Facebook Asks Users If They’ll Pay For Vanity URLs

Quote: This could theoretically be a huge business in that URLs could go through a bidding process. Want to get the URL http://www.facebook.com/shoes? You better be willing to bid against companies like Zappos, who I’m sure would be willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

shoes.com, sure, several hundred thousand dollars... but how would you EVER justify that for a URL on Facebook? Is there some hithertofore unknown population of users who are breaking up with their boyfriend one day and then say "You know, I want to console myself with a shoe purchase. I wonder what happens if I highlight the last portion of that thingee in the box thingee, and then type shoes and hit enter. Hmm, Zappos, haven't ever heard of them before or else I would have just Googled but hey, I'm so going to buy a shoe from them."

Would this have an effect on SEO? Would http://facebook.com/shoes be more likely to rank well for a search for "shoes"?

Anyone know http://profile.to ?

How would this be a sustainable revenue stream? I mean, if you pay for a vanity URL, it would surely be a one-time cost, no? Especially after going through a bid.

If you own a personal domain, why not just setup a redirection for yourdomain.com/facebook to your Facebook profile. It's vanity, and it's free.

MySpace had "vanity" URLs from day one. For free.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... is on top of numerous search results, so I do think facebook.com/... is viable.