Tuesday, May 9, 2006    Text size: 

While Sex.net was the only adult-oriented domain up for auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West, a domain industry conference, it brought home the largest payday in a field that included CD.com, Programmer.com and CreditTips.com.

According to Monte Cahn, CEO of Monicker, a company that deals in domains for a number of adult clients, the high price earned for Sex.net was certainly expected.

“It [Sex.net] has 125,000 unique visitors per month, so we expected a high sale price,” Cahn told XBIZ. “A .net domain is typically worth between 10 to 20 percent of a comparable .com. So, we hit the sweet spot.”

Sex.com, which was owned by Gary Kremen, sold for $14 million in March. Monicker sold Sex.net on Kremen’s behalf to Parked.com, a domain parking service.

“The growing market in domains points to real validation for the Internet industry,” Cahn said. “Domains aren’t just like commodities; the domain names themselves have specific and real value, like real estate.”

While adult companies certainly realize the value of a winning domain, Cahn was quick to point out that not all the bidders were adult companies. Some, according to Cahn, were private individuals who saw domain speculation as a better investment than anything else.

While Sex.com had been the subject of litigation and controversy, Sex.net’s value will rise on the coattails of Sex.com, according to Cahn.

“The value of any .net increases as the corresponding .com’s value rises,” Cahn said. “Fall-over traffic means that many people search the .net and the .com. Plus, many Europeans prefer .net to .com.”

With that in mind, Cahn sees Sex.net as a real prize because its new owners will be able to translate traffic into dollars and potentially a brand name.