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The bidding started at $300,000 and blasted through the seven-figure mark before settling at $1.8 million. No, this wasn’t Sotheby’s–nor was the object d’art a Picasso. This battle was for the URL Seniors.com.

The action took place last week at the domain name auction, hosted by Moniker.com at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York. The invitation-only participants, who seemed more suited to a Star Trek convention, would ultimately bid on 218 Web domain names that all together would sell for $10.8 million.

Many clocked six-figure price tags, far exceeding the industry average of $2,000 to $3,500, according to Matt Bentley, chief strategy officer for Sedo.com, a domain brokerage firm. Two broke the $1 million mark: Creditcheck.com fetched $3 million and Seniors.com nabbed $1.8 million.

Growth in online advertising and the shrinking pool of available names are pushing URL price tags to new heights. Three of the top five deals in history happened in the last two years. “You’re seeing a perfect storm created by converging factors that are resulting in an increase in domain values,” says Bentley.

Sex.com broke the eight-figured barrier in 2005 by nabbing $12 million, according to DN Journal, which tracks the domain name industry. Porn.com came in next, at $9.5 million last month, followed by Business.com ($7.5 million in 1999), Diamond.com ($7.5 million in 2006) and Beer.com (a reported $7 million in 1999).

During the tech boom, top-selling domains were based on brand appeal. Now it’s all about searchable keywords that are both generic and descriptive.

A big reason: With online ad spending increasing at a rate of 30% a year, owning domain names has become a business in itself. Entrepreneurs can flip them, like Miami condominiums, or they can sit on them and collect rent.

Say you buy Papercups.com. You may have no intention of selling paper cups, but because the name is so descriptive, chances are it will soar to the top of a Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) search stack.

In theory, your Web site could simply list a bunch of URLs leading to other sites that do sell paper cups; every time someone clicks one of those links, you collect a royalty–just as Google does with its AdWords service. Social networks like News Corp.’s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) MySpace and Facebook operate on this same ad-based principle.

“Today people are buying a lot of domain names as an advertising tool, rather than as a brand name for their Web site,” says Bentley.

Despite the rise in URL prices, in many cases you don’t have to be Donald Trump to get into this so-called parking game. And while many such sites are not huge moneymakers, they tend to more than cover the initial acquisition cost and annual registration fees of about $10. (One visitor to Moniker’s auction said he owns some 2,500 Web addresses.) What’s more, nontraditional asset-backed lenders like Domain Capital will even lend money backed by the value of a Web address.

New domains cost between $7 and $15 per year at domain sellers (or registrars) GoDaddy.com and Register.com. These middlemen pay a fixed fee to VeriSign (nasdaq: VRSN - news - people ), which controls the domain industry under the auspices of an international body called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which reports to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

With more than 100 million Web addresses already in use, many of the best have already been snatched up. As with real estate, if you want something truly valuable, you have to pay up.

A global study of banking, retail and payment services executives’ attitudes towards the burgeoning Chinese payments market conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of First Data International has revealed that the vast majority of respondents are optimistic about the prospects for electronic payments in China. Eighty-five percent of respondents, for example, believe the prospects for credit cards are either highly or somewhat promising. While bankers recognize the considerable challenges, they are bullish about the opportunities and are committed to this rapidly growing market.

One-hundred and fifty-two banking executives representing organisations from all over the world including: Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America took part in the study, which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of First Data International, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services. First Data, an independent payments processor active in the Chinese market today, commissioned the study to gain insights from both national and foreign banking, retail and payment services executives, regarding their experiences conducting business in China as early market entrants, and to identify and understand the challenges and opportunities for organisations that are currently considering market entry. Study participants were either from businesses already operating in China or those that plan to enter the market within three years.

Highlights of the study findings include:

• Retail banks are bullish about consumer banking opportunities. With over one billion cards now in circulation in China - and more than 200 million new cards issued in 2006 alone - it is not surprising that retail bankers are optimistic about credit cards as well as bank accounts. Fifty-five percent of study respondents believe the prospects for credit cards and bank accounts are ‘highly promising’ over the next three years, putting them at the top of the list. Forty-five percent also highly rate the opportunities for debit cards and 40 percent for wealth and investment management solutions. Overall, respondents are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the consumer banking sector.
• The short-term outlook for profits is less certain. The optimism expressed by bankers in the study is accompanied by a strong dose of realism. Forty three percent of retail bankers agree that it will be difficult to make a profit in the credit card market over the next three years, while just 21 believe it is possible. Tough competition for customers and other challenges stand in the way of profits today. Nevertheless, recognizing the scale of the market, and the early signs of change in the spending patterns of Chinese consumers, banks are willing to wait for profits. The opportunity is simply too big to ignore.

“It is clear from our study that banks want to tap into the vast new customer base that awaits them in China, although they’re also realistic about the challenges and risks that await them there,” said Charles Goddard, editorial director for the Economist Intelligence Unit in Asia Pacific. “The general consensus is that while the risks are high, the rewards for the winners will be equally large.”

“While much of the world’s attention remains focused on China’s IPOs and its booming stock market, an arguably more important development is the emergence of a modern payments infrastructure, supported by efficient systems and sensible credit policies, ” said Douglas A. Jaffe, research director, Financial Insights Asia Pacific. “China’s long-term economic health necessitates the development of a healthy consumer society, and this means a gradual shift away from cash towards electronic payments and credit-based products. This shift is occurring and evidence can be found in important studies like the one commissioned by First Data.”

Additional key findings include:

• Infrastructure is key to card market growth. Eight-three percent of study respondents identify infrastructure improvements as the single most important factor in encouraging the increased take-up of card payments in China. Other critical factors include better collaboration between key stakeholders such as banks and payment processors (for 48 percent of respondents) and publicity campaigns (33 percent).Half the survey respondents identify better availability of consumer credit-history data as being critical to support the cards payments infrastructure in China. Additionally, a more extensive card acceptance network is critical - merchant acceptance is still at a low level outside China’s major cities - as is a significant expansion of the ATM network, to promote card usage.
• Merchant acquisition is a significant challenge. Convincing merchants to accept credit cards represents a major challenge for banks. Eight out of ten retail bankers polled for this report say that local retailers’ preference for cash is a ‘very significant’ or ’significant’ barrier to operating cards and payment services. In part, this is because retailers are not yet experiencing consumer pressure to provide payment card facilities in a society where cash remains the preferred payment method.
• Consumer education is a priority. The study reveals that much work needs to be done to promote a plastic card payment culture in China. In addition to improvements in infrastructure, study respondents recognize that Chinese banks need to do more to educate consumers about the benefits of using payment cards, which will encourage a switch from cash-based transactions to cards.Although a relatively new product offering in China, respondents to the survey see great potential for revolving credit cards. With more than 50 million credit cards issued, more and more Chinese consumers are coming to value the positive contribution that access to credit can make to their lives, as well as the flexible repayment options that credit cards offer. At the same time, banks that participated in the survey recognized the need for responsible lending - and strong risk management skills - as they develop their credit card programmes.

“China has a population of more than one billion and a card payments market set to grow exponentially over the next five years,” said Nigel Lee, president, First Data International, Asia. “It is not surprising that the country’s consumer banking sector has drawn the attention of foreign banks, and our study clearly reveals the extent of their commitment to this market. As one of the earliest foreign companies to enter the payments market in China, we have direct experience of the challenges facing new entrants.”

Lee added, “This important study provides valuable insight into the attitudes and experiences of bankers and merchants from across the world as they address the rapidly growing Chinese market. Our global payments expertise, coupled with our local presence in China and across Asia, positions us well to provide the infrastructure, operations, licensing and outsourcing support needed by organisations looking to develop their cards and payments business in China.”

For additional information on the research study, and to obtain a free copy of the full report, please visit: www.fdiperspectives.com.

BiGDUG, the UK’s best value online racking and shelving company, is pleased to announce that Mike Harding will be their new business development manager from Monday June 18th 2007.

BiGDUG, the UK’s best value online racking and shelving company, is pleased to announce that Mike Harding will be their new business development manager from Monday June 18th 2007.

BiGDUG specialises in providing quality shelving (http://www.bigdug.co.uk/acatalog/265kgs.html ) and racking on a budget, and has recently opened up a new warehouse in Staunton, Gloucestershire. Mr Harding will be joining BiGDUG in their Staunton headquarters from next week.

Previously, Mr Harding has worked at Rapid Racking, a leading UK storage (http://www.bigdug.co.uk/acatalog/Storage_Bays_with_Plastic_Boxes.html ) and racking supplier, and The Consortium, vendors of educational equipment and products in Britain. In his role as business development manager at BiGDUG, Mr Harding will primarily be involved in seeking out new BiGDUG product lines in order to preserve the company’s status as the UK’s number one store for low-cost shelving (http://www.bigdug.co.uk/acatalog/Budget.html ) online.

Doug Nourse, BiGDUG’s Managing Director, commented, “I’m very happy to announce that Mike Harding has agreed to become BiGDUG’s new business development manager, and we’re excited to see how he’ll influence the future shape of our company. Having previously worked at Rapid Racking, one of our biggest competitors, we’re sure that Mike will be able to bring both enthusiasm and exceptional industry knowledge to the table.”

Mr Nourse added, “As our business development manager, Mike will mainly be concentrating on developing new product lines for BiGDUG, while at the same time continuing our pledge to be the leading budget shelving store online and adhering to BiGDUG’s commitment to support our local community in Gloucestershire.”

In May, BiGDUG supported multimedia students from the University of Gloucestershire, when the company provided BiGDUG shelving items to six teams as props for assignment in which they had to create a short promotional video. The winning team invented “BiGDUG: the game”, in which shelving and storage products were depicted in the form of a computer game.

About BiGDUG
BiGDUG ( http://www.BiGDUG.co.uk ) is the best value online racking and shelving company in the UK. BiGDUG specialises in offering customers specifically produced products that are easy to assemble and operate. BiGDUG’s main products include: galvanised shelving, industrial shelving, archive shelving, chrome shelving, plastic bins and workbenches.

BiGDUG also offers its client first-class customer service, with the ability to refund in the event of product dissatisfaction, as well as the option to contact BiGDUG via email or telephone for suggestions and complaints.

BiGDUG is currently one of the biggest employers in a rural area in the UK.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today pressed on with her drive to reach a consensus on the outlines of a new European Union treaty at a summit this week, with Poland still showing resistance to her plans.

Ms Merkel held four hours of talks yesterday with Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who stuck to Warsaw’s demands for a re-weighting of EU voting rights in the charter for reforming the bloc’s institutions.

“For the time being, we have retained our positions but with the conviction that success should be sought next Thursday and Friday (at the EU summit),” Poland’s PAP news agency quoted Mr Kaczynski as saying after the talks.

Ms Merkel needs to overcome Poland’s resistance - virtually all other EU states oppose Warsaw’s demands to overhaul the voting rules - if she is to end her presidency of the bloc on a positive note at the June 21st-22nd EU summit.

Only the Czech Republic backs Warsaw’s demands for re-weighting the voting system.

Ms Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency for the first half of this year, is due to meet Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek today. “The negotiations will continue,” a German government spokesman said after Ms Merkel’s talks with Mr Kaczynski.

Poland believes the voting rules contained in an old treaty that was rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago gives big states like Germany too much influence. Poland has threatened to block progress on the charter at the summit if its demands for re-weighting the voting system are not taken into account.

“Our country sees no reason why it should be the biggest cost-bearer of the new agreement,” PAP quoted the Polish president as saying.

He added: “I think there is a still a chance, but the draft will not be presented until June 19th.”

Polish commentators noted that the word ‘veto’ did not appear a single time in Mr Kaczynski’s remarks.

Britain also set out red lines for the treaty negotiations, and said there were still quite strong differences of view between member states.

“One of the things that is slightly nerve-wracking to be honest, is that it is still far from clear what proposals the German presidency feels able to put,” British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told BBC television in an interview.

Britain would not accept any requirements to change its social and labour laws, would not put its seat on the UN Security Council at risk and did not want to see a treaty that had the characteristics of a constitution, Ms Beckett said.

EBay, the world’s largest online auctioneer, must wait to find out whether a judge will order it to stop using a Great Falls company’s patent for online shopping.

U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman said in Norfolk yesterday that he won’t immediately rule on whether MercExchange can block eBay from using its Buy it Now feature. A jury found in May 2003 that eBay infringed MercExchange’s patent. The fight is over a technique that allows a customer to buy a product at a fixed price rather than through auction bidding.

Friedman asked eBay at a hearing to submit the language it would propose he use in any such order, in the event he rules for closely held MercExchange.

“I haven’t made any ruling yet,” the judge said. “But if I do, I would like to see what eBay’s position is.”

The dispute, which began in 2001, led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling that said patent owners can’t always keep an infringer from using their inventions.

After eBay lost at the trial, Friedman refused to order it to abandon the technique. An appeals court said he must issue the order, following a decades-old principle that court orders to stop patent infringement are virtually automatic.

But then the Supreme Court disagreed, granting judges discretion on such orders without addressing the underlying issues in the case.

EBay, based in San Jose, said in its annual report that it has changed some functions on its Web site to avoid infringing the patent and that it doesn’t think any order would hurt its operations.

MercExchange has argued that it was entitled to a blocking order to protect its ability to license its patent.

“There is no question that granting injunctive relief will not only honor the rights of the patent holders but may be the only way competition can be introduced into this marketplace,” Seth Waxman, a lawyer for MercExchange, told Friedman.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reviewing the validity of two MercExchange patents. In preliminary findings, it said the patents shouldn’t have been issued.

Friedman said he’ll consider eBay’s request to put the case on hold until the review is completed.

EBay shares fell 53 cents yesterday, to $30.96

A federal judge has ruled that Visa USA, the largest U.S. credit card group, must stop charging a special fee when a big debit card client jumps to rival MasterCard Inc.Shares of MasterCard, which had been up 2 percent, rose an additional 3.5 percent after the company issued a statement on Thursday’s ruling by Manhattan federal judge Barbara Jones.

The judge agreed with a special master that the fee violated a 2003 settlement of claims by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers that they incurred billions of dollars of processing costs to meet card association requirements that they accept signature-verified debit cards. Visa settled for $2 billion and MasterCard for $1 billion.

According to the judge’s 41-page opinion, Visa decided to assess a “settlement service fee” to any of its 100 largest debit issuers that moved its debit portfolio to MasterCard. The fee was to represent the issuer’s proportionate share of Visa’s remaining obligations under the settlement.

“The court agrees with the special master that, because banks make the brand-switching decision ‘at the margin,’ the settlement service fee is large enough in relation to MasterCard’s incentive package to effectively prevent a bank from switching,” Jones wrote.

Jones also required Visa to allow any of the 100 issuers who signed agreements with Visa while the fee was in place to terminate those agreements, so long as the issuer has entered into an agreement to issue MasterCard brand debit cards.

“This is a significant win,” MasterCard General Counsel Noah Hanft said in a statement. “With this roadblock out of the way, financial institutions (can) make decisions based on their best judgment about quality of service, strength of brand and other competitive factors.”

Visa USA Vice President Rosetta Jones said her card association is studying the ruling and may appeal.

MasterCard is based in Purchase, New York, and Visa in San Francisco.

In afternoon trading, MasterCard shares were up $4.28, or 3.1 percent, at $143.69, after earlier rising to $147.14.