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Typo .com on sale for $94 million
Kevin Murphy, March 1, 2023, Domain Sales
Somebody has listed what they call the “Saudi National Domain” for sale for a laughable $94 million, despite it apparently being a typo.
The domain name in question is saudiarabiya.com, according to a press release that crossed the wires this week.
You’ll notice the addition of a Y to the traditional English spelling/transliteration of Arabia, which is something the release doesn’t shy away from acknowledging.
The would-be seller says it’s “the correct Arabic spelling of ‘Arabia,’ using the letter ‘y.'”, pointing to Arabic TV news channel Al-Arabiya as an example of this spelling.
The problem is, “Saudi Arabiya” doesn’t seem to be an official transliteration of the country’s name, and you’d be hard pressed to find examples of anyone referring to it in that way.
Some European languages do spell the “Arabia” component of the name with a Y, but none appear to call it “Saudi Arabiya”.
The registrant wants to sell the name via Escrow.com, and is offering buyers the chance to lease the name for a year for $4 million before handing over the full asking price.
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