What is the value of a domain name?
In an objective and practical way, it is known that a domain name get value when the traffic of the site having this name is higher than that of any other site with a similar contents, and with equal SEO action. I know some examples of names which were given up by their holder by disinterest, and which could have been resold a handsome price, but which was recovered by speculators.
Estimating the value of a name
In the absence of mean to compare two websites, certain
criteria can indicate us if a domain name has value in oneself or not.
Above all, a domain has value when the name comes naturally to mind and
when it is easy to retain.
Criteria of value of a name are as follows:
- it corresponds to a word of the language or a real name (person or location),
- this word is the name of a real service or product,
- it is a keyword often given in requests on search engines,
- the TLD is .com, or it is .net if it relates to the Net, or this it is a ccTLD related to the language of the site,
- that it is a short word,
- and also it starts with the A letter or a digit, which makes it possible to be placed at top of alphabetical lists.
In general, domains whose name is composed of several words have little value in themselves, unless the combination is a frequent request. For example, mp3audiobooks.com for which a company paid an enormous amount, because that corresponded exactly to its activity or AsSeenOnTV.com which corresponds to a usual sentence.
Examples of expensive domains
A domain name corresponding to a widely used commercial product can be resold at a vertiginous price.
| Domain | Value $ | Year | New owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altavista.com | 3 300 000 |
1999 | |
| Ancestry.com | 1.600.000 |
2012 | Permira |
| Answer.com | 550 000 |
November 2011 | Undisclosed. Was parked. |
| AsSeenOnTv.com | 5 100 000 |
January 18, 2000 | |
| Autos.com | 2 200 000 |
1999 | |
| Beer.com | 7 000 000 |
||
| Bingo.com | 200 000 |
||
| Blue.com | 500 000 |
2006 | |
| Brazil.com | 500 000 |
2009 | |
| Business.com | 7 400 000 |
1999 | |
| Call.com | 1 100 000 |
2009 | |
| Candy.com | 3 000 000 |
June 2009 | G&J Holdings |
| Casino.com | 5 500 000 |
2003 | |
| Cinema.com | 700 000 |
February 1, 2000 | |
| Computer.com | 500 000 |
||
| Creditcards.com | 2 750 000 |
2004 | |
| Cricket.com | 1 000 000 |
2009 | |
| Diamond.com | 7 500 000 |
A diamond seller | |
| Editor.com | 225 000 |
2009 | |
| Feedback.com | 1 200 000 |
2000 | |
| Fish.com | 1 020 000 |
2005 | |
| Fly.com | 1 500 000 |
2000 | |
| Fund.com | 10 000 000 |
2008 | |
| Forsalebyowner.com | 835 000 |
||
| iCloud.com | 4 500 000 |
2011 | Apple |
| Internet.com | 100 000 |
||
| iphone.com | 1 000 000 |
2007 | |
| Korea.com | 5 000 000 |
2007 | |
| Loans.com | 3 350 000 |
1999 | |
| Mp3audiobook.com | 8 000 000 |
February 16, 2000 | Inc. of Santa Rosa |
| Netscape.com | 4 500 000 |
1999 | AOL |
| Pizza.com | 2 600 000 |
||
| Porn.com | 9 500 000 |
2007 |
|
| Rock.com | 1 000 000 |
2005 | |
| Russia.com | 1 500 000 |
11/2009 | Anonymous. |
| Seniors.com | 1 800 000 |
2007 | |
| Sex.com | 12 000 000 |
2006 | |
| Shop.com | 3 500 000 |
2005 | |
| Slots.com | 5 500 000 |
05/2010 | BodoBrand, sold by Moniker.com |
| Toys.com | 5 100 000 |
2009 | Toy'R'US. |
| University.com | 530 000 |
||
| Vip.com | 1 400 000 |
2005 | |
| Vodka.com | 3 000 000 |
December 4, 2006 | Standard Russian Co, Russian vodka producer. |
| Wallstreet.com | 1 030 000 |
1999 | |
| Wine.com | 2 900 000 |
1999 | |
| Wordwideweb.com | 3 500 000 |
1996 |
Sex.com would have been sold for 12 million dollars, after stolen
and then being recovered, the usurper being fled in Mexico before being
extradited (Kremen/Cohen case ). But in this
case, the site had already an important traffic.
Re-sold by Escom to Clover Holdings Ltd for 13 million dollars in October 2010.
Ancestry.com is a site dedicated to genealogy, apparently a lucrative sector. In this case it is the site and its audience which make the value rather than the sole domain.
Netscape.com. 4,2 billion dollars in AOL in 1999, for the site especially but the product became open source under the Mozilla name, it remains of Netscape only the logo and the domain name.
Value of other TLDs
| Domain | Value $ or € |
Year | New owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address.net | 20 000 $ |
||
| American.info | 23 530 $ |
||
| Auctions.net | 23 000 $ |
||
| Auto.fr | 100 000 € |
2008 | |
| Blackjack.org | 298 000 $ |
October 31, 2007 | PokerCompany.com |
| Engineering.org | 198 000 $ |
||
| FreeCreditReport.co.uk | 300 000 $ |
||
| Games.eu | 67 500 € |
2009 | |
| News.se | 55 800 $ |
February 2010 | |
| Poker.org | 1 000 000 $ |
PokerCompany.com | |
| Textbooks.co | 12 000 $ |
November 2011 | |
| Wines.net | 13000 $ |
We know that this amount was exceeded for a eu domain, but the names were not disclosed.
A certain value attributed to the co extension which is the extension of country of Colombia, but used as a replacement for the com.
Protecting a domain name
Check that the status of the domain is "registrar lock". A
domain could be subtilized by transfer to another owner without your
assent and in a country where the thief can't be sued.
Locking is not possible for EU and most ggTLD.
Cyberquatting
This term designates the fact of deposit the domain name of a
mark known in an TLD or ccTLD, that was not done by the company, in the
hope that the company (or a competitor) will offer you to repurchase it
a handsome price. The principle is not entirely contestable as long as
one sticks to a reasonable price, such as 10.000 to 20000 dollars which
are only trifles for a large company.
However cybersquatting gives place to excesses. To oblige the company
to repurchase the domain, one makes point the domain on the site of a
competitor for example! It is also reprehensible to ask an exorbitant
sum a company under pretext which the name of mark is worth well that,
since it is the holder of the mark which made it its value!
These practices lead in courts in European countries,
but they sometimes made the fortune of cybersquatters in USA.
Between 1999 and 2006, the OPMI (World Organization of the
Intelectual Property) treated more than 20000 complaints for
cybersquatting of domain names in ten different languages.
More information
- Domain: all that it is necessary to know to acquire a domain name under the best conditions and to protect it.
- An interesting keyword can be available under other extensions that traditional the COM, NET etc. See at the list of TLD, Top-Level Domains.
- Webmaster's tools. Tools to search for most asker keywords.
- The sex.com affair. This novel tells how the theft of a domain name was turned over against the robber.