Top 20 Most Expensive Domain Names

A website can be a simple thing to build up, but picking a name for your  business can be a tricky task if you are doing it based on web addresses that are still available for sale. It’s no surprise then that all of the best, usually single word domain names are already taken – ever wondered why almost all generic domain names you can think of are already taken? Or for that matter how much do people pay for them?

Well, the practice of buying and selling domain names is called Domain Flipping – it is the business of identifying and acquiring Internet domain names with the motive of selling them later for a profit. For example, you buy exclusive domain names (like Porn.com, Hotels.com, Beer.com) and sell them at very high prices using services like Flippa. Now, I feel you might be thinking… but no, Sex.com or Porn.com are not the most expensive domain names ever sold, although they do feature pretty high up on the list. Check out which are the most expensive addresses on the internet.

20.

Icloud.com : In 2011, Apple Inc snapped up this domain at a price of $ 4.5 million.  Apple was consolidating all i-domains around the internet, and acquired this domain after acquiring iphone.com, which itself wasn’t that a big deal to be mentioned here.

19.

Clothes.com : Zappos purchased this web address in 2008 for an amount of $4.9 million.  This domain was used to redirect the online clothing-line of the apparel manufacturer. Zappos, a year later was bought by  Amazon in entirety and with this deal, Clothes.com too went into Amazon’s kitty.

18.

SEO.com : It was purchased in 2007 for $ 5 million.  Michael Mann, owner of BuyDomains could foresee the importance of having a good domain name and decided to sell his company and lap up SEO.com with that money

17.

Korea.com : Purchased in early 2000 for $ 5 million, it is one of the only two national domains on this list.

16.

Toys.com : The children’s toy retailer ToysRUS grabbed this domain name in March 2009 for $ 5.1 million. Sounds like a lot of money for somebody toy-ing around!

15.

Asseenontv.com : This web address was snapped up by LA Group in 2000 for a price of $ 5.1 million.  The domain was bought to protect brand name “asseenattv.com” of LA Group.

14.

Casino.com : Buying it for $ 5.5 million, Mansion Limited of Gibraltar surely made a successful gamble for he seems to be making a good fortune out of this domain name. The deal was brokered in 2004.

13.

Slots.com : This one too managed to fetch $ 5.5 million for its new owners when it went under the hammer in 2010.

12.

Israel.com : This one is the most controversial domain-flip of all times. Even Google can’t provide sufficient information on the deal. Though through very reliable sources we got to know that the deal here was closed at about $ 5.88 million in 2008.

11.

Beer.com : Sold in 2004 for $ 7 million to Thought Convergence, this is one of the most under utilized domain names acquired after paying such a hefty some. Today the site is nothing but a blank page and is featuring for resale.

10.

Diamond.com : This jewel of a web address was snapped up in 2006 at a price of $ 7.5 million. The domain is now being used as an online shopping website for diamonds.  The commodity being sold on the site certainly justifies the amount shelled out for acquiring the precious domain.

9.

Business.com : This domain was sold for $ 7.5 million in December 1999. Going by the looks of the deal, business certainly means money!

8.

Fb.com : Your beloved online hangout – Facebook, acquired this domain name in 2010 for $ 8.5 million. The social networking monster obviously couldn’t let the ultimate contraction of its businesses name slip away! Today it’s also being used as the domain for Facebook employee email addresses as “@facebook.com” addresses are available for the public.

7.

Porn.com : You know what you’d find on the website. The 2007 purchase is certainly doing very well for it’s new owner spent $ 9.5 million to acquire it.

6.

Fund.com : Lapped up in 2008 for a whooping $ 9.9 million, this domain was certainly envisaged for financial services but the website is still not live.  Another under utilization of a precious domain name.

5.

Hotels.com : Purchased for “around” $ 11 million in 2001 – as the new owner couldn’t recall the exact price he paid for it in an interview with the BBC. Well a million here or there seems no big deal in the hospitality business!

4.

Sex. com : The biggest deal ever from the porn industry was sealed in October 2010 for $ 14 million.  Quite unsurprisingly, it doesn’t figures even in the top 3. of this list.

3.

Insure.com : The deal happened in 2009 and continued to be the second highest deal of all times for three years, until PrivateJet.com broke the record.  The new owner coughed up a cool  $ 16 million for the domain name.

2.

Privatejet.com : At $ 30.18 million, this deal of 2012 came very close to becoming the most expensive domain-flip of all times, but was pipped at the post by about a cool $5m.

1.

VacationRentals.com : This mother of all domain-name deals took place in 2007 and surprisingly it wasn’t for a gambling or porn site. The $35 million prize was grabbed by Brain Sharples, the founder of HomeAway, who by his own admission bought it only because he did not want his competitor Expedia to acquire it.

Now, if you ever find some appealing domain name which is available,  you may want to grab it right away. Some time later you may go on to sell those domains for way higher prices.  If you enjoyed this list of most expensive domain names, don’t forget to share it on Facebook and Twitter and let your friends know about this lucrative business model.

Twitter Rolls Out A New Facebook Like Design

After months of testing, Twitter finally rolled out a new design that makes the popular micro-blogging service look a lot similar to Facebook.  Twitter’s blog post, a couple of hours back announced the website’s revamped looks.

Though the changes are mostly cosmetic and seem to focus on image resizing, the introduction of “pinned tweets”  allows users to stick a specific tweet to the top of their own timeline, similar to how the old Facebook status would remain in place. That pinned tweet functions much like a promoted tweet for your profile. Twitter now also highlights those tweets that have the most engagement by displaying them slightly larger than the others.

With this development, two of the world’s most traffic generating websites- Twitter and Facebook, look shockingly similar. Both have a giant, widescreen background image with a little square box towards the lower left corner of the background photo which is in all wisdom meant for displaying your photo or a “profile picture”  in Facebook lingo.

Actress Kerry Washington’s Twitter profile displaying her “Pinned Tweet”

The introduction of larger images reflect Twitter’s ambition to become a bigger player in the photo sharing arena. The micro-blogging service had recently introduced the ability to upload four photos in a single tweet, as well as the feature to tag photo in the background of images, instead of wasting space in the tweet itself.
In short, here are main features of Twitter’s new web profile:

• Best Tweets: Tweets that experience most engagement will appear slightly larger than the other Tweets.
• Pinned Tweet: You can now pin one of your Tweets to the top of your page. It could be an away message, promoting your own website, or a tweet reflective of your online persona.
• Filtered Tweets: Now you can choose which timeline to view when checking out other profiles. It’s now possible to filter tweets posted by other people by opting to see only tweets or tweets with photos or videos, or tweets and their replies.

The new profile changes have kicked in today for some of us and will be automatic for new users. Over the week, it will be gradually rolled out for other Twitter users as well. At the bottom of its blog post, Twitter has added a list of “celebrity” accounts that already sport the new design, including The United States’ First Lady, Michelle Obama’s Twitter account.

While it’s certainly a lot of changes for an “accustomed” Twitter user, the new profile still manages to look relatively clean. The looks seem more aesthetic now. Well that’s our take. What do you think of the changes? Or do you have something more to add to the story? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Twitter Now Supports Emojis On Its Web Version

Love expressing emotions while typing on the web? Then we got some good news for you. Twitter has begun showing emoji characters on its main Twitter.com website. Though for now, they come only on the desktop versions of the service.

Twitter Emojis | Screenshot Courtesy: twitter.com/Support

With this, Twitter has rolled out a much awaited feature. The reactions from Twitter fans are mixed though the majority of them seem to be upbeat about this new development.

However, the emojis aren’t supported on tweets that are embedded on websites. Here’s the original tweet from Twitter Support that announced this feature. You can see empty squares here in place of the emojis used.

😍 Twitter users love tweeting emoji from their phones – now you can view these emoji on web! #emojiparty 🎉 😜 👯 🍻 🎈 🎤 🎮 🚀 🌉 ✨

— Support (@Support) April 2, 2014

We hope Twitter fixes this real soon.

Now Google Glass Sex App to help you make love better

With Google Glass expected to come to market later this year, some very interesting apps too are in the development pipeline, one of which promises to boost your sex life! ‘Sex with Glass’ or just ‘Glance’ is an app being developed to allow partners having sex to see themselves from their partner’s point of view.

The app being developed by students based out of London, offers couples the chance to “see everything, from every angle” while making love, using a pair of linked-up headsets. The Glance app films a video of the tryst, so you can watch it later when all is said and done.

snapshot from glassandsex.com

To get started, just say, “OK Glass, it’s time,” and the app will begin streaming what your partner sees in front of your own eyes. If you feel like stopping everything, just say, “OK Glass, pull out”. The app then puts the footage together and shows a video of the “whole thing”, but the video will be deleted after five hours unless you save it.

To make use of the app, both partners indulging will need to wear Google Glass during the act. The voyeur app lets you see two different perspectives seamlessly- that of you and your partner’s. It changes the way you experience something intimate, claims the developers’ website. The project was conceptualized at a Wearable Tech Hackathon.

The app has gained huge traction even before its release!

Bangalore gets free WiFi zones – a first in India

In a first for an Indian city, Bangalore true to its image of the Silicon Valley of India, is all set to get at least 6 free WiFi zones. Free wireless internet services will be commenced in the commercial heart of India’s technology capital starting today itself i.e Jan 24 2014. Mahatama Gandhi Road and Brigade Road, two of the best-known shopping destinations, apart from Traffic and Transmit Management Centres (TTMCs) at Shanthinagar, Yeshwanthpur and Koramangala, besides CMH Road in Indiranagar will have free WiFi access as part of a plan to make Bangalore more “tech-friendly”. The idea is the brainchild of a government-appointed panel headed by Mohandas Pai, a former director at Infosys.

Brigade Road, Bangalore | Image Courtesy: Flickr

Taking a cue from the Bangalore Metro service – ‘Namma Metro’ the facility will be called ‘Namma WiFi’, which translates to ‘My WiFi’. It will be formally launched near the Metro station on M.G. Road.

To access free WiFi in the hotspots, any person having a WiFi enabled device – a smart phone or tablet – will need to open their browser, which will then direct them to the “Namma WiFi” page. After registering their mobile number, a password would be sent to them. Once the password is punched in, the user can browse internet for free. But the free service comes with a catch – you can surf the internet only for 30 minutes in 24 hours. Moreover, there will be restrictions on accessing certain websites. The speed will be limited to 512 kbps.

RIP Facebook – could be your FB status in 2017

Facebook Is Dying

Have you lately felt that Facebook isn’t anymore as exciting as it used to be? But still it gives you kicks to check your timeline every few minutes! Does it seem like a viral disease that has infected your senses! Well you may be right.

A new research by authors at Princeton’s Aerospace Engineering School has equated Facebook to a plague. The report adds that the world’s most visited website has spread like an infectious disease but people are gradually developing immunity to its seduction. The study says that the social network will lose about 1 billion users in 3 years and will meet a fate same as that of MySpace. “Facebook will see a rapid decline in the coming years, losing 80% of its peak user base between 2015 -2017,”  predicts the study, an “Epidemiological Modeling of Online Social Networks.”

Facebook Android Version

The researchers, Cannarella and Spechler employed what is known as the SIR (susceptible, infected, recovered) model of disease, which generates equations to map the spread and recovery of epidemics. The study has also utilized Google Trends data about MySpace—the website that was founded in 2003 and reached its peak in 2007 with 300 million registered users, before falling out of use by 2011—the Princeton study records similarities to how Facebook is on a similar path to being a thing-of-the-past.

But investors seem least baffled about the report; they don’t seem to be heading for the exit for now. The largest social network’s share price reached record highs this month, valuing the company at $142bn. Looks like Mark Zuckerberg has not many reasons to worry just yet.

The report comes just days ahead of Facebook’s 10th birthday on Feb 4 2014.