WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.—Sex.com is available... again! The most controversial domain in the history of domains is for sale by Sedo, but considering the fact that none of the domain's previous owners (including the felon Stephen Cohen, who reaped a reported $40 million) has ever been able to truly monetize the site consistent with its vast potential, prospective buyers might want to think twice before bidding the millions it will still surely demand.
We jest, of course, but only slightly. After enduring enough drama down through the years to warrant a book of its own, the infamous domain—which at one time sold for a purported $14 million—is once again on the block mere days after it was announced that a similarly themed domain, XXX.com, will also be put up for sale in an auction slated for this August.
But while XXX.com will reportedly go for at least $5 million, the owner of Sex.com is unlikely to settle for half of what it paid in 2006. Of course, the market for domains has sputtered of late, but there are those that believe that iconic one word domains will always be worth the price, assuming it's within the ballpark.
According to CNET, "Domains that define an entire category have proven to be the most valuable properties on the Web, according to Sedo. And 'sex' continues to be one of the most searched terms in cyberspace. A Symantec report from August and another from December found 'sex' to be among the top five search terms among youths."
The "youths" part of that paragraph may not be a ringing endorsement for anyone thinking of making sex.com purely a porn destination, but it should come as no surprise that "sex" as a search term retains its allure. This writer (who in a previous lifetime spent 9 months at Sex.com, with no offspring to show for it) believes there's life in the old girl yet, even if the domain is cursed. Okay, it isn't really cursed.
