Tag Archives: ICM Registry

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

ICM Registry Cuts Fee For .XXX During April

ICM Registry XXX launch logoICM Registry today announced a price cut for .xxx domain names created in April.

Domain purchasers, from April 1-30, can purchase new, one-year .xxx registrations for $12.99. The .xxx names purchasers buy during the promotional period are eligible for participation in the upcoming .porn and .adult Domain Matching Program.

The Domain Matching Program starts on May 6 and runs through May 31. It is a special program designed specifically for .xxx domain holders. The Domain Matching Program gives .xxx domain owners a priority registration opportunity to register available, exact match names in .porn and .adult before those names are offered to the general public. .xxx domain holders as of April 30 are eligible to participate in the .porn and .adult Domain Matching Program.

ICM Registry Director Steve Winyard said that the price of its .porn and .adult names will be substantially reduced during the Domain Matching Program and that .xxx registrants can buy .porn and .adult names for $12.99. “Check with your registrar directly about pricing as some are offering irresistible package deals for .xxx, .porn and .adult names,” he said. The word ‘porn’ has always been one of the most searched terms on the Internet and it is now a TLD, Winyard said.

“There are amazing opportunities for SEO and exact match domain phrases in these new TLDs. .porn and .adult can easily be as successful as, if not more successful than, .xxx,” he said. “With our promotional, low-price offers, adult site owners have plenty of time to test these new extensions and build profitable sites.”  ICM Registry is launching .sex later this year and plans to offer similar domain matching opportunities for the .sex launch, he said. “With so many new TLDs on the market, it’s refreshing to know that all four of our TLDs are powerhouses that clearly identify the content, products and services available,” he said. “Consumers are becoming more aware of the significance of the words to the right of the dot and for site owners, the innovation, ROI and SEO opportunities in our new TLDs bring next level excitement.”

This ICM Registry news release was sourced from:
www.icmregistry.com/media/press/?article=57

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

ICM Registry Announces .PORN and .ADULT Launch Dates

ICM Registry XXX launch logoFollowing the recent signing of the .PORN and .ADULT registry contracts and after a lengthy negotiation with ICANN, ICM Registry is pleased to provide its launch dates for .PORN and .ADULT.  Starting March 1, 2015, .PORN and .ADULT will be made available for a thirty day (30) period to trademark holders who are registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), as required under ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanism.

After Sunrise has closed, the next phase of the .PORN and .ADULT launch will be a thirty (30) day Limited Registration Period, referred to as the Domain Matching Program.  The Domain Matching Program will be from April 15th to May 15th 2015. The Domain Matching Program will allow .XXX stakeholders to register any available directly matching second level names in .PORN or .ADULT, before those names are offered to the general public. The Domain Matching Program will also be available to trademark owners that successfully applied during .XXX’s Sunrise B program.  The Domain Matching Program is explained in greater detail at www.icmregistry.com/programs/gtlds and www.icmregistry.com/about/policies/domain-matching-program.

By way of example, during the Domain Matching Program if you have the domain name EXAMPLE.XXX, you will be given a priority right to register EXAMPLE.PORN and EXAMPLE.ADULT.  The Domain Matching Program will be available to all .XXX registrants who have a .XXX registration as of March 31, 2015.

Once the Domain Match Program ends, General Availability for .PORN and .ADULT will begin on June 4, 2015.

The Domain Matching Program is very similar to the original “grandfathering plan” that ICM tried to bring to market, with a few key changes.  The changes are a result of ICANN’s decision that the original “grandfathering plan” was in contravention of ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanisms.  At the time ICM applied for its new gTLDs ICANN had not yet finalized their rules; ICANN’s final Rights Protection Mechanisms were published long after the new gTLD application window closed.  As a result, ICANN’s final Rights Protection Mechanisms do not allow some of ICM’s original ideas. These final ICANN rules affected not only ICM, but also affected all other new gTLD applicants including entities like VeriSign, Inc. which runs and operates .com.

Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM commented, “We are delighted at long last to be able to provide firm dates for the launch of our exciting new gTLDs. Whilst we are disappointed that ICANN didn’t allow our original Grandfathering Plan, we believe the new Domain Matching Program means that 98%-99% of our underlying .XXX domain registrants and Sunrise B participants will be given the chance to register the directly matching .PORN and/or .ADULT name, should they so wish.”

He went on to add, “ICM was not the only applicant affected by ICANN’s “trademark first” policies, even VeriSign who run .com were denied permission to introduce their transliteration of internationalized versions of .com, which was a program along the same lines that ICM had planned for in .PORN and .ADULT.”

Steve Winyard, Vice President of ICM went on to say, “ICANN’s mandated rules added a further layer of complexity and procedure to what we had intended but the new Domain Matching Program will serve as an adequate substitute for the vast majority of registrants to help them secure matching names in our new TLDs. The allocation of premium names in .PORN and .ADULT has also been somewhat affected by the non negotiable ICANN rules.  Any .XXX Premium Name holder who is wondering how ICANN’s rules affect them should contact me directly.  We remain committed to delivering our premium names to companies in the adult entertainment space that have good plans to develop them, as many have done in .XXX.”

Steve went on to say, “The launch of our new TLD’s in 2015 will bring a plethora of exciting opportunities for web masters and brand creators and we are confident that these new TLDs will bring favorable results in search engine rankings as well as creating additional revenue for their owners.”

Multiple parties, including the current owner of Sex.com, initially applied for .SEX.  ICM has recently acquired the .SEX TLD through private negotiation.  ICM anticipates the launch of .SEX in Q3 2015.

This ICM Registry announcement was sourced from:
http://www.icmregistry.com/media/press/?article=54

Domain Name Aftermarket

Sex Tops The Charts, Again

Domain Name Journal logoSex is always popular when it comes to domain name sales, and the sale of sex.xxx was no exception, selling for $3,000,000 through ICM Registry, becoming the third largest sale in the year-to-date and topping the Domain Name Journal chart in the two weeks to 1 June.

In second place was datacenter.com, which would have topped the charts itself in most weeks, selling for $500,000 in a private sale while lk.com came in third, selling for $287,500 in a sale that would also have topped the charts in most weeks, selling through Heritage Auctions.

The chart consisted of 41 sales being for two weeks and included 35 .com domains. There were also two each for .tv and .org and one each for .xxx and .de.

On the aftermarket side of things there were 14 sales through GoDaddy/Afternic, 13 through Sedo and eight through NameJet.

To check out the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales for the fortnight ending 1 June, go to: dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2014/20140611.htm.

Domain Name Registrants, New gTLDs

SEX.XXX Sells For $3m In $5m .XXX Package Deal

It will probably take a long time to be beaten among domain sales of new gTLDs, but sex.xxx has been sold for a whopping $3 million to Barron Innovations as part of a ground-breaking $5 million, multi-year deal with ICM Registry.The $5 million deal includes more than 40 Premium Generic Keyword Domains including the sex.xxx domain. Other notable names include cam.xxx, phone.xxx and black.xxx, all of which attracted six-figure sales prices, as well as web.xxx, market.xxx, mate.xxx and education.xxx.It would also put the sale of sex.xxx in third place on the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales to date, behind mi.com ($3.6m) and whisky.com ($3.1m).According to Stephen Winyard, Director of ICM, the organisation is pleased to announce this deal with Barron Innovations, which is connected to one of the most prestigious, well-established and highly successful groups in the adult entertainment industry.”The group has held its top position for most of its 15 -year existence,” says Winyard, “and we are happy to have completed this transaction with Barron Innovations. This deal follows on from the ever-increasing flow of significant premium names sales we are achieving now that we are into our third year of operation. It tangibly and irrefutably reinforces the performance benefits of .XXX names for members of the industry.”Barron Innovations will be placing significant development resources behind creating ultra-high quality destination sites, including offering new and remarkable possibilities to other leading companies, who wish to derive benefit from the strength of these premium domain names. The different options will be launched later this year and in 2015.”As part of a group which operates leading brands such as ImLive.com and Webcamwiz.com, we tracked the introduction of .XXX closely,” says Shay Efron, spokesman for Barron Innovations. “We have studied the undeniably superior performance of .XXX domains in terms of SEO and conversion rates and decided to make a huge splash by acquiring the very best keyword generic names available. We evaluated SEX.xxx, the flagship domain, and decided it has the potential to became the leading brand in the entire adult industry, so it was an obvious part of a very large deal.””We look forward to enjoying the benefits of ICM’s unique Domain Matching Program, which gives .XXX holders an opportunity to secure matching .XXX domain names in .PORN, .ADULT and .SEX,” says Efron. “And we would like to use this opportunity to thank Stephen and the rest of the ICM team, who made the negotiation process a very pleasant experience.”

Domain Name Aftermarket

Really Useful Grabs Tube.xxx and Tubes.xxx for $750,000

ICM Registry XXX launch logo[news release] JT, Chairman of Really Useful and formerly a founding member of YouPorn.com, has acquired the keyword category leading domains Tube.xxx and Tubes.xxx for an all cash deal of $750,000 USD. JT has already amassed an impressive collection of .XXX keyword domains such as Teen.xxx, Orgasms.xxx, Erotic.xxx, Casting.xxx, BDSM.xxx, Mature.xxx, PublicSex.xxx and Czech.xxx; some of which are live and others that are scheduled to launch this year. 

JT said, “I have been working on a hybrid tube model for some time and buying tube.xxx and tubes.xxx was a no brainer.  I chose to launch with an .XXX domain over a .com due to the impressive stats on our existing .XXX sites as compared directly to our .com equivalents. I have also been studying the results that other major players in the industry are achieving with their .XXX sites, specifically the prominent rankings of .XXX domains within Google search results. Tube.xxx will contain our own exclusive content and offer the visitors a network pass to both our “sensual” and “fake” genres and brands. These brands are some of the strongest in the industry.”

He added, “We produce over 150 new scenes a month which are specifically designed with the tube user in mind. Every tube clip we release is the best possible representation of the brand and our success has been greatly enhanced by joining the content partner programs of the world’s biggest tubes.”

JT has plans to use Tubes.xxx as a separate, more communal tube site with carefully hand picked partners.

Steve Wynyard, Vice President of ICM Registry commented, “The last two years have allowed the real benefits of .XXX to be proven; we are delighted that sophisticated operators such as JT and the Really Useful team, who were early .XXX adopters, have studied the real world performance of .XXX domains and keep returning to the table to invest again heavily in the space. The business model for Tube.xxx is solid and based on JT’s unrivaled experience, we are confident it will generate high traffic and revenues.” Steve added, “We were in discussions with several prominent companies over the last few weeks for many of our remaining premium .XXX domains; the demand is high. We decided to award JT these highly coveted domains not only because of the attractive price tag he offered but also because he was ready, able and eager to launch websites with unique content for these brands using the .XXX TLD.”

About Really Useful

Really Useful, based in the Turks and Caicos Islands, operates 17 websites; many of them operating under the .XXX domains stated in this release above as well as other well known brands such as FakeTaxi.com, MassageRooms.com and FakeAgent.com. Really Useful’s websites bring in a combined 8 to 10 million views a day to tube sites. Really Useful has unrivalled knowledge of the viewing habits of tube users resulting in many of its websites being the highest rated on tube sites of all time.

About ICM

ICM Registry, headquartered in Florida, is the registry operator for the .XXX TLD approved by ICANN in 2011. ICM Registry has recently been successful in its applications for the .PORN, and .ADULT TLDs, which are expected to launch in 2014, and hopes to gain the .SEX TLD in 2015. ICM Registry is offering a Domain Matching Program that gives .XXX domain holders the opportunity to secure their directly matching names in the new TLDs ICM launches. To find out more about the Domain Matching Program see www.icmregistry.com/programs/gtlds.

This ICM Registry news release was sourced from:
www.icmregistry.com/media/press/?article=36

Domain Name Aftermarket

Million Dollar Plus Sale Blitzes Weekly Sales Chart

Domain Name Journal logoThe $1.35 million sale of ebet.com easily took out the chart of top reported domain name sales for the week ending 13 October, eclipsing two other $400,000 plus sales that in most weeks would have topped the charts themselves.

The sale of ebet.com in a private sale is to date the third biggest sale for the year. Coming in second for the week was shout.com, selling for $450,000 (tenth on the yearly sales chart) through WebsiteProperties while teen.xxx was third, and eleventh for the year to date, selling for $400,000 directly through the .xxx registry, ICM Registry.

Overall it was a big week for GoDaddy/Afternic who took out 11 of the top 20 sales while Sedo had five sales. And on the TLD side of things, there were 16 .com sales, two .net and one each for .xxx and .org.

To check out the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales for the week ending 13 October, go to:
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2013/20131023.htm

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

.XXX Gaining Traction With $600,000 In Sales To Really Useful Limited, Outperforming Comparable .COM Domains

ICM Registry XXX launch logoThere was plenty of opposition to .xxx when it was gaining approval from parts of the adult industry, but there are strong signs it is becoming successful within the industry. Last week, ICM Registry, the registry for .xxx, announced Really Useful Limited, one of the world’s leading adult producers, has invested over $600,000 in new .xxx domains.

As one of the original founding members of YouPorn, JT, Chairman of Really Useful Limited, has amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience. He is widely considered to be the leading light of the latest generation of online adult entertainment entrepreneurs and was recently voted “CEO of the Year” by Xbiz.

JT started his acquisition of .xxx domains in 2011 with the highly successful Casting.xxx and Orgasms.xxx and has added to his portfolio on several occasions since, buying Czech.xxx, Massage.xxx, Mom.xxx, and the recently launched StrapOn.xxx. Four additional world-class domains have just been acquired, including Mature.xxx, Bdsm.xxx, Publicsex.xxx and one of the most searched on adult keywords which is arguably the number one adult related domain, Teen.xxx. The latest deal is worth in excess of $600,000 with Teen.xxx priced at $400,000, which takes JT’s total investment in .xxx Premium names just over $800,000.

Explaining why he was continuing to invest in .xxx domains, JT said, “I didn’t hesitate in buying more premium domains. The existing .xxx sites I have are performing much better on a like-for-like basis than my .com sites. Google ranks them higher because they clearly identify the content as adult. This means that traffic to my .xxx sites has been pre-qualified by search engines and conversions from visitor to member are considerably higher.”

“The fact that each domain will qualify for ICM’s Grandfathering is also important to me. I think that .PORN in particular will be an enormous bonus to search results. Based on my experience and logic, surfers will search for ‘mature porn’ or ‘teen porn’ for example, and my sites will rank high in those results. Once I knew ICM had qualified to run .PORN I was straight on the phone with my wish list of domains. It is very important to me to own as many of the top 20 adult search term keywords,” JT stated, “In my opinion, .xxx has proven that it is the future destination for adult content on the Internet, and I will continue investing in more .xxx domains for my new projects.”

In addition, JT’s experience is that performance is better for .xxx domain over a comparable .com.

“Really Useful has operated both a .com and .xxx version of what is, in effect, the same website for the last two years, FakeAgent.com and Casting.xxx,” JT said. “This gives me a direct comparison of the performance of a .xxx domain over a .com; it was because of this data that I have made a considerable investment in additional .xxx domains. Specifically, FakeAgent.com has a ‘bounce rate’ of 34% (where the user exits my site at the first page once they realize it is an adult website) compared to Casting.xxx that has a ‘bounce rate’ of only 16%. This means that the users visiting Casting.xxx already know it is an adult website because of the .xxx domain extension.” JT added, “The ratio from visitor to member conversion on Casting.xxx is around 1:320 whereas the ratio on FakeAgent.com is 1:523. Casting.xxx is significantly out performing FakeAgent.com and the only difference between them is the domain name.”

It also pleases ICM. Steve Winyard, Vice President of ICM Registry said, “JT got it right. He produces some of the highest quality adult content on the web and continually impresses with his attention to detail and exceptional standards. There are many people in the adult community who would dearly love to own domains like Teen.xxx, but probably very few who could do it the justice that JT will, from both a content and a best practices perspective. We are once again delighted that JT has hard data and evidence that .xxx, as a TLD, has proven its worth and continues to allow strong brands and world leading sites to be developed. Approaching the second anniversary of our launch we have had great success at the latest round of B2B adult trade shows in Europe, pulling in just under $1 million of new business on premium names from existing and many new customers. ‘The results are in’ so to speak and the industry now has full data sets to compare and evaluate the real world performance of .xxx names and we are seeing that translated into more sales of premium names.”

Domain Name Registrants

Porn.com Strikes a Deal for Porn.xxx

 

PimpRoll plans to roll out Porn.xxx as a full tube site with the same high-quality content that has helped it become a leader in the .com adult entertainment arena.

 

ICM Registry XXX launch logo[news release] ICM Registry, the registry operator for the .XXX top level domain (TLD) for online adult entertainment, announced that they have struck a deal with one of the most recognized companies in the online adult content industry, PimpRoll, for the coveted Porn.xxx domain.

PimpRoll, the entertainment giant with significant, high profile presence in the .com adult content industry, following their reported $9.5 million dollar acquisition of Porn.com a few years ago is now creating a .XXX destination that marries PimpRoll’s high quality content and safe payment options with the ever growing world of the .XXX community.

PimpRoll plans to roll out Porn.xxx as a full tube site with the same high-quality content that has helped it become a leader in the .com adult entertainment arena. The decision to launch Porn.xxx puts PimpRoll among a growing list of content providers that are helping grow the Internet’s hottest top-level domain.

“PimpRoll is a company that has always made bold moves to better our brands and improve the user experience for our audience” said Phil Bradbury, Vice President of PimpRoll. “The .XXX domain market has been a controversial one in the eyes of some, but as responsible business owners we have done our own due diligence and believe there is value in expanding our presence with the launch of Porn.xxx for the benefit of adult entertainment consumers and our marketing partners as well.”

Adult industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein whose office represents PimpRoll was equally pleased with this deal. “This deal is a perfect example of how two companies can collectively engage in a transaction that makes them both stronger, in the present and in the future.” Silverstein said. “Both companies have demonstrated a tremendous amount of foresight and entrepreneurship in completing this transaction.”

“Porn.xxx is an important and influential domain within the adult industry and our friends at PimpRoll recognize the power it can bring to develop a content-rich site on this new domain. As the operators of Porn.com, they have exemplified best practices within the online adult content industry and were the obvious best fit for Porn.xxx.” said Steve Winyard, Vice President of ICM Registry.

PimpRoll’s decision to participate in the .XXX TLD comes shortly after ICANN announced their upcoming rollout of a slew of new generic TLDs. By securing Porn.xxx now PimpRoll will also automatically qualify for Porn.sex, Porn.porn and Porn.adult under ICM’s ““Grandfathering Program” should ICM be successful in gaining those new TLDs from ICANN.

Porn.xxx will now be searchable through ICM Registry’s adult content only search engine, Search.xxx. Search.xxx offers a clean user interface and intuitive keyword searches. Search.xxx, which uses the same technology as usual mainstream search engines but is for adult content only, allows you to set your language preference and your sexual orientation preference, as well as to control the “look and feel” of your style preference.

More on PimpRoll

Since 2001 PimpRoll has made its mark in the world of adult entertainment by continually developing innovative products while simultaneously demonstrating the highest ethical standards. The company continues to operate hundreds of lucrative pay sites, an industry leading affiliate marketing program and several other key products in a fully integrated empire of digital traffic monetization.

Recently PimpRoll released the game-changing HostedTube.com affiliate tool allowing tens of thousands of new tube sites to be built by affiliates over the course of only a few months. Later the company announced the creation of TrafficForce.com, a state of the art source for premium traffic, free of any of the difficulties associated with third-party digital property brokerage. Content producers have also benefited greatly from the work done by PimpRoll with the launch of PaidPerView.com, a system that allows publishers to display their own content across a wide range of networked PimpRoll sites in return for direct payments on a per video view basis along with additional indirect monetization via traffic leads sent from advertising displayed on the site video pages. Now PimpRoll is continuing their long history of successful evolution by taking over the Porn.XXX web address as well.

More on ICM Registry

ICM Registry, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is the registry operator for the .XXX sponsored top-level domain as approved by ICANN in 2011.  ICM Registry provides the management and supporting infrastructure for this extension offered via registrars around the world.

This ICM Registry news release was sourced from:
www.icmregistry.com/press/porn-com-strikes-a-deal-for-porn-xxx/

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

.XXX Prices Slashed To .COM Prices In May

ICM Registry XXX launch logoICM Registry, the registry for .xxx domain names, has announced the prices for TLD will be slashed to as low as $8.99 for registrations for up to ten years during the month of May.

The registry is promoting this as the prices being slashed to .com prices.

“With both Search.xxx and XXX.XXX showcasing and driving traffic to developed .xxx sites, together with the recent launch of the Search.xxx ad platform, there is a growing awareness of the value of the .xxx domain,” said CEO of ICM Registry, Stuart Lawley.

The reduction comes about following the settling of a lawsuit between two online porn operators, The Verge reported.

“The lawsuit was filed by Manwin, the owner of a suite of adult websites including Brazzers and YouPorn, and was targeting alleged anticompetitive practices by ICM Registry, which controls .xxx names. ICM normally sells the domains for $60, and Manwin has been saying, in part, that these unusually high prices hurt competition. Though ICM doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing, the settlement will allow Manwin to save some amount of money when registering its host of adult websites on the .xxx domain.”

Announcing the price reduction, ICM also announced their commitment to protecting existing .xxx registrants should the company be successful with applications for TLDs they have applied to ICANN for.

If awarded all or any of these new TLDs, .sex, .porn and/or .adult, ICM Registry will offer a “grandfathering” clause and will automatically reserve matching names at no additional cost to those who already have .xxx domains. Existing .xxx registrants can chose to do nothing and the matching names will never be released under the new TLD suffixes. If however, registrants choose to register the new names for use, there will be a nominal fee. This means .xxx domain holders can potentially quadruple their exposure and the value of their holdings, while brand and trademark holders who own or have reserved .xxx domain names are automatically protected and will not have to register or reserve those names in the new TLDs.

The registry also wants registrants to feel any .xxx domains are safe as each .xxx website is malware scanned to protect both website operators and consumers. Every .xxx site also comes with a MetaCert electronic Family Safety label making it easier for users, organizations and parents to adjust their browser settings to restrict access to websites that are clearly labelled as potentially adult oriented content.

“Our goal is to serve the adult industry by continually creating new initiatives and platforms that increase the inherent value of each .XXX website,” said Lawley.

Domain Name Aftermarket

Mojo.com Gets Its Mojo With $300,000 Sale

Domain Name Journal logoMojo.com certainly has… it’s mojo! It was the top domain name sale in the fortnight to 10 February, selling for $300,000 through Domain Advisors, making it one of a trio of six-figure sales for the week.

Second was Apuestas.com (“bets” in Spanish) which sold for €165,000 ($221,100), which sold through Sedo and third was mobile.xxx, which Domain Pulse previously noted sold for $160,000 in a premium sale through ICM Registry.

Overall there were 28 .com sales in the top 40 chart, one sale was removed to remain anonymous, as well as two .org and .net sales and one each for .xxx, .co, .it, .pl, .info, .me and .de.

Sedo once again topped the list of the most popular marketplace, but as it has been in the last 12 months, the company has seen increased competition, particularly from Go Daddy Auctions with eleven of the week’s sales and Afternic with seven and NameJet four.

To check out the fortnight to 10 February’s top reported sales compiled by Domain Name Journal, go to: dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2013/20130220.htm.