AN iconic internet domain name — glasgow.com — is being sold off in the next month and already there have been two “serious” offers.
The site has been owned by Tommy Butler, a Glasgow domainer, since 1995, when he bought it for $100,000 (£68,000).
However, he is letting it go – along with a network of 150 related names – for what is believed to be a seven-figure sum.
Butler has been dealing in domain names for more than 20 years, and says the sale reflects changes in his commercial strategy.
“Business on the internet has changed drastically in 21 years,” he said. “Back then, Amazon was a river and no-one knew what a Google was.
“My business has gone through equally considerable changes and that is why I am reluctantly letting Glasgow go.
“Some people might say that it is not hard to keep an eye on a domain but I look after 2,000 domains and associated accounts. It is about having domains that suit my current plans for the business while also letting someone else use a domain like this.”
He said there had been past interest from media companies and tourism firms and even inquiries from the Middle East.
Since his intention to sell became known, and he published the site's latest statistics, he said he has received two serious offers.
“One was just for glasgow.com and the other was for it and all the other associated names,” he said. “You have got to wonder when somebody offers you a lot of money, ‘Is it time to cash in the chips?’
"There are two fantastic offers on the table and I have got to think about it.
"I still look on it as being my baby name – but from a business point of view and the offers that are there, I would be crazy to dismiss them.”
The domain comes with the Twitter ID @Glasgow and LinkedIn account Glasgow, with the option of more than 150 Glasgow domains and websites.
Geographic domains – geo-domains – can attract huge interest and fees. Popular sales have included moscow.com (£200,000), england.com (£1.8 million) and NewYork.com, which was sold for a seven-figure sum within the past 10 years.
The sale will not end Butler’s involvement with domain names. He still has more than 1,200 websites to take care of and is branching out in Europe and the Middle East.
“We have got hundreds of city pub and taxi sites, car-hire sites in Liverpool, Birmingham, Mayfair, Aberdeen and Glasgow, so having all them on board takes up a lot of my energy for what is basically a one-man business," he said.
“We have moved into the UAE where we are launching 40 sites and we have got web businesses throughout Spain and elsewhere in Europe, so we are focusing more on that.”
Butler began snapping up website names when other businesses were still concentrating on fax machines for communications.
He now also advises companies and other domain sellers on the best use of their internet addresses.
However, his career as a domainer has not always run smoothly.
In 2002 he was involved in a legal battle with the Law Society of Scotland who sued him over his ownership of the scottishlawyer.com website.
Three years ago the organisers of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games seized the domain glasgow-2014.com from him after accusing him of hijacking the sport event.
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