Archive for June, 2008



Gmail.com not accessible from Germany anymore

When I just tried to go to Gmail.com I was blocked and got the following error message:

We can’t provide service under the Gmail name in Germany; we’re called Google Mail here instead.

If you’re traveling in Germany, you can access your mail at http://mail.google.com.

Oh, and we’d like to link the URL above, but we’re not allowed to do that either. Bummer.

For general information about Google, please visit www.google.com or www.google.de.

Now, I knew Google hasn’t been allowed to promote its email service under the Gmail name in Germany due to trademark issues, but it had always been possible to access my Gmail account via Gmail.com. Unfortunately, as it seems, Google is now blocking German users from using this domain name so that they will have no choice other than to use the longer, bulky URL above. Alternatively, one can also go to GoogleMail.com, but this is still not as nice as Gmail.com, in my opinion.

The Gmail.com forward is still working for incoming emails, which is good, and I hope Google will continue to offer this @gmail.com to @googlemail.com catch-all function for German users. Otherwise it might result in emails being sent to wrong recipients or not being delivered at all.

Marchex Launches Adhere

Marchex, Inc.Marchex Launches Marchex Adhere to Better Serve National and Local Advertisers;
Further Extends Reach through New Distribution Relationships

New pay-per-click advertising channel delivers a national presence and local impact

SEATTLE, WA – June 9, 2008 – Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHX, MCHXP), a local search and advertising company, today launched Marchex Adhere™, a new pay-per-click advertising channel that provides advertisers and agencies with exclusive placement on hundreds of premium publisher Web sites and on Marchex’s OpenList® network. Marchex is also adding several new premium publishers and locally focused Web sites to Marchex Adhere, further expanding the breadth and depth of the network and enhancing Marchex’s leadership position in local search and advertising.

Marchex Adhere allows advertisers of any size and budget to reach a unique, highly-qualified audience at scale:

  • It enables national advertisers to efficiently fulfill their online budget in the same manner as they purchase offline advertising; namely national, spot and local in a single media buy.
  • It provides small- and medium-sized businesses the opportunity to reach local customers directly through Marchex’s OpenList and reach national customers through premium, vertically focused publishers.

“Local advertising isn’t just for small businesses,” said Pete Christothoulou, Marchex Chief Strategy Officer. “National advertisers are responsible for more than two-thirds of the $100 billion in local ad spending¹. With the increasing fragmentation in the local market, it is nearly impossible for national advertisers to take full advantage of the tremendous local opportunity and find enough quality traffic at scale to fulfill their campaign needs. Marchex Adhere provides a single source for advertisers and agencies to reach exclusive national, vertical and local traffic.”

“Many of our clients are increasingly looking to build their brand awareness on a national level while leveraging that brand to drive transactions at the local level,” said Michael Lee, Director, Strategic Partnerships, DoubleClick Performics. “The ability to target premium publisher Web sites as well as vertical and local search sites in one source enables us to deliver additional quality traffic, at volume, to our clients in a very cost-effective manner.”

Marchex is one of the biggest players in local search and advertising. Currently, more than 65,000 national and local advertisers use Marchex’s advertising products and services to reach consumers online, including the more than 30 million people monthly who visit Marchex’s OpenList² network to make more-informed local buying decisions.

National Presence, Local Impact
Marchex Adhere allows advertisers and agencies to select site-specific or category-based placements on more than 200 premium publisher Web sites including BusinessWeek Online, Bankrate.com and Kiplinger.com, as well as keyword-targeted placements on top search, vertical and local Web sites, including Marchex’s OpenList.

In conjunction with today’s launch, Marchex is adding several new premium publisher and local Web sites to Marchex Adhere through new and expanded distribution partnerships, including:

  • IDG – Publishers of PC World, CIO Magazine and Macworld
  • Ziff Davis Enterprise – Publishers of eWeek, CIO|Insight and Publish
  • Banks.com – Timely advice and first-class tools for building personal wealth – covering banking, loans, investing, insurance, taxes, real estate and autos
  • RealtyTrac – the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value
  • AmericanTowns.com – a national network of community-based websites where people can find & share the best local information for every town in America
  • YourStreet.com – Indexes and maps thousands of articles, blogs, and conversations down to the street level
  • Lat49 – an online ad network providing local and brand advertisers with delivery of geo-targeted and contextual ads across a network of online maps
  • HelloMetro – city level information on local history, attractions, real estate, jobs, Yellow Pages, White Pages and local resources

“Marchex’s relationships with top-tier publishers combined with our own local traffic and high level of client service helps advertisers and agencies obtain both a national presence and local impact online,” added Christothoulou. “According to recent data, local searches are growing more than three times faster than other searches and 86% of search engine users search locally for products and services³. Marchex’s laser-sharp focus on local, combined with the reach, breadth and volume of our traffic enables advertisers to capitalize on the local opportunity now and as it continues to grow exponentially.”

With the launch of Marchex Adhere, Marchex subsidiaries, IndustryBrains and Enhance Interactive are unified under the powerful Marchex Adhere brand.

(Source: Company Press Release)

China’s .CN now largest ccTLD

DotCNAs reported by DomainNews.com, China’s .cn domain extension has become the world’s largest country-code top-level domain (ccTLD). This means .CN has overtaken long-time leader Germany (.de). There are now about 12,300,000 .cn domains and roughly 12,100,000 .de domains registered, according to David Goldstein of DomainNews.com.

Only the generic .com TLD is bigger than these two ccTLDs: there are more than 76 million .com domain names currently registered. (Source: WebHosting.info)

CCIN partners with Monster Venture Partners

Castello Cities Internet Networks, Inc. (CCIN), the company owned by brothers Michael and David Castello, has teamed up with Rob Monster’s Monster Venture Partners (MVP) to develop CCIN’s generic domain name Traveler.com. The companies are going to develop the domain into a global travel portal.

CCIN owns a very nice domain portfolio including gems such as PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com and Whisky.com. MVP’s portfolio includes online businesses Alerts.com, HealthCare.com, Patents.com, WiFi.com and DomainStrategies.com.

(via DNJournal.com)

Reinvent launches Vancouver.com beta

Reinvent Technology, Inc.Dr. Kevin Ham’s Reinvent Technology has launched the beta 2.0 version of its Vancouver.com website. When I went to the site today I initially thought how incredibly well-done it was. The design looks top-notch, it has a clean structure that is easy to navigate while also having animated and dynamic elements.

With this website Reinvent Technology shows what you can do with a top domain name if you decide to take the path of development. Just think of such a great website under America.com - I still can’t understand why there were so few buyers bidding on this geographic domain! But that’s another story…

Vancouver.com is still in beta status, so I’m sure the site will further improve as it comes near its final launch. Take a look at it yourself if you haven’t yet!

(via DomainNameNews.com)




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