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December 18th, 2000

Domain names are like shoes

The infamous register.com has its fair share of fans, but also has a few people who rather dislike the service. I was very surprised to see that register is now auctioning off domain names… but not just a small pot of domain names, oh no. We’re talking any name out there. You can bid on it, even if it’s something like information.tv. Not every name is listed, but you can find bargains such as links.com for just $200,000 (with an asking price of $500,000).

I am very tempted to auction off a few of the names I bought a few months ago for $1, just to see how ridiculous it could be.

So why the title of this Ping? The managing director of register claims that domain names are essentially like shoes; they’re easily detached from the site’s content and style. Uhm, I don’t think so. People buy these names for a reason… and particularly on personal sites, it’s not just because the person’s first choice was unavailable. I think it’s nuts. For those domain name squatters who bought a horde of names for pure profit, well, here’s your chance. -pm

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