Hooked on Agar.io? You’ll recognize this week’s top selling expired domain name.
China took a back seat last week. For that matter, so did NameJet. Among expired domain auctions, SnapNames claims the top 3 results. Normally I’d research each of these; but the runner up, Masturbators.com ($8.9k), you can handle on your own.
The top sale does require an explanation. Agario isn’t a word, and it’s neither first name nor surname. Agario.com wasn’t a developed website. In fact, the domain is barely 2 years old. Yes, it’s an attractive “brandable”; but $16.6k would be a high retail price … at a wholesale venue.
1 quick search provides an answer. SERPs are dominated by websites for a “massively multiplayer” game called Agario – that is to say, Agar.io. Although released less than 1 year ago, Agar.io was downloaded more than 10 million times in its first week! Since then, it has been the most searched-for game in Google, and Alexa ranks it 683 among websites globally – between Nike and Nokia, right behind PlayStation, and ahead of Barnes & Noble. Depressing, eh?
While Agario.com might function as an upgrade for the .IO website, it’s just as likely to be built out separately. Currently, Agar.io has spawned related sites at Agariot.com, Agariom.net, Agario.biz, AgarioPlay.org, InciAgario.com, even Agar.bio! That’s just page 1. There are many more dedicated sites along the lines of AgarioGame.com and AgarioSkins.org. All this emphasizes how much keyword placement within a domain still matters. Also, it appears that mainstream consumers often fail to read .IO as a TLD. Across the web, in writing and spoken in video, the game is simply referred to as “Agario”, which tends to lead people either to search engines or to the default suffix, .COM.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agario.com | 16615 | SN | Masturbators.com | 8888 | SN |
| Padova.com | 7333 | SN | JKAnime.com | 5501 | NJ |
| HKBC.com | 4701 | NJ | Jikoku.com | 3918 | SN |
| DailyCatch.com | 3322 | NJ | 79579.com | 3099 | NJ |
| 115116.com | 2720 | SN | TSLC.com | 2660 | NJ |
| BookEditing.com | 2500 | NJ | CalcItApp.info | 2311 | SN |
| Marazzi.com | 2100 | NJ | SmartTraffic.com | 2050 | NJ |
| BadenBaden.com | 2023 | NJ | HOLA.net | 2000 | NJ |
JKAnime.com dates back to 2010 as J&K Anime. The website must have been popular to justify $5.5k. Jikoku.com ($3.9k) is Japanese for “time” or “moment”. Marazzi ($2.1k) is a surname; and there’s a tile manufacturer at MarazziUSA.com. CalcItApp.info is probably the worst domain in this whole chart, but that didn’t stop it from garnering $2.3k. For 3 years, this tool was a 3-in-1 calculator, currency converter, and calorie counter. Had it grated carrots and filed our taxes too, the Calc It App might still be with us.
If you know only 5 words of Spanish, HOLA.net ($2.0k) – for “hello” – is probably 1 of them. Padova.com ($7.3k) is an Italian province and city, known in English as Padua. Shakespeare sent his single men there in the days before online dating:
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.
His play, “The Taming of the Shrew”, was adapted as a Broadway musical, renamed “Kiss Me, Kate”. So Padua / Padova gets its own rollicking song:
Not 100% Shakespeare, them lyrics.
China is represented by a pair of numerics. Sure, we could describe these as a 5N at $3.1k and a 6N at $2.7k. But pattern is crucial: 79579.com = 79 + 5 + 79; and 115116.com = 115 then 116. Numerical domains without patterns, meaning, or lucky “8”s tend to be worth less. Note the white space – not “worthless”, “worth less”.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QHQB.com | 2000 | NJ | Conectiva.com | 1970 | NJ |
| HFZG.com | 1960 | SN | KAMB.com | 1900 | NJ |
| SalesExpert.com | 1900 | NJ | XCBT.com | 1800 | NJ |
| Newton.net | 1735 | NJ | BHFW.com | 1700 | NJ |
| Douceur.com | 1611 | NJ | 7MB.com | 1560 | NJ |
| NGC.org | 1535 | NJ | WaveMaster.com | 1521 | NJ |
| NetSci.org | 1499 | NJ | BlowDryers.com | 1334 | NJ |
| TheReal McCoy.com |
1332 | NJ | 999897.com | 1310 | NJ |
| Synthesys.com | 1285 | NJ | World Travelers.com |
1250 | NJ |
| MinorCon.org | 1100 | NJ | Business TalkRadio.net |
1100 | NJ |
| SVASE.org | 1010 | NJ | BedHunt.com | 1001 | NJ |
At $4.7k, HKBC.com sold well above 4-letter “CHIP” floor prices. No doubt the Hong Kong buyer saw special significance in “HK”. After peaking above $3k last December, this category has undergone a steady 3-month decline. These days, the 5 CHIPs ranging $1.7k – $2.0k are more typical.
BlowDryers.com ($1.3k) is an exact-match category killer. Definitely a wholesale price there. Douceur.com ($1.6k) is French for sweetness, gentleness, softness, ease. SVASE.org ($1.0k) was the “Silicon Valley Association of Software Entrepreneurs” as far back as 1998. Newton.net ($1.7k) is worth pointing out as the 2nd highest .NET sale in these charts. Even though some .COM purists don’t regard .NET as TheRealMcCoy.com ($1.3k) – meaning the real thing – people know it, want it; and it sells.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPFI.com | 991 | NJ | 256000.com | 926 | SN |
| TorontoAirport Express.com |
925 | NJ | Digital- Women.com |
912 | NJ |
| InfoWar- Monitor.net |
908 | SN | E-Works.com | 900 | SN |
| Jessicas.com | 898 | NJ | OCCG.com | 885 | NJ |
| GGAI.com | 815 | NJ | Boat- Insurance.com |
810 | NJ |
| CoachBox.com | 807 | NJ | CapitolReport NewMexico.com |
792 | SN |
| QuanMinTV.com | 790 | SN | NaturalFloors.com | 777 | SN |
| 295000.com | 776 | SN | Hinna.com | 775 | SN |
| CMV.net | 770 | NJ | 555626.com | 767 | NJ |
| BikeCamp.com | 722 | NJ | MYJI.com | 711 | NJ |
| TheWitness.org | 710 | NJ | HengJi.net | 709 | SN |
| EuroDrip.com | 693 | NJ | 363365.com | 681 | NJ |
| ThermoBox.com | 654 | SN | Ultimate Media.com |
651 | NJ |
Hinna.com ($775) might look like a variant of “henna”; but it hails from more northerly climes. To quote Wikipedia, “Hinna is a borough of the city of Stavanger, Norway.” That’s where the buyer resides; so mystery solved. QuanMinTV.com ($790), on the other hand, remains unclear. A matching QuanMin.tv website fails to resolve, although it’s indexed in Google as the first result for “quan min”. The best I can do is look up quán mín (全民), which is Chinese for “entire population”. HengJi.net ($709) means “whisper” (hēng ji / 哼唧).
4 domains with hyphens sold between $810 and $912, alongside another pair at $600 / $525. With the possible exception of Boat-Insurance.com ($810), which defines a lucrative category, it’s hard to make a case for value apart from residual link juice.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88DX.com | 650 | SN | Loopz.com | 620 | NJ |
| 7766B.com | 609 | SN | TelMap.com | 601 | SN |
| HotMilfPics.com | 600 | SN | WG-2015.com | 600 | NJ |
| 2816666.com | 591 | SN | 08575.com | 580 | NJ |
| CentralShop.com | 576 | SN | Hista.com | 575 | SN |
| 222N.com | 575 | SN | KKKCK.com | 536 | SN |
| Alpari-IDC.com | 525 | SN | JFRA.com | 520 | NJ |
| Yoga Adventures.com |
505 | NJ | Erias.com | 504 | SN |
| Jiraffe Restaurant.com |
500 | NJ | RainbowSix.com | 498 | NJ |
| United Building.com |
490 | NJ | American Clothing.com |
480 | SN |
| LeadsList.com | 477 | NJ | MMMWM.com | 476 | SN |
| SovietStory.com | 462 | SN | 925577.com | 460 | SN |
| MajesticCafe.com | 460 | NJ | ROLV.com | 454 | NJ |
Did I mention Chinese buyers like repetition? Let me repeat: Chinese buyers like repetition. Witness KKKCK.com ($536) … and MMMWM.com ($476) … and 222N.com ($575) … and 7766B.com ($609)… and 88DX.com ($650) … and 555626.com ($767) … and 2816666.com ($576) … and 925577.com ($460) … and 295000.com ($776) … and 256000.com ($926) … and 999897.com ($1.3k) … and … and … and …
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BiscuitRecipe.com | 450 | NJ | AjaxLine.com | 427 | SN |
| HomeServer Land.com |
425 | SN | PartyHits.com | 420 | NJ |
| Cortexa.com | 412 | NJ | OXPI.com | 410 | NJ |
| BIZ365.com | 409 | SN | Fabricat.com | 405 | SN |
| CityFilms.com | 400 | NJ | L8F.com | 400 | NJ |
| Academium.com | 396 | NJ | ImaCom.com | 391 | NJ |
| CandyParty.com | 388 | NJ | ASDAOnline.com | 384 | NJ |
| AnXinJu.com | 379 | SN | CunCunYou.com | 375 | SN |
| TheEndUp.com | 365 | NJ | LTVO.com | 360 | NJ |
| ECHV.com | 360 | NJ | Mortgage Refis.com |
360 | NJ |
| YearOfTheLung.org | 360 | NJ | PriceStore.com | 359 | SN |
| iCrystal.com | 354 | SN | OmegaLife.com | 353 | NJ |
| ZIQX.com | 350 | NJ | LevinInstitute.org | 350 | NJ |
| Cardiac Surgeons.com |
350 | NJ | LQOT.com | 350 | SN |
| OJPQ.com | 350 | SN | PlaneCo.com | 350 | SN |
Cortexa.com ($412) matches the name of a British e-learning provider. I might have added a home-automation company; however, they seem to be defunct, since their website says customers “will no longer be able to connect to their Cortexa Systems”. Fabricat.com ($405) means “product” in Romanian; and the word is used in .RO websites. Aside from that, there’s a .DE Fabricat selling underwear, and a FabricatIreland.com selling structural steelwork.
Wait, does the Chinese zodiac have a YearOfTheLung.org ($360)? No, my child. On behalf of the whole human race, 1500 people on Facebook declared 2010 the “Year of the Lung”. Surely you remember the fireworks, the feasts, the parades.
Hopefully Agario.com was picked up by Agar.io. You can’t be a tagline in political circles (Turkey, House of Cards) and use an .io suffix, unless you want to be part of the punchline:
These people of these islands just lost their land in the ’70s, and they’re still actively suing Britain. “The succession of cases against the British government is a result of the forced removal of 1,500 Chagossians from the island of Diego Garcia between 1968 and 1973 to make way for a US military base. A series of English court cases described their removal as “shameful”, an “abuse of power”, “repugnant, deplorable and unlawful”.”*
https://gigaom.com/2014/06/30/the-dark-side-of-io-how-the-u-k-is-making-web-domain-profits-from-a-shady-cold-war-land-deal/
*http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/20/chagos-islands-court-ruling
@C.S. Watch,
Small island cultures have borne the brunt of modern imperialism. Micronesia is another example. Around 70 nuclear bombs in their neighborhood. 1 explosion at Bikini Atoll was 1000 times the size of Hiroshima’s. Utterly vaporized a couple of islands.
Islanders downwind of the blast mistook the radioactive ash falling on their heads for snow. But it wasn’t Christmas. Miscarriages, cancer, burns, nausea, birth defects. People can’t go home; so they emigrrated to the USA. Don’t eat the fish or coconuts!
Then there’s Hawaii, which for the sake of Naval power projection, was acquired as the 50th state.
…snow… Jesus.
Hello, I am interested in agario.com
He said I could take with http://agarioplay.org.
Hopefully Agario.com was picked up by Agar.io. You can’t be a tagline in political circles (Turkey, House of Cards) and use an .io suffix, unless you want to be part of the punchline
http://agariofun.com and http://agarioplay.com
While Agario.com might function as an upgrade for the .IO website, it’s just as likely to be built out separately. Currently, Agar.io has spawned related sites at Agariot.com, Agariom.net, Agario.biz, AgarioPlay.org, InciAgario.com, even Agar.bio! That’s just page 1.
While Agario.com might function as an upgrade for the .IO website, it’s just as likely to be built out separately. Currently, Agar.io has spawned related sites at Agariot.com, Agariom.net, Agario.biz, AgarioPlay.org, InciAgario.com, even Agar.bio! That’s just page 1. http://agariowun.com
I like play agario and Slitherio game
Hooked on Agar.io? You’ll recognize this week’s top selling expired domain name.