IRS.com domain goes for $12.9M
 

And the company that bought it thinks it was a great buy.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/domain.php

Wow wow wow.

now that is someone with money to burn, wow.

I guess they could develop it into a tax advice site

"Intersearch.com reported that revenue last year rose to $25.6 million from $17.5 million in 2005 and attributed most of the increase to its purchase of the irs.com Web site in September 2005. It paid $12.9 million for the domain name.

The irs.com Web site directs customers to affiliated Web sites, including ones it directly owns, that have no disclaimers. One of these sites encourages people to pay $89 to have their tax returns filed for them."

So basically, because of the impending legislation the news has just been released of the actual sales price of this domain (IRS.com) ???

It wasnt reported previously, was it?

Wouldnt that make it one of the biggest domain sales of all time?

good for them, I guess

now maybe I can find a buyer for my ICN.com for 12 mil ;)

Seems awfully steep.

Actually it was reported prior to this development--I just didn't see it. Insiders knew about this for some time, apparently.

Hal, it does seem steep until you consider the enormous traffic:

http://www.quantcast.com/irs.com

...and the fact that they increased sales by about $8M since they bought the domain because of buying it!

Now how long they'll last in the their current form is another matter.

Good point. Thanks for clarifying.

Thats a fuck load of cash for 1 domain, but it seems it was worth it to them

Doesn't seem steep to me. Actualy under priced. IRS and Tax Help is a HUGE industry.

Absolutely incredible... Are they doing anything else other than type-in traffic from it? Buying adwords, other sources of traffic?
WG

I would guess based on my own sites that the name is probably generating $5k a day or more just through clicks and affiliates.

well maybe until you read

"The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to punish commercial Web sites and e-mail senders that falsely portray themselves as having ties with the Internal Revenue Service.

The regulation is part of the so-called Taxpayer Protection Act, which passed by a 407-7 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. "

If your domain is IRS.com no matter what your site looks like, you are basically saying you have ties to the actual IRS.

i won ...yes....

So, it passed in the house, and now what? The senate will vote, and then..

The domain is a lawsuit or indictment waiting to happen?

The only entity that can legally own this domain... is.. the IRS?

$12.9 million.. POOF!?

?

Yes but..... whatever they earned from the domain will be taxed with penalties plus interest and theyll be audited a hundred times over.

wow that is a huyge deal

There's too much money on the table for Intersearch, the parent company of IRS.com to let the government yank it from them. More likely is that the feds will show muscle and force irs.com and others to remove any slippery stuff that tricks people into thinking they're visiting US gov sites, and forcing people to pay for stuff they could get for free.