Boston Globe article regarding direct navigation

The Boston Globe has profiled NameMedia (formerly BuyDomains) and the direct navigation market in general.

The Boston Globe article is poorly titled “Internet Stealth Firm Steps Out”. But anyone in the domain industry knows NameMedia hasn’t been a quiet firm. BuyDomains has always been known as one of the heavyweights in the industry. The firm now owns 650,000 domains.

Some of the firm’s domains, which deliver 25M visitors per month, are photography.com, bookstore.com, and jobfinder.com.

RBC Capital stock analyst Jordan Rohan is quoted in the story saying:

“More than any businesses I’ve seen on the Internet, these firms get to cash-flow positive almost immediately. Direct navigation is the overgrown toddler of the online media space. It’s sizable, growing, and a little bit clumsy in its movements right now.”

The story also discusses some of NameMedia’s competitors, such as iREIT. In related direct navigation news, iREIT disclosed a deal with AssociatedContent to use its original content on domains like Consulting.com and MutualFunds.com. Take a look at these domains and they will appear to be parking on steroids. They are optimized for Google Adsense — you’ll notice the text on the right side that makes the ads blend in nicely.