Top Sales

Highest Domain Sales of All Time

Below is a list of the largest published domain sales to date. Please note that this is a list of raw domains – which means the domains were not active websites or businesses at the time of sale. Basically, these sales are comparable to the sale of raw land.

Domain NameSale PriceBuyer
voice.com$30,000,000 MicroStrategy
sex.com$13,000,000 Clover Holdings Limited
hotels.com$11,000,000 Hotels.com GP LLC
fund.com$9,999,950 Gentile, Philip
porn.com$9,500,000 Moniker Privacy Services
fb.com$8,500,000 Facebook, Inc.
diamond.com$7,500,000 ATTN DIAMOND.COM
beer.com$7,000,000 Thought Convergence, LLC
casino.com$5,500,000 Mansion Limited of Gibraltar
slots.com$5,500,000 Bodog Media
toys.com$5,100,000 DNS MASTER
korea.com$5,000,000 Korea.com Communications Co., Ltd
clothes.com$4,900,000 Domain Administrator
freeporn.com$4,000,000
yp.com$3,850,000
shop.com$3,500,000 Hunt, Vince
wine.com$3,300,000 Tomaszewski, William
software.com$3,200,000 Software.com Holdings Pty Limited
loans.com$3,000,000 Bank of America
candy.com$3,000,000 Greg Balestrieri
vodka.com$3,000,000 Russian Standard Co
wines.com$2,900,000 Wilferd, Jacklyn
creditcards.com$2,750,000 CCRD Operating Company, Inc.
pizza.com$2,605,000 National A-1 Advertising
social.com$2,600,000 Salesforce.com
tom.com$2,500,000 Director of Investigation and Development Center
Investing.com$2,450,000 Fusion Media Limited
coupons.com$2,200,000 Coupons.com Incorporated
autos.com$2,200,000 Hoover, Chuck
england.com$2,000,000 World Media Group, LLC
express.com$2,000,000 One Limited Parkway
telephone.com$2,000,000 Itani, Ayman
savings.com$1,900,000 Savings.com LLC
seniors.com$1,800,000 YouMu
mortgage.com$1,800,000 CitiBank
dating.com$1,750,000 Harlequin Holdings Limited
auction.com$1,700,000 Real Estate Disposition, LLC
datarecovery.com$1,659,000 Carmitchel, Benjamin
branson.com$1,600,000 Milton, Larry
ticket.com$1,525,000 Stromboli
tandberg.com$1,500,000 ASA, Tandberg
cameras.com$1,500,000 Domains, Camera
deposit.com$1,500,000 Domain Discreet
fly.com$1,500,000 Travelzoo Inc.
marketingtoday.com$1,500,000 DeLegge, Peter
russia.com$1,500,000 Private, Registration
vip.com$1,400,000 Safenames Ltd
men.com$1,320,000 Men.com LLC
photo.com$1,250,000 PHOTO.COM
vista.com$1,250,000 Vistaprint
feedback.com$1,230,000 Idealab!
find.com$1,200,000 Generation Zero Group, Inc.
phone.com$1,200,000 Ari Rabban
kredit.de$1,169,175 Daniel Kirchhof
mercury.com$1,100,000 Hewlett Packard Company
flying.com$1,100,000 Flying Online, Inc.
call.com$1,100,000 Private, Registration
bingo.com$1,100,000 Devereux Mark
cruise.co.uk$1,099,798 Victoria Travel Service Ltd
zip.com$1,058,830
wallstreet.com$1,030,000 Marcus Kocak
webcam.com$1,020,000 FCI INC
invest.com$1,015,000 Magner, Jim
if.com$1,000,000 CBS Registry
personalloans.com$1,000,000
poker.org$1,000,000 Markus Sonermo
rock.com$1,000,000 NEWMAN, S.J
sky.com$1,000,000 British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc
DomainName.com$1,000,000 DomainName, Inc.
eflowers.com$1,000,000 FTD.COM, INC.
fish.com$1,000,000 McCormick, Clarice
box.com$1,000,000 Box.net
britain.com$1,000,000 World Media Group, LLC
beauty.cc$1,000,000 Gianluca Zanna
topix.com$1,000,000 c/o TOPIX.COM
websites.com$975,000 NTT Com Global Hostmaster
poker.de$957,937 Private
investment.com$900,000 Domain Capital
credit.fr$851,875 Go Advertising Limited
skiresorts.com$850,000 L2Media, LLC
forsalebyowner.com$835,000 Jones, Christie
drugs.com$824,000 Wager, Paul
earth.com$800,000 Innovation HQ, Inc.
guns.com$800,000 Internet Marketing Solutions Limited
beauty.com$800,000 ATTN BEAUTY.COM
1stbandwidth.com$800,000 Microsprings Web Solutions
singapore.com$800,000 ATTN Domain Inquiries
printer.com$800,000 Sys Administrator
jobs.com$800,000 TMP WORLDWIDE
dollars.com$789,600 Private, Registration
server.com$770,000 Private, Registration
ringtones.com$750,000
property.com$750,000 New Century Management, Ltd.
ireport.com$750,000 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
capital.com$750,000 Capital.com
website.com$750,000 contactprivacy.com,
aktien.de$725,000 STRATO AG Webhosting
files.com$725,000 Capital, Startive
nav.no$717,978
refinance.com$706,000 Home-Account, Inc
runningshoes.com$700,000 Cat5 Commerce
melbourne.com$700,000 MELBOURNE.COM
local.com$700,000 Local.com
cinema.com$700,000 Digital Domains Limited
taxes.com$700,000 William Gluck
vu.com$700,000 Veterans United home Loans
luck.com$675,000 Cliford Services Limited
on.com$635,000 Moniker Privacy Services
casino.de$625,060
biz.com$625,000 Admin PrivateRegContact
music.mobi$616,000 Constantinos Roussos
jobs.ca$600,000 Vince Harasymiak
saturn.pl$600,000 NetArt Spolka Akcyjna
christian.com$600,000 Private, Registration
annuity.com$600,000 Townsend, David
exterminator.com$600,000 Quasar Enterprises
golf.tv$600,000 DNS Admin
job.at$590,949
affiliate.com$579,900 Domain Account
homeownersinsurance.com$570,000 Carlos Lagomarsino
macau.com$550,000 Wolf, James
answer.com$550,000
antispyware.com$550,000 Private, Registration
university.com$530,000 Administrator, Domain
shemale.com$520,000 System Administrator
jerusalem.com$510,000 Hostmaster, Jerusalem
laon.com$500,249
li.com$500,000 Private, Registration
logo.com$500,000 John Berryhill Client Trust
Jackpot.com$500,000 Palek International Ltd
ipo.com$500,000
invention.com$500,000 Domains, Parked
image.com$500,000 Davies, Brynley
military.com$500,000 Monster Worldwide, Inc.
newzealand.com$500,000 Thomas, Keith
shoppingmall.com$500,000 For domain leasing enquiries contact
rebate.com$500,000 Charlie Flock
rebates.com$500,000 Charlie Flock
Puzzle.com$500,000 Rules Holding
bike.com$500,000
az.com$500,000 A to Z Networking Services
act.com$500,000 DNS ADMIN
3d.com$500,000
challenge.com$500,000 Private
blue.com$500,000 c/o BLUE.COM
brazil.com$500,000 Private, Registration
gamesforgirls.com$500,000
freewebsite.com$500,000 Freewebsite, LLC
gay.xxx$500,000 Liberty Media Holdings
gays.com$500,000 Dreyer David
computer.com$500,000 Domains, Parked
talk.com$500,000 National A-1
themortgage.com$500,000 ATTN THEMORTGAGE.COM
WebHosting.co.uk$500,000 Pawel Ciszewski
wrestling.com$500,000 For domain leasing enquiries contact
financialaid.com$480,000
villas.com$477,630
wisdom.com$475,000
chat.de$470,000
blackjack.com$460,000
me.com$460,000
sex.net$454,500 Direct Privacy ID D7FE1, Direct Privacy LTD
rio.com$450,000 contactprivacy.com,
sportinggoods.com$450,000 SPORTINGGOODS.COM
meet.me$450,000 DNStination Inc
boardgames.com$450,000 Greer, Nick
art.com$450,000 Domain Administrator
templates.com$450,000
autoinsurance.org$440,000
wap.com$436,000
arearugs.com$405,000 Randy Ward
games.mobi$401,500 Ivo Teel
hipoteca.com$400,000
myblog.com$400,000 Hight, Brendhan
look.com$400,000 Quidsi Inc
resumes.com$400,000
poker.ca$400,000 Mr Tom Dalrymple
porn.net$400,000 Direct Privacy ID 76B75, Direct Privacy LTD
tell.com$400,000
systematic.com$400,000
forums.com$399,990 Capital, Startive
domainregistration.com$376,480
bbc.com$375,000
jets.com$375,000 Domain Capital
longisland.com$370,000 Ralph Cristello
cowboys.com$370,000
cgm.com$365,000 Christoph Merz
lowfare.com$365,000
partysupplies.com$360,000 Private, Registration
banners.com$360,000 Ryan McCleary
33.com$358,000
wirelessphone.com$355,000 DN Investment Group
datacenter.com$352,000 DataCenter LTD
color.com$350,000
cookinggames.com$350,000 Private, Registration
GiftBasket.com$350,000 Gabby Investments
greeting.com$350,000 GREETING.COM
fungames.com$350,000 Moniker Privacy Services
rugby.com$350,000 Domain Admin
o.co$350,000 Overstock.com, Inc.
770.com$343,208
screensavers.com$335,000 Domain Capital
best.com$331,561 Moniker Privacy Services
hotels.eu$329,509
zero.com$329,420
VI.com$325,000 Josh Sackman
rvrental.com$325,000 FreedomRoads
bj.com$325,000 Finlead AG
financialaide.com$320,000
jasmin.com$310,250
60.com$310,000 Wenjing
recycle.co.uk$309,901
rh.com$304,000 Restoration Hardware, Inc
software.de$303,182
173.com$302,790
blackjack.de$300,000
bookmarks.com$300,000 Domain Capital
cafe.com$300,000
brown.com$300,000 Admin, DNS
freecreditreport.co.uk$300,000
dvds.com$300,000 Chris Mettler
sc.com$300,000 Group Legal Department
recycling.com$300,000 Ron Tan
realestate.net$300,000 Private, Registration
pilot.com$300,000 The Hearst Corporation
isearch.com$300,000 Inc, Intelius
viajes.com$300,000 Moniker Privacy Services
voodoo.com$300,000 Domains, Parked
hobbies.com$297,500 Stefan Tesoriero
bdsm.com$295,000 Master, Host
xmas.com$294,200 XMAS.COM
Cupidon.com$285,250 Hooya Digital Ltd
shoppingcart.com$285,000 ATTN SHOPPINGCART.COM
45.com$280,000
cd.com$277,750 roger Parkin
grid.com$275,000 Melbourne IT
floor.com$275,000
ui.com$275,000 Gleissner, Mike
kredit.com$270,600
celebs.com$270,000
spel.se$266,000
triplecreditreport.com$260,000 Moniker Privacy Services
table.com$260,000
seks.nl$258,000
disco.com$255,000 Hays, Boyd
pos.com$252,500 Domain Capital
tees.com$252,500 Private, Registration
ucakbileti.com$250,000 Moniker Privacy Services
vote.com$250,000 Moniker Privacy Services
Platinum.com$250,000 Rainer Voortman
physicians.com$250,000 Gabriel, Ashley
payment.com$250,000 Private, Registration
musicvideos.com$250,000
malta.com$250,000 Robert Morrison
egifts.com$250,000 Moniker Privacy Services
Feng.com$250,000 Private
buckhead.com$250,000 Ben Carter Properties
bowlingballs.com$250,000 Julia Moore
boating.com$250,000 Stefan Tesoriero
800.com$250,000 Private, Registration
alice.com$250,000 Private, Registration
biking.com$250,000 Stefan Tesoriero
software.co.uk$249,000
mobile.co.uk$247,921
fo.com$245,000 Mike Gleissner
mortage.com$242,400 Moniker Privacy Services
ant.com$241,200 Whois Agent
outlets.de$239,257
yearbook.com$237,500 Domain Administrator
prince.com$235,000
lawfirm.com$233,501
imoveis.com.br$231,500
sofas.com$231,500 DigiMedia.com, L.P.
hospitality.com$230,000
action.com$230,000 Moniker Privacy Services
wicker.com$230,000
diamondrings.com$228,420 Latona, Rick
flashgames.com$226,950 Whois Agent
et.com$225,000 ET.COM
driven.com$225,000 Cyrus Broumand
editor.com$225,000 Capital, Startive
ar.com$225,000
arab.com$225,000 KuwaitNET Internet Services
insurancerates.com$225,000 Admin, Nic
winner.com$225,000 Domain, Administrator
wifi.com$225,000 Domain Capital
lottery.net$220,000
od.com$220,000 Okhai, Yusuf
loancalculator.com$215,000 Moniker Privacy Services
billionaire.com$215,000 Moniker Privacy Services
televisions.com$215,000 Private, Registration
suv.com$210,000
crosswordpuzzles.com$210,000 Domain, Administrator
freequotes.com$210,000 DeSousa, Anthony
tower.com$208,000 Wickhams Cay
slots.ca$206,906 Sam Marshall
Cotton.com$205,890 dnInvest
cpc.com$201,750 Matt Wolf
satellitephone.com$201,600 Private, Registration
rhodes.com$200,000 Domain Capital
riva.com$200,000
settlement.com$200,000
sofa.com$200,000
republic.com$200,000 Republic retail LTD
ov.com$200,000 ATTN OV.COM
perth.com$200,000 PERTH.COM
nasty.com$200,000 Privacy Protection
Consolidation.com$200,000 Whois Privacy Services Pty Ltd
diy.net$200,000
flatrate.de$200,000
flowers.mobi$200,000 Rick Schwartz
farm.com$200,000
Adventure.com$200,000 Michael Wong
angels.com$200,000 MLB Advanced Media, LP
bird.com$200,000 ATTN BIRD.COM
chinatours.com$200,000
thin.com$200,000 Whois Agent
engineering.org$198,000 TheAmericanSociety of Mechanical Engineers
shopping.eu$196,803
photograph.com$195,000 Domain Administrator
MovingCompany.com$195,000 Andrew Wash
mcc.com$195,000 MCC.COM
criminallawyers.com$195,000 Private, Registration
wt.com$192,000
architecture.com$190,000 IT Help
shield.com$190,000
cd.net$189,930 Mike Gleissner
880.com$188,889 TJ Demas
11.com$188,889 T.J. Demas
pisos.net$187,500 Rut Grau Portell . (ento0017874)
ts.com$186,000 Simon Saneback
visitflorida.com$186,000 VISIT FLORIDA
unclesam.com$185,750
freehoroscope.com$185,259 Moniker Privacy Services
cdn.net$185,000
slimming.com$185,000 Moniker Privacy Services
stockbrokers.com$185,000 Blain Reinkensmeyer
whiskey.com$185,000 DI S.A
fly.co.uk$181,042
consulting.com$181,000 contactprivacy.com,
commerce.com$180,000 administration, domain
phonemarket.com$180,000 Private
offer.com$180,000 Steve Schaffer
honest.com$180,000 The Honest Company
444.com$178,889 T.J. Demas
newbrand.de$177,600
tests.com$176,505
uruguay.com$175,000 Private, Registration
walkers.com$175,000
question.com$175,000 Wager, Paul
248.com$175,000 Demas, TJ
barns.com$175,000 Jeremiah Johnson
campgrounds.com$175,000 Domain Capital
decide.com$175,000 PriceYeti
auto.es$173,682
mind.com$171,600
hoteldeals.com$171,250 HOTELDEALS.COM
rainbow.com$170,000 RAINBOW.COM
promotion.com$170,000
cars.net$170,000 WebCorp LLC
245.com$168,889 T.J. Demas
homeimprovement.com$166,650 Keith Levenson
shoppers.com$166,000
schoenen.nl$165,500
horseracing.co.uk$165,000
onlinecasino.co.uk$165,000
bra.com$165,000 Jerry Skia
event.com$165,000 Domains, Parked
favorites.com$165,000
free-sms.de$162,150
fruits.com$160,000 Bagchi, Kaushik
modern.com$160,000 ATTN MODERN.COM
lov.com$160,000
bogota.com$159,000 BOGOTA.COM
via.com$157,500 Sujit Naha
discountvouchers.com$157,000 Doug Scott
courts.com$155,000 Domain Administrator
king.com$155,000 Midasplayer.com Ltd
porker.com$155,000
idol.com$154,800 Capital, Genie
daytona.com$151,395 McIntosh, Will
nhs.com$151,300
camroulette.com$151,000 Domain Manager
jewelers.com$150,755 For domain leasing enquiries contact
date.org$150,349 Digital Domains Limited
cursos.com$150,000 Financial Red Network SL
copies.com$150,000 Cesar Diaz
cr.com$150,000 Internet Admin (not for sale)
ecs.com$150,000 Andrew Kimani
forclosures.com$150,000 Whois Agent
ged.com$150,000 Brendhan Hight
FreeSexCams.com$150,000 Private
french.com$150,000 FRENCH.COM
gospelmusic.com$150,000 GOSPELMUSIC.COM
guy.com$150,000 Gleissner, Mike
esignature.com$150,000 Adobe Systems Incorporated
camp.com$150,000 CAMP.COM
bluejeans.com$150,000 ShaColby Jackson
business.com$150,000 Business.com
animation.com$150,000 Private, Registration
bellevue.com$150,000 Moniker Privacy Services
beef.com$150,000 Domain Capital
kboing.com$150,000 Kboing Network do Brasil
leisure.com$150,000 Private, Registration
interracialsex.com$150,000 Moniker Privacy Services
news.net$150,000 Private, Registration
ol.com$150,000 Domain Capital
mathematics.com$150,000 For domain leasing enquiries contact
redwine.com$150,000 Private, Registration
RestaurantSupply.com$150,000 IHG LLC
poker.mobi$150,000 Domain Capital
phd.com$150,000
opportunity.com$150,000 Domain Administrator
payments.com$150,000 Private, Registration
paraguay.com$150,000 Moniker Privacy Services
sanjuan.com$150,000 Internet Admin (not for sale)
tycoon.com$150,000 Domain Administrator
sumo.com$150,000 Priyavrat Bhartia
webcity.com$150,000
buy.me$148,350 Private
frame.com$148,000
tradetracker.com$148,000 Dick van Doorn
iqtest.de$147,000
tourismaustralia.com$146,000 Mark Davis
ssm.com$145,000 SILVER STATE MORTGAGE
ule.com$145,000 Shangai Ule Trading
wv.com$145,000 Gleissner, Mike
ringtones.mobi$145,000 Mustafa Patel
online-casino.de$144,900 Private
fruitbaskets.com$142,500
website.de$141,610 Corpex Internet GmbH
msb.se$141,550
sexkontakte.de$141,000
sharks.com$140,000 contactprivacy.com,
metal.com$140,000 Xin Fan
cognac.com$140,000 Private
creditcard.net$138,000 Roland Bleyer
beem.com$136,000
addictedgames.com$135,350 Whois Watchdog
casino.mobi$135,000 Domains Admin
mypremiercard.com$135,000 PrivacyProtect.org
solo.com$133,000
photographer.com$133,000 contactprivacy.com,
huddle.com$131,400 McLoughlin, Andy
homerun.com$131,299 Jared Kopf
OnlineKredit.net$131,000 Andre Finzel
beds.co.uk$130,400 Giomani Designs LTD
caribbeanvacations.com$130,000 Moniker Privacy Services
blocks.com$130,000 Chris Worden
newlyweds.com$130,000 Roman Mead
matureporn.com$130,000 MATUREPORN.COM
made.com$130,000
partners.com$130,000 Domain Capital
zimbabwe.com$130,000 Moniker Privacy Services
vb.com$130,000
sportsbook.mobi$129,800 Registration Private
mariage.com$129,720 Manguian Jean-Pierre
ub.com$129,420
one.es$128,947
investmentproperty.com.au$127,501 MAD CAT PTY LIMITED
sol.com$127,400 Heineken International B.V.
hedonism.com$126,270 Domain Manager
ex.com$126,160 Abstract Holdings International Ltd.
bolt.com$125,581 The Honest Company
channel.com$125,000 Monsanto Company
bachelor.com$125,000 contactprivacy.com,
auditors.com$125,000 Domain Capital
alliant.com$125,000 WEBMASTER, SVB
aftermarket.com$125,000 Domain Administrator
afw.com$125,000 Joe Straface
airline.com$125,000 Intercontinental Domain Inc
creditcare.com$125,000 Whois Agent
halfpricetickets.com$125,000 Francis, Mitch
hx.com$125,000 Beijing National Network Information
mr.com$125,000 com fma
mouse.com$125,000 Domain Administrator
migraine.com$125,000 Moniker Privacy Services
moneywatch.com$125,000 Domain Admin
rss.com$125,000 Ron Sheridan
pig.com$125,000 LLC, Varsity Plaza
push.com$125,000 Domains, Smarter
sz.com$125,000
toys.xxx$125,000 Private
yg.com$125,000 Alex Lerman
yb.com$125,000 Operations, Intelius
qx.com$124,975 Lin XiaoFeng
246.com$124,568 T.J. Demas
25.com$124,556 T.J. Demas
jesus.net$124,337
kf.com$123,504 J. Phillips
vancouver.com$123,000 VANCOUVER.COM
designer.co.uk$122,080 C. Roberts
athlete.com$122,000 Moniker Privacy Services
exito.com$121,560
spn.com$121,266 Domain Manager
casas.net$120,930 Grau, Rut
myrtlebeachcondos.com$120,107
onlinedegree.com$120,000 Moniker Privacy Services
leo.com$120,000 Cybertania
speaker.com$120,000
sailboat.com$120,000 Domain Capital

Source: DNJournal.com, Domaining.com and TheDomains.com

Benefits of professional email for business

Would you believe that 72 percent of consumers prefer communicating with your business via email? No longer do customers want to pick up the phone when they can directly connect with you in a few keystrokes — they simply don’t have the time or patience. Instead, they want to open their email client and send off a quick message … but what email address are you providing them? Friend, it’s time to look at professional email for business.

Think about this: Are they emailing yourcompany@gmail.com or companyname@yahoo.com, or are you providing them with a professional email? If you want increase your level of credibility and enhance your perception, then you need professional email for business.

Full Story: Godaddy.com

Most expensive domain ever sold – Voice.com

MicroStrategy, a leading worldwide provider of enterprise analytics and mobility software, today announced that it has sold the Voice.com domain name for $30 million in cash in a transaction facilitated by GoDaddy and consummated on May 30, 2019.

Block.one has made a smart strategic decision in choosing Voice.com to be the internet domain name for its new social media platform. The word ‘voice’ is simple and universally understood. It’s also ubiquitous ― as a search term, it returns billions of results on the internet. An ultra-premium domain name like Voice.com can help a company achieve instant brand recognition, ignite a business, and massively accelerate value creation

Full Story: BusinessWire.com

Why .COM Domain Names Are Still Best For Your Brand

Over the years, we’ve worked with many clients who are just starting out or rebranding. This means we often consult with companies about choosing a domain name.

With the recent explosion in gTLD (generic top-level domains) by ICANN (the entity that basically controls the Internet), domain registration options have never been more plentiful. Starting a spa? You can register yourbrand.spa. Want something that happened in Vegas to make it straight onto the Internet? yourexperience.vegas can tell your story (just keepit.kosher).

But with as much excitement as there is behind these new domain name extensions, is it ever worth going through the trouble of not owning the .COM as well (as a redirect at the very least)?

Going with a non .COM domain name might save you money in the short term, but there are many reasons why you should try to own the .COM for your brand, even if you plan to market it under a different domain extension.

1. 46% of websites use a .COM domain name

Make no mistake about it, the overwhelming majority of websites use .COM for their Internet presence. The extension dates back to 1985, when it was originally foreseen as the domain extension of choice for brick and mortar companies seeking a website (.net was anticipated to be used by Internet-only companies, but this never really panned out as expected). With the advent of the Dotcom boom, .COM as an extension quickly skyrocketed ahead of all other alternatives.

Today, over three decades later, it has become the go-to for nearly all major brands. In fact, investors and companies alike continue to pay tens of thousands and even well into the millions for premium .COM domain names.

2. Most people will assume your website ends in .COM

Because of the overwhelming market share of .COM, particularly with major corporations, most of the Internet-using public (including your would-be customer-base) has grown accustomed to assuming a company’s website is their brand name followed by .COM. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google—the list goes on.

In fact, according to this list of Fortune 500 companies from 2016, 495 of them use a .COM for their domain name. Only 4 used a .net and 1 used a .org.

There are over 134 million .COM registrations at the time of this writing. The next closest is .net with 14 million, which puts the extension soundly in second place.

There are a few companies, such as Nissan, who don’t own their brand as a Dotcom, but those are the extremely rare exceptions. If you ever wanted to find Nissan’s website, for example, chances are you’ve had to backtrack to Google to learn that their website is actually https://www.nissanusa.com.

Back before it went out of business, Twitter’s popular video app Vine existed on Vine.co. Vine.com itself appears to be registered to Amazon. The domain simply redirects to their homepage.

3. Owning a .COM domain lends credibility to your brand

The Internet has embraced over a thousand alternative domain extensions by now, but many people still aren’t familiar with the new ones. Of course, this is in some ways due to such a disproportional amount of the big business being done online through a select few top level domains such as the Dotcom.

When you see .COM next to somebody’s brand, it relays a sense of credibility. Arguably, this supposed credibility is entirely misguided and largely superficial, as there are plenty of .COM websites that are used for less than credible purposes, however, the stigma remains: “Dotcom is more legitimate and others are the cheaper knockoffs.”

4. Owning a .COM implies that you are more established

Segueing off of the credibility point in #3, it’s no secret that .COMs can be worth substantial money. If a business is willing to fork out the money required to purchase a .COM (perhaps from an existing smaller company or from a domain investor who bought it years ago), it can be assumed on some level that they’ve had some success financially. On the other hand, if a company has been around long enough to have hand registered their .COM back before they were harder to come by, longevity is also noteworthy.

Of course, these are perceived implications of owning a .COM. From a technical standpoint, using a .net or even .xyz is just as secure and just as reliable. But as marketers and branding experts know, perceived value is often times even more important for making money than actual value.

Is it possible to go register a .COM today for $15 and have no reputable history at all as a company? Of course. Owning a .COM doesn’t mean a company actually is more established, but again, due to it’s overwhelming use, the familiarity of a .COM can mean the difference between a customer visiting your website or not.

5. Search engines can sometimes favor .COM domains over others

This is definitely not always true, however, search engines like Google have been known to rank non-country-specific domain names better in universal search results than specific country code domains, which are sometimes assumed to be more specific to certain regions of the world.

The domain extension .io, for example, is an exception. It’s growing in popularity in the app and tech world due to its input/output abbreviation, but it’s technically the country code domain for the British Indian Ocean Territory. In this case, however, Google understands that many website owners are using this ccTLd generically and not specifically to the British Indian Ocean Territory, but it’s important to keep in mind that certain extensions will be ranked differently if the majority of their use is region specific.

6. The .COM has no TLD specific rules tied to it

While this fact is also true for many TLDs including gTLDs (again, generic top-level domains) and ccTLD (country code top-level domains), some TLD’s come with strings attached. For example, if you wanted to register a .us or .ca, you’d have to actually live in the United States or Canada, respectively. If you wanted to register a .nyc, you’d have to prove your residency in New York City. Other domain extensions have Acceptable Use Policy agreements that you must abide by. These can include content restrictions or limitations. Always research your desired TLD rules (if any) before making a major brand decision around it.

7. The fact you’re even reading this article proves .COM is King

Why are you reading this article? Is it because the .COM for the domain you wanted was available, but you’d rather register it only as a .BIZ? Of course not. You’re reading this article because you searched for your brand name as a .COM and came up with nothing available. Now you’re trying to talk yourself into buying a non-dotcom domain and you’re looking for reasons to either talk yourself into it or out of it.

Typically, .COM is the first search people do when shopping for a new business domain name.

The truth is, there’s a reason for that. Whatever that reason is for you, that reason is why .COM is still king—and that’s not expected to change anytime soon.

In closing…

Some argue that .COM feels old or outdated. They claim that the newer TLD extensions are more trendy. This is, of course, a strict matter of personal opinion. But even if a company chooses to operate their website from a non-dotcom domain extension, why not just buy the .COM as well and redirect it?

In some cases, we realize that buying a .COM can be cost-prohibitive and this very advice can conjure up frustrating comparisons to “Let them eat cake”, but honestly, there really are still many great options available under the .COM extension. With some time and creativity, you can come up with a great name for your business that is either still available to register or at least available for purchase at a reasonable aftermarket price.

And if you just can’t justify spending the money, you have to ask yourself this question. After reading the points in this article and looking at the facts, how much money will you have to spend in branding to overcome the pitfalls of not owning a .COM? That’s not a hypothetical question. It’s something really worth pondering for your specific situation.

You can argue that there are several successful companies that don’t use .COM and you’d be right. There absolutely are. But would owning the .COM (even as a redirect) have made growing their business easier or more difficult? HINT: It sure wouldn’t have hurt.

There are also always exceptions to the rule and outliers. For example, Google’s parent company Alphabet, while leading the charge into the non-Dotcom era with their official domain name of abc.xyz, does not own its Dotcom counterpart abc.com. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably assumed (and rightfully so) that this domain is owned by Disney’s ABC.

Regardless, does Google wish they owned that .COM domain name? You better believe it.

Source: https://www.nurv.com/why-com-domain-names-are-best-for-your-company/

The Golden Domain Name

I came across this video speaking about the significance of domains to entrepreneurs and business owners. As sellers of awesome domains, you are part of the story for someone trying to name their “unicorn”. Enjoy this video, it had an ending I wasn’t expecting… in a good way!

10 Biggest Domain Sales of the year 2017

Here are the top ten biggest domain name sales of 2017, according to Namebio.com

No. Domain Price Date Venue
1 FLY.COM 2,890,000 USD 4/4/2017 Private
2 ETH.COM 2,000,000 USD 10/22/2017 Sharjil Saleem
3 FREEDOM.COM 2,000,000 USD 5/21/2017 Ali Zandi
4 01.COM 1,820,000 USD 1/29/2017 VIP Brokerage
5 20.COM 1,750,000 USD 4/16/2017 NameExperts
6 MYWORLD.COM 1,200,000 USD 10/8/2017 GetYourDomain
7 SW.COM 660,000 USD 5/7/2017 RightOfTheDot
8 LOLA.COM 550,000 USD 6/4/2017 Private
9 PLACE.COM 550,000 USD 5/21/2017 RightOfTheDot
10 REFI.COM 500,000 USD 3/12/2017 Buckley Media Group

Oracle Buys Dyn.com

Oracle announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Dyn, the leading cloud-based Internet Performance and DNS provider that monitors, controls, and optimizes Internet applications and cloud services to deliver faster access, reduced page load times, and higher end-user satisfaction. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently.

Dyn’s solution is powered by a global network that drives 40 billion traffic optimization decisions daily for more than 3,500 enterprise customers, including preeminent digital brands such as Netflix, Twitter, Pfizer and CNBC. Adding Dyn’s best-in-class DNS solution extends the Oracle cloud computing platform and provides enterprise customers with a one-stop shop for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).

oracledyn

For More Information: Press Release

HTC Acquires Vive.com

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HTC Corporation and its new virtual reality hardware brand called Vive have secured the exact match domain (EMD) of the brand as a domain name, Vive.com. It may seem “natural” that large companies just “own” these types of domain names as .com’s but often times they do not and need to be acquired from from a past owner.

FullStory: dotweekly.com