The Record Breaking Blog

The news is running wild! Although not yet official, it seems that a Boston-based company called Escom has purchased the domain name Sex.com for $14 million. Many news sources are all quoting the same source (Xbiz, not a work-friendly link), which got its information on the deal through a company called InternetRealEstate.com. This company, InternetRealEstate.com, shares office space with another company called Domain Name Acquisition Group, which was party to a lawsuit a little while back over the failed purchase of Sex.com, so there are even rumors that the sale is tied into that lawsuit. You have to remember that this story, being reported all over town, is all actually coming from one source, so we need to take it with a grain of salt (hence the question mark in this blog entry's title) until other sources independently verify this claim. Assuming it is true, we will have to see the details of the actual sale (was anything else part of the $14 million deal besides the domain name?). Even that is not enough to officially break the record, as they would have to prove it to Guinness World Records, the only authority on world records, which not every company is willing to do for several different reasons (i.e. privacy concerns, confidentiality agreements, etc.). And even if they were willing to prove it to Guinness, family-friendly Guinness would probably be reluctant to publish that record, due to the adult nature of the site.

Regardless, however, if other independent sources come out confirming the deal, then I will have to respond accordingly. Because even if the Sex.com dealmakers are not willing to prove it to Guinness, the public will know that Sex.com sold for $14 million, due to all the publicity this sale has already generated. And no potential buyer of this domain would feel comfortable paying $7,500,001 knowing that another domain recently sold for $14 million because it opens the door for other domains to sell for more than $7,500,001.

This is not bad news for this domain, however. If you think about it, no other domain name could conceivably sell for more than Sex.com under normal circumstances...sex sells more than anything, we already know that, so anyone actually willing to break the alleged Sex.com record (think this domain) would in all likelihood maintain the world record virtually for ever. The only domain names that might be worth more than Sex.com, are the ones that are a part of well-established businesses, such as Google.com, which would never be put for sale because they are part of a trademark and make a lot more money (billions) from the services they provide than any sale of their domain name could generate.

So nothing is going to change about this domain until the details of this deal surface and the exact numbers revealed. The only thing I can say for sure is that this domain is the only record-breaking domain name in the world, and I plan on keeping it that way no matter what. Stay tuned...