40z.com - making sense of internet branding

Box.net raises $6 million

Remember the story about Mark Cuban funding Box.net with startup capital, to a 21 year old?

Well, techcrunch reports today that Box.net now has 1.4 million users, and has just raised $6 million more from 2 VCs. read more here.

Snapnames.com auction results

Day 2 of snapnames.com first ever simultaneous live and online auction event in Hollywood produced some notable sales. Here are a few:

photograph.com $195,000, bookmarks.com $300,000, porn.net $400,000, businessdegrees.com $26,000, joysticks.com $67,500, kathy.com $65,000, yemen.com $100,000, fishing.net $52,500, lowinterestloans.com $35,000, loseweightfast.com $40,000, storagespaces.com $15,000, etc.

Day 1 of the live auction results are posted here.

CNN buys iReport.com for $750,000

In news reported on Jan. 17 at Dnjournal.com CNN has acquired the domain name iReport.com for $750,000. Obviously part of an internet strategy on CNN's part to expand their reach into social media, and eyewitness reporting.

MFG.com raises $26 million

Never heard of MFG.com? You are not alone. Fidelity ventures and Fidelity asia ventures account for $25 million of the 26 raised. Take a look at MFG.com and you'll get the idea. Sort of the ebay for manufacturers. Another indication of how virtual the world economy continues to become... read more here at TechCrunch

BodyBuilding.com $100 million

The Wall Street Journal has reported that a controlling interest in BodyBuilding.com has been sold for $100 million. BodyBuilding.com has a social network with over 100,000 members, and had about 2 million unique visitors in November 07. Revenue in 2008 is expected to exceed $100 million.

Weather.com $5 Billion

CNBC just reported this morning that Weather.com is expected to be on the auction block

expected price? $5 Billion. OK, it includes the weather cable channel as well, but its an interesting pairing of media, the cable channel and the 25th busiest website on the internet.

Read more at TechCrunch

2007 domain sales overview

The number of high profile domain sales is on an ever rising uptrend it seems. While the numbers are impressive indeed, they simply pale by comparison to values created when a business is built on a top tier domain, and it monetizes the brand inherent in its internet identity.

Take note, all of you former real estate flippers, Guy.com sold 10/30/07 for $150,000 and was then flipped in less than 2 months for $1,000,000. The secondary market in domains is alive and well!

A few more notable and interesting domain sales among thousands in 07 include:

Seniors.com $1,800,000

Chinese.com $1,120,008

Porn.com $9,500,000

Investment.com $900,000

Melbourne.com $700,000

Cardiology.com $550,000

Rebates.com $500,000

AZ.com $500,000

SportingGoods.com $450,000

Bald.com $400,000

Cowboys.com $370,000

Resume.com $300,000

RealEstate.net $300,000

Table.com $260,000

Walkers.com $175,000