Last week Bodog poker was stripped of its domains. A few days later its new domains were already in the DMOZ directory (im sure money had nothing to do with it .. doesn’t everyone get accepted in 3 days?).
Anyway just looking at some statistics from Alexa… and yea I already hear some ignorant people out there moaning when I just mentioned Alexa but in this case where a company lost there domain and had to switch to a new one Alexa traffic is VERY relevant because the people that are going to the site now are the exact people who were using the site before. ucopy?
So in looking at this graph you can see that not only has Bodogs traffic carried over to the newbodog.com domain its traffic is even UP. Talking to people inside Bodog they have confirmed to me that there new sign ups and traffic have increased by about 15%.
So how could a company keep going so strong after loosing there house? Well because of there user acquisition all they had to do was send out a email to all there customers and tell them what happen. This also was a great time to invite them to come play again and I am sure that lead to some of the traffic. The increase in sign ups can only be credited to all the recent press about bodog losing there domain. Also because bodog has such brand recognition people are still searching for bodog and finding it through other means even if not directly… what a great time to have a affiliate site that ranked for Bodog!
September 9, 2007 at 9:30 am
Your comments ring true. E-mail marketing and affiliate marketing are two of the most powerful methods of marketing online. You can’t go wrong with either one.
September 9, 2007 at 9:37 am
A kick in the a$$ = One step forward.
September 9, 2007 at 10:04 am
Damn, that’s crazy. Do you think they will ever eventually get the bodog.com domain back? Maybe after paying something like a ransom.
September 9, 2007 at 10:04 am
This is the exact opposite of what I though would happen to bodog…
September 9, 2007 at 10:08 am
Time to bet on some NFL games
September 9, 2007 at 10:25 am
Great stats. You nailed it — they got amazing coverage with the domain name loss. I have to confess I had never really noticed them before, but I think I read about the lawsuit in about 10 different places.
September 9, 2007 at 10:31 am
just check out Digital Point DMOZ foum,
many guys disclose their editors identity,
what a dirty hole!
September 9, 2007 at 10:32 am
DMOZ editors are just very active people.
especially in the porn and gamble sections.
September 9, 2007 at 11:32 am
Bloggers help bodog back to life
September 9, 2007 at 11:43 am
Wow, I’d never have thought someone could recover that well and that quick!
Why did they lose their domain anyway?
September 9, 2007 at 12:06 pm
DMOZ SUCKS ! ! ! I will say this 100 times
September 9, 2007 at 12:09 pm
lol that’s hilariously awesome! So basically that $50 million or w/e was a HUGE waste. That guy who bought out “bodog.com” would have been better off just cashing in and living the rest of his life as a rich bastard!
September 9, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I agree – synical people would think this was all just great linkbait.
September 9, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Still laughing at Theo’s comment. Glad to see someone jump back so quickly after a major disruption like having their domain swiped from them.
September 9, 2007 at 12:30 pm
In a sense, pretty much every blog is linkbait? You have to talk about something… lol
September 9, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I have to admit, I’d been to the Bodog Fight site before, but really didn’t know much about the betting side of things. Only after I heard about them losing (not loosing) their domains did I make my way to NewBodog and find the betting, which could ultimately be to my detriment. Who exactly was it that said there’s no such thing as bad press?
September 9, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Very interesting…bodog has done an excellent job dealing with the situation. Check out their Google Trends chart too..http://www.google.com/trends?q=bodog , it’s through the roof.
September 9, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Yeah, this spike in traffic is really just coming from the NFL just starting it’s season.
September 9, 2007 at 1:15 pm
holy crap. Created: 2007-08-27 and already in dmoz.
September 9, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Nice post Shoe. I was slowly losing respect for DMOZ from all the accusations of dodgey editors from people like yourself and I never really valued a listing that much in there anyway, I got in there straight away with one of my sites but didn’t mean anything to me. People seem to treasure it but to me it’s a pointless listing in a pointless directory which will get you no traffic, it may get you a bit of kudos from delusional bloggers who think a listing is like gold but not much worth in my mind. This post has just confirmed what a waste of time DMOZ is and why they should get lost.
September 9, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Honestly, I don’t really have much sympathy for them. They should have hired a US law firm to represent them and won or lost the case on the merits. We’ve got a system of intellectual property rights in this country, and it’s a good thing that our courts enforce those rights. It might be fun to cheer for the person you feel is being unnecessarily harassed, but why not show up in court to defend?
If the plaintiff had a valid case, then they may very well have been in the right. Turning the issue around — if someone were stealing your content, wouldn’t you want to stop them?
September 9, 2007 at 2:40 pm
thats a nice Mountain of a comeback if you ask me.
September 9, 2007 at 2:40 pm
My last thought would be that all the media coverage (from you, shoe – and similar blogs/newscasts) could’ve easily accounted for the extra 15% as well?
September 9, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Why are they so concerned about a DMOZ listing?
September 9, 2007 at 3:10 pm
money is a very powerful tool
September 9, 2007 at 3:33 pm
DMOZ may be corrupt, but a link there is still a big thing … hopefully not for long
September 9, 2007 at 4:11 pm
How much of their traffic is from their customers? Probably a ton, so it’s not surprising that they’d get back to normal with a couple emails. Honestly though, the bigger issue is the DMOZ quick reaction…
September 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
It’s hard to guess where the pop came from because of so many factors but the NFL season starting probably got a segment of their existing customers to start betting more.
September 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
they were sued, didn’t show up, lost, and then the winner used the judgement to get the registrar to give them the domain. in other words, bodog’s lawyers f’d up
September 9, 2007 at 4:13 pm
And they’re expensive!
September 9, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Just like you said before in a previous post, brand recognition has a lot of power.
September 9, 2007 at 5:23 pm
This case study points out the key advantage of email lists. They are not best for marketing (aquiring new customers) as much as they are for managing your relationships with your current customers. That’s why I always cringe when I hear the phrase “email marketing” – it’s a very limiting label.
September 9, 2007 at 6:59 pm
hahaha
*lol*
September 9, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Please learn the difference between “there” “they’re” and “their”.
September 9, 2007 at 7:08 pm
It seems I guessed right
http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/28/bodog-poker-website-down-in-judgement/#comment-26747
September 9, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I dont think anyone actually bought bodog.com as they had it seized from the owner.
September 9, 2007 at 7:32 pm
DMOZ has been terrible from what I hear. You are the second person I know that someone tried to get money out of them.
Also you can have a great site with great content, they won’t look at you. You won’t even get a response telling you that you were rejected often times.
I applied one time to be an editor to help them out before I knew how dishonest the system is. I didn’t even get a reply after I put in my time applying.
Not the best business practice.
September 9, 2007 at 9:34 pm
That’s great for Bodog. Goes to show you how important having a way to keep in touch with your users is!
September 9, 2007 at 9:39 pm
3 days to get into DMOZ!
Mind you, it sounds like the publicity they got from losing their domains has really benefitted them.
How did they lose their domains to begin with? I didn’t realise you could be stripped of your domains/
September 9, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Very interesting indeed, DMOZ is terrible. Thats all i can say.
September 9, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Maybe it was just ingenious link bait, but who knows.
September 9, 2007 at 10:36 pm
As bad as DMOZ has become, it can still benefit a site greatly.
September 9, 2007 at 10:39 pm
or in the “where can I find someone who will pay me bribe money” section.
September 9, 2007 at 11:14 pm
gotta agree the power of branding is often overlooked and should be a first and foremost… crackheads will always follow the crack…
the one disappointing thing to see though is that the dope who is at present the legal custodian of bodog’s site – why lay on it? why not throw up some ez/cheezy landing page and get something going on it/action? how many people have heard the news and are jsut merely “curious” about what’s going on? they visit the site and voila – something interesting instead of a 404 error page or the ms live search page? must be nice to burn $$$$$ —- i don’t know who’s wrong or right in this case – and personally don’t care – but just based off of that type of stupidity i hope this bastard loses the site back to the original owner at least that guy was smart enough to get the site back up and kicking again.
September 9, 2007 at 11:27 pm
This really is amazing. Brand loyalty is worth a lot more than a domain name!
September 9, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Can someone explain why this is the case? Does Google still consider DMOZ a very high authority site which therefore improves SERPs?
September 9, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Blessing is disguise!
Thanks for the update. Pretty neat!
September 10, 2007 at 4:36 am
Wow that is really cool.Updating latest changes to clients thru email is very good option, we do collect emails and send optional newsletters to all our mailing list members.
September 10, 2007 at 6:18 am
I also think that is brand very important, but you have to stay loyal to content.
September 10, 2007 at 6:20 am
Their. There. Get it right.
September 10, 2007 at 7:13 am
I dunno if a site like that really needs linkbait….
September 10, 2007 at 7:14 am
in theory though given recent developments, i wouldn’t be surprised if it was devalued a peg or two
September 10, 2007 at 8:11 am
It was pure luck … can happen to anyone. Just keep submitting websites, and you’ll have one approved in 3 days
September 10, 2007 at 8:52 am
excellent example of brand building and great vision as a marketer.
September 10, 2007 at 10:49 am
It’s unbelievable Google still uses DMOZ content to fill their directory.
September 10, 2007 at 11:55 am
Bad news is sometimes possibe to turn into good advertisement. I didnt know this company before and now I found it in few blogs already… so it could also boos its traffic.
September 10, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Can’t they loose the new domain the same way they lost the old one? What’s the difference? They’re going to show up to court this time?
September 10, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Let’s also not forget the fact that football is the busiest time for a sportsbook.
That had a little bit to do with it. :p
September 10, 2007 at 12:56 pm
People can say what they want about Bodog but they know what they’re doing, that’s for sure!
September 10, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Bodog should seriously evaluate what the value is of the occasional player who might not take the steps necessary to find their new website in the event they look up Bodog in their favorites and find the interloper’s site at the former Bodog URI.
Then Bodog should offer no more than that to the judgmentholder to end the litigation and get the domain back.
September 10, 2007 at 1:23 pm
After what happened, one has to question whether the lawyers who failed to act didn’t do so under well-thought-out orders from Bodog’s operators.
Legal considerations don’t always drive business decisions, and sometimes they shouldn’t (unless the legal considerations impact the public or the shareholders or they employees, etc.).
Of course, the judgmentholders may be able to get ahold of the new bodog domain, and perhaps get an injunction preventing .com registrars from registering new domains for bodog.
Bodog may have workarounds for that, or may have to resort to finding a domain registrar in a jurisdiction where the U.S. judgment won’t be recognized for one reason or another.
But what Bodog has done so far has significantly undercut the value of the judgmentholder’s piece of paper.
September 10, 2007 at 1:35 pm
This shows the power of having a large user database and its relation to search engines. They don’t have to rely on search engines whatsoever, they can send out a mass email and get their users back immediately.
September 10, 2007 at 2:18 pm
This is a great lesson for all of us. Effective branding has many benefits
September 10, 2007 at 4:49 pm
And the publicity got them lots of new visitors
September 10, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I bet if shoemoney.com got blocked from google, after all the blogs picked up the story, he would be getting more traffic than with google. Not something you would want to intentionally risk though.
September 10, 2007 at 10:10 pm
For the record, no money was paid for the DMOZ listing.
September 10, 2007 at 11:49 pm
I think they do because before this I never heard of them and now Ive mad one bet so far, on mls, with them and I think they found a new user.
September 10, 2007 at 11:51 pm
That it is!
September 11, 2007 at 9:23 am
Very substantive commentary. Do you write for a living. And where’s the follow through…you only said it once.
I’m just guessing, that the good hearted DMOZ community recognized this is the same site, content and trusted owner who was accepted before.
Anyone looking for a new case study in the power of DMOZ…thanks Shoemoney.
September 11, 2007 at 9:25 am
No offense…but did you read the post?
B/c the story seemed to highlight getting the new URL in DMOZ drew traffic for the query Bodog and Newbodog from Google.
I mean…that’s my take away. I could be wrong, but I doubt it ; )
September 11, 2007 at 10:21 am
Greg, we believe you
September 11, 2007 at 10:56 am
I think the bodog affiliate program is hard to get into though. I have applied a couple of times and got denied.
September 11, 2007 at 11:54 am
The question is how much users they would have now if they had still the old domain + this newsletter…
I think they lost a lot of $$$ though
September 13, 2007 at 1:16 pm
How is this possible, I have been trying for years on some of my website to get listed in DMOZ. Wonder what is would cost me to do the same?
September 13, 2007 at 5:10 pm
hahahaha I almost posted a comment like this once, but then I remembered that shoemoney just doesn’t care.