So what is behind Facebook’s newest domain registration, FBFeedback.com?
While there’s no website online, and Facebook already has a Help center for gathering suggestions and feedback, there is something more to it.
In addition to purchasing the domain FBFeedback.com, the social networking giant also registered two more related names using the registrar MarkMonitor — FBFeedback.net and FBFeedback.org.
You wouldn’t purchase the .com, the .net. and the .org without a plan, would you?
All three web addresses were purchased on July 25.
Nearly 1,000 domain disputes have been filed with WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, since the beginning of 2011, with many cases getting attention across the web like the case of Facebook which filed a complaint over 21 separate domains and won.
Here’s a look at some of the more recent disputes filed that include companies ranging from Google to The California Milk Processor Board which filed a complaint over the domain name momgotmilk.com.
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft – gea.com
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest system providers for food and energy processes with about EUR 4.4 billion revenue in 2010 according to its website has filed a domain dispute over the three-letter domain name gea.com. Gea.com was first registered back in 1995 and is currently owned by G.E.A Design. The complainant uses geagroup.com for its company website. Although it may seem impossible that the company could win gea.com, you will be surprised. In 2003, GEA Group won the three-letter domain gea.biz.
TPI Holdings, Inc. – autotrade.com
Autotrader.com and Auto Trader are trademarks of TPI Holdings, Inc. TPI Holdings is no stranger to WIPO having filed nearly two dozen cases since 2000 with most involving the keyword “trader”, not “trade”. Its most recent cases came in 2010 when it won the transfer of autotraderleaseguide.com, cycletradermagazine.com, and cycletradermagazines.com. Well known domain investor Garry Chernoff is the current owner of autotrade.com. Garry Chernoff made headlines in 2011 with top dollar sales including gamesforgirls.com at $500,000 and bluejeans.com for $150,000.
The California Milk Processor Board – momgotmilk.com
The California Milk Processor Board is the owner of the Got Milk? trademark. The CA Milk Processor Board currently owns about 40 domain names according to DomainTools, which include gotmilkchocolate.com and cowabduction.com. It also owns and operates gotmilk.com, a website that receives thousands of visitors a month according to Compete. In 2010 the CA Milk Processor Board won a number of domain names after the respondent failed to reply. Among the names handed over were gotalmondmilk.com and gotnutmilk.com.
Wikimedia Foundation Inc. and Google Inc.
Unlike the cases of autotrade.com and gea.com, Wikimedia and Google seem to have more legitimate claims. Wikimedia is going after the domains wikiipedia.org, wikipediia.org, and wikippedia.org. Google is going after ad-words.mobi. Wikimedia won cases earlier this year over additional typo domains wekipedia.com and wikkipedia.org. A rough estimate by Compete, shows that 2 of the 3 typos actually get traffic in the hundreds each month.
To see some of the latest WIPO UDRP cases, visit the WIPO website.
Cityville, the popular social game developed by Zynga, is very close to reaching 100 million monthly active users.
According to the latest stats from application trends and metrics tracker Appdata, Cityville has reached 98,798,539 monthly active users and is set to be the first game in history to hit 100 million users, within the next week.
Cityville, like many of Zynga’s social games, has experienced a quick rise to the top.
The domain name Cityville.com, which Zynga owns and re-directs to its Facebook application page, was purchased for a mere $38,225 at Moniker less than a year ago.
With Zynga’s latest Facebook game Cityville topping the charts as the most popular Facebook game in 2010, I thought I’d offer up a few predictions on Zynga’s next blockbuster game title in 2011. With Cityville, Farmville, and Frontierville numbering daily users in the millions, one can only guess what’s next for Zynga, like another game with “ville” in the title.
Back in late 2009, the game publisher went on a trademarking spree as pointed out by Games.com.
Libe Goad, wrote: “Zynga, the social game publisher responsible for FarmVille, PetVille, Mafia Wars and more, went on a trademarking spree during the month of December, securing 21 names for potential new games. Of course, many of the names follow the end with ‘ville,’ including TreasureVille, FrontierVille, CrimeVille and AnimalVille.”
The complete list of trademarks (which can viewed easily over at Trademarkia) included: Pet Hospital, Poker Blitz, Safari World, Treasureville, Zoo city, zoo island, mafia world, hotelville, hotel world, hospital world, hospitalville, frontierville, frontier world, frontier, crimeville, crime world, casino world, casino blitz, bountyville, animal world and animalville.
The game title Cityville, has spawned hundreds of domain registrations and websites with “cityville” in the name, ranging from CityvilleGuide.com to CityvilleGamecheats.net.
Zynga is known for using a myriad of companies and individuals for registering domain names, so predicting the next big game title might prove to be much harder. For example, the company used IP Cybercrime LLC to register its Cityville.com domain.
Predictions
What are your predictions for Zygna game titles in 2011?
Will the game developer go with a “ville” name? A “world” name?
Is the company somehow behind the recent buys of Songville.com, Dreamville.com, or Slotsville.com on Sedo? Or maybe RestaurantWorld.com (which was purchased for nearly $8,000 in September)?
The company has plenty of names to choose from, but who owns those names is the question. As I wrote about before, though Zynga might use a certain title for a game, it doesn’t always own the domain (even after launching the game).
Petville.com was launched in 2009 by Zynga, and the company acquired the domain name Petville.com from its previous owners for an undisclosed amount. Visit Petville.com, and a message at the top of the site reads: ‘the content that was previously found at petville.com can now be found at ipawz.com’.
Though Zynga owns Petville.com, Farmville.com and other ville domain names, it doesn’t own Fishville.com – which saw a spike in traffic according to Compete when the site launched in November 2009. It appears Zynga and the owners of Fishville.com couldn’t come to an agreement, but Zynga is doing just fine – its Fishville game owns nearly all the top spots on Google, and the company does own the .net which it uses for the game’s home page.
After selling for $38,225 in June at Moniker, CityVille is now bigger than FarmVille, Mashable is reporting.
Referring to the latest statistics provided by Appdata, a site that tracks Facebook application metrics, Cityville surpassed Farmville and the Facebook game now has nearly 17 million daily users. On Dec. 11, Cityville which had been online less than 2 weeks, had 6 million users and it has continued to grow at a phenomenal pace.
The top 10 Facebook apps on the leaderboard according to Appdata are:
1. CityVille
2. FarmVille
3. Phrases
4. Texas HoldEm Poker
5. FrontierVille
6. Causes
7. Mafia Wars Game
8. Café World
9. Phrases (new)
10. My Year In Status
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