Beijing.com Sells as Part of Deal Valued at USD 28 Million

Of course thebeijinger.com is your comprehensive source for all things Beijing, but a recent transaction may be boosting property prices in the Internet domain neighborhood.

Beijing.com was part of a deal between publicly-traded online registrar GoDaddy and mobile advertising firm Marchex. GoDaddy bought about 200,000 domains from Marchex, in a deal worth USD 28 million. The domain registration company then sold Beijing.com for an undisclosed sum, the latter confirmed to the Beijinger by a GoDaddy representative via email.

Beijing.com until earlier this week displayed a page for Guta, a Xiamen-based domain registrar, but currently results in a "server not found error."

A Whois search shows that it is registered to Beijing-based eName Technology Co. Ltd., an authorized domain name registrar and reseller for China.

Although new domain names can be purchased for a few dollars if not currently owned, prices can go into the millions for a domain using a popular name or word. Sex.com sold for a reported USD 14 million in 2006, believed to be the highest price paid for URL so far.

According to $iteprice.org, a domain valuation site, Beijing.com is currently valued at USD 13,558.

Photo: Wikipedia