Microsoft registers at least a half dozen short domains.
New top level domain name company Donuts released thousands of two character domains under its top level domain names last week.
Microsoft was among the buyers.
I count at least a half dozen two character domains registered by the company:
ad.center
ie.domains
ie.gallery
ie.photos
os.expert
pc.engineering
The top four names are arguably brand domains, while the last two are more generic/descriptive. IE are the initials for Internet Explorer, which is being phased out for Microsoft’s new Edge browser.
Interestingly, Microsoft didn’t pay to register any of the domains during the higher-priced Early Access phase of the launch. It waited until general availability.
I bought one two letter domain on day 4 at a cost of about $700. Making the decision reminded me how brilliant the dutch auction model for landrush is. I bet I could have gotten the domain name for $40 last Wednesday. And I was 90% confident I’d get it for about $200 on day 5 of EAP. Instead, I paid $700 to make sure I locked it up. Under the traditional landrush model, I most likely would have only paid about $40 for the domain.
Are you willing to share what two-letter nTLD you bought?
I will soon. It’s part of a new project.
and all domains are redirecting to bing =)
Correct. Microsoft does that with all domains they register, whether they’re in new TLDs or .com.
PC.engineering – That seems like a decent acquisition but not the first one I would have thought Microsoft would go for.