Rook Media Acquires Oversee.net’s DomainSponsor Monetisation Business

Rook Media logo[news release] Oversee.net, an innovative technology company that owns and operates a portfolio of websites and mobile apps in travel, retail and consumer finance, today (21/4) announced that Rook Media, Europe’s largest domain monetisation platform, has acquired its DomainSponsor monetisation business. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Rook Media logo[news release] Oversee.net, an innovative technology company that owns and operates a portfolio of websites and mobile apps in travel, retail and consumer finance, today (21/4) announced that Rook Media, Europe’s largest domain monetisation platform, has acquired its DomainSponsor monetisation business. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002, DomainSponsor® is a pioneer in the direct navigation industry and has maintained its leadership position in domain monetisation across desktops and tablets as well as smart, feature, and WAP mobile phones. Over 230 million unique users per month visit DomainSponsor’s direct navigation ad network.  Rook Media was founded by five domain professionals who all have over a decade of experience running industry-defining domain monetisation platforms. That know-how has allowed Rook Media to significantly raise payment standards and realise substantial growth in the domain space, operating a platform that served over 12 million domain names in 2013.

“Rook Media is the perfect company to buy Oversee’s domain monetisation business,” said Oversee CEO Debra Domeyer. “They value its industry leadership, technology, clients, and talented team. Coupled with Rook’s leadership in Europe, the combined entity has an unsurpassed breadth of product offering and monetisation solutions.”

“The combination of Rook Media and DomainSponsor is a game changer for our industry,” noted CEO Ash Rahimi. “These two companies complement each other’s strengths and will provide our customers with the best US and international domain monetisation solution.  With unmatched relationships with the biggest advertising providers in the industry and our combined in-house technology solutions, there has literally never been a better way to monetise domains.”

With the completion of this transaction, Oversee can now focus on more aggressively developing its growth businesses. The company has been continually enhancing its online portfolio of web properties and mobile applications with strong brands that engage user’s passions.

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net is an innovative technology company that owns and operates a portfolio of websites designed to help consumers discover, compare, and save. Over 25 million unique users per month visit Oversee’s travel, consumer finance and comparison shopping web and mobile properties, which include WanderWe.com, AirportParking.com, LowFares.com, CreditCards.org, ShopWiki.com, and Compare.com. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Oversee also has an office in New York City. For more information, please visit www.oversee.net.

About Rook Media
Rook Media is a web-based technology company that monetises internet domain names by providing highly relevant ads to online consumers. The company has established itself as the trusted leader in the direct navigation industry. Rook Media is based in Zurich, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.rookmedia.net

Premium Auction Announced For DomainFest Plus Stone Temple Pilots Providing Entertainment

DOMAINFest LogoDomainSponsor and NameJet have announced their partnership to run auctions for over 40 premium domain names during the DomainFest conference on 1 and 2 April. Premium names include Stepping.com, Truckers.com, FederalLoan.com, VirusSoftware.com, TaxConsulting.com, InventorySystem.com and GolfCap.com

DOMAINFest LogoDomainSponsor and NameJet have announced their partnership to run auctions for over 40 premium domain names during the DomainFest conference on 1 and 2 April. Premium names include Stepping.com, Truckers.com, FederalLoan.com, VirusSoftware.com, TaxConsulting.com, InventorySystem.com and GolfCap.com.

Plus full conference attendees will be treated to a private concert with legendary, Grammy award winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington at a secret location.

For more information on the auctions, see below:

DomainSponsor and NameJet Partner to Hold DomainFest Premium Auction
–Top Offerings Include Powerful Dot Com Names Offered with Low or No Reserves–

LOS ANGELES, Calif. March 13. DomainSponsor®, the online monetization business of Oversee.net® and organizer of the critically acclaimed DomainFest® series of conferences, announced that it has partnered with NameJet,the leading domain name auction platform, to run auctions for over 40 premium domain names during the conference. Auctions will be held on April 1st and 2nd. No reserve auctions close on April 1st. The low reserve auction closes on April 2nd.

All of the exclusive domainsare being offered with low reserves or no reserves. To place bids above $2,500, simply sign up to become a verified bidder through NameJet. Premium domains in the auction include: Stepping.com;Truckers.com; FederalLoan.com; VirusSoftware.com; TaxConsulting.com; InventorySystem.com; and GolfCap.com.

“The partnership with NameJet allows us to bring high quality, premium domain opportunities to potential customers around the globe, including those attending DomainFest,” said Dwayne Walker, Senior Vice President of Oversee.net. “While the new gTLDs have been in the spotlight, premium dotcom names continue to grow in value as more and more individuals and businesses develop their online brands.”

“NameJet is thrilled to be partnering with DomainSponsor to co-sponsor the DomainFest online auction this year,” noted Matt Overman, General Manager of NameJet. “This has always been a well-attended and well-run conference. Combine that with quality domains and low prices and this auction should be a success.”

Agenda
DomainFest continues its tradition of providing attendees with the opportunity to hear about the latest trends and focus on essential topics for the domain community. The information shared at DomainFest®, coupled with networking opportunities, covers a broad range of topics that include new gTLDs, Internet traffic monetization, explosive mobile opportunities, advances in real time bidding (RTB) for domain and Internet traffic and affiliate monetization. Also featured are sessions devoted to startups and the investment communities.

Keynoter: Gary Vaynerchuk
New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk will be a keynoter at this year’s DomainFest Hollywood. As a social media trailblazer, Vaynerchuk began video blogging in 2005 and now has nearly 1 million Twitter followers. He has been included on BusinessWeek’s list of the “Top 20 People Every Entrepreneur Should Follow.”

DOMAINFest Registration
Pre-conference registration is $995. This year, a special one-day pass is available for the first day of the conference. Priced at just $295, it encourages a broad range of participants involved in the Southern California technology scene. To register, visit www.domainfest.com.

DomainFest has arranged for discounted hotel room rates at the Loews Hollywood hotel. For reservation details, please visit: www.domainfest.com. The room block expires on Thursday, March 13, 2014.

Get the Latest News and Stay Informed
The DomainFest team will provide updates, information and much more via its Twitter handle @domainfest. DomainFest, DomainSponsor and conference attendees will be tweeting before and during the conference using Twitter hashtag #DomainFest. Videos, pictures, commentary and live news and information will flow on Twitter via hashtag #domainfest. Tweet us using hashtag #DomainFest.

About DomainFest
Founded by DomainSponsor®, a division of Oversee.net, DomainFest is a conference series that brings domain, registrar, hosting, advertising and online marketing professionals together to learn, network and do business. Attendees include domain owners, internet entrepreneurs and a wide range of online business executives and service providers. For more information, please visit www.domainfest.com.

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net® owns and operates a portfolio of domain, online and mobile businesses. Advanced technology and cutting-edge marketing techniques are utilized to optimize each online business. Over 230 million unique users per month visit Oversee’s DomainSponsor.com direct navigation ad network. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Oversee also has an office in New York City. For more information, please visit www.oversee.net.

About NameJet
NameJet is a joint venture between Demand Media, Inc. and Web.com Group, Inc., who together own four leading ICANN-accredited registrars (eNom, Name.com, Network Solutions and Register.com). Launched in 2007 with core auction software and technical infrastructure operating since 2004, NameJet serves domain investors, Fortune 500 companies and their representatives, small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as a diverse and global mix of individual investors. It has processed more than 200,000 domain auctions, establishing itself as a trustworthy and transparent auction platform that is customer-focused and user-friendly. For more information, go to www.namejet.com.

Oversee.Net Appoints New Chief Technology Officer

Oversee.net logoOversee.net has appointed Gene Chuang as its Chief Technology Officer the company announced this week. Their new CTO is, Oversee notes, is known for his expertise in mobile, social and search marketing platforms. He is an experienced technology development professional and team leader

Oversee.net logoOversee.net has appointed Gene Chuang as its Chief Technology Officer the company announced this week. Their new CTO is, Oversee notes, is known for his expertise in mobile, social and search marketing platforms. He is an experienced technology development professional and team leader.

For more information, see the news release below:

Oversee.Net Names Gene Chuang Chief Technology Officer
–New CTO Brings Business and Engineering Leadership Experience in Mobile, Social and Large-Scale Search Marketing Platforms–

Oversee.net®, which operates a global online performance marketing network with over 250 million unique visitors per month, announced today the appointment of Gene Chuang as its Chief Technology Officer. Chuang will be responsible for identifying and building technology platforms that support the growth of Oversee’s current and future business initiatives.

Known for his expertise in mobile, social and search marketing platforms, Chuang is an experienced technology development professional and team leader. He was Executive Director of AT&T Interactive, leading teams of engineers in Data Systems and Mobile Engineering. He also served as Director of Engineering at Yahoo Search Marketing where he led the development of large-scale search platforms. Most recently, he was Director of Engineering at Chegg, an online network for college students that offers assistance with homework, course selection and textbook rentals, purchases and resale.

“We’re delighted to welcome Gene to the Oversee management team,” said Oversee CEO Debra Domeyer. “Technology has been and will continue to be the foundation for Oversee’s success. Gene’s appointment reaffirms our commitment to being at the cutting edge of technology. He is that rare technologist with business savvy and product vision who also excels at building teams and recruiting the best of the best.”

“Oversee is a company that has tremendous growth potential,” noted Chuang. “My goal is to develop and scale technology solutions at Oversee that add value to the company’s businesses. I’m excited to work with the strong tech team we have on board.”

Chuang is a frequent speaker at tech industry events and has received numerous industry awards. He graduated Magna cum Laude with a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chuang will report to Domeyer and work as part of the senior management team at Oversee’s headquarters office in Los Angeles.

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net® is a leader in online performance marketing. Using proprietary technology, it helps advertisers acquire valuable, pre-qualified leads. Its DomainSponsor® business unit pioneered the monetization of direct navigation traffic in 2002 and now operates one of the largest PPC and CPV traffic networks in the world with over 250 million unique visitors per month. Oversee’s owned and operated lead generation websites in the travel, retail and consumer finance verticals produce over 14 million high-converting leads per month for advertisers by providing users with the information they need to make smart purchase decisions. Oversee also owns DOMAINfest®, a conference series for domain investors and online marketing professionals. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Oversee has offices in New York City and Frankfurt, Germany.

Oversee Ends Dual CEO Role, Appinting Appoints Domeyer Sole CEO

Debra Domeyer imageOversee.net has appointed its co-CEO Debra Domeyer as Chief Executive Officer following the departure of Scott Morrow. The CEO sharing role last around seven months and followed the departure of Jeff Kupietzky last year

Debra Domeyer imageOversee.net has appointed its co-CEO Debra Domeyer as Chief Executive Officer following the departure of Scott Morrow. The CEO sharing role last around seven months and followed the departure of Jeff Kupietzky last year.

When asked about the co-sharing role at the DOMAINfest Global conference at the end of January, both of the co-CEOs said they were happy with the role with both having complementary skills. Six weeks later though that may not have been the case.

To facilitate the transition into her expanded role as sole CEO, Domeyer will be handing over her duties as Oversee.net’s Chief Technology Officer to an executive yet to be hired. She became CTO of Oversee.net in 2008 and continued to hold the position after recently stepping into the role of Co-CEO.

Debra has over twenty five years of experience in technology. Prior to joining Oversee, she was the Chief Technology Officer at Internet Brands (INET). She has served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Pacific Gas & Electric Energy Services and was Vice President of Information Systems for the Times Mirror Company. Debra was named one of the top 25 CTOs by InfoWorld Magazine and listed in the ComputerWorld Premier 100 IT leaders.

“Debra’s appointment as CEO reaffirms the company’s commitment to technology and innovation,” said Lawrence Ng, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder of Oversee.net. “Technology has been a key competitive advantage in helping Oversee become a leader in traffic monetization and online consumer lead generation. And it will continue to be an essential part of Oversee’s plans to expand its traffic network and grow its lead generation businesses in the travel, consumer finance and online shopping verticals.”

In their statement on the announcement, Oversee.net said Scott Morrow has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests.

Oversee.net Taps Morrow To Lead Vertical Markets Strategy

oversee.net logoCompany builds on expertise and success in the travel and financial services categories, providing contextual search results to help consumers make purchase decisions

[news release] LOS ANGELES (January 13) — Oversee.net® has named Scott Morrow as Senior Vice President / GM of its Vertical Markets division, the company said today. Morrow will lead Oversee’s effort to rapidly build on its contextual search and comparative results capability, expanding on its success in financial services and travel to move into new marketplaces

oversee.net logoCompany builds on expertise and success in the travel and financial services categories, providing contextual search results to help consumers make purchase decisions

[news release] LOS ANGELES (January 13) — Oversee.net® has named Scott Morrow as Senior Vice President / GM of its Vertical Markets division, the company said today. Morrow will lead Oversee’s effort to rapidly build on its contextual search and comparative results capability, expanding on its success in financial services and travel to move into new marketplaces.

The company, which operates well-established comparison sites like LowFares.com™ and CreditCards.org, is focusing development efforts on creating site experiences that help consumers make purchase decisions. Oversee’s performance marketing strategy—connecting consumers and advertisers—will provide consumers with immediately relevant information and move them closer to the actions they want to take.

Oversee CEO and President Jeff Kupietzky says the move to expand its vertical markets strategy is a natural fit to its domain name monetization operations and its already successful vertical properties. “We’re taking what we’ve learned in acquiring and managing Internet traffic and applying it to new markets,” he said. “The insight we have from managing more than ten million domain names puts us in a unique position to improve comparison and buying decisions for consumers.”

Kupietzky also underscored the company’s continuing investment in the domain name side of the business. “Oversee has achieved a leadership position in Internet real estate,” he said. “We’re continuing to invest in and advance that business even as we expand in other areas.”

Morrow is well prepared for role
Morrow, who will lead the expansion effort, joins Oversee after his tenure as CEO and President of ThisNext, a venture-backed company that operates multiple social shopping sites. Immediately prior, he was Executive Vice President at Citysearch, where he developed a strategic vision for the unit of IAC and scaled the business.

“Oversee has an exceptional reputation in the online world and broader business community as a company that knows how to connect consumers and advertisers,” Morrow said. “We have the assets and expertise to expand our leadership position in performance marketing and help consumers find the information they’re looking for and deliver qualified leads for advertisers. I’m very happy to be joining this team and leading this effort.”

Kupietzky added, “Scott has deep experience and brings to Oversee a very strong and relevant skill set. The vertical markets strategy is important to our company, and we’re fortunate to have a leader like Scott driving it.”

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net® is the leader in Internet real estate, specializing in monetizing, registering, selling and developing domain names. The company provides an array of managed services to domain investors, corporations, and individuals across more than ten million web sites. Oversee owns one of the largest portfolios of domain names in the world—more than 1 million names. The company’s unique optimized technology connects consumers and advertisers with highly relevant advertisements. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Portland, Oregon, Pompano Beach, Florida and Frankfurt, Germany, the company’s core brands include DomainSponsor®, SnapNames®, Moniker®, DOMAINfest®, LowFares.comTM, Creditcards.org, and AboutAirportParking.com®. To learn more, please visit www.oversee.net.

SnapNames Shill Bidding Halvarez Case Settled

The shill bidding case involving former SnapNames Vice President Nelson Brady, aka “Halvarez”, bid up the prices for domain names with false bids has come to a conclusion. The class action settlement, filed by those who thought their domain name prices were artificially inflated, will see claimants offered the same settlement terms and amounts as those offered to affected bidders in the rebate offer last November

The shill bidding case involving former SnapNames Vice President Nelson Brady, aka “Halvarez”, bid up the prices for domain names with false bids has come to a conclusion. The class action settlement, filed by those who thought their domain name prices were artificially inflated, will see claimants offered the same settlement terms and amounts as those offered to affected bidders in the rebate offer last November.

Under the settlement class members (which are United States residents who were extended the rebate offer but have not yet accepted) have been or shortly will be notified of the settlement terms and amounts (which are identical to the amounts affected bidders were offered in the rebate offer we extended last November).

“Halvarez” was the bidding name of a SnapNames.com domain name auction bidder who bid in approximately 50,000 auctions between 2005 and 2009.

“While this has been an unfortunate situation for SnapNames and its customers and employees, we’re proud of the faith our customers have shown us in the past year. We’re pleased to have these matters settled and are moving on with our business and our focus on serving customers,” said Jeff Kupietzky, CEO of Oversee.net.

SnapNames have advised that unless a class member opts out of the settlement, that member is bound by the settlement terms, which include a release of all further claims against SnapNames and Oversee relating to the “Halvarez” matter.

As a result of the case, SnapNames has created and adopted a formal policy regarding inappropriate bidding activity, and will make annual reports available to SnapNames customers regarding any reports or investigations of inappropriate bidding.

Separately, SnapNames advised they have also resolved their outstanding claim against Nelson Brady. While terms of the settlement are not public and will not be disclosed, Oversee believes the financial penalty is appropriate considering the seriousness of the improper activity.

More details on the settlement are available from:
https://www.snapnames.com/legal/settlement.jsp