U.K. Secondary Domain Name Market Sees a Growth of More than 150% in 2006 Growth in .co.uk domain value exceeds that of .com

Cologne, Germany, March 2007 – Annual statistics for 2006 compiled by domain marketplace Sedo and DNJournal, the domain industry trade magazine, reveal a surge of 153% in the value of all published .CO.UK domain sales worldwide, in comparison to a growth of 79% in 2005. Already one of the world’s most expensive online addresses with an average sales value of £2,062.15. The increasing scarcity of quality .CO.UK domains, and the continued recovery in the UK online industry, have steadily driven prices higher in the past years.

The percentage share of reported domain sales worldwide for .CO.UK in 2006 has strengthened by 0.5%—in contrast to a slight drop in .COM sales—an indication of the growing importance and market value of .CO.UK domain names. Last year a staggering 84% of the total volume of published .CO.UK domain sales were conducted through Sedo.co.uk, the leading marketplace for buying and selling domain names.

Sedo’s U.K. statistics, which include all domains bought and sold by U.K. entities, have shown a continuous increase in sales prices over the last two years. The highest value transactions involving U.K. entities in 2006 were a confidential .COM domain (£662,315.00) and a confidential .CO.UK domain (£95,000.00). In comparison, the top sales for 2005 were a confidential .COM domain (£30,567.80) and a confidential .CO.UK domain (£25,339.90).

For further detailed statistics please refer to the following link: http://www.sedo.com/presse/market-statistics%202006.pdf

U.K. market sales statistics for 2006 demonstrate an overall increase in the volume of sales, number of domains sold and of the average selling price. The volume of published sales for both .CO.UK and .COM domains grew by 68% and 185% respectively. The number of .co.uk domain sales increased by 52% and .COM sales grew by 32%. This has lead to an additional upturn in average selling prices of 10% (.CO.UK) and 116% (.COM), signalling the maturity and ongoing development of the .CO.UK domain name market.

Nora Cotter, Sedo’s Director of Operations, United Kingdom, comments, “the number of UK-based Sedo members has increased by 34% in the last year alone; indicative of the growing importance of the U.K. market in general. The prospects for 2007 point towards continued success. We look forward to focusing on, and dedicating additional resources to the U.K. market to welcome more new clients and working to ensure we provide current users with complete customer satisfaction.”

About Sedo
Sedo is the global marketplace for buying, selling and parking domain names with offices in the US and Germany. Sedo has assembled the world’s largest database of domain names with over 7 million listings, 350,000 global members and more than £1.6 million in gross monthly transactions. Buyers and sellers are brought together through a searchable online marketplace, and conduct negotiations anonymously using an offer-counteroffer system. Sedo has introduced a range of related services, including domain name escrow/transfer services, domain name appraisals, a domain brokerage service and paid domain name parking program. For additional information, please visit www.sedo.co.uk