It's official,Snapnames has been acquired by Los Angeles based Oversee.net

[typist]

Will we ever see good names drop again? I mean with Domain Sponsor in the mix, they can take and park the names themselves. Why sell to the peons?

Exactly. Same thing happened when demand media acquired enom. Even though they might not take all good names, I don't doubt they'll be skimming off some cream.

:sigh2:

At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if snapnames will become the new channel of choice to offload high-risk domains for Maltuzi.

 

[NameGuy]

Care to share, Kjel.....

 

[Fearless]

Exactly. Same thing happened when demand media acquired enom. Even though they might not take all good names, I don't doubt they'll be skimming off some cream.

Big difference in transparency between Enom and Snapnames. If the transparency goes away at Snapnames then you know what's happening.

Hi Fearless, I agree with the above, but would you agree that Snapnames's bottom line as a stand alone company was(is, or would be) decreasing due to a smaller and smaller pool of good names dropping?

I agree but the pool is drying up very slowly. In the mean time, the DS shows will get a big boost in the live auction department.

 

[Rarethings]

I hope you're right on this one fearless. You very well may be. But I can't help but think that if music.com is dropping tomorrow that oversee would pick it up.

My biggest fear is oversee operating on a different LLC with no visible ties to their company, buying up all the goods with no traces so everything works.

 

[Kjel]

Care to share, Kjel.....

I suppose I could: There will be no material changes planned for the current SnapNames auction platform related to our recent change of ownership. Specifically, no one (including Oversee or any person or entity related to or associated with them) because of this deal will now have any sort of "preferred access" to the names that our various partners provision or that we acquire via the drop. Our auctions will continue to be as transparent as they always have been.

Official press release will come out early tomorrow. Feel free to shoot me an email (please no PM's -- kjel@snapnames. . .) with any questions.

 

[companyone]

Hi,

Just wondering, now this deal is a "done deal"...will Pool .com be next?

Peace,
Dan

 

[Rarethings]

I don't think pool.com is going anywhere.

 

[Daem0n]

How much do you think this deal cost?

 

[companyone]

It has been reported as low as 25M and as high as 60M.

The exact figure has not been made public yet.

Dan

 

[petrosc]

a quote from redherring.com :

One industry expert said an added bonus of the purchase of a domain name auction house would be the insight Oversee.net might gain about domain name purchasing trends. The company could then try to purchase popular domain names to monetize itself instead of putting them up for auction.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.a...ctor=Industries&subsector=InternetAndServices

 

[GoPC]

It's important that you understand there will be no changes to the way SnapNames provides its services. This is a combination of two industry leaders with outstanding reputations for serving domain name investors and customers at all levels.

Yeah right...

So far, the last 6 domains I have won at Snap over the past week have NOT resolved to my accounts yet. Despite repeated emails I keep getting replies saying "we're working on it".

Suddently, they can't get domains transferred to you now?

It's been a WEEK on some of them. :?:

I for one... am worried.

GoPC

 

[companyone]

Posted this a day or so ago in the wrong thread...moving it over here.

Hi,

A little follow up article:

Buying the Dotcoms

Domain industry leader snaps up large online auctioneer.
June 1, 2007

By Leah Messinger

Oversee.net, one of the top Internet domain name brokers, said Friday it had agreed to acquire SnapNames, one of the largest auction houses for expired and deleted domain names.

The acquisition comes at a time when industry leaders and venture capitalists are turning their attention to the profit potential of domain names and advertising on so-called parked web pages. Domain monetizers use ads from Google and Yahoo, for example, on theses otherwise blank web pages to earn revenue from click-through web navigation. Some industry experts describe the buying, selling, and monetization of domain names as a $4 to $5 billion industry.

Though Los Angeles, California-based Oversee.net did not disclose terms of the deal, it said it took out a $60 million credit line late last year. Jay Westerdal, who writes the DomainTools blog estimated that the deal cost Oversee.net approximately $50 million, while domain blogger Frank Schilling put the deal at $25 million.

Oversee.net founder and CEO Lawrence Ng said the SnapNames acquisition is the first of many to come over the next year. “We intend to acquire significantly more than $60 million over the next 12 months,” he said.

Portland, Oregon-based SnapNames is one of the biggest players in the domain industry. Domainers commonly refer to the purchase of a domain name as a “snap,” an expression that is equivalent to making a Xerox or using a Kleenex, said Internet consultant Joshua Bourne.

Oversee.net will take advantage of SnapNames’ industry recognition to offer new auction capabilities as a package with its preexisting domain monetization services.

Domain monetizers make most of their money when Internet surfers type web addresses directly into their browsers, instead of using a search engine. When people type in either generic domain names, such as business.com, or misspell trademarked names, such as motarola.net, they land on parked pages.

The owners of those pages bet their businesses on the fact that users will click on advertising links en route to their intended destinations, which could bring substantial ad revenues in the process. A 2006 Forrester study estimated that consumers type web addresses incorrectly in to their browsers 38 percent of the time.

One industry expert said an added bonus of the purchase of a domain name auction house would be the insight Oversee.net might gain about domain name purchasing trends. The company could then try to purchase popular domain names to monetize itself instead of putting them up for auction.

Mr. Ng said he expects the deal to close by mid-June. Source

,
Dan

 

[GoPC]

Okay... so now I am up to 15 names purchased through snap since the takeover. Still NONE of them actually showing up in my account.

15 domains... ZERO control. I have a $2000 bid into another one and wont I be excited to get a great domain for a sizable chunk of change and again... NO ability to capitalize on it.

I'm not saying it has anything to do with the buyout but the timing is suspect.

Either way, I'm pretty NOT happy. Some domains are now 14 days since purchased and still not showing in my account.

Word from Snap? "We're not sure... we're working on it.".

Grrrr....

GoPC

Someone at Snap must be reading this... suddently, all my domains appeared in my account this morning. Even the ones from two weeks ago. Nice

I hope this is a sign of good things to come.



GoPC