Domain Names: 21st Century Real Estate

Internet business partners Ari Goldberger, left, and Larry Fischer, demonstrate how they search and buy domain names on the Internet, an estimated $2 billion industry, in New York, Tuesday July 3 , 2007. Over the years, Goldberger and Fischer have sharpened their formula for acquiring domain names and developing the sites, relying on research, savvy and plenty of instinct. "You either know it or don't by hearing the name," Fischer says. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Bebeto Matthews - AP)

But there's a big divide between thinking of a good name and getting it. There's usually a chase, with Fischer trying to persuade owners to sell the names after he locates the owners unless it's up for auction.

"He's kind of like a rhinoceros," Goldberger says about Fischer. "He chases them up a tree and waits them out. He has patience and determination. You got to be aggressive. It's a tough game now. It's like the gold rush. The first guys did really well then it became more difficult."

And expensive. Five years ago, the duo could get a good name for $10,000. Now the minimum is more like $100,000 _ as the auction proved. The cheapest name they bought at the auction was blogging.com for $135,000. Other names sold for considerably less like irishwhiskey.com ($8,000) and Jewishdeli.com ($9,000).

At the moment, Fischer, Goldberger and Eli are sitting on their names. They've recently turned down million-dollar offers for stocks.com and home.com.

But as white-hot as this business has been, it might not continue to mint millionaires.

"How long will this model last?" Malutta asked. "It's definitely a temporal piece of real estate. As technology evolves, maybe direct navigation will fall off the charts and there goes your property."

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Associated Press investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.