Before LowerMyBills.com launched last month, the company registered about 100 domain names.

Some could be used if the company wanted to expand into other businesses.  But officials also wanted to make sure competitors who entered the market didn't have access to names that could be confused with LowerMyBills.com

"Fifty percent of traffic to Web sites happens through word-of-mouth," said Matthew Coffin, president of the North Hollywood-based company, which provides consumers with a way to comparison shop online for basic services like insurance and loan rates.  "Since word-of-mouth is the No. 1 driver, the name is everything."

Indeed, the right domain name can drive traffic by making the Web site easy to find while helping new e-commerce companies get instant customer recognition.  As a result, sing-word, generic names like loans.com, business.com and drugs.com are selling for six- and seven- figure price tags.  But with Internet companies proliferating at lightning speed, many names are starting to sound the same, and experts are increasingly questioning whether a catchy Web address is enough to market an e-business successfully.

"There's a difference between naming and branding," said Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates, a global branding and identity consulting firm. "A good name make it easy for people to find you, but it's only one element.  Just the name alone guarantees you nothing unless you have everything else around the name."

In recent months, loans.com was bought by Bank of America for $3 million; business.com brought $7.5 million: and drugs.com commanded $823,456.  Buyers say those prices were justified because the names quickly identify the business or service offered, and allow shoppers to find the Web site without any further prompting.

"People are automatically going to type loans.com in their browser in an attempt to find a company that can help them in procuring a loan," said Jeff Tinsley, chief executive of GreatDomains.com, the Universal City - based firm that brokered the sale of loans.com to BofA. "The traffic is going to be extremely well-qualified, too."

'Cyber sham'

For those reasons, Tinsley says, more firms are seeking out the services of GreatDomain.com.  But as generic names proliferate, some worry that these high-priced monikers soon will be awash in a sea of copycats, that at best, draw attention away from any one company and, at worst, seriously hamper efforts to brand the business.

"The generic names, because they are not trademark-able, are nothing but a cyber sham," said Naseem Javed, president of ABC Namebank International, a firm that specializes in creating and developing corporate and brand names.  "After six months the sizzle will go out because the same law that allows you to register a name also allows all you competitors to register the same name with slight variations.

Javed points out that just a few years ago, there were only 10,000 domain names.  Now, some 11,000 names are registered each day and within six months, that number is expected to increase to 50,000 domain names a day.  In such a crowded field, Javed says, Coca-Cola is likely to fare far better than cola.com

Such was the thinking at Right Start Inc. when the brick-and-mortar retailer made its move to the Internet last year.

"We wanted to make sure we leverage out brand," said Jerry R. Welch, chairman and chief executive of the Woodland Hills-based company that operates as RightStart.com on the Web.  "Even if you choose a generic domain name, at the end of the day you're still going to have to spend the same effort and marketing muscle.  This is branding, and branding is a tough, expensive proposition."

Some believe the entry of brick-and-mortar retailers into the e-commerce field may be one of the biggest problems that e-tailers with generic names will face.  Companies like eToys, for example, may enjoy an advantage because they were among the first into cyberspace with an address that is easy to find.  But ultimately they will have to compete against Toys 'R' Us and others that have spent years cultivating a brand image.

Instant gratification

"The minute you're not the only one in that spot (the generic name) works against you," said Adamson.  "You immediately fall into undifferentiated land and you have a huge hole to get out of."

To protect against the gaggle of companies coming online, some firms have gone to the other extreme.  Kozmo.com, for example, was named after a character in the founder's favorite television show, "Seinfeld," and his favorite drink, the "Cosmopolitan."

The name is memorable, company officials say, but just as important is that it gives Kozmo.com the flexibility to expand its business beyond the initial services it offers - quick, neighborhood delivery for such urban staples as video rentals, compact discs, junk food and sundries like aspirin and diapers.

"We can attach whatever we want to it - instant gratification, good customer service, getting things that make your life easy," said Jim Kee, vice president of strategic growth for the company, which has just launched in the San Fernando Valley.  "We certainly faced some hurdles because it's hard to spell, but I think in the long term, it's worth it to invest in creating a name."

But isn't Kozmo.com hard to find on the Internet?  Joie Pitre, regional sales and marketing manager, said it's up to the company to build consumer recognition around the name.

Kozmo.com will be launching an advertising campaign and looking for sponsorship opportunities to help it shape its image in consumer's minds, but the name has already caught on in New York, where the company has been operating for two years.

The End