[Update: – Looks like SnapNames is experiencing some intermittent technical problems today.  If you have any problems with the auction link,  you might want to wait a few and try again.]

Yesterday,  I tried an experiment on Twitter to virally raise awareness of today’s no-reserve domain auction.   The one day contest invited domainers to estimate the sales price of a domain – ImageBackupSoftware.com.   In return, the person with the closest appraisal would receive 10% of the actual sales price when it is sold today in a no-reserve auction.

The experiment didn’t go completely viral as I had hoped, but exposure was good.  I tweeted about the contest to my 840 followers and was subsequently re-tweeted to approximately 5,500 people by the following Twitter users: @domainingcom @DonnaMahony @Dotsauce @Fantomaster @DomainJuggler.   The following fourteen entries were received with appraisals ranging from $280 to $12,000:

• $280 @Dluzional
• $325 @Dnauso
• $600 @AndrewWright
• $762 @LovelyLeighAnn
• $855 @DanSanchez
• $950 @JamesSun
• $1733 @TrampArt
• $1175 @DomainJuggler
• $2199 @PhoneRated
• $3200 @Anthonys_Book
• $3921 @AceFerdnand
• $4994 @CallerBrian
• $5375 @IowaDawg
• $12,000 @EricWard

I’ve just submitted the name to a no-reserve auction at SnapNames ending at 3:15PM EST today.  The auction can be viewed by clicking here or by going to SnapNames.com and searching for ‘ImageBackupSoftware.com’. After the auction I’ll determine the winner and PayPal them  10% of the sales price

Since I don’t normally list good names at no-reserve, I’m hoping that the attention from the contest will justify the risk.  If you are interested in bidding on the name,  I’ve  attached the following metrics and my analysis of this name’s potential…

Domain Metrics

ImageBackupSoftware.com is an exact category match for ‘image backup software’ a popular type of software used to backup complete hard drive images. Google’s sktool estimates this term receives 1,200 searches per month with a $3.33 CPC (cost per click) and a $2,700 Estibot appraisal. Google show 8,340,00 results and Google Shopping shows 5,564 products listed.

Because of the high demand and CPC, this domain is ideal for parking or minisite development. Its also an excellent candidate for end user resale. Existing advertisers for the key phrase include Symantec, Barracuda Networks, DoubleTake, Paragon Software, Carbonite and Acronis.

Auction details: This domain is being auctioned off today via a no-reserve auction at SnapNames ending  3:15PM EST today.