An Epik Domain Name Knock Out

This morning I checked my email and what do I see? A headline from the domaining.com newsletter which states that Domain Name Wire has posted an entry entitled Epik Acquires DNKO Auction Platform, First Auction on Friday. In my eyes this is a huge acquisition. Only a few domainers actually know that I have had the chance to communicate via email with a handful of people associated with the DNKO auction site. On my previous blog, discredit.org I wrote a couple of entries in regards to how the auction platform performed from the day that it started. Since I am working on merging the old blog’s database into DNPimping.com I will let you read a few of the past entries here:

May 18th, 2009

Bido Competitor? DNKO Domain Name Auctions

Is someone out to compete with Bido? Another domain name auction website has surfaced and this time is not offering one domain per day but a multi-auction platform to offer several domains a day. There has been some buzzing around the domaining blogosphere about the site as well as on the various domaining forums I visit from time to time. I don’t know what to expect from such a site, but can definitely say from what I have seen thus far that they seem like a serious contender for Bido. Although they mist be contending for the position that Bido currently holds, they will have a great deal of work to do. Bido is currently one of the hottest domaining sites around and has established its brands making it very well known in the domaining world. As far as DNKO is concerned, I could barely remember the 4-letter combination and mis-typed the domain twice. As a brand I can’t see the letters DNKO being remembered as well as the Bido combination. This could definitely lead to troublesome experiences when marketing the site. Another aspect of the site I will touch on now is design. Currently the design of the site in my opinion does the business justice. It looks as if it is a professional platform which will help you auction off your domains to the masses, although I do like the Bido design more it is only because of the fact that I have seen the Bido design in action! I won’t truly be able to see the DNKO design in action until 3PM PST today as that is when the first set of auctions will be held. With each auction lasting a total of 60 seconds and extending 15 seconds per bid, this should definitely draw some attention. Not to mention they chose 3PM PST as a starting time period. This time gives people who are currently wrapping up any bidding business on Bido, which ends at 2PM PST some time to gather a few refreshments and head over to the DNKO site.

Tomorrow after watching the Bido auction, I will make my way over to DNKO.COM and watch what everyone is starting to buzz about! Let the domain auction battle begin!

Best Regards,

Jason Thompson

May 18th, 2009

Bido’s Competition Takes A Dump. DNKO EPIC FAIL!

After watching the bido auction for dentaltechnicians.com, I decided to walk over to the market and do some grocery shopping before lunch. As soon as I got back I put the groceries down in my living room and went over to dnko.com the supposed bido slayer. As soon as I log into the site and head over to the auction area I am presented with this screen:

There is definitely a lesson to be learned here. If you are going to release such a service, why not release it in beta form first to a select amount of end-users so you can test the site thoroughly. Especially when you are entering into a market which thrives off of domain auctions. If you present yourself as an unstable platform on the day that your site’s main feature launches, then what are people going to think of you? Well I don’t know what other people are thinking but I can definitely share my opinion. Here are a few comments directed at my experience with dnko thus far:

If the site crashes in the middle of my auction, what happens to my domain? Better yet, what happens to the bidders that have made winning bids on the domain?

Why would you release a site without beta testing it properly?

If you enter into a domain auctions as a service, why didn’t you develop a product better than bido?

Once bido enters the multi-auction platform stage, what do you think will happen to your site?

Since your site obviously shows that it has a great deal of bugs from jump, how much attention did you pay to the security aspect of the site?

Do you think you should close your doors for a while and try to fix all the problems with the site?

I have plenty of more questions to ask in regards to the epic fail of dnko’s service launch, but I am hungry now and its time to eat. Maybe my questions will pose a little food for thought with the creators of the site.

Best Regards,

Jason Thompson

May 18th, 2009

DNKO Update

There are some major problems at the new domain auction website DNKO. With the release of the site today it looks like they are having issues with hosting and might actually try to be switching providers as we speak. If you go to dnko.com right now, it will direct you to the following link: http://66.109.18.70/~dnkocom/loginform.php

I sure hope they didn’t think they would be able to run a domain auction site off of just one server. Hopefully if they are moving the platform to a new provider that it is a load balanced solution which will allow for bandwidth shaping to better direct traffic and reduce the risk of epic fails in the future. DNKO it would be nice for you to issue some sort of press release or update in regards to the exact reasons why your site is have so many problems at this time. I have checked my email through out the day and you have not provided your members with any sort of updates. What in the world is going on over there?

May 19th, 2009

DNKO Update

The founder of dnko.com was hospitalized earlier today for high blood pressure and chess pains. His doctor told him to go straight to the emergency room in his area. Some are lead to believe that these issues have been induced by the problematic launch of the DNKO.com auction website. After chatting with a few people in the DNKO auction chatroom today, the majority of people were positive about the website and are willing to work with Mark, the founder of the site on getting through these website gliches. Past that, I ask all the domainers within our industry to keep Mark in your prayers and to pray for him to get well. He is definitely a valued asset to our community and DNKO will be just as valuable once all the gliches are worked out.

Best Regards,

Jason Thompson

To sum it up I was a bit disappointed in the deployment of the auction platform. On another note, apparently my blog was indexed for the key term “DNKO”. At one point I was actually indexed on the first page of google for the term. As I write this blog entry I am now indexed on the second page of google. Although I won’t go into much detail, I was contacted a few times by different associates of the DNKO site about the entries that I wrote. Perhaps, I will share a little more information about this in the future! For now, I truly do respect the move Epik has made and I am sure they will turn DNKO into a success!