Internet.com going to auction; Starting bid @ 35M USD (1.Viewing)

Esdiel

Esdiel

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This is very interesting news... not only because the auction will have a starting bid of 35M, but because of this:

"A handful of sites, purchased in private sales, have seen prices climb as high as $105 million."

@GeorgeK questions whether this mystery domain sale might be about HOME.com, which is rumoured to have sold for 8 figures sometime in January 2021 (however it may actually be a 9-figure sale, if George is right).

No need to chime in George, just figured I'd tag you and give you credit since I learned of this story thanks to your tweet.


Internet.com Set for Auction at $35 Million
The expected sale marks the latest in a series of eight-figure domain transactions.

March 05, 2021 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The web domain Internet.com is scheduled to be sold at auction this spring, with a starting bid of $35 million.

The auction is expected to mark the latest in a growing list of blockbuster domain sales in recent years, with sites such as Voice.com, Money.com, and PrivateJet.com fetching as much as $30 million. A handful of sites, purchased in private sales, have seen prices climb as high as $105 million.

The current owner of Internet.com purchased the domain for an undisclosed sum last summer from Afilias, then the largest U.S.-based registry services firm. Prior to the sale, the site hosted an online magazine. Though now a sales page for the auction, Internet.com consistently attracts more than 5 million unique visitors per month.

“Internet.com offers a unique global platform — the name, ‘Internet,’ and the domain, ‘.com,’ and the traffic that those two terms generate, bring enormous value to the domain,” the seller said. “Any number of companies or individuals can harness that built-in traffic and attention. And, of course, the name is distinctive: that you own this fundamental piece of ‘the internet’.”

The planned auction will be held via web conference by an accredited auction house, on a date to be announced. It is being spearheaded by Stevan Lieberman, managing attorney at Greenberg & Lieberman in Washington, D.C., and an expert in domain registries.

“More and more people are investing in this space — our escrow system for domain-name transactions last year saw twice as many sales as in 2019,” Lieberman said. “Investors are recognizing that domain names offer three things: a piece of digital real estate, a potential trademark, and a fungible product, and the sales are reflecting that value.”

For more information, please contact Alan Neuhauser at HAUS Strategic Communications — alan@hauscomms.com or 202-627-0441 — or visit internet.com.

Internet.com Set for Auction at $35 Million
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And here's more info about HOME.com, while we're on the subject:


Home.com Sold by Anything.com – Acquired by Fairway
By Elliot Silver - January 29, 2021

One of the most valuable domain names has changed hands. Home.com has been sold by Anything.com. I noticed the domain name transferred from Tucows to GoDaddy this afternoon. Although the domain name is now registered under GoDaddy’s Domains by Proxy Whois privacy proxy service, the landing page shows that Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation will be launching a website on Home.com in the Spring.

I reached out to attorney Jason Schaeffer, who represents Anything.com, and he confirmed the company sold the domain name. “We can confirm that this iconic domain name was sold,” Jason told me. Anything.com attorney Ari Goldberger said he was pleased with sale but offered no further comment. Unfortunately, the sale price of the domain name is being kept confidential.

I understand that Andrew Miller of ATM Holdings represented the buyer on the transaction, and Larry Fischer of GetYourDomain.com and DomainsForSale.com represented Anything.com on the deal.

As I recall, the Home.com domain name had an 8 figure price tag. In fact, I recall hearing Larry Fischer speak at a TRAFFIC conference several years ago where he mentioned the company turned down at least one 8 figure offer for Home.com.

Anything.com has been on quite a run lately. The company recently sold Teams.com and Blade.com in private deals. The company still owns a portfolio of high value domain name assets, including Marketing.com and Hip.com, among thousands of others.

If I learn more about the buyer of Home.com or how the domain name will be used, I will share what I learn.

https://domaininvesting.com/home-com-sold-by-anything-com-acquired-by-fairway/
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And there's also this follow-up by James Isles:

https://www.jamesnames.com/2021/02/fairway-home-com/
 
Home.com and Rogers cable use to have some sort of connection. Not sure how they were linked many years ago. I remember first getting Internet, one of my first emails was xxxxx@home.com.
 
Back in the day, I used to work on PT contract for Internet.com (they ran a big publication/media empire) until the great housing crisis-caused Internet Meltdown of 2008-2009. Insane money and I only did it PT and made almost my FT wage some months. :D

I think they got bought by Getty, and I'm wondering if they still own the domain.
 
Eby said:
Or was it xxxx@athome.com? I am not quite sure, and willing to be corrected.
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It was definitely @home.com. I don’t remember my exact email though. This is going back over 20 years I believe. I barely recall what I had for breakfast but I do remember it being @home. :)
 
Thanks for that confirmation and yes, it was about 20-22 years ago..when I first signed up with them, after the days with AOL and the rest..Those days.. LOL
 
I think I had the AOL free trial and that was enough for me. lol Quickly made the switch to Rogers.
 
I wasn't in such a hurry to explore the wild wide west faster than AOL could offer me. LOL.

Would switch on my computer and try connecting to the internet, while I am able to complete all of my morning duties, including..yes..that!!
 
Nafti said:
Home.com and Rogers cable use to have some sort of connection.
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My email address was frank@home.com, I snatched that from rogers right away and rogers started in my home town as Grand River Cable. I talked to Ted Rogers a few times in my day.

When they dropped @home and went with yahoo I got frank@rogers.com which peeved me big time. I hated that email address thinking why would I want his last name in my email address. Then I went looking for an email address where I could use only my first name. That is how I got into domaining. Every day I wore the Canada Flag pin on my jacket and I ended up at a company called Domain Direct (hover now) and bought my first domain. MY shiny new email address was born: frank@MapleOne.com

From there on I started to dabble in domains but I had registered a few before so I had some knowledge. I ran a Mercedes-Benz franchise so I had registered a few company names already but I di not really think about domains in any big way. After that I got the bug and the rest is history.

Funny thing...

Back then I was actually more concerned about my email address than the website address.
 
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