The officially informative, sometimes humorous, and decidedly wonderful blog.

May 13, 2013
by Tiffany
0 comments

Name.com Predicts the Future

New TLD, new dots, nTLDs – Whatever you call them, they’re about to seriously redefine the way we use the Internet, think up domain names, and navigate the Web. Which has us thinking a lot about the future – in ten years, will there be so many domain name options our heads will explode? Perhaps so.

In honor of the future new TLDs, coming very soon to a computer near you, we watched futuristic sci-fi movies all weekend, and although we’re no closer to actually being able to predict the future of the Internet, we’re sure these five predictions, based on the movies we’ve been watching, are dead-on. We’re pretty busy and important (we’re sure you can tell), so we’re hoping you’ll make these predictions happen. We even helped out with possible e-com ideas and related new TLD domain names you’ll be able to purchase soon. Thank us later, and don’t forget your Grey’s Sports Almanac!

Fax Machines in Yo’ Closet.

So you thought fax machines were out? Wrong. Back to the Future II, set in 2015, predicted fax machines in closets, and we think it’s crazy enough to work. Texts? ntlds the futureSo yesterday. Nothing says, “I love you” like a creepy, early morning fax straight to the very closet your new bf is currently browsing. Getting ready for work has never been so unsettling. Now that’s romance.

How to make it happen: Launch a kick-starter and an informative site, to raise venture capital.

Possible new TLD domain name: closetfax.win

Personal Tiny Crossbows and Fashionable Chain-mail Will Be Hot Next Fall.

So hot, in fact, that you’ll need to go pants-less and gel your hair up just to make it through the day without suffering heat exhaustion. The crossbow not only says, “I’m too cool for school,” it also provides easily transportable personal protection in the mean streets of whatever city you’re living in. You’ll be daring people to mug you with your iCrossbow Mini.

How to make it happen: Design it yourself and create a meme of you, dressed in your new chain-mail, holding a crossbow, posed like the famous Mad Max Tina Turner poster, with the words “You only need this hero." Start posting the meme everywhere. Then offer an e-shop to sell your ware. Profit.

Possible new TLD domain name: chainsandcrossbows.fashion

Tina

Eye Scanning Lie Detectors– Wait for it – On Your Android!

Blade Runner’s depiction of 2019 is not exactly what we’d like to see happen in the next six years. Crazy homicidal robots, darkness, dystopia, weird food? No BladeRunnerthanks. But there is one thing we’ll take – the eye scanner lie detector. Totally useful for interviewing prospective employees, acing first dates, and raising honest children. A friend tells you a story you hardly believe? Whip out your lie detector eye scanner app, on your Android, and catch them in the act. You’ll be the most popular kid around.

How to make it happen: Design your lie detector app and come up with a crazy compilation of cat videos, in which one cat uses your app on another. Meow, that’s a genius marketing plan.

Possible new TLD domain name: catchaliar.app -- (CATchaliar.app, perhaps?)

Toilet Paper is for Losers. Use Seashells!

3ShellsLet’s face it. There’s nothing green about using toilet paper. You’re literally wiping your ass with nature. Cut it out, already. Demolition Man’s version of 2032 was toilet paper-less. Be the envy of all your hipster friends by figuring out how to wipe with seashells. Once you figure it out, let us know. We tried this morning, and only clogged up our toilets and caused serious “tissue” damage. HEEEEEEYYYOOOO.

Make it happen: Spend countless hours in pain and misery and then figure this out. Or don’t, and just sell seashells in a box to hapless hipsters and sci-fi fans.

Possible new TLD domain name: seashellsfortp.expert

Gap Will Know What Tanktops You Like.

It’s not cool to shop at Gap. We’re not sure why, but we do know there’s a reason they leave their brand label off of the t-shirts – so you won’t have to tell anyone you shop there. If Minority Report is right, though, and we think it is, Gap not only knows you shop there, but will soon have virtual personal greeters who will shout MinorityReportyour last purchase out to the mall world around you. Out with your friends, at the mall, casually chillin’? Better avoid Gap in 2054, because it will sell you out to all your homies.

Make it happen: Please don’t make this happen. In fact, do everything to make sure it doesn’t.

Possible New TLD domain name: notanktopsatgap.ninja

For more info about new TLDs, or to watch your favorites, check out our new TLD page.

May 10, 2013
by Ashley
37 Comments

We got hacked

Many of you received our email or saw online that name.com was hacked. The truth is that it's one of the more painful admissions that can be made on the Internet. We want you to know that when we say that we “give a shit” we truly mean it. In an effort to maintain the open, honest, and transparent reputation we’ve built for ourselves, we’re going to give you the lowdown on what happened and what we did in response.

Our security team alerted us that unauthorized individuals had accessed our database. After doing some digging we found that the attack seemed to be geared toward a few specific accounts. The hackers had a target and name.com was a means to that end.

The information that was accessed includes usernames, passwords, physical addresses, email, hashed passwords and encrypted credit card data. EPP codes (required for domain name transfers) are not stored in the same place so those were not compromised. For the techies who are wondering, the encryption on the credit card information is 4096 bit RSA. Since the password hashes were compromised we took proactive steps and initiated a site-wide password reset (hence the email, apologies for the inconvenience).

We are genuinely sorry for the annoyance and the scare. We’re taking this incredibly seriously and are doing everything possible to continue to improve the security of our systems. We greatly appreciate the support across the web and over the phones.

 

May 7, 2013
by Tiffany
1 Comment

Don’t Let Plural and Singular New TLDs Get You Down

Car. Cars.

The last time you were visually confused by these two words was probably first grade, but a lot of experts are concerned that in the context of TLDs, you'll be confused. They’ve got a point. Before you balk, take a look at this:

  • car.cars, cars.car, cars.auto, car.auto, auto.car, autos.car, autos.cars, cars.autos, car.auto.bob marley

The above are all possible domain names, if .auto, .car, .cars, and .autos all launch. Confusing, right? Particularly if you’re trying to remember which one your friend told you is the absolutely, undeniably, hands-down most bitchin’ site to buy a car on. You’ll be wishing you wrote that one down.

Ever since the ICANN String Similarity Independent Panel issued their final say on singular and plural domains, deciding that both were ultimately permissible, there’s been a lot of worry in the domain industry. At the Beijing conference early April, the GAC brought up the concern with ICANN and requested that ICANN reconsider their position. Since ICANN uses an Independent Panel to excuse themselves from possibly biased decisions, they stated that at this time they’d defer to that panel.

So what should you do? How can you protect yourself from confusion madness?

Relax.

Put on a Bob Marley song, or whatever works for you (we don’t judge), and take a deep breath. Five reasons not to worry:

  1. This isn’t the first time confusion could have occurred with TLDs. Take .biz and .bz, or .co and .com, or the multi-uses of ccTLDs, like .me, which is both the ccTLD for Montenegro and a personal website TLD option. These are potentially confusing, and yet they exist peacefully.
  2. Sure car.cars and cars.car are super-confusing. Which is why, as a brand owner, you would never register these sites, unless you were just trying to land traffic. It’s why car manufacturers don’t name their cars “car” and their dealerships “cars.” Impala.cars and Impala.car will probably both be registered by Chevy, the trademark owner – and they’ll probably lead to the same place.
  3. One registry may fail. But these applicants knew going in that each proposed gTLD was a risk, and many went with plurals right of the bat. Why? Variety. And variety is the spice of capitalism. The market seems to always figure out how much it can take. While .car might be registered mostly by a few large-scale dealerships, .cars might end up being a desired registry for blogs, forums, and other small-scale webpages, and at that point both TLDs are discernible.
  4. You are not going to have to register your company in each possible TLD. We know many of you are small business owners and purse strings are tight. Owning several domains has always been a part of your business plan, and you may decide to select a market-specific TLD, but you don’t have to. Registering your trademark in the Clearinghouse will help keep you protected, but it’s not even possible now to register every possible TLD. And that’s okay. When’s the last time you landed on the wrong page via a typo and thought, “Hey! I’ll just shop on this shitty site instead of the cool one I really wanted?” Never. Neither will your customers. Get the ones you really want, keep your eye on the TMCH, and move on.
  5. There’s going to be so much room on the Web. And you get to be a part of that. Do you want to add a page detailing your promotions? Use a .PROMO. Want to start a new blog about beer? Use .BEER. It’s possible to stretch your legs and find your own piece of the Net.

Here’s the main thing: ICANN already has a bunch of rules. 338 pages worth, to be exact. And there are checks and balances, as well as a multi-stakeholder approach, meant to rule out any mistakes. Not everything can be delegated, though, and not every mistake can be avoided. It’s just like government – too little rules, chaos; too many rules, not enough freedom. And every market needs freedom because every market needs competition and choices.

Rule out plurals, and ICANN rules out plurals in other languages, in which visual similarity may not even be an issue. Rule out words with one letter difference, and .shop and .show might not make it. Eventually, it’s up to you, the consumer, to decide what lasts and what goes the way of the wagon. We trust you.

May 2, 2013
by Jared
7 Comments

The Best Deal on .TV Domain Names in the Industry. Period.

This is the best deal in the business. And when we say "business" we mean all businesses everywhere ever, because every entity out for success could use a quality domain for the least amount of money. Now hang onto yourself because I'm about to pull out the big font...

For a limited time get your brand new .TV domain for $10.99 per year for up to 10 years!*

.tv domains

If you're not familiar with the domain industry, you might be like, "Heavens to Betsy, that's over a hundred bucks!" But .TV annual renewals are ugly. You're getting ten years for less than what three years of .TV typically costs anywhere else. Really. If you find a lower price, I'll shave your name in my back.

But more about why this is important: .TV domains are coveted and memorable, they represent the video culture that is exploding on the Internet, and excellent availability means you can get the domain name you want.

Hold on...big font...

Don't miss the greatest deal on the web!

*If the domain name is priced at $10.99. If it is priced at a premium rate (higher than 10.99) then you cannot register it for multiple years.

May 1, 2013
by Jared
1 Comment

FROM START TO STAR: THE LIFE CYCLE OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME

The life of a domain name is not unlike a star, and by “star” we mean the big balls of gas that make the world a brighter place, not the guy who played Screech on your star is about to splodeSaved by the Bell. Although he’s a star in his own right, he’ll never be able to shine as bright as he once did, but your domain can. Like a star, your domains are at the center of your online universe. They begin simply, shine brightly, and can end up a smoldering hot giver of the green...as long as you don’t let them burn out!

Here’s a domain’s life cycle to greatness and back again:

Phase 1 --  The Beginning: A bunch of dust and gas

Until you register your domain name, your idea is just a lot of hot air. So you employ the easiest and best marketing tool in the universe: you get a domain name (or you transfer your current domain into name.com, where the registration is automatically extended for 1 year).

Boom. Your Big Bang was just a few clicks on the Internet.

(Pro tip: You can register domain names for up to 10 years out, and often time get some stellar discounts for doing a multi-year registration. Pun intended.)your domains into websites

Phase 2 -- Giant Flaming Ball of Awesome: Lighting up your space

During the life cycle of a domain you have 360 amazing days of sunshine. This is the time to illuminate your web presence with name.com web hosting or RapidPress (one-click WordPress setup) and simple SEO.  Content is King (very cliche we know, but it’s true) so during this phase it’s important to focus on being a relevant content superstar.

Phase 3 -- Renewal: Don’t be a Black Hole

If you let your domain expire, your starshine will fade. But UNLIKE childhood stars AND celestial spheres, YOU DON’T HAVE TO IMPLODE INTO NOTHINGNESS.

A few tools to help you keep your domain renewal on your radar:

  • Make sure renewal notices are enabled

life cycle of a domain name

 

 

  • Enable automatic billing puts your domain renewal on auto pilot. All you have to do is enable it and make sure you have a default payment profile that has up to date credit card information.

domain names life cycle

Phase 4 -- Darkness looms: The sun has yet to set

Let us align the stars for you. We can help you sync all your expiration dates and, if you’re not set up for auto renewal, we’ll remind you about their expiration. HOWEVER, if your domain comes up for renewal and you totally space it, name.com gives you an additional 25 days called the “Renewal grace period” to renew the domain name. Beyond 25 days your domain names could end up in a...

Phase 5: Supernova of sadness

don't let your domains expireAfter the 25-day grace period your success will be eclipsed by the awkward situation of having to buy your domain back. (You’ll feel like a White Dwarf [solar insult].) Domains that expire will be made available on NameJet or other third parties prior to deletion, and then you’ll have to try and retrieve them from the endless ether of the Internet.


Burn bright superstar! We only float around here for so long before it’s lights out. So make the most of your marketing (and your own life cycle) by maintaining your domains!