Domain Movers is an exclusive series on TheDomains that features domain name acquisitions, domain registrations and simply domain movers in general by large companies. These are mainly all early finds and often relate to new brands, services and more by large companies. Here we go with the latest domain names I could dig up!
Vobe.com has been acquired by a currently unknown entity. Whois information is currently incomplete. The domain appears to have changed ownership on 1/31/2015 according to whois when the domain transferred out of Domain.com to HiChina.com. Domain name servers remain unchanged. Now the domain names Vobe-App.com, Vobe-Apps.com, VobeApp.com, VobeApps.com, Vobe.info and Vobe.biz now have all been registered by a currently unknown CSC Corporate Domains client. Vobe.com only shows a registrar email address of “abuse@list.alibaba-inc.com” but no registrant details with the domain.
Capita.com a domain name that has been registered since 1994 and owned by Capita Technologies, Inc. has transferred out of Network Solutions and to CSC Corporate Domains. Capita Technologies Inc. uses the domain name CapitaCase.com currently and that domain has a registrant email address with the Capita.com domain name.
It is not currently clear what is happening with the domain name. The company may have been acquired, the domain may have been acquired by another company, and many more reasons.. but Capita.com currently does not resolve and it did recently to the site that is on CapitaCase.com. CapitaCase.com was registered at GoDaddy on June 20, 2012.
If I had to make an educated guess… I would think that Capita PLC of the UK has purchased the domain name. They use CSC as a registrar and use the domain name Capita.co.uk . In general, that are several potential buyers who use the Capita term Though. If Capita Technologies, Inc. did sell Capita.com, they best change registrant email addresses on its other domains like CapitaCase.com or they will not get renewal notifications if they used that domain within the registrar account.
PestManagement.com has changed ownership from Braemar Pest Control (NB) Limited to Rentokil Initial 1927 plc according to whois records. The domain has been registered since 1999. It appears that Rentokil acquired Braemar in 2012 and is the likely reason for the change of ownership on the domain.
Johnson & Johnson registered the domain names SolveMyAcne.com and LetsSolveYourSkin.com using BrandShelter.com which is owned by Key-Systems.
HuntTheTruth.com a domain name that was registered by Comflix Studios at GoDaddy on 2/2/2015 went into privacy protection on 3/3/2015 now shows Microsoft Corporation as the owners.
HUBSPOT INC. has acquired TheSprocket.com from BuyDomains.com. The domain has been registered since 2009. The domain name sold for $2,000 on March 19, 2015 in which it took 8 days to show who were the buyers in whois.
MyHealthOne.com was owned by Health and Nutrition Technology Inc as of a 11/18/2014 according to whois history records. On 1/7/2015 the domain name went into privacy protection at GoDaddy. On 3/28/2015 the domain name transferred into MarkMonitor and is using the generic whois data DNStination Inc. The domain name servers changed to MedCity.net upon going into whois privacy on the 7th and that domain is owned and used as a server for HCA – Information Technology & Services, Inc.
MyHealthOne.com is redirecting to MyHealthOne.net . MyHealthOne.net was registered on 4/21/2014 at MarkMonitor. The actual owner isn’t currently known as HCA is really a web service provider exclusively for healthcare and use the domain name Ehc.com to offer its services.
Airbnb, Inc. has acquired the domain name OneLessStranger.com . They have been using the hashtag #OneLessStranger since around the end of December 2014. Interestingly, the domain name OneLessStranger.com was registered on 11/7/2013 and expired on 11/7/2014. The domain displayed c/o GoDaddy Redemption Services as all expired domains do at GoDaddy. That remained in whois until the domain went into privacy protection on 1/7/2015 and domain name servers switched to MarkMonitor.com. This tells me that MarkMonitor acquired the domain name OneLessStranger.com on GoDaddy Auctions as an expired domain on behalf of Airbnb, Inc. Whois now reflects that Airbnb are the owners of the domain. I wasn’t able to find a sales price from the expired auction but I do not expect that they had to pay that much for it.
Every.com a domain name owned by Digital Virgo Entertainment has changed registrars from Asico to CSC Corporate Domains. The domain was one of many that transferred in for the company. The domain name currently doesn’t resolve.
WellnessChallenge.net was grabbed on the drop for a currently unknown MarkMonitor client. The .com, .org and .info are also registered but I didn’t see any connection with any other MarkMonitor registered domains… so maybe they are looking to buy? eCorp owns the .com and it is for sale. (update: the owners of WellnessChallenge.com confirmed it is not for sale. When I did the research on the .com, DomainTools.com showed the domain as being for sale at DomainNameSales.com via the big green banner at the top of whois).
DealerTrack Inc. is in the process of consolidating at least some of its domain names and going with a brand management service. Several domain names like the main domain, DealerTrack.com have transferred out of Network Solutions to MarkMonitor. DealerTrack.com moved on 2/26/2015 to MarkMonitor and DealerTrackInc.com transferred in not that long ago. DealerTrack owns a couple hundred domains that are listed under the DealerTrack Inc. name alone and that doesn’t include other company acusitions they have made over the years that retain the past companies name for an example. Wise move on the companies part because it’s never fun when you loose a valuable domain name due to expiration or simple mismanagement.
Honeywell International Inc. has sold the domain name Javelin.com according to whois records. The domain name was registered at MarkMonitor and has transferred out and went under privacy at GoDaddy. The domain transferred on 3/28/2015 but the website on Javelin.com doesn’t look “new” and has actually been up since at least September 2014. Javelin is a lean start-up software for enterprise product teams to launch new products and improve existing ones according to CrunchBase.com
There must have been some kind of an agreement in place prior to the domain changing ownership in whois, since the start-up was using the domain in 2014 when Honeywell was still shown as the owner. Sometimes “payments” are involved and the past owner will retain ownership of the domain until it is paid in full.
Hershey Chocolate & Confectionery Corporation has registered the domain name HersheyMiracles.com to add to its other 1,200+ domains.
Glaxo Group Limited (GSK) registered a domain name that made me gag a little (that’s your warning) with CoughWithPhlegm.com
Masco Contractor Services, LLC has acquired the domain name TrueTeam.com from a DomainNameSales.com user who was using whois privacy. The domain has been registered since 2002 but expired in July 2013 and was grabbed on the drop in September 2013.
NeuroDimension, Inc has sold the domain name ND.com and switched to NeuroDimension.com according to whois records. The domain name has long been registered at Network Solutions and has transferred into GoDaddy under privacy protection. ND.com has a Coming Soon message on it and states “The platform for data-driven business value.” and also providing a link back to NeuroDimension. Hat Tip to Sahar for pointing out that ND.com had likely sold via Facebook.
Amazon Technologies Inc. has once again registered several new domain names. This time was a little different as they do not register that many hyphen domain names.. but they did with this latest round: Amazon-DashButton.com, Amazon-IDP.com, Amazons-Choice.com, Amazons-Choices.com, AmazonsChoices.com, AmazonChoice.com, and AmazonSellerUniversity.com . The “Dash Button” term has become really popular since Amazon announced the one click reorder button on popular products. According to whois records on DashButton.com, Amazon has acquired that domain. It went into privacy at GoDaddy but just before that “Comlaude” on 2/15/2015 appears. Comlaude has been used before to acquire domain names for Amazon. DashButton.com redirects to the Dash Button page on Amazon. They also registered DashButton.co, DashButton.net .org, .info and .us to mention a few.
Amazon loves domain names and owns over 40,000 of them just under the Amazon brand and owns many more listed under different company names. For an example, Amazon owns Zappos and they own over 1,500 domains and Zappos is listed separately from Amazon in whois records, so Zappos total domains are not always added to the 40,000 Amazon domains.
Home Box Office Inc. (HBO) registered the domain name CinemaxOutcast.com and then a bunch of “outcast” domains in general like OutcastCalling.com, OutcastInProduction.com, OutcastOfMany.com, OutcastTvSeries.com, OutcastTvShow.com and OutcastProduction.com. The show has been recently ordered to series. Quarry was also announced to a series and several similar domains were registered to the Outcast domains.
HBO also registered the domain name TheGreatMerge.com
NBCUniversal Media, LLC registered the domain names CheapoDate.com and .net
Boy Scouts of America have secured the domain name ScoutBook.com from Automation Tools LLC. according to whois records.
eBay Inc. has acquired the domain name The-Shop.com from Marchex on 3/20/2015 with the help of Brand Certified. They also acquired the domain The-Shop.net on 3/30/2015which was owned by a Luis Fierro according to whois records.
TheShop.com is listed for sale on Sedo and has had 8 offers over the past 31 days. Currently, whois doesn’t indicate this domain has been sold recently. One would think that eBay would be interested in this domain without the hyphen.
Visa International Service Association registered the domain names VisaChipReady.com and VisaPicks.com.
Fosters.com has transferred ownership from George J. Foster & Co., Inc. to Gatehouse Media, LLC. In 2014, Geo J. Foster Company sold its assets to Local Media Group. Local Media Group owns Gatehouse Media, LLC.
Jamie, you can also track the domain SUM.com which seems to have been sold by its previous owner and founder to the IP company IPCybercrime, for what it seems in the name of the new startup company showing in the website.
Thanks for pointing it out Jose. With the domain being under privacy since 2013, it makes it a bit more challenging to see if or when it sold. Based on several factors like a Sedo listing for Sum.com, the fact that on 2/17/2015 domain name servers changed to Amazon hosting and Sum Labs, Inc. is a “new start-up” that hasn’t launched yet, all those point to the domain likely selling. It also appears that Sum Labs, Inc. was code named “Project Florida” based on the names displayed on Sum.com and the associated Linkedin accounts that show the matching positions but are listed as “Project Florida”. I did find this May 2014 article about Project Florida, which provides more info on it: https://gigaom.com/2014/05/13/stealth-startup-alert-skype-co-founder-ventures-into-health-and-wearables-with-project-florida/ which states that Sum may relate to wearables
yes that is correct. however i have also the information from past WHOIS that the domain was first sold to the company IPCybercrime.com that I am guessing acted in the name of Project Florida, now SUM
THESHOP.COM IS GREAT BRAND NAME
Great news on wellnesschallenge.net but the wellnesschallenge.com is now part of the contrib model and vnoc technology being built out so not for sale.. Those other networks might say its for sale but they are not accurate..Just want to clarity.. Thanks, chad
Thanks for the clarification Chad. DomainTools was showing it for sale via DNS. I will adjust the article that WellnessChallenge.com is not for sale.
Unfortunately, “One Less Stranger” is grammatically incorrect; the correct term should be “One fewer Stranger.”
“Less” refers to volume, such as liquid, which cannot be counted as units.
“Fewer” refers to that which can be counted as individual units: one stranger, two strangers, three strangers, etc.
Such a choice of domain/slogan reflects poorly on airbnb, given that there are grammarians who may think twice about supporting a business that is sloppy in its language usage, especially when it comes to its product messaging.
There is a good reason why this domain expired.
One less stranger …
One fewer stranger …
One more pedant!
“One fewer stranger” sounds absurd, and someone uttering that phrase in practice would be laughed at.
Language is what’s spoken – not what an outdated minority complains is no longer spoken.
Shakespeare:
“Thou, why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than thou hast.”
Notice that what Shakespeare DIDN’T say?
Educated people would use “fewer” in this instance.
“Less” is the odd word for this particular usage.
Ignorance is the bliss and opiate of the masses.
🙂
♫ Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should ♫
More on the less/fewer conundrum as it applies to the Tesco controversy:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7591905.stm
General rule of thumb (as specified in the BBC article):
“Fewer should be used when you are talking about items that can be counted individually, for example, ‘fewer than 10 apples.’ Less is correct when quantities cannot be individually counted in that case, e.g. ‘I would like less water.'”
While common folk may often use “less” incorrectly, isn’t it possible for the business community stand above the fray and use our language correctly while also developing snappy and compelling slogans?
It could be that the slogan itself, whether “less” or “fewer,” feels awkward. I concede that “fewer” does sound odd, but “less” (in this context) sounds like fingernails on a blackboard (the physical kind, that is, if those still exist) to a large part of the English-speaking community.
A large business would do “well” (as opposed to “good”) to employ some grammarians and linguists to help develop the best slogans for its company products because, after all, that business wants its message to resonate with as many customers as possible, no?
While it’s fun to play with language in creative works — I do it all the time in my fiction and poetry — business, by its very nature, is conservative, and so is its language usage (as evidenced by the usual pedantic and legalistic TOS).
In short, in order to break a rule effectively, one has to know what the rule is and if breaking it is justified in a particular instance — that is, would most of the community accept that usage, despite its ungrammatical aspects? Perhaps in a few rare cases — never say never, ha, ha.
However, I would contend that both “One Less Stranger” and “One fewer Stranger” would not be worth the marketing and advertising effort and expense.
Moreover, I doubt very much if the airbnb registrant of OneLessStranger.com was even aware of the incorrect usage.
By the way, it looks as though Tesco finally got it right by getting rid of its express checkout line warning of “Less than 10 items” by replacing it with “Up to 10 items.” Not great, but serviceable (“No more than 10 items” would be far too negative — creating a more positive tone being another aspect to consider in business).
Since we seem to be throwing out Shakespeare quotes, here’s some Bard gems:
“Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.”
“The empty vessel makes the loudest sound”
“Nothing can come of nothing.”
Finally, the best ever:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”
Jen, you would do well to picket outside the Globe Theatre, since they regularly perform works by an uneducated playwright who offensively breaks your cherished faux rule. Quote the BBC pundit and shout “Ban the Bard!” Or in lieu of an outright ban, humanity could elect you to publish corrected versions of Shakespeare … as well as most subsequent authors.
There’s a cottage industry found in newspaper columns, on TV, and even in books that spouts bogus rules about English usage to the delight of a few supercilious halfwits who aspire to scorn their neighbors. Real linguists care much more about describing than prescribing language, and you’d only hear them laugh at this oft repeated “rule”. “Fewer” is an option for discrete counts but only an option. More often than not, it leads to clumsy phrases that would be employed only by those who memorized a rule but who are unfortunately tone deaf to good English.
Some standards are helpful. This rule you and others enjoy hurling at people is simply mistaken, though. It isn’t that people have forgotten it or that language has moved on. English has simply NEVER paid attention. Shakespeare used “less”. And what’s good enough for him is good enough for AirBNB. Most English speakers from all regional and educational backgrounds have used “less” rather than “fewer” – and for centuries. The distinction was first suggested in 1770 by a writer named Robert Baker, but it has never really caught on.
Here’s a well written article on the subject:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/less-usage-problems/
I cringe when I see David Mitchell correct fellow comedian panelists in mid-sentence because they said “less”. When I meet him, I’ll slap him. Better yet, Charlie Brooker can slap him.