Amazon granted patent for domain name marketplace.
Amazon.com subsidiary Amazon Technologies, Inc. was today granted U.S. patent number 7,805,379 for “Method and system for leasing or purchasing domain names”.
This patent, which was applied for in December 2007, seems to conflict with a number of existing domain name marketplace and domain monetization technologies that were commercially available at the time the patent application was filed.
One conflict in particular is Sendori, which offers a bidded marketplace to “lease” traffic that goes to a particular domain name. The leasing system described in Amazon’s patent would allow someone to go to a marketplace and lease a fraction or all of the traffic to a domain name. The marketplace would then split the traffic accordingly through a redirect. However, Amazon’s method may lease a percentage of traffic for a set period of time rather than on a per-visitor basis.
The marketplace could also offer domain names for sale and may also include some sort of valuation technology. You can read the full patent here (pdf). Abstract:
A method and system are described that enables a domain name owner (i.e., a “lessorâ€) to grant a third party (i.e., a “lesseeâ€) a lease to any domain name the lessor owns. More specifically, a lessor may use a domain name service to allow a third party (i.e., a “lesseeâ€) to lease a domain name for use or to purchase the domain name outright. More specifically, the lessor may lease a domain name to the lessee so that any user who accesses the leased domain name is redirected to a network resource identified by the lessee. The lessee may also be provided the option to purchase the domain name outright from the lessor, rather than lease it.
Deke says
I’d rather Amazon do this than most anyone else in the biz since they probably would not skim traffic and earnings.
Nice to see Amazon is thinking about domains. Maybe they have other plans as well in the field.
johnny says
do you know what site they are using for this I don’t see anything on amazon.com
Andrew Allemann says
@ johnny – they aren’t actually doing it
Rob Monster says
And here I thought Amazon had no domain strategy. Guess they do.
It will be very interesting to see if Amazon acts on this know-how.
As for the claims themselves, likely a challenge to enforce them. Prior art abounds!
Einstein says
Just Wow. So leasing something becomes patentable.
Art says
This is great news. If anyone, then amazon can bring domains to mass market. Its a win win. General population becomes aware and more domains are used and sold.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Art – I don’t think they’re actually going to do this. They just filed a patent on it a few years ago.
Biggie.us says
where the article states:
“The marketplace would then split the traffic accordingly through a redirect.”
wouldn’t this render the traffic useless according to Google’s plan not to pay for “redirected” traffic which was mentioned in a recent Sedo newletter?
http://www.facingtheabsurd.com/2010/09/04/will-google-dare-to-kill-the-redirect/
just a thought…
Andrew Allemann says
@ Biggie.us – the idea is not to lease the traffic for parking, it’s to lease it to end users or affiliates who would use the traffic. At that point you don’t need to worry about Google.
DomainersChoice says
Amazing for what you can get a patent in the USA. As this and similar systems already existed in the market, the patented should have never been approved.
NetsiteDomains says
Interesting news for me (and application date Dec 07) since I regged LeaseBuyDomains.com in Feb 07.
I completely agree with Art, it would be great to see Amazon start a domain market. We could start to see domains recognized as an asset class as Epik predicts.
I’m also hoping Google buys Godaddy (and significantly, their growing aftermarket) if the Godaddy sale rumor is true. It would be a major blow to Google if Microsoft (+ Bing) bought Godaddy, and half the world’s dotcom registrations. Imagine the Bing offers every time you check out.
Dave T
Piero Tintori says
I think that this is yet another example of the problems with the US patent system, how is this innovation!
ValueDrops.com says
would be great if amazon had a domain marketplace, we’d have much more potential buyers.
Biggie.us says
@ Andrew Allemann “the idea is not to lease the traffic for parking, it’s to lease it to end users or affiliates who would use the traffic. At that point you don’t need to worry about Google.”
though i agree that may not be the idea or intention of amazon, i think domainers will be keen on any website that provides domains for sale or lease that have verifiable traffic stats…and i’m sure they’ll be first in line to purchase
there won’t be much quality or quantity by the time end-users decide to open their wallets.