We hear so much about Chinese investors owning elusive short .com domains. So, me being British (Scottish), I thought that I would do a little research on the United Kingdom based businesses that are using two-letter (2L) and three-letter (3L) .com domain names.
Here’s a list of some short, premium domains and the British companies that use them.
DIY.com
B&Q, the largest DIY (do it yourself) store in Britain and fourth largest in the world owns this domain. In my opinion, this is a genius domain for a hardware retailer, as they sell tools for customers to complete “do it yourself” projects. B&Q stands for Block and Quayle, who founded the company in 1969. The domain was registered in 1997.
BT.com
British Telecom, Britain’s largest telecom network, owns this premium domain, which was registered in 1992. It may be that British Telecom hand registered the domain, which of course would have saved them a pretty penny.
SKY.com
Sky TV owns and operates this 3L domain. NameBio and DNpric.es both show a record of it selling for $1,000,000 back in 2003 to a private entity. The domain itself was originally registered in 1988. Sky TV has been a dominant British TV network for many years and holds the exclusive rights to live English and Spanish football and Formula 1 racing.
SP.com
SP.com is home to Scottish Power, one of Britain’s leading providers of gas and electric and a national leader in renewables. As a Scotsman, it's nice for me to see a Scottish company own and use such a premium domain.
IF.com
The owner of this domain is Intelligent Finance. They are an exclusive online bank that is a part of the HBOS Group containing Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Lloyds Banking Group owns the HBOS Group. The story goes that the “I” and “F” for “Intelligent Finance” come from the middle of “Halifax.” Many years ago I worked in an Intelligent Finance call center. NameBio shows a record of IF.com being sold in 2003 for $1,000,000 to a private entity. The domain was registered in 1997.
BP.com
British Petroleum, another one of Britain’s leading companies, occupies this domain. BP is one of the seven major oil and gas companies in the world. The domain was registered in 1989.
EY.com
EY.com belongs to Ernst & Young, a firm that specializes in multinational professional services. The domain was registered in 1994.
AO.com
John Roberts founded Appliances Online in 2000 after his friend bet him £1 that he could not sell appliances online. Whether or not Mr. Roberts collected from his friend, it was a lucrative wager, as the company now has over £450,000,000 in annual revenue. In 2013 they rebranded as AO.com after purchasing the premimum domain for £195,500.
O2.com
While this isn’t technically a 2L domain, it is an interesting and short premium name. O2 is one of the largest cellular networks in Britain. Although they use o2.co.uk as their main site, O2.com points to it. The domain was registered in 1995, and according to who.is will expire on June 29th of this year.
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While Chinese investors may be purchasing a lot of premium short domains, I wanted to show that there are still examples of two and three character domains in use all over the world. It was fun for me to see that some British companies are in on the action, and even some Scottish companies, too. There are some really amazing premium domains out there, and paired with the right company, they can make a great match.
Here’s a list of some short, premium domains and the British companies that use them.
DIY.com
B&Q, the largest DIY (do it yourself) store in Britain and fourth largest in the world owns this domain. In my opinion, this is a genius domain for a hardware retailer, as they sell tools for customers to complete “do it yourself” projects. B&Q stands for Block and Quayle, who founded the company in 1969. The domain was registered in 1997.
BT.com
British Telecom, Britain’s largest telecom network, owns this premium domain, which was registered in 1992. It may be that British Telecom hand registered the domain, which of course would have saved them a pretty penny.
SKY.com
Sky TV owns and operates this 3L domain. NameBio and DNpric.es both show a record of it selling for $1,000,000 back in 2003 to a private entity. The domain itself was originally registered in 1988. Sky TV has been a dominant British TV network for many years and holds the exclusive rights to live English and Spanish football and Formula 1 racing.
SP.com
SP.com is home to Scottish Power, one of Britain’s leading providers of gas and electric and a national leader in renewables. As a Scotsman, it's nice for me to see a Scottish company own and use such a premium domain.
IF.com
The owner of this domain is Intelligent Finance. They are an exclusive online bank that is a part of the HBOS Group containing Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Lloyds Banking Group owns the HBOS Group. The story goes that the “I” and “F” for “Intelligent Finance” come from the middle of “Halifax.” Many years ago I worked in an Intelligent Finance call center. NameBio shows a record of IF.com being sold in 2003 for $1,000,000 to a private entity. The domain was registered in 1997.
BP.com
British Petroleum, another one of Britain’s leading companies, occupies this domain. BP is one of the seven major oil and gas companies in the world. The domain was registered in 1989.
EY.com
EY.com belongs to Ernst & Young, a firm that specializes in multinational professional services. The domain was registered in 1994.
AO.com
John Roberts founded Appliances Online in 2000 after his friend bet him £1 that he could not sell appliances online. Whether or not Mr. Roberts collected from his friend, it was a lucrative wager, as the company now has over £450,000,000 in annual revenue. In 2013 they rebranded as AO.com after purchasing the premimum domain for £195,500.
O2.com
While this isn’t technically a 2L domain, it is an interesting and short premium name. O2 is one of the largest cellular networks in Britain. Although they use o2.co.uk as their main site, O2.com points to it. The domain was registered in 1995, and according to who.is will expire on June 29th of this year.
--
While Chinese investors may be purchasing a lot of premium short domains, I wanted to show that there are still examples of two and three character domains in use all over the world. It was fun for me to see that some British companies are in on the action, and even some Scottish companies, too. There are some really amazing premium domains out there, and paired with the right company, they can make a great match.
