Tag: zynga

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News Video Games

Zynga registers slew of domain names following announcement of new games

Dream Zoo

On the day Zynga announced a “gaggle of new social games“, it registered well over 150 domain names as part of its intellectual property strategy.

The defensive domain registrations center around Project Z, Castleville, Zynga Bingo, Zynga Casino, Hidden Chronicles, Dream Zoo and Mafia Wars 2.

The domains include typical defensive registrations like Dreamzoosucks.com and wwwzyngabingo.com, but among the list of names are hints of other games for its newly created Zynga Casino franchise such as zyngacraps.com, zyngadice.com, zyngakeno.com, zyngapaigowpoker.com and zyngaroulette.com.

The names also point to which devices and platforms the new games may be available on such as ZyngaBingoGoogleplus and Dreamzooipad.com.

It’s unknown whether Zynga owns the matching names to each new game like Castleville.com, which The Domains wrote about yesterday.  As Mike Berkens noted in the article, the domain was registered to someone in Shangha China using Tucows.com until August 8th, when it went under privacy at Godaddy.com.  The name has now transferred name servers from domaincontrol.com to cotdns.net as of today, signalling a website may be unveiled shortly, as well as the owner.

Over the last year Zynga has improved its domain buying methods in order to keep its unreleased games a secret, including using a generic Yahoo! email address when registering names.

Here’s the full list of domains Zynga registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.

bingobyzyngaandroid.com
bingobyzyngaipad.com
bingobyzyngaiphone.com
castleville.us
castleville2.com
castlevilleandroid.com
castlevilleapp.com
castlevilleblog.com
castlevillebot.com
castlevillecash.com
castlevillecoins.com
castlevillecrowns.com
castlevilleecards.com
castlevillefacebook.com
castlevillefans.com
castlevilleforums.com
castlevillegame.com
castlevillegamecards.com
castlevillegiftcards.com
castlevillegifts.com
castlevillehacks.com
castlevilleipad.com
castlevilleiphone.com
castlevillemobile.com
castlevillenews.com
castlevillerewards.com
castlevillestore.com
castlevillesucks.com
castlevilletoolbar.com
castlevillezynga.com
dreamzoo.us
dreamzoo2.com
dreamzooandroid.com
dreamzooapp.com
dreamzooblog.com
dreamzoobot.com
dreamzoocash.com
dreamzooecards.com
dreamzooforums.com
dreamzoogame.com
dreamzoogamecards.com
dreamzoogiftcards.com
dreamzoogifts.com
dreamzoohacks.com
dreamzooipad.com
dreamzooiphone.com
dreamzoomobile.com
dreamzoonews.com
dreamzoostore.com
dreamzoosucks.com
dreamzoozynga.com
fuckcastleville.com
fuckdreamzoo.com
fuckhiddenchronicles.com
fuckzyngabingo.com
fuckzyngacasino.com
hiddenchronicles.us
hiddenchronicles2.com
hiddenchroniclesandroid.com
hiddenchroniclesapp.com
hiddenchroniclesblog.com
hiddenchroniclesbot.com
hiddenchroniclescash.com
hiddenchroniclescoins.com
hiddenchroniclescrowns.com
hiddenchroniclesecards.com
hiddenchroniclesfacebook.com
hiddenchroniclesfans.com
hiddenchroniclesforums.com
hiddenchroniclesgame.com
hiddenchroniclesgamecards.com
hiddenchroniclesgiftcards.com
hiddenchroniclesgifts.com
hiddenchronicleshacks.com
hiddenchroniclesipad.com
hiddenchroniclesiphone.com
hiddenchroniclesmobile.com
hiddenchroniclesnews.com
hiddenchroniclesrewards.com
hiddenchroniclesstore.com
hiddenchroniclessucks.com
hiddenchronicleszynga.com
ilovedreamzoo.com
ilovezyngacasino.com
mafiawars2google.com
mafiawars2googleplus.com
mafiawarstwogoogle.com
mafiawarstwogoogleplus.com
playdreamzoo.com
playzyngacasino.com
projectzynga.com
wwwcastleville.com
wwwdreamzoo.com
wwwhiddenchronicles.com
wwwzyngabingo.com
wwwzyngacasino.com
zygnabaccarat.com
zyngabigsix.com
zyngabingo.us
zyngabingo2.com
zyngabingoandroid.com
zyngabingoapp.com
zyngabingoblog.com
zyngabingobot.com
zyngabingocash.com
zyngabingoecards.com
zyngabingofacebook.com
zyngabingofans.com
zyngabingoforums.com
zyngabingogame.com
zyngabingogamecards.com
zyngabingogiftcards.com
zyngabingogifts.com
zyngabingogoogle.com
zyngabingogoogleplus.com
zyngabingohacks.com
zyngabingoipad.com
zyngabingoiphone.com
zyngabingomobile.com
zyngabingonews.com
zyngabingorewards.com
zyngabingostore.com
zyngabingosucks.com
zyngabingotoolbar.com
zyngacasino.us
zyngacasino2.com
zyngacasinoandroid.com
zyngacasinoapp.com
zyngacasinoblog.com
zyngacasinobot.com
zyngacasinocash.com
zyngacasinochips.com
zyngacasinoecards.com
zyngacasinofacebook.com
zyngacasinofans.com
zyngacasinoforums.com
zyngacasinogame.com
zyngacasinogamecards.com
zyngacasinogiftcards.com
zyngacasinogifts.com
zyngacasinogold.com
zyngacasinogoogle.com
zyngacasinogoogleplus.com
zyngacasinohacks.com
zyngacasinoipad.com
zyngacasinoiphone.com
zyngacasinomobile.com
zyngacasinonews.com
zyngacasinorewards.com
zyngacasinostore.com
zyngacasinosucks.com
zyngacasinotoolbar.com
zyngacasinowar.com
zyngacraps.com
zyngadice.com
zyngakeno.com
zyngapaigowpoker.com
zyngaproject.com
zyngaroulette.com
zyngaslots.us
zyngathebigsix.com
zyngawar.com

Discussion: Inside Social Games

Categories
News Video Games

Zynga buys up ‘Mafia Wars Shakedown’ domain names, drops hints on Android

Mafia Wars Shakedown

Earlier this week, Zynga bought up nearly 50 new domain names for its newly revealed ‘Mafia Wars Shakedown‘ game for iOS devices.

While the game will first release on iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad, it appears Zynga has plans to make it available for Android users as well, as the registrations include names such as MafiaWarsShakedownAndroid.com and ShakedownAndroid.com.

As Games.com reported on Thursday: “News of the game appeared when it replaced the Facebook page for Mafia Wars: Atlantic City, which was shuttered earlier this month in preparation for a “a much more exciting destination”.

The list of names registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor, includes many defensive registrations, but what’s missing from the list is: MafiaWarsShakedown.com.  The domain name was registered in August 2011 at Moniker and is currently marked private.  The web page for mafiawarsshakedown.com points to a Sedo parked page that displays third-party ads. 

While it’s unknown whether Zynga officially owns mafiawarsshakedown.com, it’s entirely possible the company is waiting to re-direct the name to its Facebook page once it officially launches.  Also, purchasing the name at Moniker instead of MarkMonitor, may have been its approach to throwing sleuths off its trail.

Here’s the full list of domain names registered at MarkMonitor.  WARNING: A couple of the registrations include profanity.

ilovemafiawarsshakedown.com
iloveshakedown.com
mafiawarsshakedown2.com
mafiawarsshakedownandroid.com
mafiawarsshakedownapp.com
mafiawarsshakedownblog.com
mafiawarsshakedownbot.com
mafiawarsshakedowncash.com
mafiawarsshakedownecards.com
mafiawarsshakedownfacebook.com
mafiawarsshakedownfans.com
mafiawarsshakedownforums.com
mafiawarsshakedowngame.com
mafiawarsshakedowngamecards.com
mafiawarsshakedowngiftcards.com
mafiawarsshakedowngifts.com
mafiawarsshakedownhacks.com
mafiawarsshakedownipad.com
mafiawarsshakedowniphone.com
mafiawarsshakedownmobile.com
mafiawarsshakedownnews.com
mafiawarsshakedownrewards.com
mafiawarsshakedownstore.com
mafiawarsshakedownzynga.com
playmafiawarsshakedown.com
playshakedown.com
shakedown2.com
shakedownandroid.com
shakedownbot.com
shakedowncash.com
shakedownecards.com
shakedownfacebook.com
shakedownfans.com
shakedownforums.com
shakedowngame.com
shakedowngamecards.com
shakedowngiftcards.com
shakedowngifts.com
shakedownhacks.com
shakedownipad.com
shakedowniphone.com
shakedownmobile.com
shakedownrewards.com
shakedownstore.com
shakedownzynga.com
wwwmafiawarsshakedown.com
wwwshakedown.com
fuckmafiawarsshakedown.com
fuckshakedown.com

Discussion: Inside Social Games

Categories
News Video Games

Zynga uses a defensive buying strategy for Mafia Wars 2 domain names

Mafia Wars 2

As Zynga announced Mafia Wars 2, it went on a buying spree of Mafia Wars 2 domain names, registering over 75 web addresses on September 20, through the registrar MarkMonitor.

The domains range from MafiaWars2Android.com to MafiaWars2iPad.com, and MafiaWars2sucks.com to BoneyardTokens.com.

Because of the sheer number of names registered, I have listed them separately here.

In early September, Zynga went on a similar buying spree for Kingdoms and Quests domains.

Zynga does own MafiaWars2.com, which is official web site of the sequel to Mafia Wars.  Like many of its domain names, it’s registered at MarkMonitor, a brand protection company regularly used by many large companies.

Discussion: Inside Social Games and TechCrunch

Categories
News Video Games

Zynga goes on a shopping spree for Kingdoms and Quests domains

Kingdoms and Quests

Yesterday it was reported that Mafia Wars Maniac discovered a new game by Zynga called Kingdoms and Quests after finding the support pages online. 

The support pages have since been taken down by Zynga, however the announcement of the game seems imminent as Zynga apparently went on a shopping spree on September 7 for over two dozen domain names related to Kingdoms and Quests, a day before the game was leaked.  The new domains include web addresses such as KingdomsandQuests2.com and KingdomsandQuestsblog.com.

Each of the domains were registered at MarkMonitor, a brand protection company regularly used by large companies.  Although the owner of the domains is hidden behind MarkMonitor’s Whois privacy, you can guarantee they are Zynga-owned, as Zynga is a client of MarkMonitor and its very own zynga.com is registered through MarkMonitor.

Here’s a look at the list.

ilovekingdomsandquests.com
kingdomsandquests2.com
kingdomsandquestsandroid.com
kingdomsandquestsapp.com
kingdomsandquestsblog.com
kingdomsandquestsbot.com
kingdomsandquestscash.com
kingdomsandquestsecards.com
kingdomsandquestsfacebook.com
kingdomsandquestsfanclub.com
kingdomsandquestsfans.com
kingdomsandquestsfordummies.com
kingdomsandquestsforums.com
kingdomsandquestsgame.com
kingdomsandquestsgamecards.com
kingdomsandquestsgiftcards.com
kingdomsandquestsgifts.com
kingdomsandquestshacks.com
kingdomsandquestsipad.com
kingdomsandquestsiphone.com
kingdomsandquestsmobile.com
kingdomsandquestsnews.com
kingdomsandquestsrewards.com
kingdomsandquestsstore.com
kingdomsandquestsstrategyguides.com
kingdomsandquestssucks.com
kingdomsandqueststoolbar.com
kingdomsandquestszynga.com
playkingdomsandquests.com
wwwkingdomsandquests.com
fuckkingdomsandquests.com

In case you’re wondering whether Zynga owns KingdomsandQuests.com, the domain is currently registered at Go Daddy.  It was first registered in early August, along with the .net and .org.  While all three names are privately registered, it’s also likely all three belong to Zynga.  For its Empires and Allies game, Zynga registered the top level domains at Go Daddy using the Domains by Proxy privacy service.

Categories
Disputes Movies News Trademarks

Updates on Top 5 Fusible stories, May

US Navy SEALs coming out of the water

In May 2011, the United States Navy SEALs drew a lot of news coverage on the web following the killing of Osama bin Laden.  But the SEALs weren’t the only story on Fusible that attracted readers.  

Zynga hinted at plans of developing the next top iPhone game with the registration of hangmanwithfriends.com, the Navy won the battle over the SEAL Team 6 trademark and filed its own marks, Sony Pictures got rights to Kathryn Bigelow’s film about killing Osama bin Laden, former TechCrunch writer Duncan Riley sold The Inquisitr on Flippa for $330,000, and UberMedia gave up its domain claim on Twitteripad.com.

Hangman with Friends– There hasn’t been any news regarding Zynga’s plans for “Hangman with Friends”, other than the company registering the domain name hangmanwithfriends.com.  Considering one of the first word games kids learn to play is hangman, you can bet if Zynga does launch a hangman game on the iPad or iPhone, it could very well be the next top ranking iOS game.   

UberMedia and Twitter– After my story about UberMedia purchasing the domain name twitteripad.com was posted, the company deleted the domain from its portfolio.  The good news: the company avoided another possible trademark dispute with Twitter like the one it encountered over UberTwitter.  The bad news: someone in China registered the domain and is now redirecting users to a fake Apple survey page.  These types of websites often lead to scams or other problems for people, like computer viruses.  Either way, it looks like UberMedia made a smart play by dropping the name.  The company just raised another $5.6 million and its entire business revolves around Twitter.

The Inquistr — The Inquisitr (inquisitr.com) founded by former TechCrunch writer and b5media co-founder Duncan Riley in May 2008, sold for $330,000 USD on Flippa.   Two days after my story was published, The Inquisitr ran its own story “Duncan dishes on Inquisitr sale, future plans” that said the sale was complete and the site had changed hands.  “With everything said and done, Duncan has disclosed some facts and figures about the sale of the site. Final sale price was 10% over the reserve of $300,000, at $330,000. Keeping in with the threes trend, it went for 30x the monthly net after writers’ expenses” wrote Kim LaCapria. 

Navy’s SEAL Team trademark battle — I was the first to report (before any other news site or blog) that the Department of Navy filed a trademark for “SEAL Team” following Disney’s trademark filings on SEAL Team 6.  The story got immediately picked up by MediaPost who attributed their story here, but other major media outlets that reported on the news shortly thereafter, failed to give credit.  It can be frustrating as a blogger to see so many news sites and blogs not attribute the sources of their articles.  Ultimately, Disney abandoned their trademark filings.

Sony Pictures — Deadline.com reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to Kathryn Bigelow’s film about killing Osama bin Laden.  Originally called “killing bin laden”, Kathryn Bigelow had apparently decided to change the film’s title.  Regardless, Sony Pictures registered nearly a dozen domain names including thekillingofbinladenmovie.com.  As of today, the film remains untitled, but the domain names have started forwarding to sonypictures.com.