AntiSpyware.com sells for $550,000, ranks as one of the top domain name sales of 2006.

Afternic has sold AntiSpyware.com for $550,000, making it one of the biggest domain name sales of 2006. The seller of the domain was SpyForce.com, LLC out of Connecticut. The domain’s whois record is now protected by a privacy service so the buyer of the domain is not clear. The domain name is currently resolving to a page offering spyware and adware software.

Spyware and adware detection and removal is a big business. Nevertheless, this big domain sale should turn some heads.

The big domain name aftermarkets aren’t slowing down over the holidays. Sedo just sold PaperBoy.com for $27,500 and Silverback.com for $10,509. Sedo has a number of domains on auction that will close soon including:

ETK.com current bid $5,700
Beto.com 4,100 EUR
Ski.ag $12,000
Linkshare.in 10,000 £

Afternic recently finalized its $34,000 sale of Drag.com. Other notable sales by Afternic include:

t.md $8,000
Nicu.com $6,000
TravelTrax.com $10,000
Medical-billing.com $9,000

A screenshot of Afternic with the Antispyware.com sale is below:

“Domainer’s Magazine” to launch in January 2007.

It’s long overdue, but the domain name industry is finally getting a print magazine. The magazine, “Domainer’s Magazine”, will launch next month.

Other niche industries, such as affiliate marketing, have good publications like “Revenue Magazine” and it was only a matter of time before a publication was developed for the growing domain name industry.

Domain Name Wire is familiar with some of the player’s behind the magazine and will release this information as it becomes public. Domain Name Wire will have an article in the first issue.

Details about the magazine are available at DomainersMagazine.com. According to a press release and information on the magazine’s web site, regular magazine features will include:

“Domainers Toolbox” will review some of the “Must Used Tools” for Domainers to aid them in their day to day routine.

“Spotlight” will put some of the best known PPC providers and affiliate programs in the “Spotlight” thus giving them a chance to show new and innovative ideas. “Spotlight” will also explain what sets them aside from the others in their specific industry, good or bad.

“Hardware review” will explore the latest PC’s from Servers, Desktops and Laptops to Video Cards, Mice, and Hard Drives.

“Gadget Corner” will have our resident techie reviewing the latest hi-tech toys that no respectable Domainer should be without. From Cell Phone’s which act as a micro PC to PDA’s which surf the net and can check your revenue while away from your PC.

“Domainer’s Legal” will be a feature article by some of the most prestigious domain attorneys in the industry. This will be the place you will find valuable information that others have to pay thousands of dollars for. A must read each issue for all serious Domainers.

The initial issue will be distributed to about 5,000 people. Domainer’s Magazine will be published bi-monthly.

Moniker has sold three domain names for over $100,000 each including two two-character .com domains.

The latest domain name sales report from DNJournal shows the domain name industry is ending the year with a bang, thanks in part to domain name company Moniker. The company brokered three domains for over $100,000 including Partners.com for $130,000, and FJ.com and TJ.com for $105,000 each.

Moniker has had a record year in 2006. It is now a top 10 registrar in terms of domains under management and oversaw the biggest live domain auction ever, tallying up over $5M in sales.

In other interesting domain sales news, domain name flippers should rejoice about the recent sale of Announce.com for $90,000. The seller of the domain had purchased it for only $5,000 a couple years ago according to DNJournal. There’s still ample opportunity to buy domains at wholesale prices and sell them to end users. It just requires some capital and the ability to hold onto domains for several years until the right buyer comes along.

eBay even got into the domain name sales action this week. A buyer chose “BuyItNow” to pick up SingleMen.com and SingleWomen.com in a package for $80,000. eBay usually isn’t a good venue for quality domain names.

A thread over at DomainState suggests that Candle.com sold for $390,000 recently to PetsUnited. The sale was briefly listed on Afternic’s sales page before being removed. The same thing happened on a previous sale to PetsUnited, Farm.com.

“Popesquatter” in fight with MGM Studios.

I was reading an article today from the International Herald Tribune about a fight between MGM studios and the owner of the domain WarGames.com. “War Games” is a generic name that also happens to be the name of a 1983 movie starring Matthew Broderick.

But something in the article caught my eye. The owner of WarGames.com is one Rogers Cadenhead. Name ring a bell? It did for me, so I searched the archives of Domain Name Wire and remembered why the name was familiar. Cadenhead was the guy who registered BenedictXVI.com prior to the new pope being named last year. Cadenhead gained notoriety as a so-called “Popesquatter” and ultimately donated the domain name to charity.

So why is MGM Studios filing for arbitration over the WarGames.com domain name now? Probably because MGM is getting ready to release WarGames 2 in 2007, according to Cadenhead’s blog.

According to the International Herald Tribune article, Cadenhead agreed to turn over a number of domains related to MGM’s Rocky franchise to the company but isn’t handing over WarGames.com. Although I agree that MGM Studios is overstepping its bounds on WarGames.com, the Rocky domains may come back to haunt Cadenhead.

Rather than go after Cadenhead, MGM’s lawyers should have spent a few minutes registering other domains for the movie. Say, WarGames2.com and WarGamesMovie.com.

Oops, it’s too late.

GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, has launched a service to help people purchase registered domain names.

If you search for a domain name at GoDaddy and find it’s already taken, GoDaddy now has a link that reads “Use a Domain Buy Agent to get this name”. Clicking on that link introduces you to one of GoDaddy’s newest services called “Domain Buy Service”. GoDaddy describes the service as follows:

We’ve seen it happen countless times: You come up with the perfect domain name for your personal or business use, only to find it’s already registered to someone else! Another great idea-gone!

Until now. The world’s largest domain registrar brings you Domain Buy Service. If it’s for sale, we’ll do everything we can to get it for you! Domain Buy Service Just $59.99 per domain name + commission*

Our Professional Domain Buy Service provides personal Domain Agents who will:
-Complete a Certified Appraisal within 2 business days of service purchase.
-Attempt to contact current domain owner, to determine interest in selling their domain.
-Negotiate the sales price of your desired domain (if the owner is willing to sell their domain)
-Help facilitate the sales transaction (if a sales agreement is reached).

GoDaddy’s service costs $59.99 per domain name plus 10% of the purchase price.

This type of service is nothing new. Network Solutions has offered a service called “Certified Offer” that lets you anonymously send an offer for a domain name to its owner. The service costs $19 plus an additional 5% of the purchase price should the offer be successful. Certified Offer also offers a sort of free instant appraisal on any domain name you are considering. I’ve been on the receiving end of several offers from Network Solutions’ service and have had mixed results.

GoDaddy’s service appears to do a bit more than Network Solutions’. It’s unclear what specific steps GoDaddy will take to contact the domain owner, but I’m assuming “everything we can to get it for you” includes using email, phone, and postal mail.

This begs the question, why pay GoDaddy to do this for you? (Please don’t tell me it’s because you care about the appraisal!) You can spend one minute sending an email to the whois contact for the domain. If that bounces you can pick up the phone or send snail-mail. All of this will take less time than completing the checkout process for Domain Buy Agent at GoDaddy.

One reason people use services like this is to remain anonymous. But if anonymity is what you’re seeking I recommend using Afternic’s anonymous offer service. There’s no charge to you. Just type in the domain and the price you’re willing to pay and Afternic will contact the owner. For high value domains the company will even call and send a letter to the owner.