As we mentioned last week, Google, in spite of already having launched their Knol website, doesn’t own the domain name Knol.com. It is owned by Dutchman Hilco Knol, who sells steam cleaning equipment on that URL.
He hasn’t sold the domain name yet, but it seems like he has been approached by Google with a six-figure offer. However, he has stated that he wants at least €1 million to part with the domain name. That is approximately $1.56 million.
You could call him an unintentional domain speculator. All of a sudden a person running a small business has found himself in possession of a domain name for a brand belonging to one of the largest companies in the world. All because his last name happens to be Knol.
It could happen to anyone
When a big company like Google launches a brand with a name that happens to coincide with a domain name you own, your company may be in for a significant (and unexpected) pay day.
You’ll have the trouble of switching domain names if you sell yours, of course, but if you run a small business with a moderate income that trouble can easily be offset by the profit from the sale of the domain name.
(The man in the picture really has NOTHING to do with this article, but we liked his glasses… 🙂 Photo courtesy of Trig at Flickr.)
