IAN launches VacationSpot.com with affiliate program included

Oh, joy! New datafeeds for the SERPs!

[Webwork]

Listing/reselling vacation rentals. A natural add-on to hotels.

So, who's running to sign up?

[Webwork]

Interesting defense of common phrase domain property, all the way down to the dot org.

Domain ID: D6346934-LROR
Domain Name: VACATIONSPOT.ORG
Created On: 08-May-1999 17:37:35 UTC
Last Updated On: 20-Jan-2005 03:05:54 UTC
Expiration Date: 08-May-2008 17:35:51 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar: EmarkMonitor Inc. (R37-LROR)
Status: CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status: CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status: CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Status: TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant Name: Host Master
Registrant Organization: Hotels.com

(No, I wasn't looking to pick up the dot org since I have several much better ones to play with, but I was curious just how defensive IAN is and thought this might be the case, since they are amongst the most web savvy operators. ;-) )

Note the EMarkMonitor entry. Ya, right. The use of the phrase "vacation spot" is now theirs, all theirs!. Better clean out the other 380,000 Google records of the use of the phrase, of course. ;-P

[wanderingmind]

Umm, Im pretty clueless about affiliate programs in general - and this one post is very confusing for me. The replies too :(

Can someone explain whats it about? Pardon a noobie.

[Webwork]

IAN does a nice job, has a good reputation and has been a sponsor of the 2 WW PubConfs I've attended.

Perhaps the best answer to your question would come from reading what IAN has to say about their program. (See link below) I'm not yet an IAN/Hotels/VS member so I can't answer from direct personal experience.

The parent company smart enough to acquire what I consider to be the best darned domain name (after Sex.com) in the online world: Hotels.com.

Here's the discussion of IAN's affiliate program:

[ian.com...]

[gamiziuk]

Note the EMarkMonitor entry. Ya, right. The use of the phrase "vacation spot" is now theirs, all theirs!. Better clean out the other 380,000 Google records of the use of the phrase, of course.

I presume that IAN affiliates may continue to use the phrase "vacation spot?"

[gamiziuk]

Oh, its just a duplicate of the hotels.com site. I plugged in my affiliate code and my headers and footers with IAN popped in automatically. Nothing to see here.

In any event, I get better result$ promoting Lodging.com over IAN.