DomainTools Blog

Large Corporations generally don’t own generic domain names. They have their brands and their product names but they don’t own the category name. This is a short list of the corporations that own Single word domain names. We make an exception for two word category names that describe things very specifically, like Cream Cheese or Student Loan. If a company wants to sell Toothpaste they should own Toothpaste.com. They will own that domain forever and will be linked to that category and keyword in search engines and in public perception so strongly it almost gives them an unfair advantage. CNET has used this secret to become a huge company, they now dominate online with sites like News.com and Search.com. Some of CNET’s products may be 2nd or third class but that generic domain names gives them a lot of creditability. Search.com is crap, but people still type it in and use it. Weather.com is used so much because of its name and how easy it is to remember. It may not be the best weather service but it is the most used.

We are only listing Huge corporations, for example PeanutButter.com is on the list but Jelly.com is not. Some small companies in the future will be bought for one thing. Not there products or clients but their domain name. The small specialty foods company that owns Jelly.com will eventually be owned by a multiple national and at that point it will make the list. The way Microsoft got Live.com was because they bought the entire company, all they wanted was the domain. If you want something, just type dotcom on the end of it. Have you counted how many times a day you hear dotcom. This morning on the way to work I counted 7 of them in 20 minutes. I saw 4 of them driving past things. You don’t even need to market a great generic domain name, people just type them in because dotcom is advertised so strongly.

American Express – Open.com
AOL – When.com, Games.com, Love.com
Answers Corp. – Answers.com, Reference.com, Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com
Bank Of America – Loans.com
Barnes and Noble – Books.com
Bayer – Aspirin.com
Bass Pro Shops – Hunting.com
Brown Shoe Company – Shoes.com
Burlington Coat Factory – Coat.com
Calvin Klein – Bras.com and Underwear.com
Citibank – Student Loan.com
CNET -

Kids.com, Help.com, Computers.com, Download.com, Online.com, TV.com, Upload.com, News.com, Search.com, com.com, Builder.com, Gaming.com, Shopper.com, Marketplace.com, Updates.com, Store.com, Buying.com, Chat.com, Welcome.com, Browser.com, Shareware.com, Freeware.com, Auctions.com, Labs.com, Community.com, Silicon.com, Radio.com

CNN – Money.com
Old Country Buffet – Buffet.com
Diago – Malts.com, Rum.com, Scotch.com
Disney – Movies.com, Video.com, 101.com, Go.com, Family.com
Ebay (aka PayPal) – X.com
Fixodent – Dentures.com
1-800-flowers – Flowers.com
Food Network – Food.com
Google – Hello.com
Honda – Motorcycles.com
JC Penny – Gift.com
Johnson and Johnson – Baby.com
Kay Jewelers – Gold.com
Kraft – Cream Cheese.com
Marchex – Motherboard.com
MasterCard – Priceless.com
Merriam Webster – Word.com
Microsoft – Live.com, Surface.com, Start.com, TV.net, Investor.com
National Geographic – Documentary.com
Nissan – Z.com
Monster – Jobs.com
National Pen Company – Pens.com
Nestle – Meals.com
Office Depot – Office Supplies.com
PetSmart – Pets.com
Procter and Gamble – Toothpaste.com
QWest – Q.com, Fast Lane.com, Fog Light.com
Ralph Lauren – Polo.com, Rugby.com
Ragu – Sauce.com
R.H. Donnelley – Business.com, Work.com
Rocky Mountain Bicycles – Bikes.com
Roto Rooter – Plumber.com
Sports Endeavors – Soccer.com, Lacrosse.com
Sylvan Learning – Educate.com, Hop.com, Ivy.com
The History Channel – History.com
The Map and Globe Store – World Maps.com
The Weather Channel - Weather.com
The Wedding Channel – Weddings.com
Travelocity – Vacations.com
Unilever (Products include: Knorr, Slim Fast, Vasaline) – Soup.com, Peanut Butter.com
Yahoo – Contests.com, Broadcast.com

Gabe Amey writes us about how a huge companies are wasting great generic domain names. It makes me cry to see a domain like Home Loans.com sit their and resolve to a 404 error page. That domain could generate several thousand dollars a month in Parking revenue but Wells Fargo just points it at a page that says, “No Page Found”. Eyye eyye, what a waste. That is sick.

“I don’t know why, but I have a pet peeve with large companies that hold these beautiful generic domains in their portfolio, yet they do nothing with it. For example, take a look at Home Loans.com, owned by Wells Fargo. According to Compete.com, that domain gets almost 400 unique visitors a day, yet for some reason they rather let that name site idle than forward it to their web page regarding mortgage loans. I just don’t get it!

Imagine how much revenue they are leaving on the table probably because of the lack of knowledge regarding the power this generic domain holds. If they forwarded this domain to their mortgage page (like Bank of American did with their domain loans.com) and assuming that this name gets 12,000 type-ins a month, with a conservative 1% conversion rate (people using Wells Fargo for their home loan), with revenues of $4000 per loan (very realistic in this industry) – we are talking potential revenues of $480,000 a month or $5,760,000 annually!

Yet for some reason Richard Kovacevich (the recently departed CEO of Wells Fargo) or any other high ranking management personnel for that matter, fail to realize that they can probably add $5 million dollars in annual revenue by simply instructing some systems administrator to take 2 minutes out of his/her time to forward the domain to their mortgage home page. 2 minutes of work = $5 million in revenues – what a concept….if only they knew.

Wells Fargo is not the only one missing the boat – Fidelity owns Retire.com….but instead of it being forwarded to their 401K home page….this domain is being wasted into internet obscurity. I’m sure there’s huge list of similar big name companies under-utilizing their generic domains for what seems like no good reason at all.

It’s still baffles me that it’s almost 2008 and these companies don’t get it…..this truly signifies that it’s still really early in the domain game, don’t you think?”

Thanks for the heads up Gabe. If anyone else spots a great generic domain owned by a huge corporation that is wasting please post in the comments below.