The domain name 360.com.cn is on the market for a million yuan - will Qihoo 360 acquire it or not?
According to a Weibo post, well-known Chinese current affairs commentator "Ran Xiang" recently listed the premium three-digit domain 360.com.cn for sale on behalf of someone else. Given that this domain shares the same prefix as the official website of Qihoo 360 Security Guard, it quickly drew significant attention from industry insiders. Subsequently, Aimin.net discovered through the sales link posted by Ran Xiang that the seller also owns several other "360" domains such as am360.com, msn360.com, and my360.cn.
Based on WHOIS records, 360.com.cn was registered on June 4, 2003, making it nearly nine years old. The domain owner is Mr. Wang, head of a domestic design company. Meanwhile, 360.cn has long been acquired by Qihoo 360 as the official domain for their security software. In 2010, 360.com was purchased by an overseas company called Da Feng. Previously, 360.net served as the domain for a domestic enterprise information platform but was shut down due to poor management, eventually falling into foreign hands after multiple transfers.
In response to the seller's asking price of 1.2 million yuan for 360.com.cn, some domain investors frankly stated: This price would only be unattainable if Qihoo 360 isn't interested. Relevant domain experts estimated the value of 360.com.cn to be around six figures, indicating that selling at the seller's set price of 1.2 million would be quite challenging. After all, compared with mainstream suffixes like .com and .cn, .com.cn domains have a certain value gap. There are very few cases in China where such type of suffix domains have sold for over a million yuan.
In recent years, the installation base of Qihoo 360's security software on PCs has steadily increased, almost overnight propelling 360 into becoming one of China's top internet companies. The name "360" has become a widely recognized security brand. Last year, 360 made frequent moves in the domain space, acquiring domains like woxihuan.com and kouxin.com... As the saying goes, when one person attains enlightenment, even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. With the rising value of the 360 brand, related 360 domains have seen price increases of several times over what they were before Qihoo 360 became famous.
Numeric domains, due to their simplicity and memorability, have always been highly favored by domain investors and internet companies alike. Whether in the domestic or international domain trading markets, numeric domains have consistently been considered hard currency. Good numeric domains are often priced beyond reach, and there are countless examples of numeric domains being utilized. As the first security company in the field to adopt a numeric domain, 360 achieved tremendous success, becoming a case study for many entrepreneurs learning about internet startups - prioritize your domain name when starting an internet business.
Since Qihoo 360 is the largest potential buyer of 360.com.cn, and among many internet companies, 360 places relatively more emphasis on protecting its domain intellectual property rights, will Qihoo 360 make a move this time after previously missing out on 360.com and 360.net? Who will ultimately acquire this domain? Will it attract the attention of Zhou Hongyi and result in a protective acquisition, or will there be a dark horse who makes a low-profile purchase? These questions will require time to answer, so let's wait and see.
Domain Fun Fact:
During the "3Q" war, the design company using 360.com.cn as their studio domain caused confusion among netizens between the tiger ".cn" and the rat ".com.cn". Countless netizens mistakenly left messages of support for 360 on the design company's website (360.com.cn). Due to the sudden surge in traffic, the design company's site experienced intermittent access issues. Afterwards, some informed netizens suggested that the design company might as well acquire both QQ and 360 altogether.
[Link provided for additional context: http://www.xwkj.com/yumingzhuce.asp]