The Domain Gang reports an interesting story that once again illustrates the importance and value of domain names. The American startup Camel QA, developing voice assistants based on artificial intelligence tools, decided to purchase a suitable domain for its website. The choice fell on the Camel.ai domain, and the founder of the company, Isabella Reed, approached the registrant of the domain name with a very generous offer, as it seemed to her: sell the domain for $200.
Somewhat shocked, the registrant replied that the acquisition and renewal of the domain name registration had already cost him $40,000, so Camel QA's offer seemed, to put it mildly, somewhat inadequate. The answer angered Isabella Reed so much that she published the story on her account on the social network X (formerly Twitter), calling the registrant a "fraudster" and a "squatter". It is noteworthy that many readers supported her, pouring out noble indignation in the comments on the heads of greedy domain investors.
However, there were also sensible commentators. They patiently explained that the word camel is a commonly used dictionary word, and the national domain of Anguilla .AI is one of the most popular domain zones today. Therefore, the price of $200 for the domain name Camel.ai is, if not offensive, then at least absurd. One of the kind-hearted commentators even made a list of domain names available for purchase for Isabella Reed, which were thematically suitable for her startup and not too expensive. Among them was the name CamelAI.com, put up for sale for $7,899.
And apparently, Isabella Reed has learned her lesson in general: today the Camel QA company website is already operating on the CamelAI.com domain. Other aspiring entrepreneurs would do well to draw conclusions: when choosing a name for a company or product, you should also think about the domain name in advance. And either avoid commonly used words, or look for domains that do not literally match them, or prepare for serious expenses.
