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Case study · 2005

TheFacebook.com to Facebook.com: The Most Famous Domain Upgrade

thefacebook.comfacebook.com

The story

Facebook launched in 2004 as "TheFacebook", on thefacebook.com.

In 2005 the company acquired facebook.com and dropped "The" from its name, one of the best-known domain upgrades in startup history.

What founders can learn

  • Fixing the name and the domain together is cleaner than doing it twice.
  • Upgrading early, while the company is still small, avoids a far harder move later.

Sources

This case study is based on public reporting and the company's own statements. NameUpgrade was not involved in this transaction.

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