If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. While at it, why not follow me on Twitter, too? Thanks for visiting!
Simply Super: T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West 2008 Takes Care of Business at Domain Industry Summit in Las Vegas
Like Super Bowl week, T.R.A.F.F.I.C has blossomed into an extravaganza that has become more than a trade show. It attracts ambitious business people who know the event’s festive atmosphere is conducive to getting deals done. So I was looking forward to this 10th outing in the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. series at the Venetian Hotel. I’ve been to 9 out of 10 of them, missing only Las Vegas in 2005 because my daughter was graduating from high school that week (I’m looking forward to taking her to her first T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show in May when conference organizers Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu will be staging their first family oriented event at Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Hotel). Knowing the show’s track record I arrived in Las Vegas with high expectations, and once again those expectations were fully met.
The serious power and glam passions of Marissa Mayer, the gorgeously geeky Googler who’s generating a new kind of Silicon Valley notoriety.
A week before Christmas, Marissa Mayer, the most closely watched woman in the most closely watched company in the world, stands in the bedroom of her $5 million, 38th-floor penthouse at the Four Seasons, surrounded by Googlers who work for her. She is not what you expect.
(…)
But whatever else there is to say about Mayer—who is rumored to be worth several hundred million dollars—there’s no doubting her influence at Google. As vice president of search products and user experience, Mayer manages 150 product managers, who direct the efforts of nearly 2,000 software engineers; levels criticism and praise with the same cool gaze; and is an arbiter…
The preview site of Bido.com was launched today. Although there isn’t much you can do at this time (most buttons aren’t clickable yet), the design looks pretty nice and I like how Bido highlights the domain which is currently at auction as well as the experts’ opinions. According to Sahar, they plan to run the first auction in three weeks.
Sahar, one question I have: What is the exact name of this service? Is it Bido, BIDO or Bido.com? I noticed you’re using different versions on the site.
Moniker’s T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West 2008 Silent Auction ended yesterday. 268 domains were sold for a total of $480,000. For comparison only, the TRAFFIC silent auction in October 2007 netted more than $2 million (437 domains were sold).
I think some domains went for low prices this time, including StorageFacility.com ($18,700), SierraMadre.com ($13,024), CaribbeanBeaches.com ($5,890), Bangs.com ($4,303), OilFund.com ($2,950), DubaiPenthouses.com ($2,200) and Weathershield.com ($1,428) amongst others.
Why is that? Sahar says it might be due to an oversupply of domain auctions that makes it harder for buyers to spot good domains. I agree with him on this. This effect can be observed on eBay and other auction venues every day. Buyers will place higher bids if it is easier for them to concentrate on fewer domains. (That is what makes BIDO‘s domain auction approach interesting.)
The preview site of 
Recent Comments