Reum, the new owner of the Pizza.net domain name, is using the web site to cross-promote another website he owns and operates: AmazonThunder.com. 

Amazon Thunder, created in 2005 by Todd Reum and his wife Jeanette Reum, specializes in acai berry products.  According to the website’s About Us page, Amazon Thunder: “sells quality Amazonian fruit products to domestic and international markets on both a wholesale and retail level.”

Pizza.net

If you haven’t paid a visit to Pizza.net in awhile, the site is undergoing changes.  Though much hasn’t changed on the website from the previous owner’s content, a new banner appears on the home page with the catch slogan: EAT PIZZA - then detox with Amazon Thunder.

Media Options

Todd Reum acquired Pizza.net for an undisclosed amount, in a deal that was brokered by Andrew Rosener of Media Options. 

And apparently the husband and wife team have done well with their first business, considering the purchase of Pizza.net is rumored to be one of the top 5 .NET domain sales of all time according to Media Option’s Press Release.  And the couple stands to do well with Pizza.net.  Right now pizza.net appears on Page 1 of Google, for the search term: Pizza.

HowDoYou.com Winners, still time to enter and win $10,000 for telling Verisign how .com changed your life

The 4th iPad winner in Verisign's HowDoYou.com contest, a teacher at a school, writes they wouldn't be able to do their job without the Internet.

On June 28, Mike Berkens also covered the story. 

Since then, a voice over actor who uses Wiivoice.com, a man who started one site that turned into a network of 2,500 sites, a person who has connected with friends through new media, and other people have been the weekly winners of Verisign’s HowDoYou.com contest that is running until August 31, which gives people the chance to win one of ten iPads, $2,500, $5,000 or $10,000. 

Since mid June, one lucky winner has picked up an iPad for telling Verisign how .com changed their lives. 

To enter, all you have to do is submit a short video or essay. 

Verisign has offered an opportunity for anyone with a .com story to be heard – and to win some publicity and prizes in the process.