Tag: "Top 10 Stories"
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #1 New Microsoft social networking service discovered
The absolute biggest story of 2011 here on Fusible was the discovery of Microsoft’s new social network, which is now officially called So.cl (pronounced “social”).
The article racked up some nice social media statistics for a smaller tech news blog: over 600 tweets, nearly 500 Facebook Likes, and over 60 Inshares. Most importantly, it became a Techmeme headline and landed Fusible.com for a short time in the Techmeme Top 50.
A flood of news stories hit the net within hours of my discovery and Fusible had a mention in nearly every major technology news publication ranging from TechCrunch to Mashable and PC Magazine to MSNBC.
When I first came across the site on the web address socl.com, I was doing some domain sales research for a story on social.com, which ended up being number five in the Top 10 stories of 2011 after I revealed that Salesforce.com was the buyer of the highest publicly reported sale of a domain for the year at $2.6 million.
I was immediately struck by the landing page, because Microsoft had not officially announced any plans to launch a new social network, yet here was a site going by the name Tulalip that was owned by Microsoft. I took a screenshot (as shown in the picture above), and it was lucky I did. Shortly after my story went viral, Microsoft took the site down and posted a message stating, “Thanks for stopping by. Socl.com is an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn’t mean to, honest.”
In November, The Verge got an exclusive first look at the service, which was only available to a very limited audience.
In December, I made Techmeme’s headlines once again, after I discovered you could try to access the private beta of the service, by visiting the domain hack so.cl, which Microsoft now uses as the official name.
It was quite a year for Fusible.
In terms of traffic to the site, there was over 350,000 visits and over half a million page views.
–Web statistics provided by Google Analytics Dashboard Report (.PDF)
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #2 Activision battles for ModernWarfare3.com domain
Activision won rights to the domain ModernWarfare3.com in early September, bringing a saga that dragged on for months to a close.
My coverage of the whole affair from beginning to end drew thousands of thousands of page views, along with mentions from nearly every major video gaming news site and blog.
It was Activision’s decision to file a domain dispute over ModernWarfare3.com that earned the number two spot in the Top 10 stories of 2011.
The coverage began in January 2011, when I wrote about Activision missing out on several Modern Warfare domain names, including ModernWarfare3.com.
In May, information and dates were leaked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to Kotaku.
Shortly after the online buzz started, the owner of ModernWarfare3.com put up a website and literally gained thousands of fans on Facebook overnight. Then the website abruptly went offline for days, in what appeared to be a response by the owner to Activision’s lawyers.
When the site came back online however, the same owner launched a revamped website that lashed out at Activision, in a series of statements and videos, throwing support instead to Call of Duty’s biggest competitor – Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.
Still, at this point, no one else was covering it.
It was my story on ModernWarfare3.com re-directing to EA’s Battlefield 3 website in July that started drawing attention by sites like Kotaku. The move to forward the domain proved embarrassing for Activision.
What followed were a series of breaking stories that continued to draw massive traffic.
In mid July, Activision officially filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum that I got my hands on.
After the complaint was filed, Go Daddy removed the privacy service on the domain, revealing the identity of the owner.
In September, Activision triumphed and the domain was ordered transferred.
By October, the domain resolved to CallofDuty.com.
If Activision decides to release a Modern Warfare 4, it may want to handle things a little differently. As of today, ModernWarfare4.com doesn’t belong to Activision.
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #3 Apple wins dispute over iPods.com domain name
There are certain companies that attract more readers than others and Apple Inc. is one of them.
While I’ve written plenty of articles about Apple, this year’s top Apple story and number three in the Top 10 Fusible stories of 2011, is the story of Apple winning the domain dispute over iPods.com which garnered attention from Mashable and even Techmeme.
Winning the transfer of iPods.com though, was just one of many big wins for Apple under the UDRP.
Apple won AppleiPods.com, MacBookPros.com, iPhine.com, and iPodHack.com in October. The company also secured rights to iphone4s.com, iphoneporn4s.com, iphonesex4s.com, iphonexxxforce.com, iphone4s.com and other domains that were being used by an adult website operator.
The list of complaints and wins in 2011 goes on and on.
But not every transfer of a name involved panelists.
In mid-July, Apple acquired the domain names iPhone4.com and WhiteiPhone.com for an undisclosed amount.
And of course, the long awaited “official” confirmation that Apple had acquired iCloud.com from Xcerion also triggered an internet land rush for cloud domain names, a prediction I made in 2010 that came true.
As of today, Apple has no open cases with WIPO nor the National Arbitration Forum.
But with Apple rumored to be releasing several new devices in 2012, expect to see plenty of domain disputes filed over domains like iPad3.com and iPhone5.com (two names the company doesn’t own).
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #4 Google buys YouTube.xxx adult domain name
Until today, I’d only written two stories focused on .XXX domains, one in 2011 and one in 2012.
The most recent story I wrote was published early New Year’s Day and discussed the first .XXX dispute filed over the domain markafoni.xxx.
Though the internet has been flooded with details on .XXX domain names, it was my story on Google buying YouTube.xxx (as well as other names) that drew thousands of readers here to Fusible, after news publications like Business Insider and CNET cited the article.
That’s why the story is number four in the Top 10 Fusible stories of 2011.
Of course, headlines having to do with Google often draw attention, but if I had to guess, a small part of the draw was probably due to curious people, wondering if YouTube would actually launch an adult website.
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #5 Salesforce revealed as $2.6MM social.com buyer
The biggest domain sale of 2011, with a price tag of $2.6 million, was social.com.
The domain sold in June and was co-brokered by Marksmen’s Cyntia King and Moniker.com’s John Mauriello.
As to who purchased the domain name remained a mystery, that is until I broke the story that the buyer was none other than Salesforce.com, the enterprise software company that has paid millions of dollars for domains such as database.com and data.com.
Number five in the Top 10 stories of 2011 here on Fusible, with nearly two hundred tweets, was revealing Salesforce.com as the buyer of social.com in September.
The story also exposed a flaw within Network Solutions’ password retrieval system, which has yet to be fixed.
Though some doubted whether Salesforce.com was the buyer after my story ran, Marc Benioff confirmed publicly at Salesforce.com’s Cloudforce New York in late November that he did buy social.com, saying “We don’t have a product for it yet – it’s just a placeholder.”
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #6 Speculating on the next Kindle to be released by Amazon
When Amazon began slashing prices on its refurbished Kindle 3 models, tech sites began speculating that Amazon would release a new Kindle. That’s when I started paying more attention to Kindle related domain names, as I quickly found out readers eat this type of news up.
My first big story days after speculation started in August, was Amazon acquiring KindleAir.com via MarkMonitor after the domain name had expired. Engadget, PC Magazine and other tech sites ran with the story as well.
But it wasn’t this story that made the Top 10 in 2011…
The number six story in the Top 10 Stories of 2011 here on Fusible was predicting that Amazon’s next Kindle would be named after one of the elements. And my prediction was right, as Amazon finally settled on the element of fire with its Kindle Fire.
Unlike other stories, this one took a little more sleuthing.
As I wrote back then, KindleAir.com was the first hint, but I discovered that Amazon had also secretly acquired the domain names KindleEarth.com KindleWater.com on July 6, 2011. Both were registered at Go Daddy and hidden behind its privacy service Domains by Proxy, but it was simple to reveal Amazon as the owner by using Go Daddy’s public Account Retrieval System, which in June finally addressed other privacy issues with the tool.
While I had correctly guessed the next Kindle would be named after an element, I hadn’t included “Fire” in the list. Though I considered including it, Amazon hadn’t owned Kindle Fire just yet.
Many of my top stories over the past six months dealt with what Amazon’s next Kindle might be, but most never panned out. Names like the Kindle Ice and the Kindle Scribe, which even caught the attention of Time and other publications, have yet to materialize.
Other stories that grabbed attention included Amazon possibly spinning off its Kindle line into a separate company called Seesaw (which went on to get a Techmeme headline) and even Amazon’s massive buying spree of 500 Kindle and Silk related domains, which hinted that a 3G Kindle Fire would be launched.
(Image of Kindle Fire and Kindle DX Graphite via Amazon.com)
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #7 How to get a Twitter username that is already taken
More people have been warming to Twitter over the past year, but when they go to sign up for an account, they often find the Twitter username they want (much like a domain name) is already taken.
The number seven story in this year’s Top 10 is How to get a Twitter username, that’s already taken, a story I wrote in June after successfully obtaining @Fusible, a username that was registered by someone else, but never used.
Many Twitter stories published here have garnered plenty of attention by sites like TechCrunch, such as Twitter winning a dispute for the typo Twiter.com (missing a ‘t’) and Twitter going after Twittter.com (extra ‘t’).
But the story of how to get a Twitter username to this day still attracts readers, even months after being written.
Just a couple weeks ago, Jon Mitchell a writer for the popular tech news site ReadWriteWeb, published an article using the steps detailed in my post, and he was able to get the Twitter handle he wanted. “Thanks to J.B. at Fusible for showing me how this works. I can’t believe it, but it really does!”, wrote Jon.
It’s not a silver bullet, but submitting an Impersonation Claim with Twitter, gives you a much better chance of getting a response, than simply opening a Help ticket with the microblogging site.
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #8 Google helps businesses get mobile friendly
Google has been the source of many stories reported here that have drawn a lot of attention by other tech blogs and news sites, from its purchase of YouTube.xxx to going after typosquatters, to its acquisition of the domain names schemer.com and dartlanguage.com, to Photovine- the list goes on and on.
Google is a speculative favorite.
But the biggest Google story on Fusible by far in 2011, has been discovering Google’s plans to help companies go mobile.
I wrote about Google registering the domain Howtogomo.com in early September, but that didn’t raise any eyebrows. Google owns thousands of domain names, and routinely buys domains for any number of reasons. Many of its properties often go unused.
In late October however, wondering what became of the web address, I typed the URL into my internet browser and was shown an ’Access Restricted’ web page that displayed the message: “Mobilize your site now.”
The story then appeared in Techmeme’s hand-picked headlines and from there was picked up by PC Magazine, CNET and other publications.
On November 1, Google made the website public.
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #9 Sony confirms next James Bond title will be Skyfall
Number 9 in this year’s Top 10 stories is the story of the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall, which will land in theaters in November 2012.
On October 3, more than a dozen domain names having to do with Skyfall were registered.
Though privately registered initially using DNStination Inc., what made these names special was that they were all registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, which is used by more than half the Fortune 100.
The list of registrations, which today now show Sony Pictures as the owner in WHOIS records, included names like jamesbond-skyfall.com and skyfallthefilm.com.
Simply referred to as ‘Bond 23′ at the time, shortly after I published my story speculating the next Bond film would be called Skyfall, well over a dozen news sites mentioned my article including Access Hollywood, IGN, The Hollywood Reporter, and X17, to name a few.
On November 3, Sony officially confirmed the title as Skyfall.
Here’s a look at the full press conference, marking the start of the production.
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #10 Rainbow 6 Patriots revealed by domain registrations
Several of this year’s Top 10 stories here on Fusible have to do with video gaming.
So it’s no surprise that the story of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots is number ten on the list.
After noticing that Ubisoft registered eight different domain names on October 27, like assassinscreedrecollection.com and horsehaventhegame.com, also among the names were two that stood out because there was no information or news on them at the time — rainbow6patriots.com and rainbowsixpatriots.com.
I speculated that the next title in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series would be Rainbow 6: Patriots.
Well, as it turned out, my speculation was soon confirmed by -BLITZ-, a member of the popular NeoGAF forum. -BLITZ- had seen the logos, arts, covers and rendered game screens for Rainbow 6: Patriots.
The story got a lot of play online, with some of the biggest video gaming sites like Kotaku, Game Informer, Joystiq, Gamespy.com, and more than a dozen more news sites, citing the story.
Days after my story went online, Ubisoft officially confirmed the title on November 3.
Here’s a look at the reveal trailer by Ubisoft.
