Domain name is second to sell through Innovative Auctions’ Top Level Auction service.
Domain name registry Afilias has won rights to the top level domain name .Promo in an auction organized by Innovative Auctions.
Phenomena Group Oy was the only applicant with ICANN for the .promo domain name, but the company decided it made more sense to sell the domain name to another party rather than run it itself.
Innovative Auctions sold the domain name through its Top Level Auction offering, a service for selling already-contracted top level domain names. Innovative Auctions is the company that handled most of the private auctions to resolve contention sets when more than one company applied for the same top level domain name. That service was called Applicant Auction.
Although the final auction price for .promo hasn’t been disclosed, the stated reserve was $850,000.
.Promo went to auction on June 4 along with .HIV. While .Promo sold, .HIV did not sell during the auction. .HIV had a reserve of $200,000 and is still available for acquisition.
.Promo is the second contracted top level domain Innovative Auctions has helped sell through an auction. Earlier this year it sold .reise for above its $400,000 reserve.
.Reise had already been released and was in general availability when the auction took place. .Promo has not been released.
In Domain Name Wire Podcast #34, Innovative Auctions’ Sheel Mohnot explained that many TLD buyers prefer to acquire domain names that haven’t been released yet. This allows them to control the sunrise, landrush, and other aspects of launching the domain name.
Afilias will add .Promo to a growing stable of top level domain names, which includes .pink, .lotto, and .lgbt.
“.PROMO is a catchy name and an extremely versatile web address. It works with any product and any type of promotion,” said Roland LaPlante, Chief Marketing Officer of Afilias. “Everyone wants a promotion, an offer of great value these days. So does Afilias. We see great value in this top level domain and we are very pleased to be able to add it to our quickly expanding portfolio.”
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