According to Andrew at Domain Name Wire, CreditCards.com has filed to raise up to $115 million in an IPO. The domain name CreditCards.com was sold for $2.75 million in 2005 and then built into a business and resold for more than $130 million in 2006.

This is a good example of a generic domain being developed into a valuable business in a short period of time. Generic domains are so valuable, because they receive targeted type-in traffic from the get-go and because they’re relatively easy to build an online business on. For instance, they’re often easier to brand than a domain consisting of a made-up term.

From Domain Name Wire:

CreditCards.com’s S-1 filing is a treasure trove of information about the company’s traffic (they actually have more than one domain driving traffic) and earnings per visitor. In the first half of this year, the company received 5.899M visitors and earned $4.64 per visitor.

(…)

In 2006, CreditCards.com had $43M in revenues and a net income of $18.4M. That net margin shows why a business based primarily on a domain name and search engine optimization, and which carries no inventory, is such an appealing investment opportunity.