• Top .com: hotelsguide.com at 60,000 USD
• Top ccTLD: verzuimmanagement.nl at 12,100 EUR
• Top “other” TLD: roulette.biz at 6,750 EUR

See all of the reported sales after the jump.

Related posts:

• Sedo sells 919 Domains for $2.2 million USD
• Sedo sells over $2.1M USD in domains the previous week
• Sedo Sells RedWine.com for $150,000
• Sedo sells $2.2 million of Domains in the previous week
• Sedo sells domains for over $1.3 Million USD including gr.ee for almost $26,000 USD

Domainers typically sell domain names they aren’t using. They’re parked or have a minisite, but no real business.

But sometimes domain name owners are approached about selling a domain name they’re already using.

I’m not talking about someone wanting to buy a web site you’ve created; instead someone wants to buy a domain name you’re using but the buyer wants to use it for something completely different.

I was reminded of this today upon hearing the news that Jamie Zoch (formerly blogged at DotWeekly) has changed the name of his expired domain auction site from Zearn.com to DropAlert.com.

Zoch changed the name because a yet-to-be-identified buyer wanted the Zearn.com domain name.

(Although he hasn’t disclosed it, I bet ten bucks the buyer is online education startup Zearn. It already owns just about every other second level Zearn domain out there e.g. zearn.net, zearn.org.)

Changing the URL of an existing web site isn’t easy. But sometimes it makes sense if the money is right.

A few years ago I counseled a friend who was approached about a domain name she used for her business. The name itself was just OK. It’s the type of domain you might see sell for $1,000 or so on Afternic.

I framed it for her this way: how much would it take to overcome the pain of changing your web address? Think about notifying your clients of the new address, a temporary loss in SEO, changing your business cards, etc.

She thought about it and came up with a low five figure number.

When the potential domain buyer offered less money than her number several times, she calmly explained that it wasn’t worth it to her to sell for less than her original asking price. That’s a very good bargaining position. And since she really meant it, she ended up getting her full asking price.

Sometimes a buyer can do something to make it easier on the seller. Offering to forward existing email addresses to a new one benefits the seller while created minimum burden on the buyer.

I’ve thought about this exact question with my DNW.com domain. I get plenty of offers on the domain, but most are just other domain investors. For me to sell it, I’d need a great offer. Probably in the six figures. In addition to being a forward, I have thousands of links out there using a link shortener that points to DNW.com.

Oh, and I’d have to get a new license plate.

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Google has long partnered with GoDaddy and eNom to make registering a domain and connecting it to Google Apps easy.

Google is working to expand the number of registrars with this functionality and is introducing a new API to make it much easier.

The API is available to all registrars. It has reduced the number of steps required to verify and transfer email from 10 down to 3 steps and users are no longer required to leave the Google Apps signup flow to complete domain registration.

Hover and TransIP have just integrated the new API. Google expects the following registrars to be on board with the new, easier API within the next few months:

Afrihost
Domaindiscount24.com, a subsidiary of Key-Systems.net
Gandi
Go Daddy
eNom
GMO Internet Group
Heartinternet.co.uk, Domain Monster and 123-reg.co.uk
LCN.com
Melbourne IT
Name.com
Network Solutions, a subsidiary of Web.com
Wix.com
WebNic

I imagine becoming a “Google Apps Ready Registrar” would have a number of benefits to domain name registrars. Registrars can apply here.

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I’ll be first to admit, I have no idea what the life of a contractor is like.

By contractor, I mean people who build and repair stuff. Like fences, landscapes, and windows.

I’m in the final stages of building my new house, and there are a number of things I need to take care of. Like getting a fence installed.

Yet it’s harder than it needs to be. So I’m writing this letter to give you, dear contractor, some advice. Advice that will make you a lot more money.

1. Get a web site.

It doesn’t have to be pretty. It can be a free web site from your domain name registrar, for that matter.

All you need to do is put up some pictures of your work, a few testimonials, perhaps a picture of your family. Something simple.

Perhaps it’s a false sense of security since anyone can put up a web site, but in a way it makes me feel that you’re not some fly-by-night operator.

It also makes you a lot easier to find on Google, which is really important.

(Bonus points: Invest a thousand dollars in a good web site. Although any web site is a good start, a good web site makes a better impression on customers. And don’t tell me you don’t have $1,000 to invest — see point #3.)

2. Use an email address connected to your domain name.

I don’t have a lot of confidence when I email you at somecontractor@yahoo.com or jimsfencingco@sbcglobal.net.

Look, you can get free email with most domain name registrations. Take 15 minutes to set it up.

3. Return phone calls.

Now, I know there’s a building boom in Austin right now. Yet I seem to have had this problem for the past decade. I’ll leave a message with a contractor asking them to come out and make a proposal. Then I never hear back.

If you are so busy right now that you simply can’t handle all of the work being thrown your way, do one of two things:

a) call me back and explain that you’re just too busy. At some point in the future you might not be busy, and taking a couple minutes to call me means I’ll consider you again in the future.

b) sell/make referrals to other businesses. Those companies selling leads to contractors are making a lot more money than you are. Take a page out of their playbook.

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I typically send an advance version of my top 5 stories list to newsletter subscribers toward the end of the month. I always include the caveat that the results, which are ranked by article views, are subject to change in the last couple days of the month.

Usually a change has to do with a big domain name story that comes out on the last day. But this past month it was a story from earlier in the month that made a late charge.

Microsoft started promoting its Karaoke Web Standard at the end of November, and that brought in a lot of traffic to a story I wrote earlier in November about Microsoft’s domain registrations for Karaoke.

(What’s that? You don’t subscribe to the DNW email newsletter? Sign up in the box in the left column.)

So here you go, the final top 5 for last month.

1. Microsoft registers domains for Karaoke web standard

2. 150,000+ domain portfolio sells for $5.2 million – the bids are in, subject to final court approval.

3. GoDaddy masks expired domain whois to prevent auction circumvention – this is quite controversial.

4. Matt Cutts: don’t park your domain right before launching a web site

5. Marchex’ top 500 domain sales of all time

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ICANN has (not surprisingly) filed a Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit brought by Name.Space against ICANN for its new top level domain program.

Name.Space runs an alternative root with a number of its own top level domains, such as .art and .book. Back in 2000 Name.Space applied to ICANN to run 118 of these top level domains in the main root.

ICANN’s starting defense: Name.Space executed a release of ICANN when it applied in 2000.

According to ICANN, that release stated that Name.Space had “no legally enforceable right” in any TLD and released ICANN from “any and all claims” relating to name.space’s application or ICANN’s “establishment or failure to establish a new TLD.”

ICANN argues that, even if this release did not bar the company’s claims, all of its other claims are likewise defective.

Even if the release did not bar name.space’s claims, every one of its claims is otherwise defective. For example, name.space charges ICANN with a conspiracy in violation of the antitrust laws, but name.space alleges no facts plausibly suggesting the existence of this conspiracy, its members or its terms. Name.space also alleges that ICANN is a monopolist, but this claim fails because ICANN is legally incapable of monopolizing the alleged “TLD registry market,” a market in which it does not compete. Name.space further claims that it has trademark rights in 482 TLDs and that these rights will be violated “if and when” ICANN approves competing TLDs delegated under the same names, but the Complaint makes clear that ICANN has not yet approved any new TLDs for use in commerce, meaning name.space’s trademark claims are not ripe. Name.space alleges claims for tortious interference with its business relationships but offers no facts regarding these relationships or ICANN’s acts designed to disrupt the relationships. Finally, name.space asserts an unfair competition claim against ICANN, but that claim is dependent on – and fails with – name.space’s other causes of action.

You can read the full Motion to Dismiss here.

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Before you register a domain name,you should think twice about what you want to choose.Even though the domain name might seem perfect for you or your business ,you should double check it in order not to end up on this list .

Square Enix has registered two domain names for “All the Bravest”  :  allthebravest.com and allthebravest.net ,along with a trademark for “All the Bravest” in Europe .

To ensure ICANN’s oversight of the multi-stakeholder model remains transparent and accountable (and to improve its performance), ICANN organizes independent reviews of its accountability and transparency commitments no less frequently than every three years in accordance with section 9.1 of the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC),

AFNIC,the company behind .FR domain,announced recently that it has hosted an information update to raise corporate awareness about protecting domain names at Unifab .

Go Daddy has updated its Auctions Domain Market Report with results from last month.

Last month Go Daddy auctions sold sold 32,151 domain names, which is down just slightly from the month before.

Monthly domain sales in the low 30,000 range seems to be the new norm on the site.

The top 10 sales last month were:

MyModa.com $50,000
Funlife.com $50,000 – currently in escrow with Afternic
Brilliant.org $25,000
LowRates.com $25,000 – bought by Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc., seems like a great purchase
Betland.com $20,000
Fastnet.com $15,000 – bought by FastNet International Limited, owner of Fastnet.co.uk
JBW.com $15,000 – bought by JBW Timepieces, which owns JBWtime.com
HeavyDuty.com $13,226
Solaire.net $12,000
Nationline.com $11,375

The top keyword found in sold domains was once again “online”.

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Sony has sold the domain name Connect.com to entrepreneur Ryan Allis for his new venture Connect.

Sony used the domain name for its Connect Music Store. The entertainment company closed down the online music store in 2008.

Allis was co-founder of email marketing company iContact.com, which was acquired by Vocus earlier this year.

On his LinkedIn profile, Allis describes Connect as “Mobile technology for connecting people and visualizing your personal and professional relationships globally. Focusing on building software for natural user interfaces.”

Connect.com now resolves to a “coming soon” page where you can enter your email address for an early invitation to Connect.

I’ve reach out to Allis for details on the domain name acquisition and will update this story if I hear anything.

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Last week I wrote about how first amendment attorney Marc J. Randazza had filed a lawsuit against detractor Crystal Cox over a number of domain names she registered.

In addition to registering domain names including Marc Randazza’s name, she also registered domain names referring to Randazza’s wife and three-year-old child.

Randazza alleges that Cox registered the domain names and then tried to extort him, going so far as to offer search engine reputation management services to clean up his name in search results.

Prior to the lawsuit, on July 27, Randazza filed a UDRP with WIPO covering a handful of domain names including marcrandazza.com and other versions of his name.

A decision in that case was just handed down by WIPO in Randazza’s favor (pdf).

Cox tried to argue that she was just exercising free speech by registering the domains to criticize Randazza. But the panel didn’t buy it:

In any event, for purposes of the Policy the Panel finds the Respondent’s intention, as reflected by the record, was never to solely provide, through her websites, speech critical of the complainant. Rather, her objective in both registering and using the disputed names was apparently to engage in a rather sinister and tenacious scheme to extort money from the Complainant. specifically, the Respondent first posted negative and false commentary on her websites that was intentionally calculated to injure the Complainant’s on-line reputation and disrupt the Complainant’s business conducted through his law firm. Thereafter, the Respondent used those sites in a manner that apparently optimized their ranking on the Google search engine in order to increase their visibility and prominence on search results yielded through a Google search of the Complainant, thus likely exacerbating the injury caused to the Complainant. Once all this occurred, the Respondent then offered her reputational management services to the Complainant through which, for a considerable fee, she would remediate the Complainant’s on-line reputation by eliminating all the negative and false commentary of her own making and presumably also ceasing her use of the disputed domain names. Basically, for a price, she would undo the injury to the Complainant for which she was responsible for having created in the first place. This egregious conduct clearly constitutes bad faith under the Policy.

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CZ.NIC,the registry for .CZ domains,has announced the release of a new version of .CZ Registration Rules.The new rules is in effect as of 1 December 2012.

CDN.net was the highest selling non .COM gTLD up to date,based on the date from DNJournal.The deal was brokered  by DomainNameSales ,which saw CDN.net sell for $185,000 .

Sedo’s December GreatDomains auction starts in three days,on December 6,2012 and end seven days later on December 13,2012 .The auction features 202 domain names,out of which there are some very interesting ones.

WebHosting.co.uk was the highest selling ccLTD up to date,based on the date from DNJournal.The deal was brokered  by Sedo,which saw WebHosting.co.uk sell for an impressive $500,000 .

The auction for Play-Win.com domain name is live on Sedo.com .Play-win.com received one bid of 10,000 EUR and has less than seven days until the auction will close.

FindYouDomain.com announced recently that both 2013.com and NYE.com domain names are now up for auction.The auction for 2013.com will run from December 1,2012 through December 4,2012,while the auction for NYE.com will runt from December 16 through December 16,2012.

Hey, don’t say the U.S. government never did anything for you.

They just gave domain name owners a $10.78 price reduction over the term of the next .com contract by eliminating price increases.

Assuming that Verisign would have increased prices in the first four years of its contract (it had the right to do it in 4 of 6), that equals a $10.78 savings per domain that you would have held for the entire six years.

(Last time VeriSign waited a year before one of its increases, which reduced the overall holding cost over six years.)

Michael Berkens calculates that this will save Mike Mann almost $2 million over the first four years of the contract. The biggest savings come in years 4 through 6, when the price is $2.44 lower than it would have been otherwise.

And Mike Mann isn’t the biggest domain portfolio holder.

[Update: George Kirikos pointed out that if you round down it may come out a bit lower. I worked off of ICA’s numbers.

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Shares of Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) are down 15% in early trading after the company announced that its contract to run .com had been renewed without price increases.

Verisign’s contract renewal with ICANN allowed it to raise prices 7% in four of the six years of the contract. That would have allowed the company to raise the price from $7.85 today to $10.29 after four years.

But then U.S. government, which must approve the agreement, decided that enough was enough with price increases.

Financial analysts are surely running the models right now, but this is a huge blow to Verisign. Four years from now the annual “loss” from this contract change will be more than $200 million, and that’s basically pure bottom line profit.

There are some ways in which Verisign could ask for price increases in the future, but they would most likely be in response to significantly worsening business conditions for the company.

There was little chance that Verisign would lose the right to run the .com registry entirely. Assuming there were back-and-forth negotiations between the parties, it would seem that the U.S. government was pushing for price decreases, which would have resulted in Verisign negotiating to the middle ground of no price changes. But it’s difficult to determine exactly how this went down.

This is certainly a win for domain name registrants.

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Domaining Spain has recently opened registration for the new conference to be held in Valencia ,on April 25-27,2013.

Verisign announced recently that they will be holding a conference call today,November 30,2012 at 8:30 to provide a status update on the .com Registry Agreement renewal .

ICANN’s Head of Global Stakeholder Engagement, Sally Costerton, has announced the appointment of four vice presidents whose mission is to improve the international presence and participation in the organization’s multi-stakeholder model.