QuinStreet buys Insure.com for $16 million
By Dave Parrack
Are we entering another dot-com bubble? I only ask because it seems as though domain names are being bought up in their droves and new Web properties are also appearing by the dozen. And now comes news that QuinStreet is buying the Insure.com domain name for a pricey $16 million. Which could well be the most money ever paid for a domain name.
QuinStreet is an online performance marketing company which aims to help businesses target potential customers by using its technologies and media reach. And it’s just paid a whopping $16 million for the Insure.com domain. This comes just two months after the company paid $18 million for Internet.com, a network of Web sites including BlackberryGuide.com, DatabaseJournal.com, JavaScript.com and Developer.com.
According to Elliot’s Blog, the Insure.com domain is currently owned by a NASDAQ trading company of the same name which specializes in providing a consumer information service and insurance brokerage service for people looking for insurance. The company will now become Life Quotes and focus mainly on its national brokerage service.
Meanwhile, QuinStreet will likely turn Insure.com into an information Web site with links to online leads. And for that, the company decided to pay $16 million for the domain, giving the former owners a ten-fold increase on their purchase of Insure.com, which they paid $1.6 million for in 2001.
This could well be the largest amount of money ever paid for a domain name on its own, without any business attached to it. Sex.com has held the record since 2006 when it sold for $12 million. And if I’m honest that looks to have been a better deal.
As TechCrunch notes, this is the latest sign that dot-com names are still the most valuable and sought-after, with .net, .tv, and the others still not really cutting it. And the monetary value of these obvious and one-word domains are also increasing.
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October 20th, 2009
I think you should do a little bit more research business.com sold for 345 million and there are many that have gone for more than 16 but it is still surprising giving these tough times.