DNS - Around 12,000 Domains Changed Hands via Sedo Market Place in Q1 2010

Through the Sedo market place, around 12,000 domains changed hands in the first quarter of 2010, which accounted for over $23 million in transactions, according to the results of Domain Market Study published by Sedo.

Sedo is a provider of online domain marketplace and monetization. This newest announcement marks the company's highest quarter for domain sales since 2008 and represents an 18.6 percent increase in the number of sales compared to Q4 2009.

During the quarter, Sedo officials said that they witnessed a surge in generic (gTLDs) and country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs). They attributed the company's strong growth in the domain name market to an increase in marketing spend among larger corporations, and also to the introduction of one and two-character domains and IDN domains that use non-Roman scripts.

Company officials said that a total of 11,942 domains sold on the Sedo global domain marketplace during the first quarter. The company also reported total domain sales of around $23 million. In comparison to Q4 2009, this is an increase of 8 percent.

According to the findings of the study, the .com extension remained the most popular gTLD, accounting for 76 percent of domains sold, followed by the .net, .info, .biz and .org extensions, respectively. The average price of a .com domain was $2,373.

Company officials said that among ccTLDs, the .de extension was the frontrunner accounting for 38 percent of ccTLDs sold, while the .eu extension moved into second place at 36 percent. This can be attributed to the launch of new IDN domains under .eu in Q4 2009 and the beginning of Q1 2010.

"Sedo's record growth not only shows the resilience of the domain name market, but reveals a real strengthening in the global economy," said Jeremiah Johnston, chief operating officer at Sedo.com.

Johnston said that the introduction of the new Price Suggestion Tool, the ongoing 'Buy it Now' option and the overall updates to the Sedo Website, makes it even easier for members to benefit from our variety of user-friendly tools and services.