Microsoft Buys MSN.ru

Microsoft Russia recently purchased the domain MSN.ru at an undisclosed price, but experts say it could have amounted to a million dollars. Microsoft confirmed the acquisition so if you visit MSN.ru now its homepage sports the ubiquitous Microsoft icons with Windows Live in the spotlight.

Microsoft intends to boost its share in Russia and acquiring the .ru domain is part of the plan. “MSN is getting more and more popular in Russia, and this is very important for Microsoft Russia”, said Petr Suzdalev, Microsoft Russia spokesman. “We will undoubtedly continue developing MSN.ru”.

One of Russia’s most expensive domains was Vodka.ru, sold at $1M. Vodka.com was more expensive at $3M. In 2005, Google bought Google.cn and Google.com.cn for $1M. So did Microsoft really pay $1 million for MSN.ru? It is certainly a possibility, and the domain is definitely worth that amount. It’s also interesting to note that in Russia and China, foreign companies seem to prefer to pay the actual market value for domains they failed to register when they had the opportunity to do so, rather than entangle themselves in lengthy lawsuits with an uncertain outcome.

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