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Hot Trends: Cloud domain names in 2011

cloud computing

A lot of writers are predicting hot trends for 2011 and one trend in particular that seems to stand out among many of the stories is “cloud computing”, a term that refers to accessing computer services over the internet or “cloud”.   The terms internet and cloud are interchangeable. 

Google Docs is a well known example of a cloud computing service.

While some critics say cloud computing is overhyped, it’s hard to argue against it with major service providers like Google and SalesForce.com taking to the cloud.  Earlier this month, SalesForce.com unveiled Database.com, the enterprise cloud database. 

Domain bloggers Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire and Mike Sullivan of Sully’s Blog have written about the Cloud.com domain.  The domain Cloud.com was purchased earlier this year by VMOps after it was put up for sale by Meetup Co-founder Scott Hieferman. 

Back in September, Peter Ulander, Chief Marketing Officer at Cloud.com (formerly VMOps) spent time answering Mike Sullivan’s questions on the domain and the business, which Mike posted online.  According to Peter Ulander, the decision to acquire the name has been paying dividends with traffic: “While I can’t share the specific volume, we are pleased with the increase in traffic since launching under the cloud.com domain.  Our core traffic increased by more that 500% and, when compared to similar companies in our space, we are outperforming them on inbound traffic and time spent on site – meaning that we are hitting the decision makers in our space.”

Will Cloud domains be a hot trend in 2011?

Though the price of Cloud.com remains undisclosed, there were dozens of domain sales in 2010, with many looking to be bargain buys.  It will be interesting to see whether any of these names end up selling for a bigger return in 2011. 

 

Domain
Date Sold Price Location
cloud-computing.de Aug 4,2010 $38,280.00 Sedo
cloud-computing.de Sep 11,2010 29000 Sedo.com
cloud.me Sep 11,2010 $22,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudcomputing.com.au 2010 $8,000.00 NetFleet.com.au
cloudcomputing.in 2010 $5,000.00 PvtSale
cloudbot.com 2010 $4,000.00  
cloudcraze.com 2010 $4,000.00  
cloudexchange.com Sep 11,2010 $3,900.00 Sedo.com
cloudcomputing.info Sep 13,2010 $3,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudbook.de 2010 $3,075.00  
publicclouds.com Sep 17,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
clouddb.com Sep 13,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudgames.com Sep 11,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
myclouds.com Sep 11,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudtree.net 2010 $3,000.00 Sedo
cloudgames.net Sep 15,2010 $2,500.00 Sedo.com
instantclouds.com Sep 11,2010 $2,500.00 Sedo.com
cloud.ly 2010 $2,500.00  
oncloud9.com Sep 13,2010 $2,300.00 Sedo.com
cloudsaas.com Sep 12,2010 $2,250.00 Sedo.com
becloud.com Sep 13,2010 $2,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudbook.net Sep 12,2010 $2,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudnine.org Sep 11,2010 $1,883.00 Sedo.com
cloudblue.com Sep 12,2010 $1,700.00 Sedo.com
cloud.be Sep 14,2010 1500 Sedo.com
cloudgames.co.uk Sep 11,2010 $1,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudside.com Sep 11,2010 $1,200.00 Sedo.com
cloud365.com Sep 21,2010 $1,000.00 Sedo.com
letscloud.com Sep 11,2010 $1,000.00 Sedo.com
vclouds.com Sep 24,2009 $1,000.00 Sedo.com

Do you own any cloud domains?  The only “cloud” name I own is CloudShapes.com, which I purchased on NameJet back in June 2008 after it had expired.

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Buyers passed on the domain at TRAFFIC NYC 2009, now Salesforce.com unveils Database.com

database

TechCrunch is reporting that Salesforce.com, the cloud computing company that runs the world’s #1 sales application, has launched Database.com, its enterprise cloud database.   Last year, if you recall, the domain name database.com went up for sale at the TRAFFIC 2009 New York Domain Conference – with a reserve range of $800,000-900,000 USD. 

Buyers passed on the name, with some commenting that: “Database [Database.com] is not worth $250,000 let alone $800,000!”.

Not everyone saw the potential of the name, but Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff did.

Marc Benioff says: “We see cloud databases as a massive market opportunity that will power the shift to real-time enterprise applications that are natively cloud, mobile and social.”

Built to power cloud-based applications, Database.com will offer an infrastructure for enterprise apps to deliver updates and information in real-time. Developers can write their applications in Java, C#, Ruby, PHP or more and can run their apps anywhere – on Force.com, VMforce, Amazon EC2, Google AppEngine, Microsoft Azure or Heroku.

Apps can also run natively on any device, like an iPad, an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. Salesforce says that these apps can all call the Database.com APIs whether it be for a small application or for an app that supports hundreds of thousands of users.

Salesforce.com heavily invests in domain names for branding purposes.  In 2007, the company acquired Force.com.  As Andrew Allemann pointed out: “The branding change was necessary because the company has expanded beyond simply sales management.”  eWeek ran a story that discussed the domain acquisition. 

Apparently Salesforce was in negotiations for the Force.com domain with a California man who had used the dot-com designation for his company, which was named for his surname, according to media reports. Its not clear how much Salesforce paid for the right to Force.com, but the ownership of Force.com has enabled Salesforce, finally, to settle on a brand with continuity.

“We needed a name change. The message wasnt clear enough,” Benioff said during a question-and-answer session with press and analysts following his keynote address. “The key thing was getting the brand out there, a new brand. [We had] sales, service, marketing [and then] heres the platform and the UI. On the platform side, we needed a revision of naming. I did it under duress of the employees. Today I think we really got that.”

Read more about the debut of Database.com.