And Speaking of Names . . .

Bidding for Internet use of the name Drugs.com jumped wildly every few minutes before an auction ended Friday with an offer of more than $800,000. Several large drug companies and well-heeled speculators had expressed an interest in the bidding, according to Eric MacIver, 21, an Internet entrepreneur in Mesa, Ariz., who held an option on the domain name. Early bids were taken by e-mail and fax, but only telephoned bids were taken by two auction houses after the scheduled 5 p.m. PDT close. The bids, which were posted on the Internet, reached $750,123 by 5:15 p.m., $800,000 by 5:20 p.m. and $823,456 by 5:25 p.m. At 5:30, online broker GreatDomains.com said no higher bid had been received in a five-minute period, and the name had been sold. The auction house said it could not disclose the final price or buyer without the winning bidder’s permission. It was unclear if the $823,456 bid observed online was the final bid. Dotbroker.com was the other online broker involved.