Month: June 2010

Despite building a global brand and successful online gaming operation which has experienced a meteoric rise since the mid-2000s, Calvin Ayre of Bodog still purchased Slots.com in a multi million dollar deal totaling $5.85 million.

But even though Calvin didn’t build up his company on category killer names, he certainly understands the benefits of owning a category killer name.

As he added in his press release from London,

“After Casino.com, we feel that Slots.com is the best gaming domain in the world. Bigger even than Poker.com because there are no strong brands in this space and slots are far more universal than poker. Just look at the amount of space a casino devotes to slots over poker, added to which it’s simple to spell and easy to remember. Slots.com will work for us on a number of levels, not least in generating global traffic to our Bodog branded properties but also to form a number of other targeted websites including one that will be created by and for the female gambler.”

The Best of Both Worlds

Calvin Ayre has the best of both worlds. He knows how to build a successful business and brand, and now, he will blow away the competition with his Slots.com acquisition.

Armed with a category killer name, and the deep branding expertise and financial pockets of Bodog – Calvin Ayre can’t be contained. The press release published earlier this week, states his plans for Slots.com:

BodogBrand will license Slots.com to selected online gaming operators in a fashion similar to the way the Bodog brand itself is currently licensed to gaming operators worldwide. In the interim period all Bodog branded properties (Bodog.com, bodog.co.uk, bodog.ca and bodog88.com) will use it to drive traffic to their casinos and poker offerings.

SerialKiller.com is not necessarily the squeaky-clean domain name most would think of buying, but keyword domains can’t always be taken for facevalue.  HomeRun.com sold earlier this year for $130,000, and while it seems logical that HomeRun.com would be used for a Fantasy Baseball website or something relevant to the sport of Baseball, especially for that hefty pricetag, Homerun.com instead is being used for a “Group Buying” website.

A revived concept that is making companies millions.

SerialKiller.com was included in the April Great Domains auction, but failed to sell after only receiving a high bid of $3,099, below it’s reserve price.  Now its met its reserve over at GreatDomains.

If you’ve been watching the news, criminals like Joran Van der Sloot are making headlines worldwide, so it’s quite possible this name could be used to provide curious web surfers with information about infamous serial killers like Joran van der Sloot and others.

Who has the coolest video you’ll ever see?   Those of you who remember the days of The Jetsons cartoon with robots and spaceships, will enjoy this video.

Diapers.com, the company that was founded in 2005 by Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara, was featured on TechCrunch earlier today – and the story talked up the company’s next big venture Soap.com – but with a twist, Robots. You see, the company uses a fully-automated warehouse where robots pick and pack products.

What a success Diapers.com has been, but not only because of the name, because of the great product and service the company provides.  Earlier this year, Diapers.com was recognized for outstanding customer service and named “Elite” Online Retailer by STELLAService.

Sully’s Blog has some Q&A

Once again, Mike Sullivan conducted a great online interview with Matt Lindenberg, Associate Director of Marketing at Diapers.com and Yuriy Krivenko SEO Analyst. The interview goes into detail into the domain name Diapers.com, and helps illustrate the power of type-in traffc. According to Diapers.com, roughly half of all traffic to their website comes from type in traffic.

H/T: Bill