Web.com put out a press release this evening announcing that the deal to acquire Network Solutions has been approved and finalized. The deal, valued at approximately $576 million ($405 million in cash and 18 million shares of Web.com common stock), was originally announced in August, and it comes on the heels of Web.com’s acquisiton of Register.com in June of 2010.

This acquisition triples Web.com’s customer base, and it will allow the company to offer cross-sells and up-sells to customers. In total, there are now about 3 million “subscribers.”  According to David Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Web.com. “This transaction more than doubles our revenue, triples the size of our customer base, and provides the expanded scale to invest greater resources in growth and branding initiatives.”

I am interested in learning more about the branding initiatives that were mentioned by Brown. Register.com and Network Solutions have built solid brand names over the last 15+ years, and they have arguably more consumer recognition than Web.com.

Do you think the company should re-brand under one unified name, or do you think it makes more sense to operate under different identities?

I was checking to see how companies rank in Google for the most frequently searched domain name related terms, and I saw a unique Network Solutions Adwords advertisement. Instead of the typical link to its website, there’s a button to click to view the offer (in addition to the link).

When you click the link, you’re taken to a Google Offers page rather than the actual NetSol website. On the Offers page, you’re given the choice of printing the coupon or saving the page with your other offers. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem like there’s a link to the NetSol website.

One thing I find peculiar about this is that Google Offers doesn’t appear to be set up for a strictly online merchant like Network Solutions. It would have been smarter if there was another button (or alternate button) that allowed the visitor to click through and have the redemption code plugged into the shopping cart or overlaid on the website to show that the coupon is acknowledged.

The other thing I find interesting is that Network Solutions appeared as the #2 advertiser for that search, while Go Daddy was above this ad. That seems to indicate that GoDaddy is paying more per click, but Network Solutions looks like its getting better placement and more visibility with that ad.

I wonder if Google does this for all advertisers that use Google Offers, as I haven’t seen it before.

I’ve had a few people ask me about the Network Solutions Certified Offers program. This programs allows domain buyers to use the services of NetSol to acquire domain names stealthily, where the company negotiates on behalf of the buyer. … → Read More

Since I work from home, I can easily go two or three days without shaving. My wife doesn’t exactly love it when I’ve got too much scruff, but there’s less incentive to shave, although I love a good shave.

The Art of Shaving is a high end shaving store that offers expensive shaving tools and great, professional shaves. When I’ve needed a good shave for a special event, I’ve gone to The Art of Shaving.

Because the company is called The Art of Shaving, it uses TheArtOfShaving.com for its website. This domain name was registered back in 1999. The company also smartly owns (well, owned) ArtOfShaving.com, and Compete stats show that the domain name receives somewhere around 2,000 visits a month, all of which were forwarded to the company website.

Unfortunately for the company, someone dropped the ball, and ArtOfShaving.com expired on February 11, 2011 and it doesn’t appear to have been renewed yet. The primary beneficiary of this is Network Solutions, which appears to be monetizing the domain name with PPC links.

Hopefully The Art of Shaving will renew its domain name in time.

Although the launch date and pricing for .XXX domain names have not been officially announced yet, that isn’t stopping Network Solutions from promoting .XXX domain names. On the bottom of its home page under Promotions & Free Offers, there’s a link to “.XXX Coming Soon.”

This internal promotional page touts the .XXX extension and how Network Solutions will be working with the ICM Registry, the organization that will manage the .XXX domain registry. According to Network Solutions: … → Read More

I just bought a new Giro ski helmet the other day. Giro is a helmet company owned by sports equipment conglomerate Easton-Bell Sports. As I often do when shopping for a product, I researched who owned key category domain names related to my purchase.

I was impressed when I saw that Easton-Bell Sports owned SkiingHelmets.com and SnowboardingHelmets.com. These category defining names should either be used to funnel direct navigation traffic to the company’s main site, or smaller portals can be built, using the site as either SEO plays or to drive traffic to the main site.

When I visited both sites to see what the company was doing with them, I was disappointed. Not only are they undeveloped, but the Network Solutions landing page even has “Giro” related links.  They are essentially paying for visitors to click their own ads!

In looking at the historical thumbnails provided by Domain Tools, it appears that there was a site before or possibly a forward to the main site.  It appears that Network Solutions is now the primary beneficiary during this high season.

It’s a good strategy for a company to acquire keyword domain names, but it’s poor execution when those domain names aren’t being used.