When Was Thefacebook Domain Registered

When you want to register a domain name and it's not bachelor, the showtime thing that the proper noun suggestion tools offer is to add the "the" or "my" earlier the domain. That's what I imagine happened when Mark Zuckerberg wanted to annals a domain when he first started Facebook. As you probably already know, Facebook one time was Thefacebook.com. Only what'south more important is – what made Zuckerberg to driblet the infamous „the" from Facebook domain name? They e'er wanted to exist merely "Facebook", simply Well-nigh Face, Corp . was already using that domain at the time. And when you bank check the domain name availability, the registrar will prove suggestions if it'southward already taken.

Back in 2005, Facebook started to grow rapidly. That is when Sean Parker, an entrepreneur and founder of Napster, came along. Openly fascinated with TheFacebook (every bit a service, not as a domain name), he suggested to drop the infamous „the" . Dropping the "the" costed them $ 200.000 . The site name has inverse along with the domain, equally a role of the site's showtime major redesign since its launch .

Rebranding of a service goes hand in mitt with changing a domain proper name

The textbook case

Facebook gave united states of america an amazing example of make reinforcement by changing the domain proper noun years ago.

What amuses me the most is the huge rebranding lesson Facebook taught united states of america years ago . If yous talk to marketers, every single one of them will tell you that rebranding is a slippery slope. At that place are a lot of various aspects you lot demand to consider in order non to hurt your brand. But yous don't accept to be a wizard or genius from Harvard to do so. 🙂 While doing a research on Facebook rebranding, I constitute many articles suggesting the best ways of changing the corporate image of an organisation – if your business is still pending on its slap-up expansion, there is a lot of space for rebranding. You lot won't be surprised if I tell y'all that's exactly what Facebook did. The truth is – the make became recognizable, but domain proper noun alter was a corking phone call. And they picked a perfect time for doing it. Can you imagine asking someone if he or she has the TheFacebook account? Probably not. Although I think that TheFacebook was going to survive anyhow, the beauty of a successful brand lies in its simplicity. And they fabricated information technology happen. In a blink of an center, with the change of a domain proper noun (and the name of the brand) Facebook evolved from Ivy league social network to the first thing all of us think after waking up. The textbook example of great brand reinforcement! Arraign it on the domain name alter. 🙂

FB.com

In 2010, Facebook bought FB.com domain from the American Farm Agency Federation and paid a king'due south ransom for it – $eight.five 1000000 dollars , which is 42 times more than the visitor originally paid for facebook.com! One feature of the new Facebook Messages is that it assigns you a personalized Facebook.com e-mail address. If a friend sends a message to your Facebook east-mail, you will receive information technology in your Facebook Inbox. Unfortunately, Facebook'southward employees were using the Facebook.com domain for their e-mails already, so they had to switch to another domain. That'southward why Facebook needed to buy FB.com in the start identify.

Stepping into the mobile-first platform with mobile apps

FB.me

With the launch of FB.ME in 20 x, Facebook's new URL shortener .ME domain is helping the globe'due south largest social network save its more than 350 million users valuable digits in a earth where every grapheme counts. Used as the Facebook shortener on their mobile interface, it automatically shortens a mobile link (for case a thou.facebook.com link) to FB.ME link. This is clearly another confirmation of the intrinsic value of our extension'south personalized branding and power to instantly create a 'call to activity' using minimal characters and maximum impact. Another feature of the shortener is the ability to accept you direct to the Facebook username. For case, the short URL fb.me/domainME will take you to dotME's fan folio. Isn't that pretty crawly?

Moving to mobile-start platform was undoubtedly a very wise move. Subsequently the launching of m.facebook.com and officially announcing mobile support in 2007, Facebook Messenger was launched for Android and IOS in 2011. Facebook did a whole lotta work to make mobile app users feel comfy. Their Artistic Labs department introduced services similar Sling.me (early Snapchat clone, used for creating/sharing pictures/videos with one or more than of your friends that will eventually be erased from the internet ) and Rooms.me ( mix of a forum and news group, with a pinch of Reddit and a nuance of Instagram that lets you create "rooms" for the things you're into, and invite others who are into them too ). Unfortunately, both the department and services mentioned were shut downwards in 2015.

It is not a clandestine that dorsum in 2012 Facebook acquired Instagram and in 2014 both Oculus VR, Inc and WhatsApp. That way, Facebook made clear that they will be using acquisitions as an expansion tool like many other internet giants.

And then, in 2016, Facebook acquired MSQRD.me (or Masquerade), an app that uses sophisticated facial recognition technology, combined with just the right dose of magic, to bring y'all video selfies like you've never seen before. Even Zuckerberg could not resist turning himself into Iron Man for a few hilarious seconds! 🙂

Facebook URL is usually long and non so pretty looking. And that was not the only issue here. Until 2016, Twitter was counting links and photos in the 140-character limit of tweets. So, when you wanted to share a link from Facebook, it's URL "ate" a lot of valuable characters. Same goes for Instagram, where photo clarification is limited to three visible lines. Something had to be done. Facebook Messenger code scan introduction couldn't piece of work without a shortened URL service then, in 2016, the company introduced M.ME Messenger Links . Domain name should exist simple and short, which tin can make a positive influence on building make awareness. With K.ME Messenger Links, aimed at businesses, users tin create a short and memorable link ( thou.me/username ) that, when clicked on or typed in, opens a chat with that business in Messenger. With this launch of M.ME Messenger Links, Facebook's popular communication tool just became essential in any company'southward playbook, large or small! At the same fourth dimension, it'due south very attractive to every-day users, considering it allows to type a friend'due south username and ship a message, without searching or scrolling down through the unabridged inbox.

Safe of the domain registry technical platform and policies

Well, that was a lot of Facebook .me domains and services acquisitions. And that's what we at .ME consider as a confirmation of a reliable and long-term partnership. Domain name safety and reliability are of the greatest importance for united states of america, and Facebook recognized it.

Our backend technical platform, Afilias, gives that reliability and stability, but likewise additional services similar registry lock do. Registry lock is a service that provides an extra layer of security confronting domain name hijacking by locking the domain proper noun at the registry level, preventing the domain proper noun from beingness deleted or transferred or whatsoever domain name information from being altered .

I call up we tin can all agree that investing in safety is never a bad idea!

Editor'southward Note: This mail service was originally published in February 2013. A lot of things changed in the world of Facebook since then, so nosotros decided to update the mail accordingly.