Back in October, I wrote about a new website that offered splash landing pages for personal profiles. About.me offers neat customization options for people to create cool looking landing pages.
About.me was in beta until about a week ago when they went live across the board, and according to reports, there were about 400,000 people who signed up for the beta round. Credit blogs like TechCrunch and sites like Twitter for helping to rapidly spread the word about the startup.
According to a new blog post and video interview on TechCrunch this afternoon, About.me just announced that it was acquired by AOL. That sure was fast. The company apparently signed a letter of intent back in November, but the deal was just announced today. Terms of the deal were not released, but TC guessed that “it’s in the tens of millions of dollars.”
Wow.
This is pretty big news for the .ME domain registry because it puts a .ME domain name in the spotlight. I don’t think I own a .ME domain name, but I would think domain names terms like Love.ME, Find.ME, or Meet.ME would be in higher demand now. Â Love.ME and Find.ME are domain names owned by the registry, so perhaps news like this will encourage them to auction some of the premium reserved names more quickly.
I certainly don’t think this announcement means all .ME domain names are worth more, but it does put .ME more on the map. I know of a few other pretty big deals but don’t think they’re public. If a name makes sense as a .ME, then perhaps this sale will increase interest.
AOL is everywhere nowadays… Comeback ??! 🙂
Is aboutme.com worth anything?
@ AboutMe.com
That’s tough to say. It’s a tough spot to be in since AboutMe.com is a descriptive domain name, but someone that buys it could want to use it for PPC revenue, which would be risky.
It’s worth something, but there are legal considerations now I would assume.
yes… with this purchase AOL should be big someday
tens of millions ? for a site that was barely out of beta and was a visually more appealing linkedin ? I bet .tel is jealous 🙂
There must have been some tech or staff that came with this deal . AOL bought socialthing a year or so back and there didn’t seem to be much there either. . . I’m puzzled by their acquisitions to say the least.
@ Todaro
LOL
Wow that’s a really good and fast one. I don’t see how this deal could effect .me names since all the good .me names that actually make sense are been held by the registrar.
@ Adam
Could raise demand in them, IMO.
Does anyone know how much it sold for?
@ Assurance
Yes, but those who know can’t say 😉
Terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed. Perhaps it will be revealed on AOL’s quarterly report.
Great news… 🙂
I don’t think .ME, in general, will benefit – but, this deal shows that explicitly descriptive .Me domains that say something – or, are a Call to Action – have enormous potential for development & profit.
….I really ought to focus on creating a concept for the domain, PHONE.ME, which I own – then, develop & promote it…
That’s make sense!. In the latest november, i received an inquiry from XXX@about.me regarding my domain name Expression.me, they asked my chat ID to discuss more details, and if i have other .me names. However, after i sent them my contact info, i never heard anything from them until this moment.
So, I think the negotiations was really quick and easy to take less than 20 days!
Elliot,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
I’m going to use it as my bio page.
http://www.About.me/richardmeyer
Great news… 🙂 I don’t think .ME, in general, will benefit – but, this deal shows that explicitly descriptive .Me domains that say something – or, are a Call to Action – have enormous potential for development & profit. ….I really ought to focus on creating a concept for the domain, PHONE.ME, which I own – then, develop & promote it…
@aboutme
worth more than about.me
100-200g when aol decides to take there offering seriously.
This sale had very, very, very little to do with the .Me domain or extension at all. It was an inside play. Former AOL exec (who previously sold a company to them) pitches what we now know is About.me. AOL joins the initial funding round knowing well that more than likely they’ll acquire the site before it ever reaches critical mass.
This is not that uncommon in SF/SV. Don’t be surprised if AOL muffs this one by rebranding it or worse yet rolls it into the new AOL.
AOL.ME
The price that is being floated around is $15M. Won’t end up on AOL reporting.
This sale had very, very, very little to do with the .Me domain or extension at all. It was an inside play. Former AOL exec (who previously sold a company to them) pitches what we now know is About.me. AOL joins the initial funding round knowing well that more than likely they’ll acquire the site before it ever reaches critical mass. This is not that uncommon in SF/SV. Don’t be surprised if AOL muffs this one by rebranding it or worse yet rolls it into the new AOL. AOL.ME The price that is being floated around is $15M. Won’t end up on AOL reporting.
Amazed to see the sale price for About.me
It’s a good site, and lot’s of people are on there, but here in Europe/China everybody is signing up to AskFor.me .