Is $750 too much for a $61 billion computer maker to pay for a domain name — especially when it involves one of the fastest-growing segments of the industry’s business?
It was for Dell Inc.
Last month, Round Rock-based Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) launched its ultrathin laptop computer called the Adamo. But Dell, the No. 2 computer maker in the world, spent nearly three months playing a name game before finally spending the money for the domain Adamo.com.
Dell’s approach provides a cautionary tale, experts said, for computer companies trying to attract customers at a time of shrinking profit margins as consumers increasingly rely on simple Web site addresses to skip search engines.
Consumers initially looking for data about the Adamo could only find it on a Web site called AdamoByDell.com.
That was because the Adamo domain name was owned by Yummy Domains, a division of Toronto-based Tucows Inc.
Yummy Domains General Manager Bill Sweetman said he initially approached Dell in February, about three weeks before the launch. Yummy Domains had noticed a spike in traffic after Dell gave a preview of the Adamo at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, he said.
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