NameMedia Creates World's Biggest Portfolio of Domain Names

By Derek Iwasiuk
DomainInformer.com
June 12, 2006

WALTHAM, Mass. - NameMedia, the largest buyer and seller of premium domain names, today announced its new Direct Search platform to give online advertisers access to its rapidly growing network of search destinations that already reach more than 25 million consumers monthly.

Previously known as YesDirect, NameMedia is backed by Highland Capital Partners and Summit Partners. Over the last year, it has acquired a leading domain reseller, BuyDomains, a leading domain "parking" service, GoldKey, and dozens of smaller domain collections to create a portfolio of more than one million domain names, the world's largest.

The company also recruited as CEO Kelly Conlin, who has been CEO of technology media company IDG and targeted media company Primedia (NYSE: PRM - News). His experience also includes CNN and The New York Times.

"Domain names are the real estate of the Internet," said Conlin. "They provide opportunities to buy, sell and develop property. With such a large collection of undeveloped real estate, we have a compelling platform for creating a media company that leverages Direct Search while continuing to be the leading buyer and seller of premium domain properties."

Direct Search occurs when a consumer types a search term like "photography" as a URL into the browser's address bar. NameMedia creates a website dynamically based on the subject matter of the domain name. These search destinations match category-specific results with interested consumers on high-value subjects from travel and finance to dating and technology. The scale of its domain portfolio positions NameMedia to lead what analysts estimate will be a $1 billion market by next year.

"The launch of NameMedia is an example of how targeted media is being reinvented," said Conlin. "As advertising increasingly shifts to performance-based media, companies that can pinpoint consumers' interests have a natural advantage. NameMedia is poised to do that across thousands of search terms, creating for advertisers a source of millions of high quality leads -- and creating for NameMedia an exciting, fast-growing company."

In addition, the company's domain-name trading platform is the largest buyer and seller of premium domains in the world, giving NameMedia insight into domain values and monetization trends. Much like an MLS for domain names, NameMedia trades both its own and third-party domain names, offering small and large businesses a deep reserve of potential properties to choose from.

The NameMedia management team-recruited from companies including Lycos, MIVA, Monster, and Yahoo, among others-includes: Jeff Bennett, the company's President and COO; Pete Lamson, General Manager of the domain marketplace; Hugh O'Neill, General Manager of portfolio management; Tom Wilde, General Manager of the Direct Search platform; Brian Taff, the Vice President for Business Development; Chris Paul, the CTO and Brian Lucy, the CFO.

About NameMedia

NameMedia is the industry leader in Direct Search and the marketplace for premium domain names. The company leverages the power of Direct Search through a proprietary publishing platform that creates revenue-generating search destinations, including the company's network of vertical online properties in over 100 categories that include travel, finance, dating, health, shopping and technology. NameMedia also has the industry's largest marketplace for buying and selling premium domain names. NameMedia is a privately-held, venture-backed, rapidly growing company headquartered outside Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.namemedia.com.