As branding extends to URL with dot-branding now permitted, sexually explicit content providers are the most obvious purchasers banging at the door of ICM Registry to pay for new domain names, but more conventional brands are also looking ahead to see what’s behind the door.

EWeek reports that ICM has extended the period that companies can buy .xxx domain names from 30 days to 50 days in order to deal with the number of interested parties. In its pre-reservation period, ICM received more than 900,000 “expressions of interest,” eWeek notes. The initial registration period for existing brands, entitled Sunrise, will now run from Sept. 7 to Oct. 28 of this year. Then other companies can begin buying in on whatever domain names remain.

Brand managers that aren’t in the porn world “are rushing to register .xxx domains …  as the deadline for safeguarding their trademarks within the .xxx registry draws near,” eWeek notes.Continue reading...

Google+ — Google's still-in-beta social platform that was announced this week, becoming so popular that Facebooker-in-Chief Mark Zuckerberg signed up, and invites were halted — is apparently going gaming. 

Engadget unearthed Google+ code referencing “Google+ Games,” signaling the tech behemoth’s intention to expand into social gaming, with further evidence in their recent job postings and interest in gamification — in another move that might keep its social media competitors up at night.Continue reading...

The eBay-owned Rent.com pays homage to Apple's iconic Super Bowl ad, "1984," as part of its New American Dream campaign, which shatters the dream that home ownership should be the American Dream. (The subtext: rent!) View the inspiration below and let us know what you think.Continue reading...

Amazon.com is a brand that is forever calculating, scheming, trying to find a new business extension or a way to use less to do more with the business extensions it already has.

From jumping into the grocery delivery business to, in its latest news, cutting its California affiliates in order to avoid collecting online sales tax for the state — such is the life of a behemoth online discounter.

Now Amazon Publishing is launching a quid pro quo program with authors: Blurb our books and Amazon will promote yours. But that's not the only Amazon "review" generating news.Continue reading...

Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Jason Goldman, three key developers of Twitter, are now devoting their energies to Obvious — a startup that (Obviously) has a Twitter feed.

The startup's website states: “The Obvious Corporation makes systems that help people work together to improve the world. The proliferation of technology can seem superfluous, but with the right approach, technology can benefit individuals, organizations, and society. We are relaunching the company that originally incubated Twitter with a high level of commitment to making a difference and developing products that matter.”Continue reading...

As promised, The Knot Inc. is now officially XO Group Inc., and trading on the NYSE with new ticker symbol “XOXO,” as celebrated yesterday with a memorable bell-ringing at the New York Stock Exchange.Continue reading...

As if the online world wasn't already challenging to navigate, ICANN, the company that regulates Internet names, this week ushered in a sweeping new change to the "dot" convention that could result in a virtually endless stream of new web addresses.

While familiar extensions such as "dot-com," "dot-net," and "dot-org," will not go away, added to the mix will be dot-just about anything. The current 22 gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains) will be expanded to unlimited possibilities since any person or company will soon be able to apply for a name ending in, well, you name it.

The move "usher(s) in a new Internet age," said Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of ICANN's Board of Directors. "We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration."

True, but ICANN has also provided a platform for what could amount to "the dawn of a chaotic new era with companies and other groups expected to battle over suffixes," according to Reuters.Continue reading...

Groupon is the brand widely regarded as spawning the daily deals craze. In its IPO filing on June 2, the company showed a 22,000% increase in revenue in the past year (that's 22 thousand percent).

Is it any wonder, then, that the local deals and discounts market is booming? Thousands of Groupon-like deals services, sites and brands seem to be launching on a daily basis. So it was only a matter of time before banks got into the act. Why? Because recent regulations have cut the income banks can make from credit card interest rates and overdraft fees. They're anxiously seeking new ways to generate revenue.

Enter a company called BillShrink. It's not exactly a Groupon for banks, but BillShrink is offering more than 2,000 banks its "Statement Rewards" service. According to the New York Times, Statement Rewards (introduced last October) is "part loyalty card, part daily deal... Under the program, online bank statements may include deals and discounts for bank customers based on their recent spending."Continue reading...