The 11 Most Expensive Domain Names

The domain name reportedly sold to QuinStreet for $16 million in 2009.

Sex.com has recently hit the auction block with a starting price of $1 million. It was first purchased by Match.com founder Gary Kremen in 1994, and was last sold in 2006 for $14 million.

The URL was reportedly sold for $9.99 million in 2008.

Close behind ‘sex.com,’ ”Porn.com’ is one of the most valuable domain names on the web. The address last sold for around $9.5 million in 2007.

The domain name is tied with ‘Diamond.com’ for multi-million dollar pricetag. Business.com was purchased for $7.5 million in 1999. The Telegraph writes, ‘Business search engine and web directory founded in 1999 by Jake Winebaum, a previous chairman of the Walt Disney Internet Group, and Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink. In July 2007 business.com, the company, was sold to Yellow Pages publisher RH Donnelly for $345 million.’

Ice.com purchased ‘Diamond.com’ (tied with Business.com) for a reported $7.5 million in 2006.

Breasts, business, bling, and beer top the list for the most expensive URLs: Beer.com was sold for $7 million in 2004.

The Telegraph explains the buyer’s motivations (who purchased the site for $5.88 million in 2004): ‘Billed as “your first and best source for information about Israel”. It was bought in 1994 by Joel Noel Friedman, a 46-year-old Jewish American. Rather than seek profit, he originally bought the site in fear that it would be misused by somebody else.’