Apologies, but I can't tell if you're joking or not. You don't seriously believe that, do you?

I'm with midas: I can't tell if you're being facetious or not. It is absolutely not a domain name sale. Business.com is one of the bigger quality lead-gen sites on the web. The 7x revenue multiple (and the assumed 20-30x EBITDA multiple) is within reason for a functioning online business.

The domain name is strong, but other than possessing some pretty basic attributes for recall (broad category descriptor, simplicity) and playing a role in SEO, I find it hard to believe it contributes significantly to audience acquisition, conversion and retention, which, ultimately, is the business they are in.

Ahsan, I'm interested in your comment about 7X and 20-30x multiples on revenue and EBITDA. Do you have any supporting information on this? I run a pretty successful online business and would be happy to confirm these numbers are within the acceptable range.

Best,
George

Paul, you're racking up the hits here. This was absolutely not a domain name sale and all about the fact that Jake built a company behind that domain.
George, check Google, the information exists for the laziest of information seekers. In fact, it exists within the original post.

I don't know their numbers, but the thing looks like a parking lot. Compared with 9.5M for porn.com earlier this year I think they did well. This June I tried to auction intv.com thru Moniker to raise money for a new startup, and couldn't even get on their auction block.

"Sure, the company has $50-million in revenues, but don't kid yourself, this is about the domain name. Impressive."

Being in the domain business I wish it was true, but it is far from it. If there was any basis to this then we would have seen decent offers or more inquires come our way on top domains within our portfolio. The reality of things though is that isn't happening and strong inquiries are few and far between. Just yesterday Wealth.com was on auction at GreatDomains.com and did not break the reserve price. I didn't stay until end of auction but I believe it did not pass the 500K bid. If I'm wrong please correct me.
Without the business behind business.com, without the 50m revenues, without the brand value that was built over years for this domain starting in 97, I doubt it would command more then 10 millions on a very sunny day in today's market.

I work for Business.com and, as a number of you suggest, this acquisition is definitely about much more than the business.com domain name.

business.com is certainly a great domain name, and made sense to purchase in 1999 because it fit the vision for the company. Now, eight years later, its the company Business.com, Inc. that R.H. Donnelley is acquiring. Business.com, Inc. contributes technology and the talents of ~100 employees to RHD, in addition to three rapidly growing, profitable online properties:

* Business.com site - the leading business search and directory site with over 6 million unique visitors per month.

* Business.com Advertising Network - the leading business pay-per-click advertising network reaching over 30 million unique visitors per month across leading business destinations such as Forbes.com, BusinessWeek.com, The Wall St. Journal Online and many more.

* Work.com - the leading business expert community site featuring over 1,800 business how-to guides on a variety of topics