Hey Buddy, I Got A Potent Domain Name Here

What’s in a name? At least $260,000 so far, and maybe more than $1 million if the name is Drugs.com.

Eric MacIver, a 21-year-old Internet entrepreneur in Mesa, Ariz., stands to reap the windfall from drug companies bidding for rights to the Internet domain name to which he owns the exclusive rights.

Intense bidding under way for the name highlights the competition among companies seeking the right name to lure customers in the increasingly crowded world of electronic commerce.

By Wednesday afternoon the highest confirmed bid was $260,000, but several large drug companies and well-heeled speculators have expressed an interest in bidding before the auction closes at 5 p.m. PDT Friday, MacIver said in a telephone interview from his office.

Officials at Greatdomains.com, one of two online brokers handling the auction, said confidentiality agreements prevented them from releasing names of bidders.

Several major companies have verbally committed to bids well above $260,000, however. Greatdomains, based in Los Angeles, and Dotbroker.com, the other broker involved in the sale, were in the process of confirming the bids on Wednesday, said Jeff Tinsley, Greatdomains’ chief executive.