DRUGS.COM NAME WON BY WEB `PIONEER' : UNIDENTIFIED BIDDER VICTOR AT $823,456.Byline: Dave McNary and Enrique Rivero Staff Writers Is it Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore or maybe Bill Gates (person) Bill Gates - William Henry Gates III, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, which he co-founded in 1975 with Paul Allen. In 1994 Gates is a billionaire, worth $9.35b and Microsoft is worth about $27b. ? Drugs.com, the latest high-profile Internet domain name An organization's unique name on the Internet. The chosen name combined with a top level domain (TLD), such as .com or .org, also called a "domain extension," makes up the Internet domain name. For example, computerlanguage.com is the domain name for the publisher of this Encyclopedia. to be put up for sale, has been auctioned off for $823,456 to a soon-to-be-identified ``pioneer'' of the World Wide Web, auction broker GreatDomains.com announced Monday. GreatDomains, in a move that appears calculated to stir up further interest following last week's auction, said it will unveil the name of the buyer Friday at a news conference in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . ``The successful bidder is a well-known player in the Internet who wishes to keep his identity confidential until the press conference,'' Jeffrey Tinsley Jeffrey Tinsley is an American businessman who is the founder and current Chairman and CEO of Reunion.com, Inc. The company is a social networking website that allows its users to stay in touch with classmates, coworkers, friends, and family members. , chief executive officer of GreatDomains.com, said in a prepared statement. ``I can say that his impact on the Internet is ubiquitous.'' Chatsworth-based GreatDomains said the buyer, who is traveling internationally until Friday, also will appear at the event and unveil his plans for using drugs.com. The name currently exists only as a site address owned by 22-year-old Internet entrepreneur An Internet Entrepreneur is a person that engages in business on the internet and helps to shape the future of business on the internet by being an innovator. One who is able to recognize opportunity and administer resources to take advantage of the opportunities. Eric MacIver of Phoenix. MacIver, operator of five-employee Web site designer Sandline Productions, bought the name in May with the goal of opening an online pharmacy  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. . But then he decided to put the name up for sale with a $260,000 asking price. MacIver said Monday that he will use the auction proceeds to triple the size of Sandline over the next three months and open a Web-based bed-and-bath store in the next six months. MacIver and several analysts had predicted the bid for drugs.com - which receives more than 4,000 hits per day even though no site actually exists - could top $1 million because of the potential for selling prescription and over-the-counter drugs over-the-counter drug A therapeutic agent that does not require a prescription, which the FDA feels can be safely self-prescribed by non-physicians. Cf Prescription drug, Under-the-counter. on the Internet. Upstarts such as drugstore.com and PlanetRX.com already have started trying to snag Web-savvy customers seeking discounts and convenience. Additionally, the notion of a million-dollar sale for a Web site is not far-fetched since a similar name with high a recognition factor - wallstreet.com - sold in May to an online casino Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. for $1.03 million. But MacIver said Monday that he was not disappointed the price couldn't reach seven figures. ``I'm really satisfied with the price,'' he said. ``I think a lot of the drug companies that did not bid are going to be upset with themselves a year from now when they realize what they could have had.'' Analysts have said drugs.com could be a boon Boon A general term that refers to a benefit or improvement for investors. This can include such things as increased dividends, a stock market rally and stock buybacks. Notes: to an online pharmaceuticals retailer, but only if the company also builds the brand with good service and a variety of products. MacIver, who might attend the news conference, refused to divulge the buyer's identity. The price for drugs.com remained around $300,000 until the final half hour of the auction Friday when it rose more than half a million dollars, mostly in increments of at least $10,000. MacIver said a group of operators of sexually themed sites tried to submit a bid of more than $1 million but missed the deadline. ``I'm just as happy that the name went to the winning bidder,'' he added. Tinsley, whose company retains at least 7 percent of the selling price, or $57,641, called the auction ``a huge success'' and noted that the final part of it was carried live on the Internet. GreatDomains plans to use the news conference to announce subsequent auctions for loans.com and houses.com - two of its more than 54,000 domain names, which carry an average listing price of $32,338. Drugs.com attracted dozens of obviously fake bids after it was put up for auction in mid-July, including numerous ``Bill Gates'' offers. Drugs.com is officially registered to Bonnie bon·ny also bon·nie adj. bon·ni·er, bon·ni·est Scots 1. Physically attractive or appealing; pretty. 2. Excellent. Neubeck of Minneapolis, who sold the name in May to MacIver in an option deal that expires Aug. 31. ``I'd like to just be done with it, personally,'' Neubeck said. ``I have the 31st with a big red star on my calendar.'' Neubeck, who registered drugs.com in 1994 through her netprofit.com Web development company, said she had contacted a number of drug companies about selling them the name before the boom in Internet commerce. ``They weren't thinking ahead,'' she said. ``They thought it was a bit crass.'' |
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