Internet running out of domain names

According to research by domain name registrar NamesDirect.com, almost every word in the English language has been registered as a domain name.

There are currently 9,482,427 .com domains registered and 17,738,857 .org, .net and .gov domains worldwide. All three-letter and three-number combinations ran out in April and common nouns have become rare.

"The problem is that we've run out of actual words," said Richard Lau, of NamesDirect. "These days you need a name that is unique, trademarkable, brandable and available in .com."

Lau went on to offer a few tips to businesses mulling over their web presence. "Before you draft a business plan, it is paramount that your domain name is available in .com," he said.

It would also be worthwhile to grab a name that starts with A, B or C and is five letters or shorter, he added. "This will help position your site higher up in the search engines and directories - and there's something to be said for names that are easy to type and pronounce."

It is also vital to bag any domains that might be used to throw mud at your site. Essentially, that makes it vital to register ihate.com and sucks.com versions of the domain. According to Lau, AOLsucks.org is one of the most visited anti-company sites on the web.