Re: [At-Large] Fwd: ALAC Draft Statement :: Domain Monetization
I can try to consider these into the draft, AND it could
be also a good method to do a poll...
Let's talk (briefly) about this at today's conf call.
izumi
2007/4/10, Jacqueline A. Morris <jam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> Hi Izumi
> Can you take these points under consideration in the draft? Or maybe this
> might be a good topic for a poll?
> Jacqueline
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Izumi AIZU [mailto:iza@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 8:33 PM
> To: ALAC
> Subject: [At-Large] Fwd: ALAC Draft Statement :: Domain Monetization
>
> Dear ALAC,
>
> This came to me a week ago, and awaits my reply.
> Any comment is helpful.
>
> Thanks,
>
> izumi
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Kevin Ohashi <ohashi@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 2007/03/31 5:04
> Subject: Re: ALAC Draft Statement :: Domain Monetization
> To: iza@xxxxxxx
> Cc: ohashi@xxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
> Mr. Izumi Aizu,
> I recently read this on the ICANN website as part of your draft
> statement and had a few questions and disagreements with it in
> general. For background purposes I am involved with domain names and
> do participate in what you are labeling 'Domain Monetization' on a
> small scale.
>
> 'It's a fundamentally sleazy business, since the web sites have no
> useful content and the way they get the traffic is basically by
> tricking people, either via typos or recently expired domains'
>
> No 'useful' content - What gives you the right to determine what is
> useful? How do you define use? People obviously click the paid
> advertisements on websites such as Google and advertisers pay for
> those areas to advertise. If someone searches for a 'digital camera'
> and gets a paid search result to Sony for a digital camera or eBay
> selling digital cameras didn't they get what they were looking for?
> Presumably when one doesn't find what they are looking for they close
> the window, go back and look elsewhere. While there may be some
> deception in rare instances Google and other Pay-Per-Click advertising
> companies such as Yahoo monitor for such fraud and suspend any
> accounts deceiving users. Let's look at what is going on - people are
> typing in cameras.com (actual ppc page) and clicking on a type of
> camera they are interested in and presented with a list of choices,
> highest paying advertisers on the keyword. A user then chooses one of
> those companies and goes directly to their website. I would think
> that is useful. Isn't that the same as typing in google.com,
> searching cameras and clicking on a brand? Technically speaking, the
> user performed nearly identically except you seem to class using a
> domain monetization service vs something like a search engine as
> fundmentally sleazy. You pretend the only traffic is typos and
> expired domain names. There are a lot of generic domain names, for
> instance cameras.com, which are completely generic and receive pure
> type in traffic through what is often labeled direct navigation. I am
> sure you are not ignorant of this fact but merely don't mention it
> because it would weaken your argument, but nonetheless if you want to
> present a balanced view and are attempting to look out for the users
> of the internet, you should be honest and upfront about everything.
> Wouldn't you agree?
>
> 'the presence of such website makes web-surfing by ordinary users far
> more difficult and confusing than they should be.'
> Now you are bordering in on free speech and freedom in general.
> Webmasters around the globe publish websites, blogs and media in many
> forms and generally are allowed to do so under free speech laws held
> in many countries. As a member of EFF you must understand that trying
> to control content, censorship, is exactly what your membership with
> EFF is against don't you? You are taking your views and imposing them
> on many others, what you think would be best use and for the benefit
> of the majority. While this may be noble, is it your place to decide?
> If I owned dogs.com and put a picture of my dog, I assure you she's
> adorable, it doesn't really add much content, perhaps if I surrounded
> it with advertisements? Where do you draw the line? I think many of
> us can agree that some things are generally objectionable and maybe
> shouldn't belong on the internet, many countries have such laws
> regarding pornography, but it is still on the internet, the .XXX
> proposal was rejected yet again on similar principles. How do you
> respond to that?
>
> 'It seems clear, however, that it does not improve the user experience
> at all.' (reference to domain monetization)
>
> Broad generalization not supported with any evidence. There is
> evidence suggesting that this traffic and websites monetizing this
> traffic are actually more beneficial to companies than other forms of
> advertising. Page 6 of Growth and Sustainability of Direct Search
> Traffic (http://www.internetreit.com/ica_growth_4.pdf). Direct
> navigation has nearly twice the conversion ratios for advertisers
> compared to search engine clicks. Not useful at all? It would seem
> to me that these websites offer some of the most valuable resources to
> any company marketing on the internet. That seems quite useful,
> highly targetted users being sent directly to advertisers of products
> they are looking for.
>
> I hope you take the time and consider these points and can respond to
> me and explain your position in more depth and with more evidence.
>
> Regards,
> Kevin Ohashi
>
>
>
> On Domain Monetization
> We note that there is a meaningful difference between Domain Tasting
> and Domain Monetization. Monetization is a straightforward arbitrage
> between the cost of domain registrations and the revenue from as much
> pay-per-click traffic as the domain owner can get from people who
> visit web sites in the domain. It's a fundamentally sleazy business,
> since the web sites have no useful content and the way they get the
> traffic is basically by tricking people, either via typos or recently
> expired domains. More importantly, the presence of such website makes
> web-surfing by ordinary users far more difficult and confusing than
> they should be.
>
> We do not think it is appropriate in this case to make ICANN as a
> regulator to watch and prohibit the Domain Monetization practices per
> se. Instead, on behalf of ordinary Internet users, we call upon those
> commercial enterprises such as Google or Overture to take appropriate
> measures such as to stop paying for clicks on pages with no content,
> thereby dealing with a problem that is not limited to typo and expired
> domains. We've seen click arbitrage, people buying Google ads to drive
> traffic to pages that are simply other Google ads. This kind of
> self-generating traffic for pay-per-click advertising is confusing and
> unnecessary for ordinary Internet users and, in the long run, not
> healthy for the development of Internet as a whole.
>
> Since Domain monetization is a relatively new phenomena, the impact to
> the ordinary users and the wider Internet community is hard to measure
> at this point. It seems clear, however, that it does not improve the
> user experience at all. We think it is worth to keep watching on how
> it develops and may seek for specific actions when we have clearer
> understanding of measurable impact.
>
>
> --
> >> Izumi Aizu <<
>
> Institute for HyperNetwork Society
> Kumon Center, Tama University
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> << Writing the Future of the History >>
> www.anr.org
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>> Izumi Aizu <<
Institute for HyperNetwork Society
Kumon Center, Tama University
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<< Writing the Future of the History >>
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