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Popular Sports Domain NewYorkKnicks.com expires: Will the NBA scoop it up?

New York Knicks City DancersOn August 26, 2010, the domain name NewYorkKnicks.com expired. 

The name is currently pending renewal at Network Solutions by its owner. 

If the name isn’t renewed in time, it’ll end up going to the highest bidder on NameJet. 

Pre-bidding action has already attracted over 30 bidders.  The name must be backordered by October 1st, in order to participate in the auction.

NBA owns other names 

The professional basketball team New York Knicks, are based in New York City.  But in the internet world, the team’s official web site is based at http://www.nba.com/knicks/. 

Though the NBA owns knicks.com and re-directs visitors to its official web site, the NBA doesn’t own the full team domain name, as it does for many other teams within the NBA.

Type WashingtonWizards.com into your web browser, and you’ll be taken to http://www.nba.com/wizards/

ChicagoBulls.com, will take you straight to http://www.nba.com/bulls

The Knicks, whose original team name is New York Knickerbockers, also isn’t a domain name the NBA owns.  NewYorkKnickerbockers.com is currently a parked page.  That’s no big deal.  Most are familiar with Knicks, not the Knickerbockers.  And type in traffic is zilch.

But NewYorkKnicks.com is a domain name the NBA probably wants to own and should own. 

According to Compete, the web address gets as many as 6,000 unique visitors per month.  And NEW YORK KNICKS is a trademarked term.

Aftermarket Value of Domain Name

According to Valuate.com, the free domain name appraisal tool, the domain name NewYorkKnicks.com appraises at $9,000.   While the price of the domain name might not fetch that amount at auction, it’s possible.  Exact local search volume in the United States for the phrase “New York Knicks” was 165,00 searches in the month of August.

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National A-1 Fixing to Launch ex-Yahoo! Domain Name Contests.com

Contests
The first contests should be online within the next few weeks, according to National A-1.

In June 2009, when Yahoo! sold off Contests.com for $380,000, it made all the news.  TechCrunch even covered the sale in a story titled Yahoo Is Now Resorting To Selling Killer Domain Names On The Cheap. 

The name was picked up during the Domain Roundtable auction by National A-1, in what many domain insiders consider a steal.  National A-1, who own a large portfolio of category-killing domain names, continue to roll out new web sites and Contests.com is in the hopper.

The web site, which is currently under development, can be viewed online and appears to be built on WordPress. 

And as you’d guess, it’s going to offer a variety of contests.  While the nature of the contests are unknown, according to the only article displayed on the site, the first contests are scheduled to start in the next few weeks.

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Stay Trendy: Twitter Trending Topic Domain Names

Early bird gets the wormTwitter’s popular “trending topics” indicates what newsworthy topics are grabbing people’s attention on Twitter.  The trending topics that cover a broad range of categories at any given time, can also be an inspiration to domain investors looking for available domain names to hand-register or purchase on the cheap.
 
In 2009, the top Twitter trends included #iranelection, Michael Jackson, Harry Potter, American Idol, Super Bowl, Google Wave, among other popular topics.
 
Hashtags
 
Hashtags have also become widely used on Twitter.   People on Twitter use hashtags – words prefixed with a hash symbol # – which allow others to search on a topic using a hashtag, such as #SEO.    People also string together several words, such as #FollowFriday.
 
In 2009, a number of hashtags were tweeted so regularly, they took Twitter’s Top 10 most popular hashtags:
 
1. #musicmonday
2. #iranelection
3. #sxsw
4. #swineflu
5. #nevertrust
6. #mm
7. #rememberwhen
8. #3drunkwords
9. #unacceptable
10. #iwish
(source: Twitter.com)
 
Micro-memes
 
All of the 2009 Top 10 hash tags listed above are registered domain names, including 3drunkwords.com, which was purchased in May 2009 after the hashtag became popular among Twitter users, who tweeted three drunk words they would say if they were drunk.
 
The trend for #3drunkwords is dead in 2010. 
 
Tags like these that are shortlived are apparently called “micromemes” – which is available for hand-registration.  They pop up on Twitter’s radar for a few days, then quickly die off as the trend evaporates.
 
Neat Tool for Twitter Trending Topic Domains
 
DomainSuperstar, which has made a number of tools available to domainers, has a neat tool called Twitter Trending Topic Domains, that was launched in July.
 
The Twitter Trending Topic Domain tools compares twitter trending topics with domain names, which gives users the opportunity to quickly see what’s available.   You don’t have to copy and paste a list of names to do a bulk check or visit Twitter’s web site to find the latest trends, DomainSuperstar’s tool does the work, quickly and easily.
 
For example, if you visit Twitter right now, some of the trending topics include #momsalwaystoldme and #Afterinut.  Both names are available for hand registration, but you should do your research before spending money on some of the trending topics, especially the micromemes as they are called.
 
However, if you happen to stumble upon the next #FollowFriday or #MusicMonday, it could be worth something.  Since recently going online, FollowFriday.com now averages over 10,000 unique visitors per month.
 
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Guns.com “$800,000 Domain Name” launches Beta web site

GunsFirearms enthusiasts can get a sneak peek at the Beta version of Guns.com, which launched earlier this week.  

The domain name which was purchased for $800,000 in March 2010 currently ranks #7 on DN Journal’s Top 100 Sales Chart of 2010.  

Guns.com had been up for auction in Moniker’s live auction at the DOMAINfest Global conference in Janaury, but hadn’t met it’s reserve price.  But a deal was made shortly after.   Ron Jackson, the editor of DN Journal, first reported the sale: “After that event Moniker brokers continued to work hard to close a deal for the category defining domain and have now succeeded”, Jackson wrote.

The Guns.com web site aims to be the top source guns, and will be divided into three sections:

News – stay up to date on latest news from all corners of the gun world

Reviews – access thousands of reviewis covering all types of guns and accessories

Community – create profiles, access forums, start groups, upload video, add gun reviews, connect with others

The owners have also launched their brand on Facebook and Twitter, and are keeping fans informed of the site’s status.

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Group Buying Site WordPress Update: Demo now available for evaluation

Group Buying WordPress ThemeGroup Buying Site (GBS), currently the only “group buying theme” for WordPress users, announced this week access to its live demo web site.  

I still haven’t evaluated the software or any of its features, but many people have inquired about an evaluation so I’m providing an update to readers after the owners contacted me last night, announcing the launch of their demo web site.

For those anxious to see what GBS is all about, you will now be able to evaluate the tool beyond screenshots, with the demo site online. 

Taking the Leap into Group Buying?

Before you decide to take a leap into the $5 billion group buying space, you should do your homework.  While group buying has become popular in the United States, the space is fast becoming crowded. 

But if you can find a niche in your community, and keep your costs down, it could be worth a try, particularly if you have a domain name chomping at the bit.  And of course, the time.

If you happen to evaluate or buy GBS’ WordPress software, I’d be interested to hear your comments, as I’m sure many readers would.