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Sedo Finds Domain Name Marketplace Growing Rapidly in 2010

Nearly 12,000 domain names changed hands for a total value of more than $23 million according to the latest quarterly report from Sedo, the leading online marketplace for domain names. The sales in quarter one 2010 marked Sedo’s highest quarter for domain sales since 2008 and represents an 18.6 per cent increase in the number of sales compared to Q4 2009.

Sedo, a marketplace for domain name auctions and sales, accounts for the vast majority of domain name sales each week, regularly accounting for around three-quarters of the top reported sales each week according to Domain Name Journal.

Sales of both country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) and generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) both surged in the quarter with top sales including poker.org for $1 million, credit.fr (€587, 500) and pilot.com ($300,000).

Sedo attributes the strong growth in the domain name market to an increase in marketing spend among larger corporations, as well as the introduction of one and two-character domains and internationalised domain names.

Highlights of Sedo’s study from quarter one 2010 include:

"Sedo’s record growth not only shows the resilience of the domain name market, but reveals a real strengthening in the global economy. As companies put their best foot forward to emerge from the downturn with advantage, they’re starting to understand the critical role a domain name strategy plays in driving a successful marketing campaign," said Jeremiah Johnston, Chief Operating Officer of Sedo.com in a statement. "The introduction of our new Price Suggestion Tool, our ongoing ’Buy it Now’ option and the overall updates to the Sedo website, makes it even easier for members to benefit from our variety of user-friendly tools and services."

Sedo also published a list of examples of companies to have invested in domain names in Q1 2010 to improve their branding. Some of those were:

This increase is a result, says Sedo, of an increase in budgets for online marketing and branding.

"We’ve seen a real uptick in big sales over the past few months, and we expect it to continue throughout 2010," said Sedo sales broker Jeff Gabriel.

"As larger companies are better able to budget for online marketing and branding, they’re considering a comprehensive domain strategy as an important part of their marketing efforts. In fact, some of these companies are even taking advantage of the upswing in the domain market by selling their own names through Sedo."

The complete Q1 2010 Domain Market Study can be downloaded from the Sedo website at: sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q1_2010_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf.

Other Aftermarket News

The online marketplace Buy.com was bought by Japan’s leading internet company, Rakuten, last week for $250 million. Buy.com is a leading American retail marketplace for approximately $250 million.

The sale price, that includes the domain name and intellectual property of Buy.com, was boosted by such a premium three-figure .COM domain name.

And in what could become the most expensive domain name ever traded, it was announced last week that the auction of sex.com is finally set to go ahead now that the owners and their creditors have reached agreement. Sedo has won the right to sell the domain name which should happen in the next few weeks.