Generic Domain Name Ownership

[dannbkk]

Prime generic domain names are steadily being acquired and used by world class companies. Here are some examples of names that corporations own...

* Bank Of America - Loans.com
* Barnes and Noble - Books.com
* Bayer - Aspirin.com
* Calvin Klein - Bras.com Underwear.com
* Citibank - StudentLoan.com
* CNET - News.com TV.com
* CNN - Money.com
* Country Buffet - Buffet.com
* Diago - Malts.com Rum.com Scotch.com
* Disney - Movies.com
* Fixodent - Dentures.com
* Honda - MotorCycles.com
* JC Penny - Gift.com
* Johnson and Johnson - Baby.com
* Kraft - CreamCheese.com
* MasterCard - Priceless.com
* Merriam Webster - Word.com
* Monster - Jobs.com
* National Pen Company - Pens.com
* Nestle - Meals.com
* Office Depot - OfficeSupplies.com
* PetSmart - Pets.com
* Procter and Gamble - Toothpaste.com
* Ragu - Sauce.com
* Rocky Mountain Bicycles - Bikes.com
* Sylvan Learning - Educate.com
* The History Channel - History.com
* The Map and Globe Store - Worldmaps.com
* The Weather Channel - Weather.com
* The Wedding Channel - Weddings.com
* Travelocity - Vacations.com

 

[Carlton]

Nice post. Perfect logic that a company would aim to own the generic category in which they operate. Highest sales are always generics = limited supply + demand.

 

[marcuss]

Expanded list

Some of the companies that you mention also own more generic domains.

Dentures.com is by the way owned by Procter and Gamble (rather than "Fixodent").

It is quite interesting to see which companies that are using domains as a part of their direct marketing channels.

 

[Krossat]

Any examples of companies owning .net generics???

 

[BrainPower]

For some of these corporate companies, I wonder if buying generics came from their IT or marketing department.

 

[DomainBuyerBroker]

Here are over 200 more examples from my list http://searchdomainsforsale.com/creative-domain-marketing.htm

 

[italiandragon]

Out of that list.....I`d love to own :

Baby.com

One day maybe I will

 

[billinchina]

Out of that list.....I`d love to own :

Baby.com

One day maybe I will

Once a large corp buys a good domain name, forget about ever acquiring it. Making it worth their time to push through all the red tape and bureaucracy will most likely push the price to "infinity and beyond" (borrowing from Buzz Lightyear).

 

[alojah]

You can add these 2 to the list:

Citibank also owns: Mortgage.com
Wells Fargo owns: HomeLoan.com

 

[HiSoC8Y]

so that will be the end of a domain name, where it reaches one of those top companies.

 

[Devil_Dog]

so that will be the end of a domain name, where it reaches one of those top companies.

Not exactly, who's to say that company doesn't go bankrupt and liquidates all their assets?

Hell, you'd probably have an easier time acquiring a generic from one of thee corporations than you would some of these big domain companies.

 

[Giode]

Not exactly, who's to say that company doesn't go bankrupt and liquidates all their assets?

Hell, you'd probably have an easier time acquiring a generic from one of thee corporations than you would some of these big domain companies.

Exactly, and to take it a step further, sometimes big companies are willing to unload generic domains even when they are thriving. I purchased Thin.com from EMC corp (also known as Data General - DG.com), which is one of the largest IT companies in the world. If you check out Archive.org you'll see that it forwarded to emc.com for 5-6 years. They just didn't need the domain any longer for future objectives.

 

[marcuss]

You can add these 2 to the list:

Citibank also owns: Mortgage.com
Wells Fargo owns: HomeLoan.com

Not sure where you got that info from but Mortgage.com is registered on ABN AMRO MORTGAGE GROUP, INC from all I can see.
HomeLoan.com is registered by HomeLoan USA Corporation.

 

[alojah]

You can add these 2 to the list:

Citibank also owns: Mortgage.com
Wells Fargo owns: HomeLoan.com


Not sure where you got that info from but Mortgage.com is registered on ABN AMRO MORTGAGE GROUP, INC from all I can see.
HomeLoan.com is registered by HomeLoan USA Corporation.

Citigroup bought out ANN AMRO and acquired all assets including mortgage.com domain name:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/24753-citigroup-acquires-abn-amro-mortgage-group-for-undisclosed-sum

And actually Wells owns HomeLoans.com - not HomeLoan.com - sorry about the confusion.