Facebook Asks Users If They’ll Pay For Vanity URLs

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/04/facebook-vanity-urls/

by peter123 • 17 years ago

10 9 17 years ago

patio11• 17 years ago

Quote: This could theoretically be a huge business in that URLs could go through a bidding process. Want to get the URL http://www.facebook.com/shoes? You better be willing to bid against companies like Zappos, who I’m sure would be willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

shoes.com, sure, several hundred thousand dollars... but how would you EVER justify that for a URL on Facebook? Is there some hithertofore unknown population of users who are breaking up with their boyfriend one day and then say "You know, I want to console myself with a shoe purchase. I wonder what happens if I highlight the last portion of that thingee in the box thingee, and then type shoes and hit enter. Hmm, Zappos, haven't ever heard of them before or else I would have just Googled but hey, I'm so going to buy a shoe from them."

treyp• 17 years ago

maybe the solution, then, would be to only allow this for personal profiles?

ryanwaggoner• 17 years ago

Would this have an effect on SEO? Would http://facebook.com/shoes be more likely to rank well for a search for "shoes"?

catch23• 17 years ago

it probably would. watch has hundreds of 5-letter words are horded by SEO marketing firms.

batasrki• 17 years ago

How would this be a sustainable revenue stream? I mean, if you pay for a vanity URL, it would surely be a one-time cost, no? Especially after going through a bid.

nreece• 17 years ago

If you own a personal domain, why not just setup a redirection for yourdomain.com/facebook to your Facebook profile. It's vanity, and it's free.

kenhty• 17 years ago

Anyone know http://profile.to ?

kyochan• 17 years ago

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... is on top of numerous search results, so I do think facebook.com/... is viable.

Raphael• 17 years ago

MySpace had "vanity" URLs from day one. For free.

Facebook Asks Users If They’ll Pay For Vanity URLs

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