The web site, based in New York, invites viewers to send insider information on companies and this is then posted on the site. Typical comments are about dot.coms that have laid off a large number of workers or rumours of impending bankruptcy. The domain name attracted 66 bids on eBay during the first 15 hours of bidding. The top bid of $9.4 million could not be verified and was removed on the assumption that it was a hoax. However, a bid of $3,000,300 was declared legitimate.
Only 10 domain names are thought to have been transferred for US$ seven figure sums, the most recent being the sale of CyberWorks.com for $1 million.
The current owner, Phil Kaplan, said he offered the name on eBay with a starting price of $1 because he was bored. He has since withdrawn the sale from eBay and continued it on his own site, with a view to selling the entire site. The site has become a popular source for journalists seeking “scoops” on failing companies and is described as “the site du jour in Silicon Valley”. It is ranked as the 2250th most visited site on the internet and receives 124,000 unique users per week.