Porn.com, penis.com, cock.com, vaginas.com, and facial.com are among the premium adult domains that will be on the block during the first-of-its kind live domain auction at Internext Expo. All of the domains already receive significant organic traffic from consumers, according to their owners.
Also included among the more than 2,700 names in the auction pool are buttfuck.com, pervert.com, and housewives.com, as well as webmaster-specific domains such as PPVcash.com, XXXbanners.com, and webmasterblog.com.
“We’re getting thousands of domains coming up that people want to add to the auction,” said Farley Cahen, publisher of AVN Online, co-sponsor of the auction along with domain registrar Moniker. “With our exclusive relationships with the top domainers in the adult industry, we’ve been able to secure these domains, and we still have some big ones to come in.”
The auction will take place from 3-7 p.m.Jan. 17, 2007. Internext occurs Jan. 15-17 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
“Internext Expo is, in the online adult [business-to-business] marketplace, the largest and oldest ongoing trade show, and Las Vegas is the perfect venue to host something like this,” Cahen said. “All the biggest domainers of both adult and non-adult will be looking to buy and sell premium domains there. It is going to be a future anchor event that we will be attaching to future Internext shows, and our plan is to do it twice a year at both the summer and winter events.”
Cahen went on to say the prominence of the domains speaks to the continued influence of the Internext show.
“The quality and caliber of the show lends itself to bringing in that quality of domains as well, because [domain owners] know the right people will be there to bid on them,” he said. “It’s easy to buy SexyBlondePrettyGirls for $7, but it’s not every day that porn.com would be available for anybody. We’re very excited to have that quality of domains made available in our show.”
Moniker’s Monte Cahn told AVNOnline.com, “[Live auctions] are very special events, and it’s a chance to bring buyers and sellers together in a room and determine market values. And so, when you have opportunities that only happen a few times a year, it’s the chance to drive market value for premium domain names.”
Citing the opportunity to bid on mainstream domains as well as adult-related domains, Cahn said the auction represents a unique experience for adult webmasters who are looking to diversify their portfolios, and pointed to the newness of the event as a chief selling point.
“It’s the first time at an Internext event, so that should draw people right off the bat,” he said. “Auctions tend to bring out a competitive nature in people, and it’s also fun. Auctions always are very colorful and they bring out competition and camaraderie, and the first time an event like that happens in a certain market segment, it’s always a fun thing to see and be part of. It’s a history making event, and I would think a lot of people would want to be there.”
“Domaining,” or the practice of buying and selling domains for a profit, has become big business in the Internet age. Although an actual figure never was specified, Sex.com was rumored to have sold for about $14 million last January. Other high-caliber domains have fetched impressive prices recently, as well, including gays.com ($500,000), sex.net ($455,000), hedonism.com ($126,000), kinkygirls.com ($65,000), bisexuals.com ($60,000), egay.com ($50,000), and nakedmodels.com ($13,000).
