I have pretty much every meaningful one word .com domain name listed in my Domain Monitor tool from DomainTools. When one of these domain names transfers to a different registrar, changes hands, or has some sort of other update, I am frequently able to see this within a day or two. I regularly notice great brand match .com domain names that were acquired by the most obvious end user buyer.
I recently noticed that Extend.com was acquired by a company called Extend. Obviously, a company called Extend is better off owning Extend.com, and having this brand match domain name should pay dividends for this company for years to come.
Unfortunately, I was unable to learn the acquisition price for Extend.com. However, Woody Levin, the founder of Extend, published a blog post last week discussing why he felt it was important for his company to acquire the Extend.com domain name. Here’s an excerpt from his article covering this:
“Customer focus: Extend is focused on building the premier brand in the extended warranty and protection plan industry – think AppleCare for everything. In doing so we put our customers’ experience first. Making sure customers who have bought a protection plan from Extend know where to go when they need us is paramount.
Brand building: Think of all the iconic companies that you interact with on a daily basis – Facebook, Google, Apple, Starbucks, Chase and more. All these brands live online at a domain that is their exact name. Although Facebook’s address was thefacebook.com for a bit before they had their drop the “The” moment.
It just feels right: HelloExtend.com wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t feel professional and polished enough for the size and scope of the company we are, and the company we are building. Data drives most of our decisions at Extend, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut.”
I think other startups would be wise to read this and understand why their brand match domain name is important to acquire. This is especially true with very generic terms that could be picked off and branded by other companies that share the same brand name. In Extend’s case, there are quite a few companies that missed out on the opportunity.
