[LINK] Sydney, Melbourne.com.au etc for sale

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

http://namesell.com/press_release.html

Press release, March 5, 2013


Key Australian Internet Assets to be Sold

For sale: sydney.com.au, melbourne.com.au, brisbane.com.au, 
adelaide.com.au, and auction.com.au

The most important parcel of Australian websites and domain names to come 
onto the market are being offered for sale.

The websites are for sale on the website http://www.namesell.com.

The sale is being brokered by Brisbane-based company Domain Guardians.
http://www.domainguardians.com/#news

Mike Robertson from Domain Guardians said the sale presents an opportunity 
for a major player to own the commercial domain names mirroring four of 
Australia's five largest capital cities.

“These domains/websites could provide a local entity or leading 
international corporation with a unique opportunity to become the dominant 
online player in Australia.

“There is no other situation in the world where a company or individual 
owns 85% of the country's capital city domains. In the US, most leading 
corporations are lucky to own one two capital city domain names.

“Sydney.com.au is the No.1 ranked website in the Google.com.au search 
results when you search on the word 'sydney'.

“When you consider the Sydney economy in 2011 was worth $342 billion, what 
price then do you put on the commercial value and importance of 
sydney.com.au when the website comes up first in the Google search 
results?”

Mr Robertson said a global marketing campaign begins this month pitching 
the domains at leading local and international companies in the media, real 
estate, retail and travel industries.

Mr Robertson said sydney.com.au and melbourne.com.au are lightly developed 
as tourism websites and already generate attractive revenue streams.

He said there is huge scope to broaden the websites to include residential 
and commercial property sales, car sales, job listings, auctions, travel, 
tourism, accommodation and entertainment and make these the stand-out 
websites for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

“All traffic coming to the site is organic and free – grown from 
strategically placed backlinks dating back to the '90s. The owners have 
never spent a cent driving traffic to sydney.com.au or any of the other 
city domain websites. “

He said domain names mirroring the names of leading cities are being 
acquired by wealthy individuals and big corporations, including some of the 
world's leading media corporations.

“The New York Times Company owns Boston.com, MediaNews Group owns LA.com, 
Entertainment Benefits Group owns NewYork.com, and Advance Publications 
owns NJ.com and Cleveland.com.

“In July last year, the CEO of a Denver real estate company paid a seven 
figure amount for denver.com and plans to develop it as an online hub for 
Denver.

“Denver has a population of about 600,000, and its economy is small 
compared to that of Australian cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

“Imagine the commercial potential for someone owning all four Australian 
capital city domain names, with a combined population of around 10 
million.”

Mr Robertson said the domain name Auction.com.au is also for sale, either 
as part of a bundle with the city websites or as a separate sale.

“The domain name auction.com.au, commercially developed, could be one of 
the biggest online sales platforms in Australia.

“The equivalent website in the United States, auction.com, is geared solely 
to the sale of residential and commercial real estate. In 2011, it 
generated sales of more than $US7.6 billion of residential and commercial 
real estate.”

Mr Robertson said the sale is one that is unlikely to present itself again.

“Once these domains are sold, I doubt if they will be offered for sale 
again. They are too important - you rarely get an opportunity to acquire 
Internet assets of this type.”

ENDS
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Cheers,
Stephen