December
14, 2005
In This Issue:
1. The Beauty of Simplicity
2. In the News - Three from Yahoo, Google tweaks
AdWords
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Getting back a domain
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
The Beauty of Simplicity
I don't know if this is about search ... about
life ... about product development ... or all
of the above. I think it's "all of the above."
I do know this: I'm glad I found this article
and have a chance to share it.
Fast Company: The
Beauty of Simplicity
We've been preaching simplicity for almost two
years now with our web clients. Sometimes our
preaching works, sometimes it falls on deaf ears.
That's life. Well, whether you're in web development,
widget sales, widget repairs, or whatever, I think
you can take something away from this article
for your business. I hope so.
Since this'll be the last newsletter of 2005,
and since I don't know how many of you actually
make it to the "Wrapping It Up" section
at the end, let me use this space for a simple
message: Thanks for reading Net Gains. Have a
great holiday, and here's to a wonderful 2006.
_________________
In The News
Three From Yahoo
Two bits of news from Yahoo in the last week:
One, they're buying
web bookmarking site del.icio.us, which continues
along Yahoo's "social web" theme and
fits right in with the purchase of Flickr earlier
in the year and other moves. And two, they've
launchedYahoo
Answers, a question-and-answer service similar
involving Q&A with real people. And third,
Yahoo has expanded its Site Explorer tool with
new options for submitting your site information
to Yahoo. Learn more about that on the Yahoo
Search Blog.
Google Tweaks AdWords
Interesting news from Google's AdWords program
recently -- there's a new factor in determining
where you ad will show up in the SERPs: the quality
of your landing page. Learn more about it on the
AdWords blog.
AdWords blog: A
new addition to the Quality Score
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time
to read. These are just some of the headlines
we've posted to OWTweb.com in recent days.
2005
holiday e-shopping exceeds last year's
December 12, 2005 - ClickZ.com
The
70 percent solution
December 07, 2005 - Business 2.0
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Hi Matt,
I had a question for you the other day but didn't
submit it. Now I'm kicking myself - here you had
no questions at all. OK, here it is. It goes back
to "Bob," the guy with the domain name
registration issue. I have a client in a similar
situation. Her original site was built by a "fan"
who kindly registered the domain, built the site
(black background, green blink tags, the whole
bit) and then disappeared from the face of the
earth. My client is still allowed to pay for the
annual registration fees via network solutions
but no amount of coaxing will get them to turn
the domain name over. We have Googled this guy,
called him, written his home, all to no avail.
Evidently he's moved on in his life - leaving
my client high and dry. She has faxed her passport
and DL to network solutions, followed every guideline
they offer for defunct accounts, but no help.
In a nutshell: My client's domain name was registered
by a fan who has since gone missing. His email,
snail mail, domain name and any evidence of his
whereabouts lead us no where, and Network Solutions
won't assist my client in gaining control over
the name. Is there any recourse?
All the best,
Katryn
Hi Katryn,
Wow, that's a heckuva situation you have there.
You've tried everything with Network Solutions
-- asking for a supervisor, then asking for that
person's supervisor? If they're not willing to
budge, I can only think of two options:
1. Let the domain expire and try to re-register
it after the fact. Somewhat risky, because there
are people and companies who make a living off
quickly snapping up expired domain names. If one
of those gets it first, you'll surely have to
pay more than the regular re-registration fees.
2. File a complaint under the UDRP -- Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. You can
learn more about the procedure here:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/
This one will run $1,500 minimum -- much more
than I bet you'd have to pay in Option #1. However,
if the current domain owner is missing in action,
I have no idea how the process works and how his
absence might impact costs. You might find answers
on that site. Good luck!
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
Okay ... that's all for 2005 for Net Gains. With
some vacation time coming up and then the holiday
break, we won't have another newsletter until
early January. Thanks to all of you for reading
the newsletter, for asking questions, for providing
other links and tips that help other readers,
etc. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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