.tv Demand Media Update & Clarifications

MrRhee said:

I can afford the premiums. I can afford the renewals. I can afford to look in the sea for other fish.

Not getting a straight answer is something NONE of us can afford.

How can they not know at this point?

Why was a decision of this magnitude not made BEFORE launch?

Once again, I know they need to worry about what is best for the TLD, but let me tell you, as a consumer of their product/service... a possible "bait & switch" is unhealthy for any company. I am behind .TV 100%, my money and development team can attest to that, but it breeds mistrust and doubt not knowing what they are going to be charging me a year from now... I'd like to begin development, but what's to stop them from saying: "we want your domain, so we're charging you 500% to renew it..."?

More & more, I think that .MOBI's rollout was well orchestrated and a model for other TLDs to follow... only about 5000 premiums, not 50,000+ premiums... and at least my .MOBI renewals are only $10-$15 a year MAX...

not: "maybe 10%-15% +/- registration or something else entirely... we'll let you know later."

I believe everyone in this forum would like a straight, professional, definite "answer" so we can be prepared. anyone that doesn't care what the renewal price is fooling themselves... can you imagine if .COM worked that way? everyone would be ready to fight, true?

anywho... back to the .TV mines... there's still gold in there.

All I want is a straight answer and I will call them everyday until I get one.
At this point in time, I can't even get the SAME answer from them.

.

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Very well put Mr Rhee, and very very worrying state of affairs.

Was I naive to think that all of the big issues had been ironed out with Demand Media prior to the launch?

While I do have Faith in the Extension ...

I do not have faith in this "Premium" set up at all ....
I do not have faith in renewal fees at all ....
I do not have faith in any answers we've received so far ..

I do not have faith in What Should be Certain Rights for ANY Domain Name Owners (Anyone who actually paid for the domain) Period.



Demand/Enom needs to get their act together very soon .... Many are being turned off on the extension over the way it's being handled so far - and that will be a shame IMO !




DOT TV - Apply Directly to the Forehead
DOT TV - Apply Directly to the Forehead
DOT TV - Apply Directly to the Forehead

DOT TV - I Love your Extension :loveyou: - But I hate the way You're handling it so far

High renewal costs

Demand Media and VeriSign will destroy any chance of a resurgence in the .tv TLD with these excessively high renewal fees. It's sheer greed. There was no way in the world I was going to buy $5000 or $10,000 premium names and be faced with such big renewal fees. If this TLD doesn't take off in the next six months (and there's nothing to say it will happen now with these exhorbitant fees) then I'd be sitting here this time next year faced with big renewal fees and wondering whether to cut my losses and flog the name off or get in deeper. I think a lot of people would have seen it that way. When I logged into Enom and looked at the Premium names list just over 48 hours ago there were 53,075 names listed for sale. Now there's 52,921. That's 150 names sold in 48 hours and the cream has gone. So how do you now flog off the not-so-good stuff?

One other point: a friend of mine was talking to a sales exec at BuyDomains.com yesterday and he knew nothing about the .tv launch. Okay, he could have been playing it down ... or he genuinely may not have known. I suspect the latter. There was bugger all coverage in Google News in the two weeks leading up to the launch so I suspect relatively few people knew about it. I think the only people who knew were the people who hang out here, those who attended the launch and those who watch Carson Daly. I looked up Google News a few minutes ago and went four screens in searching on "Demand Media" and ".tv launch" and the only coverage of the launch in the past 48 hours appears to have been by Domain Informer, StartUp Beat and ZdNet - all Internet media groups. And of course the usual Business Wire press release. The ZdNet review actually poured cold water on it. There was not one bit of coverage in the mainstream media that I could see. Maybe I missed it - maybe there was coverage two days ago. Has anyone seen any proper press articles?

I was very optimistic about the .tv TLD three weeks ago but now I'm quite pessimistic.

qdaly said:

Hi Everyone,

I just logged on and saw that there are some questions so I wanted to post some clarifications to help clear up any misunderstandings. I also wanted to share with you the press release that went out this AM about me.tv. And finally, give you a heads up that we are working on a re-cap of the first day of premium sales which I will share with this group as soon as it's final.

Okay, first, some clarification:
- Renewal Pricing: The price that is paid for a premium name is the same as the renewal price. So if you bought a name for $500, the renewal is $500. We are letting everyone know that this is subject to change, because we are not in control of this TLD. The price could be higher and the price could be lower. There is also the option to lock in the name at the set price for multiple years, but does require paying for it up front.
- Cost vs. Price: I also wanted to clarify this nuance because in my communications I have been telling folks that Verisign sets the "pricing". Well, to be clear, Verisign sets the cost and as a retailer, Demand Media/eNom can set the pricing. We believe that in order to drive sales, we need to keep as many premium names as possible at cost. So, in that regard, we are not setting the price, we are defaulting to the cost.

The ME.TV press release:
I don't think there is any new information, but just wanted to let the form know that it is out:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070502/20070502005879.html?.v=1

I will plan to post updates on the premium sales tonight or first thing tomorrow. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best, Quinn

Click to expand...

I have yet to pick up a premium .TV domain, so perhaps that explains why, exactly, I am not as worried as many of you. I am sure that I would be a lot more antsy than all of you are, if I had as much at stake.

Since I do not yet own premiums, the overall success/failure of DM/VS is not as significant to me: all of my domains have some intrinsic value as SEO friendly keywords, and can certainly generate 35-50 dollars a year, at the very least.

I guess I would look at this situation like this: DM has paid a poopload of money to be involved with this extension. If this fails, they will lose a million times what all of us would lose in terms of investment money, combined.

So, in the end, they will find a way to make this work. Have patience, stay away from ledges, and continue to make inquiries.

It's all going to work out fine.

Hopefully Quinn will be back to address some of these pricing and renewal questions but here's my take on the situation.

Regarding pricing:

Verisign sets the wholesale price. DemandMedia marks up some names, maybe all names. Maybe they mark up some Premium name A LOT while they sale the others at cost to get the Me.tv thing going. Either way, the Premium Name pricing is set for now. Either register or don't register but at least you know the price for the first year.

Regarding renewals:

I don't see how the renewal price will be 10% to 15% of the Premium price. It's most likely a 10% to 15% cap in the rising of the renewal price. Maybe none of us can renew just yet because that is like phase 2 of the rollout. Remember how .mobi started with a two year minimum registration? Now they are one year and the reg prices have come down. We should be able to renew soon I would think.

Regarding big rise in Premium renewal rates:

I don't see a scenario like a 100% increase in renewal pricing AT ANY TIME in the future with ANY Premium name. Imagine if Verisign or DemandMedia thought that your Premium Name is now worth 500% more per year in reg fee than what you are paying.

They would be crazy to try and force you to pay some crazy amount like 100% or 200% more. First, you are probably responsible for increasing the value of the domain because of your development. Anyway, if they did gouge a registrant like that, the new registrant know that this gouging could/would happen to him/her in subsequent years.

So, our pricing and renewal concerns are valid but I doubt anything sinister is going on.

It's in the best interest of Verisign and DemandMedia to encourage the adoption of .tv.

Working on Getting Your Questions Answered...

Hi Everyone,

I am taking down all the follow up questions so I can work with the team here to prepare a formal FAQ and will post it as soon as I can.

Thanks, Quinn

Thanks Quinn,

Please get these things worked out even if it's a Verisign issue.

I just tried to renew my May 1 Premium and got this message in red from enom:

Contact Customer Support to Renew this Name.

I was told that NO ONE can Add Years to their Premium Names because right now registrations are only for one year. I was told to select Auto-renew and keep a valid credit on file for billing.

So, we SHOULD be able to own our Premium Names for more years but right now we all own Premium .tv names for ONE YEAR and that's it until auto-renew.

I'm sure this is just growing pains but if someone is going to be spending $5k a year on a name, it would be nice to buy more years and know the renewal fee NOW, not in 11 months.

I dont agree at all,

If these names were not locked in as premiums they all would have been bought up and parked and this would stall the growth of the extension.

I want to see developed .tv names not parked .tv pages.

These prices insure serious developers.

Not only that but "Ghost Face Killah" is on Richard Rosenblatts TV page and that makes me feel really good about the whole .TV situation. You cant go wrong with WU Tang, and you cant go wrong with .TV

I know what is going on and I support and love every minute of it!!!

rodash said:

Demand Media and VeriSign will destroy any chance of a resurgence in the .tv TLD with these excessively high renewal fees. It's sheer greed. There was no way in the world I was going to buy $5000 or $10,000 premium names and be faced with such big renewal fees. If this TLD doesn't take off in the next six months (and there's nothing to say it will happen now with these exhorbitant fees) then I'd be sitting here this time next year faced with big renewal fees and wondering whether to cut my losses and flog the name off or get in deeper. I think a lot of people would have seen it that way. When I logged into Enom and looked at the Premium names list just over 48 hours ago there were 53,075 names listed for sale. Now there's 52,921. That's 150 names sold in 48 hours and the cream has gone. So how do you now flog off the not-so-good stuff?

One other point: a friend of mine was talking to a sales exec at BuyDomains.com yesterday and he knew nothing about the .tv launch. Okay, he could have been playing it down ... or he genuinely may not have known. I suspect the latter. There was bugger all coverage in Google News in the two weeks leading up to the launch so I suspect relatively few people knew about it. I think the only people who knew were the people who hang out here, those who attended the launch and those who watch Carson Daly. I looked up Google News a few minutes ago and went four screens in searching on "Demand Media" and ".tv launch" and the only coverage of the launch in the past 48 hours appears to have been by Domain Informer, StartUp Beat and ZdNet - all Internet media groups. And of course the usual Business Wire press release. The ZdNet review actually poured cold water on it. There was not one bit of coverage in the mainstream media that I could see. Maybe I missed it - maybe there was coverage two days ago. Has anyone seen any proper press articles?

I was very optimistic about the .tv TLD three weeks ago but now I'm quite pessimistic.

Click to expand...

MINDWRECKER.TV said:

I dont agree at all,

If these names were not locked in as premiums they all would have been bought up and parked and this would stall the growth of the extension.

I want to see developed .tv names not parked .tv pages.

These prices insure serious developers.

Not only that but "Ghost Face Killah" is on Richard Rosenblatts TV page and that makes me feel really good about the whole .TV situation. You cant go wrong with WU Tang, and you cant go wrong with .TV

I know what is going on and I support and love every minute of it!!!

Click to expand...

So, you're saying you have NO PROBLEM with "Renewal prices are subject to change." I can't see how any serious domainer who plans to develop LONG TERM would be comfortable with that legal language.

If .TV doesn't make a decision, then I can imagine a massive exodus in the future.

If you've got great GEO .TVs, let's just say, for example GENERIC-CITY.TV or even something as significant as NEWS.TV (currently buy it now of $500,000)... would you really not worry about this issue? What if you've been the only reason why your brandable/generic domain is worth something (traffic, revenue, etc), wouldn't you lose sleep knowing that "Renewal prices are subject to change."?

I know I would. and I know I can't be the only one. I think DEMAND will do the right thing to avoid the negative repercussions the TLD may face in the future (abandonment, apathy, class action, lawsuits, who knows)

as I've said before, I am serious developing my portfolio, deeply invested and behind the .TV masterplan... I only wish for the TLD to be a contender... and that requires our support & money...

we have a voice... I just hope they hear us.

/rant

.

These prices do not ensure serious developers, they simply manage to exclude the serious/poorly funded developers. They want the old money, not new.

I have called verisign and they will only put me through to a sales rep.

This renewal pricing is Verisign's dirty little secret.

verisign has office everywhere:

http://www.verisign.com/verisign-inc/verisign-contact-information/index.html#regional

if anybody at all lives within driving distance of one, why not pay them a little visit-

MrRhee said:

So, you're saying you have NO PROBLEM with "Renewal prices are subject to change." I can't see how any serious domainer who plans to develop LONG TERM would be comfortable with that legal language.

If .TV doesn't make a decision, then I can imagine a massive exodus in the future.

If you've got great GEO .TVs, let's just say, for example GENERIC-CITY.TV or even something as significant as NEWS.TV (currently buy it now of $500,000)... would you really not worry about this issue? What if you've been the only reason why your brandable/generic domain is worth something (traffic, revenue, etc), wouldn't you lose sleep knowing that "Renewal prices are subject to change."?

I know I would. and I know I can't be the only one. I think DEMAND will do the right thing to avoid the negative repercussions the TLD may face in the future (abandonment, apathy, class action, lawsuits, who knows)

as I've said before, I am serious developing my portfolio, deeply invested and behind the .TV masterplan... I only wish for the TLD to be a contender... and that requires our support & money...

we have a voice... I just hope they hear us.

/rant

.

Click to expand...

Well put MrRhee.

I think everyone understands the payment structure is different for Dot TV than normal domains. But if Demand Media wants to command top dollar for Premium names the contract set forth should be clear and concise. I want to invest more in Dot TV and Demand Media has many great ideas. However, if my investment is not guaranteed and has risks that I can't control with Dot TV but can control with another TLD I will need to opt for the safer investment for developing sites.

I'm not saying Dot Premium TVs are not a safe investment but with ambiguous statements like "Renewal prices subject to change" and no way to renew the names currently I am not encouraged to just "trust" any company to act in my best interest. This is business and I have had many troubles in business both in the brick and mortar world and especially on the internet. One thing I feel helps insure my business experience will be positive is having a good contract. Every other TLD has a set structure that lends confidence to the domain owner that his renewal costs are known. I would think Dot TV should be no different unless they can show otherwise.

I am currently developing a forum site , LawEnforcementForum.com, and have invested $2,000 just to get off the ground. This might seem like small potatoes but I will have probably $5,000 to $10,000 invested by years end. I also have a site for Bars.mobi and I am working to put together a new business plan for it and plan to spend even more for it's development. For me these are fair size investments with many risks to overcome before being profitable. The thing is though I know what my costs are and I know that I don't have to worry about my renewal fees while I'm trying to create a successful business.

I have many other development projects I hope to start but everything requires time, money and the right development teams and partners. I can't afford to risk development on properties where I might be forced to vacate due to "rent increases". This isn't even logical to me in the domain world. I've got enough obstacles to overcome without having to worry about the "renewal rate" for my domain.

In closing I do want to thank Demand Media for having a presence here through Quinn and thank Quinn for being here as the guy in the middle, a tough position. I hope my posts don't seem too adversarial and appreciate the opportunity to discuss my concerns in an open forum. I realize this is difficult but I believe the concerns addressed are valid. Hopefully it will turn into a win win situation as I'm sure we all want Dot TV to be successful and profitable for all of us.

I totally support Think message here. We want to know the risk of owning premium names now than later. I have 20+ premium names on hold due to this unclear renewal fees.

By the way, I think Quinn Daly is a she. I met her in last eNom Reseller.

Cheers,
Em

TheWatcher said:

I totally support Think message here. We want to know the risk of owning premium names now than later.

By the way, I think Quinn Daly is a she. I met her in last eNom Reseller.

Cheers,
Em

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Whoops, sorry about that Quinn.

To me , It doesn't matter "who" is actually behind or in control of the "possible" renewal fees at this point. Whether it's Enom/Demand , Verisign , or a 6 year old kid in Tuvalu.

Enom/Demand are the ones Marketing the product with no answers for anyone ... It lies in their lap as far as I'm concerned.


Anyone know What percentage of the Premiums were bought by Members in this very forum ? I'd bet it's a pretty decent Percentage.

Should be fairly easy to take a guess since only a couple hundred have sold.

For anyone that isn't getting what I'm saying above -

Lets put it in simpler terms ....

"Who did you pay your money to?"

Mark said:

For anyone that isn't getting what I'm saying above -

Lets put it in simpler terms ....

"Who did you pay your money to?"

Click to expand...

I agree Mark.

Whilst not responsible for the decision regarding renewal policies, Demand Media are getting paid a fair chunk of change to market the extension. I would assume that would include fielding questions from the press aswell as investors in the extension.

Now Quinn had stated yesterday

" Hi Everyone,

I am taking down all the follow up questions so I can work with the team here to prepare a formal FAQ and will post it as soon as I can."

It is imperitive that Quinn recognises that there is really only ONE question that people want answered over anything else and that is Verisigns renewal policy as regards yearly price increases.........and that this question should be addressed ASAP..........

24 hours is more than enough to get clarification. Discontent has a way of multiplying and feeding off of itself.

Not a good thing for DM, Verisign, or .tv itself.......this issue of renewal policy is already making waves in the blogosphere.......And this is day 4 into the promotion.......

Please Quinn,

Give this matter the urgency it deserves and clarify the matter before the weekend and negative attitudes set in......

I JUST RENEWED MY MAY 1 PREMIUM NAME

I got through to enom and have successfully renewed my Premium Name Boca.tv for $100. The initial reg fee was $100.

The enom rep gave me permission to post her contact info and all are welcome to contact her in order to renew their May 1 Premium Names. I believe you can all Premium Names for the initial reg fee but I will let Deborah confirm that.

Her contact info is at