YNOT – Regardless the opinion many adult industry insiders harbor about the dot-xxx sponsored Top Level Domain, some see the neighborhood as prime real estate.
Liberty Media Holdings, parent company of gay adult studio Corbin Fisher, is one of the latter. On Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Jason Gibson announced LMH paid an astounding half-million dollars to acquire Gay.xxx. At that location, the company intends to create “one-stop web destination for all things related to gay adult entertainment,” Gibson said.
The creation of the dot-xxx domain space proved controversial inside and outside adult entertainment. Although the adult industry hardly is united in its position about the matter, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that dot-xxx will lead to widespread censorship of adult content and could result in a number of otherwise “free-speech” countries mandating all adult content reside in an online “porn ghetto.” Outside adult, social conservatives decry dot-xxx’s potential to unleash an inescapable torrent of sexually explicit material.
Both see registrar ICM Registry as little more than a slumlord. Critics on both sides of the red-light divide accuse ICM of having no objective other than extorting premium registration fees from companies and individuals desperate to protect brands they have spent years building in the dot-com space and/or in the real world.
LMH sees dot-xxx as “a unique chance to concentrate the gay audience’s needs in one URL,” Chief Operating Officer Brian Dunlap said.
“We feel Gay.xxx is going to be an incredible opportunity to expand the work we’ve done [at our other sites] in a way that can include any and all gay content providers.”
Without revealing specifics, Gibson indicated Gay.xxx may incorporate elements the company first employed at CF Select, a site offering consumers the opportunity to purchase their porn by the scene instead of joining a membership portal.
“Obviously, we can’t say too much at this point,” said Gibson, noting the dot-xxx domain will roll out in several phases. “But if it has to do with gay sexuality — news, comics, advice, chat rooms — it belongs on Gay.xxx. We look at Gay.xxx as a game-changer for the industry and customers as a whole.”
It had better be. $500,000 is a lot of micropayments. It’s also a record-setting purchase price for a domain during any domain-extension pre-launch period, according to ICM. The Gay.xxx transaction became the fifth most expensive domain-name sold in 2011 and ranks among the top 30 costliest domains sold within the past three years, according to DNJournal.com.
The gay domain marked the ninth ICM has sold nine for $100,000 or more, and CEO Stuart Lawley said similar deals are in the works.
“Domain names in most other TLDs typically sell for 1-10 percent of the value of their dot-com equivalent,” he averred. “The dot-xxx names are already selling for 30-40 percent, and we are just getting started.”
The registrar has placed a number of domains it considers of extraordinary worth with various auctions in order to let the open market sort out their value. An auction at HuntingMoon.com includes domains like BBWS.xxx, Girlfriends.xxx and Fantasy.xxx. The auction concludes Thursday at 4:20 p.m. PT. At noon, bids ranged from $3,500 for LiveGay.xxx to $100,000 for Feet.xxx.
The next auction is expected to take place Oct. 16-19 during the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Conference. Domains to auctioned include Stars.xxx, Blondes.xxx, Movies.xxx, Personals.xxx and Orgy.xxx.
ICM is halfway through the “sunrise” registration period that began Sept. 7. A “landrush” registration period will begin Nov. 8, offering adult and non-adult entities an opportunity to acquire premium dot-xxx domains that weren’t claimed during sunrise. Registration will open to the general public on Dec. 6.
“We are elated by the demand for dot-xxx domain names,” Lawley said. “The number of applications and the record prices paid demonstrate the high value and extraordinary potential placed on the world’s most exciting new top level domain. We are looking forward to opening the Landrush period and urge both adult and non-adult companies to contact their registrars without delay because domains will go quickly.”
