On the same day Facebook unleashed new Open Graph apps for its Timeline profile, the company registered multiple domain names for something called “FB Origin.” A quick whois lookup shows the following six domains all belong to Facebook as of yesterday (via Fusible):
Here is the full Whois Record for fborigin.com:
Registrant:
Domain Administrator
Facebook, Inc.
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park CA 94025
US
+1.6505434800 Fax: +1.6505434800Domain Name: fborigin.com
Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.comAdministrative Contact:
Domain Administrator
Facebook, Inc.
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park CA 94025
US
+1.6505434800 Fax: +1.6505434800
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Domain Administrator
Facebook, Inc.
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park CA 94025
US
+1.6505434800 Fax: +1.6505434800Created on…………..: 2012-01-18.
Expires on…………..: 2014-01-18.
Record last updated on..: 2012-01-18.Domain servers in listed order:
ns3.facebook.com
ns4.facebook.com
ns5.facebook.com
What makes this registration even more puzzling is that Facebook wasn’t very thorough, assuming it really is interested in the Origin name. A quick search shows that the following five domain names are still available: facebookorigin.net, facebookorigin.org, facebookorigin.biz, facebookorigin.info, and facebookorigin.co.uk.
It turns out facebookorigin.com is registered, to an Anton Bengtsson of Sweden, but only because Facebook didn’t grab it first. Bengtsson made the purchase today, clearly hoping that Facebook will have to buy it from him if they want the domain at a later date.
It’s too early to say if Facebook is planning on launching a new product or service called Origin. Maybe the company wants the domain name for its own internal purposes, and that’s why it specifically chose the shorter “fb” over “facebook.” For example, Facebook’s employees use @fb.com for their e-mail addresses.
Companies often register domain names just in case and never do anything with them. We’ll just have to wait and see if something comes from this or not, although right now it doesn’t look very likely. If you know any more information, please do let me know.
I have contacted Facebook for more information and will update you if I hear back.
See also:
