Symbolics lets you buy a “circle” of history.
Over the years Symbolics.com has received a lot of press because it was the first ever .com domain name registered.
But how do you turn a lot of press into a business model for a domain that, on its own, doesn’t really have a meaning?
Domain investor and developer Aron Meystedt, who bought Symbolics.com in 2009, has a plan.
Symbolics.com now offers advertising on the domain. You can buy a “circle” on the site starting at $50 a month.
It reminds me a little bit of the Million Dollar Homepage with a couple differences: people can actually see/read your ad, and the ads aren’t permanent.
So far most of the advertisers are from the domain industry. It will be interesting to see how this works.
Snoopy says
“It will be interesting to see how this works.”
I’d say not very well.
Joe says
The mere fact of being a 1985 domain doesn’t necessarily mean ‘success’.
dcmike77 says
huh? you’re just buying ads on a website. who cares? It doesn’t help with SEO and the name probably gets very little traffic.
No thanks.
Domo Sapiens says
Can you smell the desperation?
DomainInvestor says
Being the first domain ever registered doesn’t mean much for 99.99% of the population unless someone is actually selling a real product. Advertisers will see very low ROI considering most visitors will be domainers.
I’m willing to bet that this name will be for sale within the next few years since advertising won’t make much money from the owner
woot says
@Domo Sapiens – My sentiments exactly. Sooper Troopers said it best…”Desparation is a stinky cologne.”
eh says
The first domain ever registered was Nordu dot net registered on the first day in 1985
Andrew Allemann says
@ eh – the article says first .com, not first domain.
eh says
Andrew, thanks for pointing that out. I appreciate your clarity. I was referring to the press release by Symbolics, which implies, that it is.
Andrew Allemann says
@ eh – I believe there may be some semantics at play. Nordu.net was created for a root server, I believe. So there’s “created” vs. “registered”, although we can debate if that’s really the case 🙂