Did Facebook Quietly Acquire FB.com?

I read an interesting “Tweet” on George Kirikos’ Twitter feed this morning. According to Domaintools’ Whois History tool, the domain name FB.com changed hands on September 3, 2010. Prior to this change, the domain name was registered to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The organization owns FB.org, which might explain their willingness to part with FB.com.

FB.com is currently registered to DNStination  Inc., and it is registered at Mark Monitor, the same corporate registrar used by Facebook for their Facebook.com registration. Could Facebook have stealthily acquired FB.com? The domain name does not currently resolve anywhere, but it would seem to be a good domain name for them to own, especially with the popularity of url shorteners.

Ironically enough, there is a page on Facebook called “Petition to make www.fb.com an official link to facebook is on Facebook.” The group currently has 75 members. Perhaps they were on to something.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

7 COMMENTS

  1. I think FaceBook is likely the buyer (99% chance). But, I just realized that FOXBusiness.com is also registered at MarkMonitor. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch made the acquisition, as their arch enemy CNBC has a much shorter URL?

  2. Prosecution History
    # Date History Text Due Date
    7 05/21/2010 SUSPENDED
    6 05/21/2010 STIP TO SUSPEND PEND SETTLEMENT NEGOTNS
    5 12/01/2009 SUSPENDED
    4 12/01/2009 STIP TO SUSPEND PEND SETTLEMENT NEGOTNS
    3 11/30/2009 PENDING, INSTITUTED
    2 11/30/2009 NOTICE AND TRIAL DATES SENT; ANSWER DUE: 01/09/2010
    1 11/30/2009 FILED AND FEE

    So they may have settled…

    http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91192839&pty=OPP

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