• Added Hyphen search
• Added "the" as prefix
• Fixed display bug when domains got to large - now you can hover over domains to see full domain

We are considering adding 3 word combinations. Anyone out there really want this? It is a cool feature, but uses up a lot of our server power.

Also the safari scroll bug is giving me a run for my money, anyone have any ideas on a work around?

• Ryan

The blogs title pretty much says it all. Here's what we launched:

• 3 Word Combine BustAName can now do 3 word combinations and give you results. In order to get this to work though we had to put in a few restrictions on how many domains you can search at a time, so you might see this popup if you try to search for too many things at once (currently we are limiting it to 500 domains at a time) If you see the message, be aware that you can simple remove a few words, or uncheck a few options and continue.
• Custom Prefixes/Suffixes Since 3 word combine is limited and produces a ton of results, we launched custom prefixes and suffixes. This should give you a bit more flexibility.
• Bug Fixes A few of the big ones were 2 word combinations still being returned when they were unchecked and removing word issues.

Next Release

Here's some of the stuff I am working on for the next release:

• Save searches
• E-mail when new domains become available in saved searches
• Sedo/Afternic/BuyDomains integration
• New Look

Everyone please leave me your feedback on the new features and anything you would like to see.

Thanks, Ryan

Note: this feature may come and go according to site load...

So I'm testing BustAName integration with the Sedo api. We'll see how well it works, I have the feeling this might not be to practical. Anyway, at the moment you can check "on Sedo" to see domains that are for sale in the available domains results. Domains for sale on sedo will have a dollar sign symbol beside them and instead of save will have a "Bid" button. The bid button will take you to the Sedo page for that domain.

A note of caution (and the main reason why I think this might not be to practical), when using the sedo search, the rest of the results will be slowed down quite a bit since BustAName has to make a Sedo api call each time a registered domain is found. Anyway, give it a try and let me know your feedback. I have been trying to work with Sedo to get a faster integration, but I think I need more traffic before I can pull that kind of weight.

• Ryan

So here's the deal: I think BustAName is a good service (and I should since I'm the one who made it), but the issue is that it's not getting much use compared to how many people look for domains every day. Now I know wanting to be the "go to place" to find a domain is a bit ambitious, but I think maybe after I launch a few more tools, it might be a plausible goal, or it would be if it wasn't for one little issue, "I'm not any good at marketing." So to compensate for the issue I have decided to release an affiliate program. You might say, "hey doesn't BustAName make its money from affiliate programs to begin with?"... The answer is yes, we make a commission on every domain sold through the site, when a person clicks on one of the "buy" links.

So the BustAName affiliate program pays you a commission off of our commission (at least 50%, usually more) just for driving people to the site. If you have a web site that gets tech savvy traffic, I would recommend putting up a link to BustAName and giving it a try. Hopefully this can be a win-win.

BustAName Affiliate Program

Ryan

After finding a domain, the second biggest problem when starting a web site is finding good hosting. There are a ton of hosting companies out there, but finding one that meets your needs without overpaying is tough. To solve this we created our new hosting search tool.

The hosting search tool lets you see a list of hosting plans from 20+ hosting companies (and we're adding more every day). It gives you easy access to the important things like disk space, monthly transfer, price, setup fee, and we even have a review/rating system. Most important is our filtering system which lets you set ranges for any numerical value (price, disk space, transfer, domain price (for companies that sell domains with hosting), number e-mail accounts, number of databases, cpu speed, and amount of ram. We also give you check boxes for specific features that you need, such as php, mysql, plesk, and a whole lot more.

The list sorts by price by default, and displays the basic info above. We also have a compare feature where you can select a few plans that you are considering and see every feature side by side (Note: this is cool, give it a try)

Our review system uses geocoding techniques to prevent the hosting companies themselves from leaving good reviews of themselves or as is often the case, bad reviews of the competition. When a user leaves a review, we show the geocoding data along side with the review. So you will be able to see the reviewers ip, network, and location (city, state) With that information, we can easily flag users submitting reviews from a hosting company's network. Reviews also have a ranking system, which lets you see things like uptime, tech support, customer service, server speed, value for cost, and an average of all of the previous values.

Lastly, we have a quick buy link so you can get up and running quickly. Please be sure to leave a review of your existing hosting plans so other users will know what they should buy.

Give our new hosting search a try.