For the first time, people outside the traditionally underground world of domainers, as they call themselves, are beginning to realize the importance of a name.  The industry’s fundamental assertion – that Web names can be valuable, cash-generating assets just like stocks, bonds or property – appears to be gaining a broader acceptance that veteran domainers are not accustomed to and may not be totally comfortable with.

Domainers have, for the most part, had a negative reputation. Domain-name trading takes little of the actual effort needed to build businesses on the Web, instead relying on clicks from people who are too lazy or too unsophisticated to use a search engine. In its early years, this industry was dominated, primarily, by offshore players and secretive, if not illegal, tactics.

But increasingly, there is serious cash at stake. In 2007, 106 domain names sold for well over $100,000, including porn.com, which went for nearly $9.5 million. In 2006, only 70 domain names were sold for more than six figures. Millions of domain names, pointing to sites with little more than automated Google or Yahoo text ads, brought in untold more millions of dollars.