Parick Boardman's Article in Domains

1205 The Issue of Keywords in Domain Names
The official story of search engines like Google is that their algorithms are sophisticated enough to highlight keywords in domain names yet not give them any added weight or consideration. In daily observation there seem to be exceptions. In one study 48% of people noticed keywords were a noticeable factor in Google searches. In fact, SEOs report seeing keywords in the domain factor all the time. According to inside sources keywords have the same weight anywhere in the page URL.
Posted on Jan-08-2012

610 Reserving Your Website's Domain Name Longer Assists Rankings
Domain names registration has more to it than meets the eye. The attitude detected by the search engine gives clues as to the authenticity and legitimacy of web site owners. When a web site owner invests money to reserve his domain name with a registrar for a considerable number of years it is taken by Google as a sign that the business attached intends to stay around as a permanent corporate citizen of the Web, thus gaining points toward better rankings.
Posted on Dec-06-2011