Yahoo Snatches OMG.com for $80,000

Yahoo has a clear goal ahead of it, at least that's what it keeps saying, focusing on content, its homepage and better integration of its services. Moving towards content creation seems like a smart move – AOL has been doing it quite successfully – and one of Yahoo's hottest properties in this area is its celebrity gossip blog OMG. It should come as no surprise then that the company recently acquired the premium domain name OMG.com, and the best part is the bargain price of $80,000.

The domain name was sold last week but it wasn't until now that the buyer was revealed, as Domain Name Wire reports. At this price it's a real snatch for Yahoo, even as domain name transactions have seen a significant drop in price and volume in the weak economic conditions. The much less valuable LMK.com, shorthand for “Let Me Know,” for example, sold for $58,500 this week, further emphasizing the low price Yahoo paid for OMG.com, which stands for “Oh My God.”

Yahoo has been active in the domain name market in recent months though its previous transactions have been much less favorable for the company. In June it sold contests.com, considered to be a very valuable asset, for the low price of $380,000 well below what many believed the domain name could have fetched, possibly something in the region of a few million dollars. Yahoo also sold WP.com recently to WordPress' parent Automattic. Other domain names sold for a hefty sum this year, with candy.com going for $3.1 million in June and toys.com for $5.1 million, the biggest transaction this year.

OMG.com could be a real asset for Yahoo as it tries to push harder in the competitive market of celebrity gossip blogs. Unlike its main rival, AOL's TMZ.com, OMG doesn't have its own URL so the new domain name may help in establishing a standalone image. Microsoft's foray into the sector, the celebrity site Wonderwall, also enjoys its own domain name and has already reached half of Yahoo's property traffic numbers.