ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the non-profit organization that oversees the management of domain names and IP address assignments) recently made an announcement that they were initiating steps to eliminate “domain tasting”.

What is “domain tasting”? According to ICANN, it’s “the use of the Add Grace Period to test the profitability of a domain name registration. The AGP is a five-day period following the initial registration of a domain name when the registration may be deleted and a credit can be issued to a registrar.”

So, someone can buy a domain name, test it out online, and if it proves not to be a very effective domain name, nullify the purchase and receive his or her money back. Apparently a widespread problem in the Internet business world, ICANN feels that the practice must be stopped in order to keep the online business playing field level for everyone.

“Domain tasting has been an issue for the Internet community and ICANN is offering this proposal as a way to stop tasting,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO. “Charging the ICANN fee as soon as a domain name is registered would close the loophole used by tasters to test a domain name’s profitability for free.”

AGP was originally introduced by registries so registrars could avoid costs if a domain name was mistyped or misspelled during the registration process. It is part of the .com, .net, .org, .info, .name, .pro, and .biz registry contracts.

Tasting has been a serious challenge for the Internet community and has grown exponentially since 2004. In January 2007 the top 10 domain tasters accounted for 95% of all deleted .com and .net domain names — or 45,450,897 domain names out of 47,824,131 total deletes.

The proposal will be part of the ICANN budget process for the fiscal year starting 1 July 2008. The early draft version of that budget will be released for and discussed at ICANN’s New Delhi meeting later this month. After public discussions of this proposal and other budget issues, the proposed budget will be released for addition discussions by 17 May 2008 and be voted on at the board meeting to be held during the ICANN meeting in Paris in June. ICANN accredited registrars representing two-thirds of fees collected will be asked to approve the proposal.

This is all from ICANN’s recent press release on the subject. The question that some industry observers are asking: Is “domain tasting” really that serious a threat? Does it cost ICANN that much money? Is it possible that this is a way to eliminate a consumer safety net and thereby maximize cash flow into ICANN? Is it really hurting the online business world to allow people to test out domain names before purchasing them? Or do the problems perhaps go deeper than that? We can’t offer judgment on that here, but anytime regulations such as this are altered, it’s worth taking note of, at the very least.

To read ICANN’s official press release on the topic, please click here.

As you may have noticed, we like to keep our eye on the economic world here on the Aplus.Net Blog. The reason is obvious — although online business has its own methods, it still relies on the traditional business models to a certain extent. Loans and financing are still very much a function of the traditional business world. To this end, it’s extremely important to keep one’s eye on the general state of the American economy.

And as this election year rolls on, the state of the economy is becoming more and more of a hot topic. Recent stock market ups and downs have not only roiled U.S indexes but European and Asian markets as well, so the concern transcends American borders.

Which brings us to today’s news: The Federal Reserve has just slashed rates again, this time by a half point. It’s a dramatic cut, even more so because it follows last week’s historic three-quarter point reduction to total a whopping 1.25 cut in just eight days, astounding a lot of economic observers.

But will it help? Speculation abounds (as usual). According to today’s New York Times:

Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and other Fed officials are already under fire from two directions. Many analysts on Wall Street complain that the central bank has moved too slowly in response to signs of a faltering economy. They point to a plunge in housing that does not seem to have hit bottom, slowing growth in retail sales and tight credit.

But a significant minority of economists argues that policy makers have let themselves be unnecessarily alarmed by panicky swings in the stock market. If the central bank props up the economy with easy money, they warn, the result will be higher inflation in the future.

Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corporation, a Cleveland bank, is skeptical that the economy is headed for a recession, despite the common assumption that it is. “Few seem to take seriously the prospect that we are not going into a recession,” said Mr. DeKaser, who cites the latest labor market data, showing fewer weekly claims for unemployment benefits and encouraging layoff numbers, which suggest to him that the nation has added a hefty number of jobs in January.

And despite the huge losses and write-offs stemming from subprime mortgages, he added, many business borrowers have yet to face a credit squeeze.

Members of the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, which decides interest rates, have shown clear signs of disagreement among themselves.

Fed officials acknowledged earlier this month that they had lowered their forecasts for economic growth this year, even though their previous forecast had already assumed a slowdown in the first half of this year.

… Fed officials acknowledge that psychology and expectations are playing an important role in the financial markets. To the extent that investors remain fearful about credit risks, markets for mortgage-backed securities are likely to remain dysfunctional and banks will be forced to write down even more of their loan portfolios.

But analysts say Mr. Bernanke faces a difficult challenge in trying to manage expectations. On the one hand, they say, the Fed wants to act decisively enough to reassure investors and the public that it will prevent the economy from sinking. On the other hand, they say, Mr. Bernanke does not want to be seen as panicking in response to a plunge in the stock market.

What do you think? Are the rate cuts going to help your business, or is it too little too late? We’d love to hear any comments you may have.

While receiving an award at last week’s U.S. Conference of Mayors‘ 76th Winter Meeting, small business advocate and nationally renowned entrepreneur George Cloutier called upon the creation of a “Super SBA”.

The new organization would bring together all the loose ends of the current SBA and its myriad programs, while also doing a better job of reaching out to those small businesses and start-ups that may be eligible for funding but are unaware of it. (”SBA” refers to the U.S. Small Business Administration.)

Cloutier, who is also Chairman and CEO of American Management Services, announced that he will call on the U.S. Congress “for a five-fold increase in the budget for the Small Business Administration, a consolidation of small business programs across some 40 agencies and the creation of something akin to a small business Peace Corps,” according to Sharon McLoone, a small business blogger for the Washington Post.

“The big picture is that the government doesn’t devote enough resources to small business,” said Cloutier in an interview at washingtonpost.com offices on Wednesday.

He also is calling for $50 billion of loan guarantees for small firms to be included in President Bush’s recently announced stimulus package. “A lot of lawmakers and others are focused on helping big businesses on Wall Street like the Merrill Lynches in an economic growth package and nowhere is there expansion across the board being considered for small businesses.”

Cloutier said more than 40 agencies offer some type of small business loans or other programs, but often small business owners “have no idea that this government help exists or they don’t know how to apply. Most of the applicants for these programs are within 60 miles of Washington…These programs aren’t marketed well…despite gorgeous brochures that are made, but don’t go anywhere.”

His vision to create a “super SBA” includes offering a single phone number that would house information on all of these agency programs by calling a number such as 1-800-SBA-HELP and a general Web site. An independent panel comprised of members of the business community and lawmakers would offer ideas on how to consolidate the business programs, he said. It would take about two years to create a consolidated, super SBA, according to Cloutier.

Cloutier, who lectures at his alma mater Harvard Business School, criticized the Clinton and Bush administrations for their lack of focus on small businesses: “Both administrations short-sheeted small businesses” through lack of funding and cohesive, efficient programs.

“Soon there will be a new administration and new heads of agencies and that’s why we’re starting to make noise about this plan now,” he said. “People are asking for concrete ideas for change and I’m offering some.”

Mr. Cloutier also acts as chairman of Partner America, a “small business growth program founded in 2000 in partnership with the mayors’ group that offers management advice, technical assistance and education and government procurement opportunities.”

What do you think? Is this a good idea or a possible threat to the SBA’s stability? Does your business rely on the SBA for loans or assistance of any kind, and if so, do you see this proposal as a threat to that? Or as a good sign?

Read Sharon McLoone’s original blog entry here.

As most people in the online business game realize, once-dominant Yahoo Inc. has struggled in recent years to keep up with the incredibly rapid growth of search engine rival (and fellow Silicon Valley resident) Google.

For a number of reasons, the largest measure of success has gone to Google in recent years. Perhaps its the company’s willingness to go in unexpectedly new directions (the simplicity of their home page design); its tendency to innovate in bold ways (Google Earth, etc.); the appeal of its laid back go-getter corporate culture; or simply the sheer superiority of its search engine mechanism. Whatever the cause, It’s become a household name and a market force like none other.

Still, sometimes it’s easy to forget that Yahoo is technically still the most-visited site on the Internet. Yet it can’t shake the stigma of being overpowered by Google. At one point itself considered fresh and cutting edge, Yahoo is now often disparaged for being behind the times in the rapidly evolving world of search engine technology, even as it branches out into new areas like web hosting. The result is plummeting stock value and loss of customers and advertisers to upstarts like Facebook.

In today’s Los Angeles Times, Staff Writer Jessica Guynn analyzes Yahoo’s current dilemma:

As its growth slows, Yahoo Inc. has taken steps to reorganize its management structure, narrow its focus and jettison some underperforming businesses. But it’s still being outmatched in search advertising dollars by Google Inc. and in user growth by social networks such as Facebook Inc., which are rapidly gaining members and advertisers.

Observers expect to see evidence of a widening gap between Google and Yahoo this week, when the two companies report fourth-quarter financial results.

It seems everyone — former employees, industry analysts, disgruntled investors — has an opinion about what Yahoo should do: lay off 20% of its workforce, get out of the search advertising business, even put itself on the auction block.

[Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sramana] Mitra and many others in Silicon Valley are rooting for Yahoo to roar back and again capitalize on its status as the Web’s most popular destination, if for no other reason than to keep Google in check. But, she said, she’s not optimistic.

“Yahoo has a great opportunity still because it has tremendous traffic and a tremendous brand,” said Mitra, who posted her Yahoo analysis on the popular technology blog GigaOM. “But it can’t figure out what it wants to be when it grows up.”

Click here to read the complete story.

Many people in the online business game got their start by selling items on eBay. And that’s a trend that continues strong to this very day. Although it was one of the very first Internet success stories, eBay continues to dominate, with still-high traffic and revenues as well as divisions in roughly 30 countries around the world.

Which makes any potential changes to the company very significant to eCommerce in general. Writing in today’s New York Times, Brad Stone tells of the progress of eBay’s ongoing efforts to transition from action-based sales to “fixed price” listings.

From the article:

“Auctions will always be the core of the core of eBay, it’s what makes eBay unique,” Mr. Donahoe said in a joint interview with Ms. Whitman on Wednesday afternoon. But he noted that fixed priced sales now account for 40 percent of eBay’s marketplace revenue. “We are following our users. They like convenience so what we are simply doing is putting a more explicit focus on that.”

Mr. Donahoe also said the company would announce a new fee structure next week, lowering upfront listing fees and raising the final sale fees that sellers pay only when they have successfully sold an item. Such a move could increase the number of listings on the site but it could also depress revenue in the short term.

In anticipation of the changes, eBay issued lower earnings guidance for the quarter and year ahead than Wall Street had been expecting. The company said revenue in the current quarter would grow as much as 15.8 percent from the same quarter last year and projected revenue for all of 2008 could be as high as $8.75 billion, a 13.6 percent jump. But analysts were expecting a 21.5 percent increase for the quarter and a 17.1 percent increase for the year.

Click here to read the original article.