Buying, Selling Domains Called $2 Billion Business

LOS ANGELES — The transaction of Internet domain names along with corresponding pay-per-click advertising has translated into a $2 billion industry, according to the Associated Press. The market is expected to balloon to $4 billion by 2010.

Domain registration data from VeriSign backs up the Associated Press’ claim. 128 million domain names were registered worldwide at the end of this year’s first quarter, which was a 31 percent increase from 2006. Domain buyers are purchasing names at a 90,000-per-day clip.

“It’s like real estate,” Monte Cahn, founder and CEO of Moniker.com, told the AP. “This industry is only about a decade old. People looked at domain names as a commodity. It’s a piece of real estate on the web that can’t be replaced. It’s your stake in the ground, your stake in the Internet.”

Cahn and his company recently presided over a domain auction at the Internext Summer 2007 adult webmaster trade show that hauled in more than $725,000. LatinPussy.com was the biggest money earner, garnering $135,000.

Domain registrar Sedo.com said that it handles more than $3 million of transactions each month. DN Journal, which tracks the buying and selling of domain names, said that five sales of domains have topped $1 million this year — including adult sites Sex.com and Porn.com.

“It is a global, multibillion-dollar industry,” Peter Lamson, senior vice president and general manager of NameMedia, told the International Herald Tribune. “Customers need to find your doorstep. A brick-and-mortar business needs an attractive address, and it’s no different online.”

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