The last couple weeks have been filled with lots of action in the domain name world. Let’s get started:
Microsoft finally bought the domain name Office.com this week. The purchase price won’t be released publicly. Even amidst the speculation that the name sold $5-$15 million range, this probably isn’t the case. It’s very likely the name only cost Microsoft between $750K – $2 million. I understand they now only use third parties to acquire the domains. That means the seller could only guess if Microsoft was actually behind the acquisition. I think Microsoft probably waited the buyer out for years. They have surely wanted the domain and probably had negotiations in the past. Now that global business is being affected by the recession people are liquidating speculative assets. MS saw a great time to move in on the domain and were masked behind a third party to assure they get it at the cheapest price. Just my guess 😉
A high profile domain name heist harvests the first ever arrest for the crime of stealing a domain name. Daniel Gonclaves a 25 year old male from New Jersey, was arrested this week for stealing the domain name p2p.com from Albert and Leslie Angel. After hacking the Angel’s AOL account he gained access to their godaddy account by requesting a password change thru the godaddy support system. He gained access to the domain, then sold the p2p.com on eBay for $111,000.
.Co.uk outperforms .Com in Q2, 2009. V3.co.uk reports that according to sedo, .co.uk domain names averaged a higher price than .com domain names in Q2, 2009. That marks the first time ever .co.uk marked a higher average than .com. This may signal that locals are gaining more confidence in running businesses on their respective ccTLD’s.
Top weekly domain sales: Server.com sold for $770K and Jesus.net sold for $124K! As reported by DNJournal. These top reported sales of the week were both delivered thru Sedo.com marketplace.
[…] Blog Just going to update my blog posts in this thread.. Today: Office.com sells to Microsoft, Domain Theif Jailed, .Co.uk Outperforms .Com in Q2 The Battle for the Future of .eco ‘Developing’ Your Domain Names Cybersecurity Act Calls for […]
That is a very nice move from Microsoft especially using 3rd party services to buy out a domain. If they approached me directly I would certainly ask for a bigger price. I think that its high time yahoo bought the domain flicker.com
Microsoft certainly has made a smart move in purchasing the domain name during a time of hardship for everyone. I’m quite surprised that .com is beaten by .co.uk; Just a few years ago, .com seemed unbeatable. On another note, I am happy the domain thief was captured, since this gives a fair warning to all other hijackers.
When thinking about a man being arrested for a domain name, I chuckle everytime. It seems so small thing. But then $111,000 is HUGE.
Microsoft acquiring office.com, won’t make a big difference in my opinion. They anyways rank first for ‘office’.
stolen name p2p.com got sold on eBay for $111,000. i think its now risky to buy domain names on auction sites like ebay i ll think b4 buying this kind of domain. i ll prefer sedo or some other domain name auction sites than ebay.