25th anniversary of .com almost here

The first domain name, Symbolics.com, was registered on March 15, 1985. That makes this March 15 the 25th anniversary of the first .com registration. The web has changed quite a bit since then and it’s no surprise that the .com operator, Verisign, is planning a celebration.

In addition to throwing a “25 Years of .com” celebration, the company has also announced the creation of four $75,000 grants for .com innovation.

So, what ever happened to the world’s oldest domain? Symbolics.com was actually sold by its owner to XF Investments for an undisclosed amount. The name currently hosts a page counting down to March 15.

Chinese government takes two popular domains offline

Yesterday evening, Chinese web portal IT168.com and a similar social networking site, 51.com, both went offline. This is not normal downtime, however. Rather, the registrar of the two .coms is claiming the names were “rendered unable to resolve” at the request of the Chinese government.

China has a long history of Internet censorship and has just recently started going after domains. Last month, it deleted some 775 adult domains.

The country’s government is able to take domains offline only when the registrar is located in China. The .com TLD itself is operated by an American company. I find it odd that even though a person from China can obtain the go-ahead from the American registry to register an available .com (an automatic process), the Chinese government can remove a registration, even though it has no right to interfere with the transaction whatsoever.

Photo | Flickr

Imingle.com sells for $30,000

If there were one thing I was hoping we could have left behind in The Noughties, it’s the stupid “i” branding scheme. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed with the sale of imingle.com for $30,000 USD. Just because Apple puts ‘i” in front of everything doesn’t mean everyone else has to jump on the bandwagon.

Other sales of note include swype.com for $25,000, booking.sc for $5,000, and steves.com for $4,602. While the buyer of swype.com hasn’t been announced, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Swype, Inc. The company makes an innovative touch keyword system for mobile devices.

Source | Domain News

6m.com sells for $16,055

Two character domain 6m.com has sold at auction for £10,026 ($16,055 USD). Though the name isn’t exactly descriptive, it is short and easy to remember. Just about any website or company could be branded under “6m.”

Other recent sales include:

catholicsoulmates.com- $8,995 USD
speaq.com- $5,000 USD
allwhites.com- $5,000 USD
pacomp.com- $4,500 USD
technewsdaily.com- $1,000 USD

This sales data is just more evidence that as far as the domain market is concerned, you can’t beat dating or adult domains. Even though “catholicsoulmates.com” is three words long and plural, it trumped all the other names.

Photo | Flickr

Barns.com sells for $175,000

American businessman Jeremiah Johnson already owned woodbarns.com. But that wasn’t enough for him. To expand his already booming business, the man recently bought the domain barns.com for £106,890 ($175,000 USD).

Barns.com sells a variety of sheds and other small storage buildings. No doubt Johnson will have to sell quite a few to make up the cost of his new domain!

In addition, IDN Büromöbel.de (German for “office furniture”) turned heads when it sold for €69,000 ($100,581 USD). As of this writing, the name is the highest-selling IDN to date. It probably won’t take long for the record to be broken, however.

Dominio.com sells for $250,000

Advertising firm Marchex sold Dominio.com last week to RegistrarAds, Inc. for $250,000 USD. “Dominio” is Spanish for “domain.”

Also of note is 64.com, which sold at auction for $89,000 USD. Those in the know will tell you that 64 not only has close connections with the N-64 gaming console, but is also the number of sexual positions described in the Kama Sutra.

Other noteworthy sales include:

gameland.com- $55,000
billets.com- €28,500
ort.de- €23800
thesan.com- $18,500
1199.com- $13,000
xai.com- €12,650
ke.de- €11900

Source | Domain Name Wire

MultiVitamins.com sells for $45,000

Given the massive size of the vitamin supplement market, it’s no surprise that multivitamin.com has sold for £27,424 ($45,000 USD).

No six-figure sales have occurred lately. Instead, more modest transactions have dominated the market.

Other recent sales:

originals.com- $37,500.00
raspberry.com- $27,500.00
istream.com- $25,000.00
trademarklawyers.com- $24,000.00
hockey.org- $22,500.00
costumerentals.com- $21,000.00
designersunglasses.com- $21,000.00
i.biz- $17,000.00
newyorkers.com- $14,500.00
tested.com- $12,000.00

Winners in this group include raspberry.com, trademarklawyers.com, and hockey.org. Newyorkers.com isn’t a bad name, but the plural “s” means it is not only more work to say, but also harder to remember.

While the inclusion of an additional letter or syllable may seem trivial, it can make all the difference. An extra sound can often turn a great sounding phrase into a train wreck. This is because we usually think of things in the singular.

Would you prefer to own cellphoneservice.com or cellphoneservices.com? Does GreenTree.com or GreenTrees.com sound better? Most people would tell you they prefer the singular.

Sudan.com sells for $120,000

I can’t remember the last time Sudan made the news, but today is the exception with the sale of Sudan.com at auction for £73,516 ($120,000 USD).

Place names are excellent domain investments because while tastes change and products constantly enter and exit the market, countries rarely disappear and are always a subject of interest.

The domain Xoxide.com and site also sold for $76,000 USD. They were owned by a now closed Internet store selling computer cases and modding supplies.

Other recent sales:

jjj.com- $48,500
wordy.com- $20,000
prosensa.com- $19,000
lampen.com (German for “lamps”)- €13,800
wordplay.com- $12,000
shirtshop.com- $10,000

Source | Domain Name News

Tisch.com sells for €20,000

Tisch.com sold a few days ago for €20,000 (£18,217 or $29,696 USD) in an online auction. “Tisch” is German for “table.”

Other recent sales:

easywifi.com- $6,000 USD
stealestate.com- $1,000 USD
daha.com- $4,500 USD
tamburrino.com- $2,500USD
smmu.com – $1,500 USD

SMMU stands for Second Military Medical University in Shanghai, China, while Tamburrino is an Italian surname. I’ve always thought that first and last names make great registrations for investment. In the short term you might not see much ROI, but if you wait long enough you’re bound to find a family or individual desperate to get their hands on the domain.

Exterminator.com sells for $600,000

An unreported deal up until now, Exterminator.com sold in a private sale for £369,871, or $600,000 USD. The buyer remains unknown.

Country-code domains have been doing very well as of late. Antivirus.es sold for $63,325 in a private sale, while Blackjack.eu reached $45,000 in an online auction.

Most interestingly, patiofurniture.net, which was originally bought in 2006 for a measly $2,411, sold for $30,000! This is highly unusual for a two-word .net. I’m sure the seller was laughing all the way to the bank.

Source | DNJournal