Internet Engine Upgrades Its Domain
Internet Engine finally gets the domain name it wants.
When SEO firm Internet Engine started in 2000, it had a tough time acquiring the corresponding domain name. It ended up settling on Internet-Engine.net. But the hyphen and .net always bothered founder Thom Disch.
“Certainly everyone prefers having a top level domain of .com instead of .net,” stated Disch.
Getting someone to sell a better domain name to him wasn’t easy, though. “No one was letting go of any of these names, period,” he explained. “I couldn’t even get a response from them. It was so frustrating.”
Until this year, that is. Internet Engine purchased InternetEngine.com this past month.
“I’d check once a quarter, and check some of the offer sites out there to see if any variation of Internet Engine would come up,” stated Disch. “Finally, when I was checking InternetEngine.com again, I saw a notice on it that it might be for sale.”
Disch went back and forth with the owner a number of times ahead of dipping into his savings at a price of under $10,000, but twice as much as Disch set for his ceiling.
In addition to the obvious navigation issues with a hyphenated .net domain, Disch was concerned regarding a competitor getting the domain name. Although that would violate the firm’s trademark, the firm realized it would cost a lot of money to go following an infringer.
Overall, Disch was happy with the process of buying a domain name once he finally got a response from a seller. “I just wish it was easier to reach out to [domain owners], especially when you have a true interest in buying the domain,” he stated.
