Domain Name Business Booming in Post-Dot-Com Era

May 2005

The dot-com crash that saw hundreds of start-up businesses on the Internet close up shop in 1998 and 1999 is not discouraging new Net entrepreneurs. A record number of domain name sales in 2004 shows that business presence on the Internet is stronger than ever.

A domain name that reflects an organization's brand and offerings is vital to driving new business. Last year saw an explosion of growth for the secondary domain marketplace, as more organizations purchased the ideal domain name to drive their brand.

More than 1,400 domain name transactions were reported in 2004. That compares to only 500 domain transactions reported in 2003 and 400 domains sales reported in 2002.
Record Telling

Last year also saw the availability of more extensions like .info and .biz, suggesting that buyers are now open to more options.

The volume of domain name transactions in 2004 was up 300 percent from 2003. Consolidated data from DNJournal, Domain-Spiegel.de and Sedo.com, three leading independent companies tracking the domain name marketplace, shows the average sale price of dot-com domains is more than US$9,700.

The data from these companies revealed that the marketplace where already registered domain names are bought and sold is very healthy. Strong gains were seen both in terms of the volume of sales and the overall sale prices for domains, compared to the previous years.