WHAT'S IN A NAME?

19 October 2007

Quite a lot, if it's Wall Street.com....


Once an online gambling domain name, "Wallstreet.com" could raise millions for its present owners if an upcoming auction is successful, reports the Financial Times.

Experts told the UK newspaper this week that the domain could raise as much as $10 million - well up from it's previous record price back in 1999 of $1 million. While Wall Street.com was a stand-alone online gambling venture, the site never quite made the impact that was widely anticipated upon its purchase.

The newspaper reports that high prices for Internet domains are not unusual, and quotes the $9.5 million paid for "Porn.com" earlier this year.

The auction is being organised by Florida firm Monicker.com, where a spokesman told the FT that there was a $4 million to $5 million reserve price on the Wallstreet domain, but the auctioneer expected it to beat Porn.com in heavy bidding.

The virtual Wallstreet has in fact been idle, unlike the real life financial hub, for the past four years.

The current owners of the domain bought it from an online gambling company which found itself unable to trade in its main, US, market after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in autumn 2006.

The cost of the entire business last winter was $1.

The market for domain names is still healthy, according to analysts, despite the fact that improvements in search engine technology have made them less important than site content in attracting customers.

Recent sales, in addition to porn.com, saw "vodka.com" sold for $3 million. The sites "computer.com" and "tax.com" on sale are expected to raise about a third as much as vodka.

The value of Web addresses is appreciating 20 percent this year, according to Monicker.com CEO Monte Cahn, whose Pompano Beach, Florida, company is the largest U.S. organiser of live Internet domain auctions. That beats the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which is up 9.6 percent.

The growth comes as Internet use and online advertising surge. The number of sales commanding prices of $10 000 or more is "significantly'' higher this year than last year, one expert said.

Even idle, with just links to other Web sites, Wall Street.com is a big draw, Cahn told Bloombergs news agency. It attracts as many as 2 000 visits a day from people looking for banking, investment or tourism information, he said.

"It has great brand value because it's Wall Street.''

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