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It seems like each time Domaintools puts an auction together, its always last minute, poorly advertised, and down right dissapointing. There was no exception this time around. The list of domains for sale wasnt even finalized until days before the actual auction, giving no time to bring in potential end-user bidders. Below are my notes, which I thought interesting:

StorageFacility.com sold for $5,000. It sold for $18,700 last year.

I hate when Auctioneers pretend they know what they are selling. "This is a tremendous oppertunity"

Jobless.com sold for $14,000, about where I expected it. This was my favorite buy of the auction.

There were only 80 or so online viewers durring the auction, NamePros ususally has more.

Overwhelmed.com sold for $3,700. It was listed last month in an email from RickLatona.com at $2,200.

Voodoo.com sold for $300,000 but no one was sure if it actually sold. This sold for more then all the other sales combined and probably turned a profit for Domaintools.

We have been waiting to report this sale now for nearly two weeks. Today we recieved the confirmation that we had been waiting for. FreeQuotes.com sold for $210,000. This domain sold via a Network Solutions certified offer. This is the largest Certified offer that we are aware of. Network Solutions charges a $69 fee plus 5% of the offer price (to the buyer) and 5% of the sales prices (from the seller). Meaning they are pocketing around $20,000 or 10% of the total sale.

Considering the state of the economy, this sale is a nice indicator that end-users are still out there and are still spending money on quality domain names. Congrats to the sellers, Jeb and Jason.

DotWeekly reported today that Tucows will no longer send its expiring domain names to Afternic. They will instead be sending them to NameJet, one of the newest but hottest Drop Auction sites. Many domainers have flocked to NameJet as they auction off Network Solutions and Enom domain names (which make up a sizeable bulk of the drops each day).

Afternic simply didnt have the technology in place to really accomodate a drop auction. It was confusing and frustrating for any user attempting to bid or buy Tucows expired domain names. I think this was a solid move for Tucows who is doing their best to capitalize on what many of the other big registrars have been doing for some time.

Today at NameJet, four of the domain auctions we were watching did better than $5,000.

SkinDisorders.com - $5,500

Zigo.com - $11,301

Hairbraids.com - $9,200

WebSchools.com - $9.100

Some strong sales, especially considering the state of the economy. It just goes to show that Drop Houses are still drawing in the customers who arent afraid to bid.

When it comes to sex in advertising, Godaddy certainly has experience in the matter. Theyve had several commercials run durring the superbowl and all exploited sex to help sell domains and hosting. Can you blame them? Clearly its helped them to the top of the Domain world.

Many people write about how offended they are. They talk about the practice of exploiting women and sex in advertising is wrong. The truth is, the old marketing philosophy of "Sex Sells" has never been more true then today. I personally dont have problems with using sex in advertising.

What I do have a problem with is the quality of commercial Godaddy continues to put out. If your going to spend a fortune in putting your commercial on durring the superbowl, the least you can do is get some clever writers and some better production quality. Is that too much to ask for Bob?

Durring the broadcast of Superbowl 43, 30 second advertisements were going for three million dollars. When it came time to create a new campaign for Jack in the Box, they decided to drive traffic to the internet. The idea was reasonably simple. Create a commercial where Jack gets hit by a Bus and then have people go to a website/blog where videos about Jacks condition get updated.

If your going to Spend 3 million dollars just on the commercial, shouldnt you spend a few extra thousand to make sure the website doesnt crash when the commercial is aired?

Well, thats exactly what happened. Upon airing the commercial, the website was unavailable. Most people couldnt access the site until well after the game had ended. Out of those who tried to access it durring the superbowl, I wonder how many will try again later?