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When Kevin Watson bought the domain gail.com for his wife, Gail, back in 1996, I don’t think either of the two ever imagined how much the gift would end up being worth.
If you use Gmail, at one point or another you may have misspelled gmail.com and ended up at gail.com. Considering the number of people using the free email service, the site likely gets thousands of visits per day.
A number of individuals and companies have tried to get their hands on the domain, but Gail and her husband won’t budge. A small Q&A page set up on the domain says the two will not sell.
There is even a reference to a WIPO complaint where a South American pottery company called Gail tried to obtain the rights to the name, claiming their trademark was being infringed.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Google tried to get the domain from the Watsons, too. Given the apparent demand for the name and the large amount of type-in traffic it receives, gail.com is likely worth tens of thousands of pounds.
But I doubt gail.com’s owners will budge anytime soon. It’s nice to see people hang on to what they love and avoid greed. Gail seems to cherish her piece of the web just as much as her wedding wing.
