WEST PALM BEACH, FL – In 2019, I put a spotlight on mega domain and website NewYork.com, virtually disappearing into thin air after its owners fell into a complex legal dispute which pushed the business to its breaking point after years of litigation.
At that time, I remember being shocked that a dispute could not be resolved to the point where the entire business would collapse, and virtually vanish, but for whatever reason that’s what happened.
Now, approximately four years later, this shining star of a domain has recently sold, to what appears to be a commercial real estate and domain name investor named Peter Niederman, according to a recent story in DNJournal.com.
The name was brokered by GEO domain industry veteran Fred Mercaldo, who had been marketing the domain – as well as many others – to several newspaper conglomerates and businesses of that type eventually hammering out a deal with Niederman under a non-disclosure agreement for an undisclosed sum.
Interestingly, big media again decides to pass on the opportunity to grab a big city name, maybe even the biggest, as these types of companies have many, many times before. What do they know that we don’t? There has to be something holding them back – they have been procrastinating on it for thirty years now. I’m sure they waste unimaginable sums just getting and keeping their ordinary websites running properly, or having other enormous expenditures approved that have to go through numerous channels where a two-second entrepreneurial decision will take six months to a year.
Anyway, as DNJournal’s Ron Jackson noted, “NewYork.com” is one of the world’s ultimate GEO domains and I agree. It could – and possibly should – be considered a priceless domain name as “New York” is one of the most popular cities in the world.
If California.com sold four years ago for “mid seven figures” as it did, then what should NewYork.com be worth? California is one of the most popular states in the U.S., however, New York is one of the most popular in the world.
According to the 2015 lawsuit which took the site down in the first place, NEWYORK.COM INTERNET HOLDINGS, INC valued the domain name at $3.5M when it sold 50% interest in it to ENTERTAINMENT BENEFITS GROUP, LLC, a travel and entertainment company tasked with developing the website, in or around 2011.
As of now, the domain name remains parked along with Niederman’s Denver Media sites – other prominent GEO Domains, including SanFrancisco.com, Seattle.com, Oakland.com, Boulder.com, etc., all visible at (denver.com) parked.
For those looking for a share of the GEO domain business, there remain many more opportunities through Mercaldo such as Detroit.com, StLouis.com, SanDiego.com, Philadelphia.com, Minneapolis.com, Houston.com and lots more at: https://geocentricmedia.com/cities/
While many of these large sales can be murky, are private deals and/or not entirely disclosed for exact amounts, one thing is certainly clear: there remains a lot of prime real estate out there, just sitting around.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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