If only I had a few millions… what domain would I get?
Insurance.com and carrentals.com were both sold for over $35 millions and top the most expensive domain name rankings. But that’s kind of boring. Let’s talk about sex… sex.com! It was sold for $13m in 2010 to Clover Holdings at auction after its previous owner, Escom LLC, was declared bankrupt. The URL was originally registered by Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com (makes sense), but was mistakenly transferred to businessman Stephen Cohen in 1996. He used forged letters and faxes to fraudulently obtain the domain and was fined $65m for it and imprisoned for the crime. Now sex.com is a porn site functioning as a sort of Pinterest, where users fill in their portfolios with pictures and videos they like.
LasVegas.com was sold for $90 million, although that’s at the end of a payment plan that’s going to be over in 2040, so time will show if it moves up to number one!
A Welsh village owns the world’s longest single word web address
The longest unhyphenated single word domain name belongs to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a Welsh village, and was registered in 1999. The town’s name translates into English as “the church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave”.
Impressive. However, someone registered ARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTART.ART – and that looks way more readable!
Soviet Union domains and other country trivia
You can still buy Soviet Union web addresses. Although the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it is still possible to register a .su domain. As of 2017, over 124,000 are in use.
.tk is the Internet country code top-level domain for Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand located in the South Pacific. Users and small businesses may register any number of domain names free of charge! The aim of such an initiative is developing country’s image and connecting its businesses to the outside world.
.tv is, surprisingly, the Internet country code top-level domain for Tuvalu, a Polynesian Island nation located in the Pacific Ocean. In December 2001, .tv Corporation was sold to VeriSign in a nine-figure transaction. Ever since most websites on the .tv domain feature video content for specific brands or firms.
