The Great Domain Name Hunt (1998)

Someone wrote that he purchased his first domain in 1999 and that it turned out to be the wrong domain. If you are struggling today to find the perfect domain but settled on the next best thing, you may find you aren’t so different from domain hunters searching in the late nineties.

In 1998, Peter H. Lewis, published an article in the New York Times, “The Great Domain Name Hunt“, implying that the best domain names were getting too expensive, going fast, or already gone! He considered the radical idea of tracking down the perfect domain even if it meant using alternate domain extensions versus the hard to find “.com”. Mr. Lewis jeered, “Last year, someone in Texas was reported to have paid $150,000 for the name business.com“.  He must have been aghast in 1999 when he read that Business.com sold for $7.5 million, followed by a sale in 2007, for $350 million.

For a bit of humor and a look at domain prices and struggles from the past, you must read “The Great Domain Name Hunt“by Peter H. Lewis, June 4, 1998.  If only we knew what we know now and had a time machine to go back 24 years!  Have you considered, purchased, or developed domains with alternate extensions?  Any gems you regret not grabbing or misgivings over lost opportunities?

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