Review of ParkingPanel.com

[Spade]

Thanks solely to NameTrader, I gave ParkingPanel a shot. There templates are phenomenal as everyone can see. (Religion.fm / AnimalDefenseAttorney.com). I love there interface as well... thus far, I am very satisfied with my move. Here are the positives:

* Great looking Parking Pages
* Customizeable Titles and Slogan
* Attractive pictures to choose from
* Manual Keyword submission (takes about 10 minutes)
* Automatic optimization
* Attractive interface
* High RPC (Im averaging about $0.45)

Here are the negatives:

* Slow to update stats (once per day, anywhere from 12-6pm pacific)
* Interface is clunky, and not all of it works
* No data about refferals (very little data other then you have them and who they are)
* Still some $0.00 clicks (but not many!)
* Inquire link option, but doesnt display on parking page
* Need more adult parking images (only 3)
* Updating domains is tricky, and doesnt quite make sense as you must change between two different interfaces to change keywords and look

Overall, I give ParkingPanel an 7/10. They are on the right path, the biggest thing for me is revenue, I am making about 10x as much with ParkingPanel as I had been previously with NameDrive. I like the look better and I think ParkingPanel has the ability to really grow. They just need to address a few issues (which they seem to be doing!!). I look forward to seeing what changes ParkingPanel makes.

If you are interested in signing up with ParkingPanel, please shoot me a PM with your email and name, and I will send you a refferal. You are more likely to be approved as a refferal (according to their own signup).

Justin

 

[Domainate.com]

Here are the negatives:

* Slow to update stats (once per day, anywhere from 12-6pm pacific)
* Interface is clunky, and not all of it works
* No data about refferals (very little data other then you have them and who they are)
* Still some $0.00 clicks (but not many!)
* Inquire link option, but doesnt display on parking page
* Need more adult parking images (only 3)
* Updating domains is tricky, and doesnt quite make sense as you must change between two different interfaces to change keywords and look

First off, you and everyone on NP is always welcome. I've always suggested Fabulous.com in the past a lot and since I started using them back in mid 2005, I hadn't been all that impressed with any other parking service I tried out until Parking Panel, hence me now suggesting them. I don't know any other parking place that for instance would put such a great lander on AnimalDefenseAttorney.com...such a niche domain and they've got an excellent page up for it. Above all, they are clearly CAPABLE of pretty much the best lander on any domain.

As far as those negatives are concerned, the most serious one would be the 0 cent clicks, but as Britt has explained, those are bot hits that are incidentally clicking, and so they don't pay out revenue for them. That's a GOOD thing, because their advertisers would be pissed off if they were paying for bot traffic, as it's would be a complete waste of money. Otherwise, the two I think they should focus on are "No data about referrals (very little data other then you have them and who they are)" and "Inquire link option, but doesnt display on parking page". The interface is kinda weird, but not HORRIBLE in my opinion. Everything else is IMO fairly minor.

BEST of all, they have awesome customer service, and Britt has taken his time to answer a whole lot of questions in the face of a lot of criticism of the site. Meanwhile, my SedoPro account manager completely ignored me when I asked about why RPC on high traffic names drop like a brick, but answered me IMMEDIATELY when I told him my SedoPro codes I was giving out to people weren't working...when something is affecting the money I get, it's not a priority, but holy cow, if THEY'RE losing the ability to get more customers and make more money, they're right on the ball. That is a perfect example of poor and selfish service, and Britt meanwhile has been the opposite, very concerned about people's concerns and addressing them as thoroughly as he can. I didn't have to refer a ton of people for him to help me out initially or do anything else to become some sort of "preferred customer" that receives all the support that other customers don't get...my day job is customer service, and I can tell you he's doing it well. IMO they should clone him so that he can get to emails faster.

Anyhow, good review, and it was probably a good time for a summary of them in the midst of the now 130+ post thread I started about them...I'm sure people don't feel like reading that many posts!

 

[texasgamer]

What does it take to get approved with this company?
What does it take for them to answer emails?
I am not having any luck on the above

 

[harkster]

Been satisfied with ND but may be time to check out the Panel.

Sent PM to domainspade and waiting for reply.

 

[-NC-]

overall, I agree with domainspade.
I have one other negative to add: I often receive php warnings/errors when logging in.

texasgamer, how long have you been waiting? I waited approx 36 hrs.

 

[texasgamer]

I have been waiting since last Sunday...

 

[Mike]

approx. 10 days by now - i gave up counting the days,..this is getting a bit ridiculous.
I know this sounds extremely desperate,..well, in a way it is...parking has become a joke...

 

[Spade]

overall, I agree with domainspade.
I have one other negative to add: I often receive php warnings/errors when logging in.

.

Havny run into that error yet.


But, a new concern... I had 6 Refferals, and today I have 5 - LoL.... kinda weird...

 

[verbster]

I had some concerns i e-mailed to Britt at ParkingPanel. Much to my pleasant surprise, he called me at home to discuss them. Now That's Service!!!

More about the issues stuff after I see more stats.

One other thing they need is the "unique" stats in the portfolio toolbar so it's very easy to see...the way a dashboard tool should be.

 

[goodkarmaco]

Texasgamer, that is weird how long you have been waiting. I signed up a couple days ago and was approved within two hours! Maybe you should change your sign in and just try again under a different login. Good luck!

BTW Steve, thanks a million for all the detailed info. I have read posts by you for years and when I see you get fired up I know you are onto something. Appreceiate the detailed info Steve,

Rod

 

[Varon]

I moved some of my domains to PP and saw a slight increase in CPC. Around 11 cents increase. It might be too early to judge but I don't see any huge leaps in the CPC for various keywords. I agree that Britt is personally spending time and helping people out. Thats good of him.

I feel PP has superb landing pages. So good that a visitor on a typo might mistake the site for the real one..

However, I find the portfolio optimization process extremely slow. I have to keep saving first the main seed keyword page, then the theme page etc. I wish it could be done with just one save. And I find that my sites load extremely slow. Not sure if any other guys are having similar problems. I would like to experiement with various themes and colors, but the time it takes to load the preview is just too much.

Also, I wish there were some help guide/icons. I am still unsure of many features like the automatic channel optimization. What does it do? Does it mean that I need not enter any seed keyword and the site is automatically optimized based on traffic search words?

 

[NameCharger]

Ups:
- The templates are nice and the SEO score for my parked pages is 89% which is the best I've seen so far. I haven't had enough time to setup more than a handful of domains so no significant stats to report yet.

Downs:
---> Needs SSL for login and account edit pages !!! <---

 

[Name Trader]

* Inquire link option, but doesnt display on parking page

This really is important.

I would add a negative that the lander pages are slow to load.

I would like more control of the keywords on the landing pages

 

[wisconsin]

Hello NameTrader.com!

I am currently using parked but would like to try others as well.

Do you think parkingpanel is better than parked? Do you get paid twice a month and on time? I think having an inquiry link or for sale contact info is important for some of us!



Thanks

First off, you and everyone on NP is always welcome. I've always suggested Fabulous.com in the past a lot and since I started using them back in mid 2005, I hadn't been all that impressed with any other parking service I tried out until Parking Panel, hence me now suggesting them. I don't know any other parking place that for instance would put such a great lander on AnimalDefenseAttorney.com...such a niche domain and they've got an excellent page up for it. Above all, they are clearly CAPABLE of pretty much the best lander on any domain.

As far as those negatives are concerned, the most serious one would be the 0 cent clicks, but as Britt has explained, those are bot hits that are incidentally clicking, and so they don't pay out revenue for them. That's a GOOD thing, because their advertisers would be pissed off if they were paying for bot traffic, as it's would be a complete waste of money. Otherwise, the two I think they should focus on are "No data about referrals (very little data other then you have them and who they are)" and "Inquire link option, but doesnt display on parking page". The interface is kinda weird, but not HORRIBLE in my opinion. Everything else is IMO fairly minor.

BEST of all, they have awesome customer service, and Britt has taken his time to answer a whole lot of questions in the face of a lot of criticism of the site. Meanwhile, my SedoPro account manager completely ignored me when I asked about why RPC on high traffic names drop like a brick, but answered me IMMEDIATELY when I told him my SedoPro codes I was giving out to people weren't working...when something is affecting the money I get, it's not a priority, but holy cow, if THEY'RE losing the ability to get more customers and make more money, they're right on the ball. That is a perfect example of poor and selfish service, and Britt meanwhile has been the opposite, very concerned about people's concerns and addressing them as thoroughly as he can. I didn't have to refer a ton of people for him to help me out initially or do anything else to become some sort of "preferred customer" that receives all the support that other customers don't get...my day job is customer service, and I can tell you he's doing it well. IMO they should clone him so that he can get to emails faster.

Anyhow, good review, and it was probably a good time for a summary of them in the midst of the now 130+ post thread I started about them...I'm sure people don't feel like reading that many posts!

 

[D14Posters]

Hi,

Like a couple of other people I have been waiting 10 days for a reply to my applications. And I have followed up with an email sent directly for there site. No other contact from them except for that initial email saying they received my application...

 

[Domainate.com]

Hello NameTrader.com!

I am currently using parked but would like to try others as well.

Do you think parkingpanel is better than parked? Do you get paid twice a month and on time? I think having an inquiry link or for sale contact info is important for some of us!

Thanks

Well, Parked might be okay for some names, but every name I've tried out there did worse than on SedoPro let alone Parking Panel. PP pays out in 45 days or less (less if you're a longer-time valued customer).

Hi,

Like a couple of other people I have been waiting 10 days for a reply to my applications. And I have followed up with an email sent directly for there site. No other contact from them except for that initial email saying they received my application...

Anyone still waiting for their sign-up, please PM me your email and a list of the top 20 best names in your portfolio. For one thing, Parking Panel is very wary of click-fraud, and they do a lot of checking on new sign-ups to prevent it. Obviously if you have any intention of clicking on your own names or driving traffic artificially to your site, don't sign up to Parking Panel and CUT THAT CRAP OUT. For one thing, that's the kind of thing that has been ruining the other parking services, and it's a stupid way to make a little bit of money in a short amount of time against every TOS for parking programs known to man. Anyways, PP goes above and beyond to prevent it, and that can make sign-ups take a while to approve. Not only that, but a lot of fresh sign-ups from here and other places are flooding Britt with emails and PMs about various issues that I can assure you he's already gotten dozens of emails and PMs about, and they only have so much capacity to fix things in their system and make further improvements. The more they deal with those emails, the less time they have to focus on sign-ups.

Anyhow, rather than having him get dozens more emails about sign-ups, just please PM me your email address and your top 20 names, and I'll discuss with him about your sign-ups. Better it's coming from 1 person that's emailing to him pretty much every day anyways rather than dozens of people.

 

[Jose Cuervo]

I moved some of my names from ND to ParkingPanel. I'm getting lots of hits and searches, but no clicks. These are names that were getting clicks at ND and Parked. Am I the only one experiencing this?

 

[Our House]

I moved some of my names from ND to ParkingPanel. I'm getting lots of hits and searches, but no clicks. These are names that were getting clicks at ND and Parked. Am I the only one experiencing this?

No, you're not the only one.

Two things come to mind:

1) Bad keywords or optimization hasn't kicked in yet.

2) Two-Click landers.


Edit: Actually, a 3rd thing (a low %age chance, IMO) also comes to mind, but it's too early to start making nasty assumptions about Parking Panel. :p

 

[Varon]

After a week with PP, I have seen a marginal increase of 1-10 cents per click. I think it must be doing well for some casino related or other keyword domains. Anyway, I'm gonna give this some time, like 2 months before I draw any solid conclusion.

 

[onspec]

Anyone else getting this situation?

go to www.miniclip.us

Press enter - you are taken to the home page. Now highlight the browser and press enter on the same URL. On my computer (using Firefox browser), I get a totally different look and feel from the previous time. Same thing happens when I repeat this process.

Sometimes the initial keywords I selected are shown, other times they're not.

Same thing with www.fifaranking.com and many more.

Is this because the domains have not been optimized?

Left message for Britt yesterday, no response as of yet.