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May 2007 - Name Monertizer #22 |
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| Yahoo and Google Push for Conversions | | |
There are signs all around that Yahoo and Google are pressuring parking services to delete the accounts of poorly performing domain owners. Parked took the lead deleting suspected click-fraud accounts some time back, and their numbers seem to be improving for accounts remaining there (so much so that we are now recommending them highly). The general trend in PPC income  seems lower for most services. The long term implications of these trends are unclear. Culling some of the "bad apples" certainly may be a good thing. Yahoo and Google make a lot of money off domain parking page ads, and it is in their best interests for the current PPC system to continue. Advertisers want to sell their ads to people who will not only visit their site but will also buy their product or service. Conversion tracking software is more widely available than ever before, and some advertisers are quick to equate traffic that doesn't convert with click fraud.
Some readers have asked whether they can send paid traffic to their pages. Most services forbid paid or incentivised traffic because it generally does not convert well. Some sites (Parked is one example) do allow you to buy AdWords or Overture ads and send that traffic to your site. This is rarely cost-effective, however. Unless you are very careful you will end up paying more for the ads than you will make off the parking. Second and third tier paid traffic is more likely to include automated bots or other clicks that will not convert, and you are likely to be banned from any of these services if you buy that lower quality traffic.
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| | News from the Parking Services
ParkingDots has joined the services deleting accounts that do not convert well, apparently after pressure from Yahoo. They also temporarily suspended accepting new accounts while they make some changes to their system. We are also suspending their recommendation for the time being.
TrafficZ has avoided some of the income slowdown seen at other sites by creating their new Website2.0 and Tiles landing pages. These pages have fresh looks that don't scream "landing page" whenever someone lands on them. This approach seems to be attracting clicks, despite the fact that income per click may be declining. TrafficZ is highly recommended.
Fabulous is more than a parking company. They recently announced the launch of their Domain Distribution Network (DDN) that allows domain portfolio owners to list their domains across multiple aftermarket domain sales platforms. Fabulous also enables domain owners the ability to have domain sale functionality embedded on their own parked domains with only a 3% transaction cost for successful domain sales.
We are still testing Parking Panel and it is too soon to tell who they will do. Thus far they seem to pay a very good rate per click, but their pages are not getting a lot of clicks so far. iMonetize has been trickier to test than we initially thought. Their system works best for high traffic domains, and it can help you find where your domains will bring the highest parking income. Dotzup has also been somewhat disappointing. They have taken some heat recently on the domain forums for reportedly spamming whois data and sending unsolicited email to domain owners.
Parked continues to buck the current trend with revenues holding firm. As noted above, they even allow a certain amount of arbitrage, according to posts by Donnie Simonton on the domain forums. Effective mid-April Parked is highly recommended.
 ActiveAudience and GoldKey are recovering somewhat from the switch to Google. They recently announced a new "One-Click vs Two-Click Optimizer" that will do automatic split-half testing to compare their "best-performing lander" against their "best-performing results layout." The system will calculate revenue payouts and clicks and when it reaches statistical significance, will assign each domain to the best paying page. This option is now in the Edit Domains page, labeled 1-click/2-click test. They also allow you to upload a logo for your sites on a site-by-site basis, as well as custom graphics. ActiveAudience and GoldKey are highly recommended.
Sedo has issued a last call for invitations to the SedoPro Partner Forum which is being held 6/17 - 6/19 at Mohonk Mountain Resort in New Paltz, NY immediately before the TRAFFIC New York City conference. If you are a SedoPro member and didn't get an invitation contact Eben Smith. You pay $348 for two nights and Sedo will provide activities, entertainment, meals, and refreshments. Sedo has also cut some accounts for poor traffic quality and/or suspected click fraud. In the long run this is probably a good thing. Sedo and Sedo Pro are highly recommended.
DomainSponsor is sponsoring another DomainFest conference, this time in Amsterdam, May 16th-17th. The deadline for the $395 advanced rate has passed, but you still might be able to talk someone into giving you that rate. You can always read our current recommendations at ParkQuick.com
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| | The Backlash against Parked Pages
People usually don't like to land on parking pages. There are still a number of people who equate domain parking in general with cybersquatting. This term originally referred to the practice of buying trademarked domains in order to sell them to the trademark holder. Not too many people continue that practice, but the term survives. On a recent episode of the DL.TV video podcast, Roberrt Heron refered to parked sites as "squatter sites." Expressing a similar sentiment, a person responding to Jay Westerdal's DomainTools blog stated that "If you don’t have a bona-fide need for a specific domain name (E.G. You’re going to actually use it as opposed to park it), you shouldn’t be touching it."
Why such animosity? Many people get to a parking page when they wanted to go somewhere else. They made a mistake and typed-in the wrong domain. Who likes to make mistakes? If a parked domain is attractive and actually provides useful information and links, I don't feel so bad, and I might even click. In this way my own feelings probably influence my biases about parking pages. I want my parked domains to be attractive and to provide something useful for people who land there. My reviews will probably continue reflect this bias. As parking companies continue to improve their landing pages I expect we will see some of the animosity toward parked pages diminish over time.
~ Leonard Holmes
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| | Affiliate Summit
I'll be at AffiliateSummit East in Miami in July 2007 to learn more about CPA and affiliate marketing from this event. AffiliateSummit conferences have generally been much larger than most domain conferences, with an emphasis on monetizing domains and sites rather than buying and selling domains. The upcoming conference is still priced under $1000 until the end of April, with passes to the exhibit hall only under $200. The Intercontinental Hotel in Miami has a conference rate of only $119 a night.
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I will send this newsletter out monthly or when there have been significant changes in the domain
name monetization industry. An extra issue may be sent when there is a major change
in a service that warrants your immediate attention. Back issues are available at NameMonetizer.com.
Leonard Holmes, Ph.D.
CEO, Healing Sites Network, LLC You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the end of every issue. Compare PPC Parking Services at ParkQuick.com
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