Having a good internet domain is a transcendental part for the marketing of any company. And while it does not guarantee that the venture will be successful, it is the gateway to the public and clients or investors. However, not all companies can gain control of the most representative domain of their business, no matter how powerful and important they are. And that would have happened with Bird, the firm of bicycles and electric scooters, and Bird.com.
Bird.com was one of the most searched Internet domains and, therefore, one of the best quoted. But the really peculiar thing is that it has been the protagonist of a real soap opera during the last year, until finally finding its new owner. Without a doubt, Bird.com could be the dream domain for Bird, but his destiny now lies under the wing of MessageBird, a Dutch communications company.
What is the particular story behind Bird.com?, you might ask. According to Domain Name Wire, the domain was part of a highly publicized auction in February 2021. It ended up being part of a package—along with Fish.com and Tattoo.com—that sold for nearly 5 million Dollars. Of the three, only Bird.com was valued at a staggering $2.5 million.
The first comments in the environment were that the domain had been bought by Bird. It was the most logical, after all. However, that possibility was quickly scuppered when the same person acquired the other two domains that ended up being part of the transaction. At first, not much was known about the protagonist of the business, only that he used an IP address registered in Queenstown, a tiny town in Maryland, United States.
However, the story took an unexpected turn months later, when it became known that the buyer —identified as David Lizmi— was sued for not paying for the domains in question.
Bird.com could have 'got away' to Bird
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash Thus, everything seemed given for Bird to have a new opportunity to keep the long-awaited dominance . Last November, Bird.com was auctioned again but no details about its new owner were released. However, the tests began to point to the Netherlands, as it was the new location that appeared in WhoIs. And that's how MessageBird gets into this story.
We are talking about a Dutch company dedicated to online communications. Its services are used by a wide variety of clients around the world, including big names like Meta (Facebook and WhatsApp), Uber, Google, Airbnb and Glovo, among others. And, since a few days, MessageBird BV has been effectively registered as the new owner of Bird.com.
It is not clear if Bird actually bid to take the domain in question, although Tech.eu assumes it is. It would not be strange if it were so; After all, Californians use bird.co, and they might as well have thought about getting the domain auctioned off for a more conventional online presence. In addition, there are rumors that Bird.com would have been sold for more than 10 million dollars, which could be considered as an indication of a (hypothetical) strong bid between different interested parties. in taking possession.
Be that as it may, today the domain in question still does not redirect to the MessageBird website or to any of its products. The website only shows the legendary Family Guy clip in which Peter drives everyone crazy singing Surfin' Bird, by The Trashmen. This doesn't necessarily mean it stays that way forever, unless new Bird.com owners have had budget left over to spend on a meme.
