Who Missed the Domain?

1. Who Missed the Domain? Eric Rice DomainsForMedia.com 443-421-0000 DomainsForMedia.com

2. Agency and marketing experience • VP Business Development, JDA Advertising – Fastest growing direct response agency 1996 by Advertising Age • COO, ConnectedBrands – Full service agency, 9 offices • General Manager: Bulkregister, domain registrar sold to Enom/Demand Media DomainsForMedia.com

3. For our Madison Avenue friends • Ovt w/ extension: Number of times someone searches in Overture and includes the extension. Example: Instead of searching for “cars” they search for cars.com • Lesson 1: The higher the ovt with extension the more “direct type-in” traffic the domain gets because if some are putting it in the search box with extension then some are surely typing it directly into the browser DomainsForMedia.com

4. Overture w/ extension DomainsForMedia.com

5. Overture w/ extension DomainsForMedia.com

6. Why is domain traffic so hard to understand? • The concept that domains themselves have traffic is very hard for many to understand…. • Lack of this understanding may be the single biggest reason that others outside the industry seldom value domains as we do • Who I meet that doesn’t understand natural domain traffic: Agencies, Media Planners, CEOs, Corporate Executives, SEO firms and many others. DomainsForMedia.com

7. Commonly heard • I say “type in” they say “oh yea in the search box”…Some otherwise smart people never seem to get direct navigation even when I explain it 3-4 times. • “We already have domains. We keep them at GoDaddy.” • Let me give you the person’s name who manages our domains. This is always some admin type who is simply the person who renews the domains and has no buying power DomainsForMedia.com

8. Characteristics of those who understand domain traffic? • While I don’t know exactly what they are I suspect that domainers have some innate and common personal characteristics that has allowed them to better understand domains and traffic and be the first movers DomainsForMedia.com

9. Why most agencies and corporations don’t get domains • Lack of press about domain traffic, therefore lack of understanding that domains themselves produce billions of targeted impressions • Yet we are overwhelmed with press about paid search and other paid placements • Long history of media planning and buying – aka “our Ad Spend” • No mindset about buying the channel itself…Can’t buy the TV station, or the radio station or the building the outdoor ad is on…. • Nobody in charge of domain acquisition at agency or even corporate level and no budgeting for it DomainsForMedia.com

10. Why most agencies and corporations don’t get domains • Unlike domainers no culture of seeing a domain as part of the overall “success” equation. Its simply not the starting point DomainsForMedia.com

11. A story to help Madison Avenue and corporations understand domain traffic value Video Poker Industry Video Poker becoming widely popular in the casinos DomainsForMedia.com

12. A story to help Madison Avenue and corporations understand domain traffic value • VideoPoker.com • Purchased for approximately $50,000 • Not heavily marketed until early 2006 • Traffic was rarely tracked, revenue model was nonexistent • Owner may have resold for $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 over the years? DomainsForMedia.com

13. VideoPoker.com Current Stats • After 18 months of strategy, execution and lead capture combined with great direct “type- in” traffic • Overture w/ extension: 2000-2500 per month • Thousands of daily direct “type ins” • #1 in Google search for term video poker • 3,000,000 monthly page views • 61,000 loyal and active members, 150 new sign ups per day • Very targeted, quality traffic and user base • Not a gambling site, “play and practice the real games in the casino’s” (owner also has patents on 90% of the actual casino video poker games”) DomainsForMedia.com

14. What is this traffic worth to us? • We are currently selling out the advertising space on the website • Our ad target: Casinos who want to drive Video Poker players and overall casino traffic • $15-$25 per thousand impressions = $45,000 - $75,000 per month • $50 per year membership upgrade @ 15,000: $750,000 annual • Revenue will only increase as membership does DomainsForMedia.com

15. What is this traffic worth to a casino if they owned the domain? • 50% of the 50,000 members visit Vegas 1x per year • 25,000 x $5,000 average spent at hotel and casino = $125,000,000 on its way to Vegas in 2007 from these members • If one casino could capture just 5% of that through incentives, discounts, direct marketing = $6,250,000 per year and will grow each year • Recurring value over the next 5, 10, 20 years? Hundreds of millions and eventually billions of dollars DomainsForMedia.com

16. Where were the brand managers, media planners and marketing execs pushing casino clients to buy this domain? • It makes practical and common sense yet… …no such company has ever even made an offer or inquired about the domain • Of course the only offers over the years have come from domainers themselves DomainsForMedia.com

17. Wouldn’t it be better for the casino/corporation to own the channel itself? • By owning the domain you own the entire channel and all the avenues to profit from that channel • You don’t share traffic or customers with your competition • You own the customer and can dialogue with them in your community • You own it forever at today’s domain costs • You rely less on paid search, banners and other online media buys • Domain “type in” traffic converts at higher rates than other types of traffic • You drive your advertising costs down • If you are in the associated business you can take the traffic to its “highest and best use” getting much quicker payback DomainsForMedia.com

18. Most corporations simply have no understanding of domain traffic, no strategy to acquire the most relevant domains or person/team dedicated to those goals Domainers have not been good about explaining the value of domain traffic DomainsForMedia.com

19. What it will cost a casino to buy VideoPoker.com today • Its not for sale but if it were…$5-10 million? • That price might be a bargain based on the current stats • Just like real estate in 1996, “today’s top prices will seem like deals in the future” DomainsForMedia.com

20. Hotel.com discussion for the rest of the panel • Hotel.com At last years show a brand expert said that Hyatt didn’t want to brand itself as a cheap “hotel” therefore they are not interested in that domain • Sounds foolish to me. If you are Hyatt, owning hotel.com does nothing to hurt your brand, what it does is “automatically” drive millions or billions to your bottom line and even insure success during down cycles…. • Also if they don’t want hotels.com why don’t they own exclusivehotels.com and other domains more on target with the brand? • Comments from the rest of the panel? How do we move domain education along? DomainsForMedia.com

21. Questions I have? • Is it really in the best interest of a media planner and agency to teach clients about the value of domain traffic and get them to buy the domain? Agencies make money on media buys. It’s the lifeblood of the organization • Is Madison Avenue really the target? Or is it the corporations themselves? DomainsForMedia.com

22. Thanks for your time. DomainsForMedia.com